The Land of no Top Floors, Mon, 07 Mar 2022 | written by Simon
Jemma and Simon at a Desert in Africa, Egypt

We got up late again and has a chill morning. Around 10 we set off to find the Nubian Eco Village.

The regular village on the way was definitely not eco, on account of piles of rubbish everywhere, and a bit unsettling, on account of being very empty, with more stray dogs than humans around. We got chased by one and barked at by many others. The houses in the village often seem half-finished, half-abandoned, or half-disintegrated. We walked to the other side, climbed a little sand dune, and sat reflecting on our luck of being born where we were.

We already thought that we were on a wild paddleduck chase, but then we found it – the Eco Village! Located on the side, it’s a bit of a ghost town itself, empty but for a few guys sitting in the garden. One of them was the owner, who offered us read tea and told us all about the place, how he built it in the 0’s, just to see the tourists disappear after the Arab Spring, and then again due to COVID. What has luck! He told us more about the local politics and the tourist economy, and once again we were left counting our blessings.

We went back with the intention of finding a nice spot to have a swim in the Nile. They told us there is a sandy patch by the mausoleum, but that’s quite far. We walked down in that direction hoping to find some nice wild spot before that, but were disappointed – the whole bank is full of rubbish, animal feces, and moored boats. Plus there is no space where Jemma undressing wouldn’t attract too much attention.

We ended up just going back to camp and reading for the rest of the afternoon, before catching our train to Luxor. Bye bye, Aswan!

Finally, some overall impressions so far:

  • There is a very stark difference between the two banks of Aswan, the noisy Egyptian city full of multis, and the dirty Nubian villages full of disintegrating mud brick huts. The Egyptians and the Nubians also seem to keep to their sides.
  • People love noise (Egyptians probably more so). Everybody shouts, beeps, music is always up to 11, and even the trains need to bloody hoot all night. You’d think this is the busiest train station in the world by the amount of signalling!
  • The city location is particularly bad for noise, as the main traffic, bars and train station are close to the river which really carries the sound.
  • Food is incredibly carby – our breakfasts are just lots of bread and a little egg and cheese, the main fast food – koshary – is two types of noodles with a little sauce
  • Tea is generally very strong and bitter
  • Turkish coffee is ok, but full of granules
  • While the muezzin calls seemed fascinating at first, they are really tiring now. We think church bells are a lesser evil
  • The muezzin call sounds particularly weird on the train station as a train is leaving, because it just seems like a sung train announcement (blasphemous, i know).
  • Cats have a very different look to them here. Subtle, but the longer muzzles just make them look way more badass and fierce.