Aswaan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aswan is one and a quarter hours by air due south up the Nile. For the whole of this distance, not a single tributary joins the main stream. I had wondered in Cairo how a 4,000 thousand mile river could be so narrow. Aswan is the navigable limit from the Mediterranean due to the cataract. The English built the first dam here and had to move the temple of Isis to an island in the process. Isis was, amongst other things, famous for gathering together the pieces of the dismembered Osiris and bearing him a son, Horus, in spite of not finding the part that you would have thought she most needed. The island isn't quite long enough so they had to bend the temple slightly when they re-erected it. In 1952 we had fallen out with Egypt over Suez so Gamul Abdul Nasser asked the Russians to build a much bigger dam and move the much bigger temples of Ramses II and queen Nefertari in the process. Lake Nasser, formed by the dam has stopped the annual flooding of the Nile and ensured a constant flow of the equatorial rains. The source of the Nile is Lake Victoria, Abu Simbel is just south of the tropic of Cancer. This is one hell of a river. The three flights are notable for the Air Egypt landing technique which seems to owe something to Barnes Wallis. At Aswan airport I imitate Air Egypt when I by pass the slow moving crowd using a flight of steps by using a polished marble ramp. I fall, landing on a bottle of duty free brandy placed in our hand baggage by Meg to avoid the rough handling that suit cases receive. The brandy and a delicate perfume bottle survive but my rib takes a hell of a whack of which more later.