Pumuckl, today we will go to Aswan, Egypt's sunniest southern city and ancient frontier town located about 81 miles south of Luxor. It has a distinctively African atmosphere. In Aswan the Nile is at its most beautiful, flowing through amber desert and granite rocks, round emerald islands covered in palm groves and tropical plants.
Oh Mommy, this sounds amazing. I am already so excited!
Aswan is located in the south of Egypt, some 680 km south of Cairo, just below the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser. Compared to Cairo and Luxor, Aswan is a far more relaxed, if smaller, alternative as a traveller's destination.
First we will visit The Old Cataract Hotel. You remember Mommy reading the book "Death on the Nile"?
The Old Cataract Hotel is a beautiful hotel in Aswan, that was made famous by the Agatha Christie book, Death on the Nile. She was writing parts of the books in this hotel and also the movie was filmed here. It was built in 1899 is positioned in the banks of the Nile, set within its own gardens. The terrace, though, has excellent views of the Nile and Elephantine Island.
Oh Mommy, this island there looks wonderful, can we go there?
Elephantine Island is the largest of the Aswan area islands, and is one of the most ancient sites in Egypt, with artifacts dating to predynastic periods. The island is very beautiful, and while many of the artifacts there are in ruin, there is still considerable to see. One of it's main attractions is it's Nilometer, where Eratosthenes was able to make the first measurement of the circumference of the Earth, circa 240 BC. It was almost correct, closely estimating the angle of the curvature of the Earth and its size as a globe and his estimate was accepted for hundreds of years.
Mommy, I heard something about a dam in Aswan. Can you tell me more?
The Aswan High Dam is a vast structural locality on the river Nile, just south of the city of Aswan. As one of the great (if enduringly controversial) engineering feats of the late 20th century, the Aswan High Dam is a great drawcards for Egyptians and foreign travellers alike. The aim of this water project was to prevent the river's flooding, generate electricity and provide water for agriculture.
Mommy, Mommy, we were sending a postcard to Laila and Lilly before which was showing the Philae Temple...
The Philae Temple was built to honor Isis and was the last ancient temple built in the classical Egyptian architectural style. Construction began in approx 690 BC. It was moved from its original location on Philae Island, to its new location on Agilkia Island, after the flooding of Lake Nasser. A major multinational UNESCO team relocated Philae, and a number of other temples that now dot the shores of Lake nasser. You can see the submerged original island a short distance away, punctuated by the steel columns used in the moving process.
Pumuckl, before we go back home I want to show you something really interesting!
The unfinished obelisk is the largest known ancient obelisk, located in the northern region of the ancient quarries in Aswan (Assuan), Egypt. It is nearly one third larger than any Egyptian obelisk ever erected. The obelisk's creators began to carve it directly out of bedrock, but cracks appeared in the granite and the project was abandoned. The bottom side of the obelisk is still attached to the bedrock. The unfinished obelisk offers unusual insights into ancient Egyptian stone-working techniques, with marks from workmen's tools still clearly visible.
Chica: I hope you enjoyed our trip today.
Pumuckl: Oh ya, it was great, as usual!
Chica: Thank you my dear!
Sources: www.wikitravel.org, www.touregypt.net, Wikipedia
The images used were found on the web and considered to be in the public domain. We don’t claim to be the owners of these images. If you are the owner of one of the images and want it removed, please inform us and we will do so as soon as possible.
If you liked this post you might want to read:
Oh Mommy, this sounds amazing. I am already so excited!
Aswan is located in the south of Egypt, some 680 km south of Cairo, just below the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser. Compared to Cairo and Luxor, Aswan is a far more relaxed, if smaller, alternative as a traveller's destination.
First we will visit The Old Cataract Hotel. You remember Mommy reading the book "Death on the Nile"?
The Old Cataract Hotel is a beautiful hotel in Aswan, that was made famous by the Agatha Christie book, Death on the Nile. She was writing parts of the books in this hotel and also the movie was filmed here. It was built in 1899 is positioned in the banks of the Nile, set within its own gardens. The terrace, though, has excellent views of the Nile and Elephantine Island.
Oh Mommy, this island there looks wonderful, can we go there?
Elephantine Island is the largest of the Aswan area islands, and is one of the most ancient sites in Egypt, with artifacts dating to predynastic periods. The island is very beautiful, and while many of the artifacts there are in ruin, there is still considerable to see. One of it's main attractions is it's Nilometer, where Eratosthenes was able to make the first measurement of the circumference of the Earth, circa 240 BC. It was almost correct, closely estimating the angle of the curvature of the Earth and its size as a globe and his estimate was accepted for hundreds of years.
Mommy, I heard something about a dam in Aswan. Can you tell me more?
The Aswan High Dam is a vast structural locality on the river Nile, just south of the city of Aswan. As one of the great (if enduringly controversial) engineering feats of the late 20th century, the Aswan High Dam is a great drawcards for Egyptians and foreign travellers alike. The aim of this water project was to prevent the river's flooding, generate electricity and provide water for agriculture.
Mommy, Mommy, we were sending a postcard to Laila and Lilly before which was showing the Philae Temple...
The Philae Temple was built to honor Isis and was the last ancient temple built in the classical Egyptian architectural style. Construction began in approx 690 BC. It was moved from its original location on Philae Island, to its new location on Agilkia Island, after the flooding of Lake Nasser. A major multinational UNESCO team relocated Philae, and a number of other temples that now dot the shores of Lake nasser. You can see the submerged original island a short distance away, punctuated by the steel columns used in the moving process.
Pumuckl, before we go back home I want to show you something really interesting!
The unfinished obelisk is the largest known ancient obelisk, located in the northern region of the ancient quarries in Aswan (Assuan), Egypt. It is nearly one third larger than any Egyptian obelisk ever erected. The obelisk's creators began to carve it directly out of bedrock, but cracks appeared in the granite and the project was abandoned. The bottom side of the obelisk is still attached to the bedrock. The unfinished obelisk offers unusual insights into ancient Egyptian stone-working techniques, with marks from workmen's tools still clearly visible.
Chica: I hope you enjoyed our trip today.
Pumuckl: Oh ya, it was great, as usual!
Chica: Thank you my dear!
Sources: www.wikitravel.org, www.touregypt.net, Wikipedia
The images used were found on the web and considered to be in the public domain. We don’t claim to be the owners of these images. If you are the owner of one of the images and want it removed, please inform us and we will do so as soon as possible.
If you liked this post you might want to read:
23 comments:
Thanks for this tour of Aswan! :) Our humans also visited Aswan when they were on their trip to Egypt. They visited Philae temple and all the other sights mentioned in your post! :)
That was a wonderful tour! Thanks for showing us!
nice... and i wanted to appreciate you on your theme! Did you design it? can you help me out with my theme.. Also check out my blog for my EC contest for 2000 EC
Great tour! Now we know where you bought our post card!
absolutely stunning...
oh... i forgot to mention theo responded to the meme you tagged him with...
@ Dragonheart & Merlin: Wow, your humans have seen all Egypt it seems! :)
@ Parker: It's always a pleasure for us to show you our country!
@ Shravan: Thank you. I have dropped you an email.
@ Cat-a-holic, Lilly and Laila: Hehe :-)
@ -d ma: Thank you! I will check it our directly! ;)
Wonderful shots. Cool place to live I think!
~Goldie
Incredible tours! your cats are lucky travellers. )))
Nice to meet you.
I came from blog of Tram Tabby.
It is two cats which it loves very.
And the trip of cats is interesting. It is a very good plan.
Oh, Aswan was one of my most favorite places in Egypt!
We stayed on Elephantine Island, and I loved taking a felucca over to the Aswan night market!
I also got to see the unfinished obelisk and Philae (which was just so magnificent and spiritual!).
Great tour, guys!
luv,
Not The Mama
waowie....our mommy loves to travel so much and have a dream to go to egypt:) must be so wonderful if could meet ya all...
thanks for sharing great places in egypt!
It is so nice to be able to see Egypt with you two!!! You are excellent tour guides :)
We really like you doing it !!
Purrs Mickey
@ goldenshade: Oh ya, definitely it is!
@ Angel: We love to travel!
@ Natu&mona in Japan: Nice to meet you, too!
@ Mo: You have visited Egypt? Wow, I would like to hear more about it.
@ felinesopher: Oh ya!!! When you will come? :)
@ Mickey: Thank you, Mickey! It gets us very happy to hear you enjoy our excursions!
What a great tour. We love, love, love historical places!
Hi! Taggin Pumuckl for another meme. If you're up for it, detail's on my latest blog post!
You bring back so many nice souvenirs ! I have been there twice. Once in 2000 with Mr. Gattino and then in 2002 when we did the same cruise again with our American friends. It was just wonderful.
In November I will go back to Hurghada at the red sea to fill in some sunshine for the winter !
Yes Rosie is a minicat, lol ! she really is cute and such a friendly cat ! (not because it's my cat, but she really is)
I just wanted to let you know that every single day my 5 year old wants to see your blog and see what Chica and pumuckl are doing. Today in the backyard her and her friend were playing a
Chica and Pumuckl game. Thanks for entertaining us here in Kansas.
What a great place, you made it very interesting. I'd be a bit scared of the giant cats though lol.
Simba x
@ Moki: Thank you, Moki!
@ Nola: Thank you for the tag! We have another Meme waiting in the queue but promise to finish it by Thursday! :)
@ Gatina: It's so nice you love Egypt :)
@ HEALTH NUT WANNABEE MOM: Wow, I am getting pee in my eyes! This is so wonderful! Lovely greetings to your daughter!
@ Simba: They are not biting :)
Wow... that sounds absolutely beautiful!!
beautiful photos!! I would love to go there some time! Really amazing place! :)
Hi - yes, I visited Egypt and miss it every day.
You can read about my trip at It's A Blog Eat Blog World - just look for "Egypt" in the labels in the sidebar!
cheers,
mo
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