in the middle east

After the pyramids, our adventures carried us to a city in southern Egypt, Aswan (for a map, click here). In ancient Egypt this was a strategic city for the Egyptians to maintain military control over the Nubians to the South (in modern Sudan). Today it is a large tourist attraction, due to the gigantic ancient temples in the nearby vicinity. We stayed in the city for two days, and even went 175miles further South to some magnificent ancient Egyptian temples; at that point we were just 50 miles North of the border with Sudan. Aswan itself sits on the first large opening of the Nile, creating a space for dozens of islands and beautiful desert scenery. It is quite a unique place, and we really enjoyed the quiet and rather serene setting on the Nile. Click Here to see a bit more.