If there is one thing I loathe, it's waking up early on vacation. It is called vacation for a reason, and that reason is relaxation. Unfortunately, Egypt tends to be a vacation with early rise times. That is how our 3rd day started. Our next destination on the itinerary was Aswan, so we joined our fellow tourists on the hour and a half plane ride to our next city. Egyptair is actually not that bad for internal travel and we were happy to be given water and decent seats for such a short flight.
After being picked up, we were met by our tour guide and driver. We headed straight to the high dam from there and if I'm being honest, I wasn't really interested in the dam. I mean it was damn amazing (see what I did there) to think about one of the biggest man-made dams, but I was just ready to get to the temple to see the ancient Egyptian history. Most tourists use the high dam as a jumping point into their time in Aswan so we quickly took in the sights, stretched our legs after the flight, and made our way to go see the Philae Temple.
The Philae Temple was our first real foray with ancient hieroglyphics and images. To get to Philae Temple, you have to take a small boat to the island that houses the recently moved shrine to Isis. It is incredible to think that the entire temple was moved from its original spot because if it had not been moved, it would have been lost to the lake and the seaweed. The new location is beautiful and even shows where the Goddess Isis found the remains of her beloved husband, Osiris.
This temple for Isis is breathtaking, with big columns and deep reliefs dictating the history of the mother of Horus. The temple also honored Hat-Hur, the cow goddess who nurtured falcon god Horus when Isis was battling her brother-in-law Set. The backdrop of the lake provides a serene and almost majestic atmosphere. We spent some time exploring the temple and then made our way to the Sofitel Cataract Hotel.
We skipped out on the obelisk because we were fatigued and the traffic was making it unbearable to travel around, but it is definitely worth seeing!
Aswan is a beautiful city and after you have finished your sightseeing, the hotel and the beautiful lake views call your name. We stayed at the Sofitel Cataract Hotel, and I recommend this hotel 1000%. Not only is it so beautiful, but the staff and everyone were so kind and sweet. The hotel was actually the filming location for the 1979 Death on the Nile film and I felt as if I were transported to the early 1900s. The grounds were gorgeous and the interior of the hotel was just sublime. This hotel screamed old Egyptian elegance to me. We were placed in the newer building due to unforeseen circumstances and were even given the most sumptuous and spacious suites. I cannot say it enough, but this hotel was absolutely one of my favorite hotels of all time and one night was not enough for me. I would go back to Egypt just to stay in this hotel for a week.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon resting up and enjoying the hotel. At night, we took drinks with a view and then headed to sleep after a wonderful dinner for another bright wake-up call.
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