Aswan Tombs of the Nobles

The night we arrived in Aswan we saw this incredible temple up on the hill across the Nile on the West Bank where the Nubians reside. We decided we had to explore it when we finished our traditional guided tour of the sites. Our guide pointed us to where we could catch the "public ferry", but being from Aswan in a higher class was not familiar with the pricing or schedule since he had never taken it. We scampered on down to the landing to find it cost EL5 (60 cents US) per person to cross. We paid up and boarded after an elderly gentleman with crutches was assisted down the steps and aboard. Terry quickly moved to the front of the boat to find a seat for us. I noticed a strange reaction from the passengers as well as the fact that they were all women in burkas in the front. I gestured to him to move back to the men's area. A little oops on our first experience with gender segregation.

After reaching the other side, we let everyone else disembark before us only to find the elderly gent had no one to help him up the steep stairs. Terry offered up his hand and helped him all the way up. With good Karma, we set about getting tickets and climbing up the stairs to the tombs.

We got up there, explored a bit and were then greeted by a 20 something Nubian that offered us a few insights including that the tombs were closed. We thanked him and poked around a bit more.

Apparently we met his approval and he asked if we would like to go inside. He was the guard or keeper and had the keys. We said sure but were warned that we could not take pictures. We respected that and had a beautiful tour of the first tomb.

Apparently we gained his trust so he took us to 3 more tombs that were even more spectacular and then let us take pictures from there on out. He was kind and we tipped him.

The best part is that we had an adventure exploring where few people from the US or any where go for sightseeing and found new kindness and some really cool sites and experiences that we never expected.

If you would like see more of the pictures, we are happy to show you!