Day 176: Abu Simbel

The bus from Aswan to Abu Simbel was supposed to take three hours. It took us five hours because the bus broke down when we were half way through the desert. We heard a loud bang and smoke started coming out from the rear end of the bus. There was nothing the driver could do, so we waited for another bus to pick us up. So there we were. Sitting in the desert under the sun for an hour and half.

Abu Simbel has the famous Ramses II temple. One thing we found funny was that even though the temple was dedicted to his queen, Nefertiti, it was full of statues of Ramese II himself. It's like giving someone a picture frame with your own picture in it as a gift. All joking aside. The temple was indeed amazing. Four gigantic statues of Ramses II lined the exterior of the temple. Eight more statues of Ramses II stood after the entrance. The paintings inside the temple were just like the archeology investigation you see on TV, full of animal symbols and Gods, such as Anabis and Orisis. Photos were not allowed inside the temple, but I took a quick one, so you guys can see what it's like.

Day 175: Aswan - Touching down in Egypt

Upon arriving at Cairo at 3am, we had to change from the international terminal to the domestic terminal to catch our plane to Aswan. We were told by the ground crew about a shuttle bus that would take us from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. “Ten minutes” they said and even guided us to the exact spot where the bus would stop. About 15 minutes passed, there was still no sign of the bus. Another gentleman told us that the bus would come in ten minutes. So we waited again. I asked the locals if we could walk to the domestic terminal, and they said no. An hour passed and the bus did not show up. We ended up taking a taxi. It was only a 3-minute drive! That was our first experience with the concept of “African time.”

us waiting for the shuttle bus that never came

landed at Aswan

Our hotel, Memnon, was just OK for one night. It was smoky, dirty and noisy. The only plus side was the location. It's right on the bank of Nile river, and our room faced the Nile. Oh my, the color of the Nile river was deep dark blue. It's quite a sight with feluccas floating on the Nile and the trees lining the river bank.


We came to Aswan as a stop-over to go to Abu Simbel, so we left promptly and happily the next morning.

Katy keeping the flies out of our food - many, many flies

me sampling the water pipe

the suq at night

a Chinese motorbike, but the Chinese logo is up-side-down - probably assembled in Egypt

an interesting decoration for the main entrance at a Nubian house

Day 173: Deportation from Turkey

Our next destination was Turkey, the start of our Middle East journey. Our plan was to go overland to Iran, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Egypt. With the help of my good, old watch alarm, we reluctantly woke up at 5am and was at the Basel airport by 6am. The plane landed on time at Istanbul. Everything was fine, except when we were at passport control. They would not issue Katy a visa on arrival. I explained them that my research from the Internet stated that a one-month visa on arrival was granted to Taiwanese passport holder. “No” said the police. I also asked them if they could issue Katy a transit visa, so we can fly to other countries without entering Turkey. They would not budge an inch and started the deportation paper work. So we were promptly put on the same flight back to Switzerland.

While airborne, the pilot was very kind and chatted with us. He even offered to drive us to his place, so we can use the Internet to book a new flight out of Switzerland. When we landed, there were two French police officers already waiting for us outside the airplane. The pilot went with us to the police office. After the French officers were done with us, we were passed to the Swiss police officers because we wanted to go to Basel. We felt bad to let the pilot wait any longer, so we told him that we would try to contact our friend in Basel. Apparently the airline would be fined US$5,000 for letting us on the plane without proper visa at the first place. Ouch.

I made a phone call to Andrew from the Swiss immigration office and he picked us up at the bus station. It took a couple hours of searching to find a “cheap” flight the next day to Egypt, which would issue visa on arrival to Taiwanese. So our next destination was now Egypt, instead of Turkey. BTW, the Swiss officer handed me our deportation forms from Turkey as souvenirs. I will frame them somewhere in my house after the trip.

Zermatt: a surprise

Zermatt is my favorite place for snowboarding and hiking in Switzerland. The train ride there was beautiful and smooth. A new record was set this time. We stayed at the most expensive accommodation during our entire trip: a whopping US$150 for a private room (without toilet paper and shampoo). And it was just a hostel, not a hotel. But I must admit that the room was nice with a view of the Matterhorn. Well, this is Zermatt after all.

isn't it beautiful?the town church

The town has this special ambiance that is hard to describe. It still has many old houses and chalets preserved. No cars (except the special taxis) are allowed inside the town. The rosti and fondue are extra delicious there (perhaps due to the cold).

Katy's first fondue - her comment was "interesting"

Katy making a snow angel
the result

my turn

the result

The next morning we rented a wooden sledge and rode the cable car to Furi. The sledge was much faster than I expected. After a few minutes on it (and a few crashes), I finally figured out how to control the direction. At a few slopes, it was too steep for us to even attempt it, so we just walked down the slopes. At the final turn, the sledge was going down too fast and I could not brake in time, so we crashed into a tree. Thank God, it had foam paddings around the tree trunk. We enjoyed it so much that we rode the cable car again for a second run.

warming up the wet socks in a mountain restaurant called Farmer's Cafe
an old chalet

the tree where we crasheda well-deserved meal

Oh BTW, I proposed to Katy on the night that we spent in Zermatt, and she said yes. So we are getting married after the trip!