Another long car ride….this one in a convoy through the Sahara Desert….destination Abu Simbel. The desert is endless, inhospitable, threatening, dotted with camels and abandoned concrete shacks….
In Aswan, we are staying at the Pyramisa Isis Island Resort, an Egyptian “four star” resort located on its very own island in the middle of the Nile River, a dumping ground for the large tour groups who are bused in from Luxor…..I have never been anywhere quite like it…..a flamingo pink palace rising from the Nile with a tobacco-stained terraced lobby draped in fake hanging vines teeming with sun scorched (literally) Western tourists adorned in exotic mass-produced Nubian necklaces….it is a sprawling compound littered with waterfall pools surrounded by palm trees and lobster-colored, pealing sun worshipers; multiple restaurants, including the most popular buffet of inedible delights; an empty disco with walls painted with bright yellow stars and purple planets; a shopping arcade advertising over the counter Viagra and Septrin; and rooms well-equipped with ashtrays (more than 5), faded flowery bedspreads, showers that refuse to drain, and incredibly beautiful views of the sunset over the Nile…..it is the island love child of Atlantic City, Boca Raton, Reno, and a nursing home…….It is a place I will not soon forget….
So far, our stay in Aswan has been a little rocky….we are all a bit tired and missing good food, good coffee, drinkable water, and the ability to flush toilet paper….That said, it is a fascinating place…a place of historically strategic importance and the gateway to Nubia. I don’t know much of the history of the Nubian people, but I do know that the construction of the low and high Aswan dams have quite literally destroyed most of the Nubian villages in the region. Just like in SE Asia with the Hmong and Uganda with the Twa, there are organized “tours” of the few remaining surrounding Nubian villages….The tours take boatloads of tourist into the villages to observe and take pictures of traditional Nubian life…true people tourism…which I find quite disturbing…I know that these “cultural tours” are sometimes theoretically started in order to preserve dying cultures, but in reality they are exploitive and ridiculous. That said, I guess we are all kind of cultural tourists when we travel, but it is different when you pay and it is a “tour”…..These tours are like people zoos, where you can snap a few pictures, have people dance for you, and purchase a cheap souvenir that somehow validates your cultural sensitivity…..I don’t mean to be so incredibly nasty and cynical…but it really bothers me. Anyway….speaking of being a person/cultural tourist, I saw the most amazing cultural event in the hotel lobby last night.….a traditional Egyptian wedding party! The guests started arriving in waves around 10pm by ferry (the only way to reach the Pyramisa Island), men dressed in suits and traditional robes (I have to look up the correct terminology for what I mean by robes) followed by the women, a mix of women in full burqa and modern dress (albeit conservative). Around 11:30pm, I heard the jubilant sound of traditional Nubian music and song and then the ululating began….as the wedding couple approached, people danced and sang and ululated, holding hands, laughing, hugging, children running in and out of the crowd….The lobby of the great Pyramisa suddenly became a palace of celebration of modern Egyptian love and marriage and not just an absurdly tacky tourist hotel. I felt honored to be able to observe this important day in the lives of these families…..
On a personal note, this wedding celebration came on a night of personal celebration. Jake and I matched for residency in Philadelphia, an event that ended a period of great uncertainty and homelessness. We found out the news over coffee as the sun was setting over the Nile, the wind and sand blowing around us—we hugged each other quietly and celebrated with a terrible dinner and a cup of tea, which somehow seemed like the perfect ending to a long and difficult path………
Now on the way back from Abu Simbel (which was, once again, a spectacular monument by the shore of Lake Nasser), watching the sunset over the Sahara, the sand and sky melting into each other, a sherbert colored sigh at the end of a long day……
Globe Napper 