26 April - 2 May 2001
Issue No.531
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 April - 2 May 2001 Issue No.531 |
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Between a rock and a hard place
Why Aswan always gets left behind
Most visitors to Egypt see Luxor and Aswan, but in the grand and unchanging scheme that silently and unofficially regulates the comings and goings of tourists, Aswan is consistently shortchanged -- a consequence of an insular tourism industry, combined with the common misconception that Aswan doesn't have much to see. Aswan generally figures as a stopover point for Nile cruises coming from either Luxor or Abu Simbel. A standard itinerary has tourists fly from Cairo to Aswan, where they nip around a well-worn route that stops at the Aswan High Dam, the unfinished obelisk and Philae Temple. Travellers are then tucked into their cabins on their various cruises, treated to a resplendent buffet dinner, and sail off, either towards Luxor, or Lake Nasser.
Cruises will sometimes use Aswan as a turnaround point, possibly tacking on a short flight to see the Abu Simbel temple complex, but the end result is always the same: Aswan is rarely treated as a destination in its own right. Even tours that promise more thorough sightseeing stick to a few key spots -- all worth taking in, mind you -- and leave little leeway for improvisation: the Agha Khan mausoleum, the Nubia Museum, the noblemen's tombs, tea on the terrace of the Old Cataract. Pesky tourists with ideas about smaller, lesser-known temples or, perhaps, the raucous Darow camel market, will either be reined in with nebulous excuses or grudgingly obliged -- remember, a guide's expertise is only as good as the route he normally runs.
Contrary to its low-key reputation, Aswan can hold its own against the heavyweights: true, there are no monoliths comparable to the pyramids of Giza, but the temple of Philae, and the lesser-visited Kalabsha temple are a full course in Pharaonic history, as well as a lesson in the numerous repercussions of the building of the Aswan High Dam. Aswan is a fine base camp for trips to Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, and Esna, but lots of Egyptians just come to the city for fine winter weather and a breath of fresh air. No Cairo is this sa'idi heartland. People who come this far return with the radiant glow of the south and an easy manner alien to city folk. Sadly, the leisurely attitude fades as quickly as the tan.
There are numerous advantages to taking a Nile cruise. Many people are happy to let others do all the thinking, scheduling, worrying and fussing that it takes to organise trips in Egypt, particularly if they are pressed for time. One can enjoy the scenery and socialise, simply showing up for tours when told. This kind of ease is not to be discounted. It is, however, strikingly rigid, and my enjoyment on one such cruise a few years back was ultimately spoiled by the sinking feeling that I had been robbed of a personal experience and left only with a collective holiday, shared uniformly with millions of other people with the same pictures, the same stories and the same tan.
Most people have heard that the security situation in Upper Egypt is overbearing, and are comforted by the simplicity of standard tours, since travellers move in big groups, sometimes with convoys of police cars. I have heard rumours that foreigners are discouraged from moving around the souk (market) in Luxor unaccompanied. If so, then this kind of inconvenience -- by all accounts unnecessary -- is yet another reason to opt for a longer stay in Aswan, where I found tourists moving all about the city without restrictions (although we did have a little police boat unobtrusively shadow us to and from the island where Kalabsha Temple is located). Rumours can be painfully misleading, though, and while the few who dare to strike out on their own may encounter some odd looks, there is far more liberation than irritation in the adventure.
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