The kindness of my friends Sue and John to let me tag along to Aswan when they were celebrating their wedding anniversary made me see a place I can’t forget. We took a train in Luxor at 10 o’clock and after two hours we arrived in Aswan. We fought our way up the stairs by pushing  and shoving, like everybody around us, trying to get to the exit. Once outside, we looked for a taxi, for an escape from the heat and the still overpowering crowd.

John waved to someone and  pulled Sue and me toward a waiting car. It had been ordered by our taxi driver in Luxor – a local network is a necessary safety net when in Egypt as a foreigner  – something I learned the hard way during my three weeks stay. Driving away from the station, I could not wait to get to our hotel. I was sweaty, thirsty and having avoided the bathroom on the train, it was time. But instead of a hotel, our taxi drove us to a jetty on the Nile. “Where are we going?” I asked.

“Oh, the hotel is on an island, didn’t I mention it?” John asked. He had not. It was obvious to my friends, they always stay here when they come to Aswan. Our luggage was loaded onto the little boat, which announced in bright, large letters Pyramisa Isis Island Resort and Spa. It took (fortunately) only a few minutes to cross the river and reach the 28 acres of bliss in the middle of the Nile. 

Walking into the reception hall, the ivy covering the walls from ceiling to floor took away the heat we had felt only a few moments ago.

The view from my room, a landscape not changed for hundreds of years, erased the image of the overcrowded railway station we had left only a little while ago.

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Sue and John’s  invitation for a drink in their room was a jolly beginning for dinner on the terrace.

—– and after dinner, when the sun went down, I watched the night fall over the sandy hills, and only a trace of the day gone by was reflected in the slow-moving waters of the Nile.

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During breakfast on our last morning I meet an English lady, who told me proudly, “I am 84 years old and I have come to Egypt every year since I was 22, and have often stayed in this hotel – now I am making my reservation for March next year.” This was October!

It looks like I am not the only one who can’t forget!

More from Egypt soon

Brigitte