Assuan wieder

Today we are going back to Assuan - which means going through the same straight road that leads through the desert.

This time we are staying on Elephantine Island in Assuan, an island in the Nile where there are some beautiful hotels and restaurants. To get to our hotel, we have to take a ferry boat, which only takes a few minutes.

There is not much on the agenda today, just enjoyment: we are going to have High Tea at the Old Cataract Hotel. A must for all Agatha Christie fans - she allegedly wrote Death on the Nile there. The hotel was built at the end of the 19th century by Thomas Cook and still feels very English (not just because of the High Tea!). If you are in Egypt and want to be taken seriously, you stay there. There is quite an illustrious guest list, from politicians (Churchill) to royalty (Princess Diana) to actors (Belmondo) and so on. It is like being transported away from this world, pure luxury and enjoyment. I can understand why Agatha Christie stayed here for a year. Who would want to leave this place... Unfortunately, today you can no longer afford to stay more than one night in this hotel, the smallest room costs CHF 500.-. Oh dear!

The High Tea was so lavish that I don't feel like having dinner anymore. Instead, I go to the building next to our hotel on Elephantine Island (which also belongs to Mövenpick). There is a small tower, on the top floor there is a restaurant and a bar. Two members of our group accompany me and we enjoy the beautiful view of Assuan while having a glass of wine. I dare to order an Egyptian sparkling wine. The first glass comes in a deep brown color - yuck, it has been oxidized for a long time. The second glass doesn't even have any bubbles of carbonation left and it's not what I ordered anyway. So: better order a whole bottle or stick to safe things like beer. The Egyptians can brew beer very well, after all they have been doing it for a few thousand years. Cheers!