Friday 5/31. After checking out of the wonderful Old Catarac Muse. . . er, Hotel, proceeded to the Aswan High Dam. Tighter security than anywhere else. Very impressive in size, though not as wide as I expected. An earthen dam, composed of 17 times the mass of the great pyramid. The base is nearly a kilometer thick.
Long boring drive through the desert. Abu Simbel was hot. Hotel rooms have AC, but the rest of the hotel does not. Abu Sembel has little shade. Afternoon was free time to hide in the room. Abu Simbel has dry, dry air. Bought some souvenirs for the first time. Later we received a presentation from a Nubian about Nubian life and stories about their forced removal from their towns along the Nile when Lake Nassar was created. They were moved far away and are now trying to create communities along the shore. Promising. Dinner was fine. In the evening we went to the Rameses II temples (the Great and the Small, which is relative) for a light show. It was in Spanish this night with English talking devices. Too much story, not enough history. A little disappointing . At the end they lit up the statues and allowed us to walk around, which was really the high point of the evening. Children came to dance for us at the hotel, but everyone was so hot, they were largely ignored. I felt bad about it. Made a few balloons for the younger ones.
Not an especially active day, but not a wasted one.
It’s just a dam, but a pretty large one. Its benefits are indisputable, but it also caused a lot of grief. 
Rest stop on the way to Abu Simbel. The bus was far more comfortable. 
Pretty good wine from Egypt. Vineyard is near the Suez. 
