We started our journey in Aswan, the south of Egypt. We stayed in a nice little hotel (Keylany Hotel) that may have needed some upgrading and repairs, but the room was clean and the staff was absolutely exceptional. We were a bit startled to be awakened by the chanting from the Mosque at 4:30 am; which then woke the rooster that continued to crow. Ah, well, time to get up anyway..... Breakfast was served on the roof (a common practice, we found). We discovered where the rooster crowing came from; it was living with the dozen or so sheep in a spot of land next to the hotel. 
The initial landscape of Aswan was a bit shocking / surprising / curious. First of all, everything is dirty looking. But considering you can see the Sahara just across the river, a mere 1/2 kilometre away, it is no wonder; every breath of wind carries sand. The roof seems to be equivalent to our garages in Canada - all the junk gets stored there. Everything from bikes, to sinks, to building material, to just plain old junk. And it is all covered in dust, so it looks absolutely like a land fill on a roof. There seems to be endless construction; or is it demolition? - it's kind of hard to tell, as they just keep adding to an existing building. It all looks quite precarious. The lines of the bricks don't line up; at times you can see one side of a building leaning outward. There are areas of rubble. There are donkey carts, sharing the streets with cars dating back to the 1960's and people, delivering stuff. We are definitely not in Alberta anymore...
We saw Abu Simbel and the Philae Temple in Aswan. Abu Simbel is the place with the 4 large statues seated in front of the Temple and it is all carved into the side of a cliff. Philae temple is a grand Temple on a small island on the Nile. It was built by the Egyptians, but added to by the Romans and Greeks as a way of forming alliances with the Egyptians while they were in the process of a political takeover. Survivor Middle Ages... 
In Aswan a lot of stuff to see and do requires a boat (faluca). They can be motorized or sail, both are quite large; 20 - 30 foot things. Obviously, the sail boat is more romantic - until the boat owner starts changing the price when you are mid-way along and in the middle of the 6000 kilometre long, 95 meter deep Nile. It is amazing that there are not accidents with all the boats and cruise ships on the Nile. One evening we were returning from a Nubian Restaurant on an island and were zipping along in the motorized faluca when we came around a corner of another island and there was another faluca zipping along toward us. They cannot put the brakes on like on land and both swerved to miss each other, but we did end up smacking together anyway. It was not serious but scared the crap out of all on board.
I mentioned cruise ships as there are hundreds of them. There are cruises that can take you to Luxor or Cairo. They run from 4 - 7 days and appear to be quite modern. Apparently there are sites along the Nile that are only accessible / visible from the river. We looked into booking a cruise while still in Canada. They wanted $1600 for a 4 day cruise. Once there we found out we could have booked it for $160. We opted not to do any cruise because we felt we would be spending too much time with other tourists in the lap of luxury rather than experiencing the real Egypt. I do not regret our choice.
The markets are wild. Lanes upon lanes of hole-in-the-wall shops. Stuffed to the rafters, pouring out onto the street. The shop owners pounce on you before you even get to their shop. "Come into my shop my friend, would you like some tea. We have more - in all colors and (the best line yet) I don't know what you want but I have what you are looking for". LOL of course once in the shop - or even glancing at something, showing the slightest bit of interest, will cause them to pounce on you like a bunch of vultures. And then they proceed to bring more and more and yet more stuff, stacking it to the side for you to buy, because, after all I did look at it so I must want it. Then they give you some crazy price. One chap we met in Aswan told us to start negotiating at least 60 - 70% below their asking price - and be FIRM!! Walk away, they chase you, putting the stuff in your hands, over your shoulder and continue the bartering. Walk away again, tell them it is junk, too much, etc. They chase you again, and finally after making you feel like you are stealing food right from their children's mouths, they agree to your price, or damn close to it. Fortunately, I learned the Arabic numbers, and because the locals pay a discounted price than the stupid, rich tourists, it has paid off time and again knowing their numbering. One fellow tried to charge us 1600 Egyptian pounds when the receipt clearly said 464. The exchange is about 4 pounds to our dollar. 
No prices are marked, it seems to be their national pastime to barter and negotiate, even with the locals. We had a guide in Aswan who was negotiating for us, what a scene!! Almost yelling at each other, waving arms. But in the end a happy smile and handshake and all were happy. The guide said he told him, “You are trying to charge me tourist prices. I'm and Egyptian, just like you. These things are for me, not these people with me. Don't be crazy." Needless to say we got a whole sack of herbal stomach remedy stuff for something like $4 when it started at $100.
