Aswan
After this temple, we arrived at Aswan, which is the closest city to Sudan. When we got to Aswan, you could feel the trip was coming to an end, but I really liked the city. I forgot if it was this day, but Fatma and her friend were leaving, actually. I had developed a small crush on her and even got her WhatsApp number. I may have been too bold when I mentioned to her that I wanted to kiss her after I joked about her testing positive for COVID. She blocked me, and that was that. Well, it was short-lived, but I enjoyed her and her friend’s company.
Aswan was a special city. Out of all the places the cruise ship docked at, it was here that the waterfront was the most developed, for the tourists, of course. I forgot to mention it, but at one of the ports I met an Arab man selling Coca-Cola and other products. I only had the equivalent of 1 USD in cash, in Egyptian pounds. I asked him if I could buy one Coke for one dollar, and he said it’s okay.
The man asked me, “Where are you from?” To which I responded, I am from Mexico, but I live in the United States. He gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder and said good. There was a melancholy to his voice that I still remember, but his embrace and gentleness stick with me even now as I write.
I haven’t mentioned this yet, either, but on the cruise ship, we ate breakfast every day. My mom and I would sit with Julio, this lovely Venezuelan couple who lived in Panama City but had a big company in China, actually, and Sergio, if I’m not mistaken. Julio would have us immersed every morning when he was telling us his fantastic and wild stories. Julio was truly a natural actor. Edgar, the Venezuelan man, would talk to me a lot throughout the trip. We got along super great on various topics. Edgar even sang an amazing song from Venezuela one day to us.
On this day, we would travel down to an Oasis in the desert, where we would see a water reservoir, which Nazir told us was “a waste of money” because the government did not use it at all.
Fated conversation
We visited Ramses the Third’s resting place, along with the temple of Hathor, who actually reached out and spoke to me! She said, “Be a good dad, be the best father you can be.” A powerful message. Out of all the ruins and places we meditated, Hathor still sticks out to me the closest. Her long legs, long arms, and a long body. This woman was over 200 cm tall at least 7 feet! I wanted to talk to her, but when I looked at her as she was walking away, she turned around once she reached the hallway and put her finger up to her mouth in a “shushing” motion and shook her head at me slowly with a slight smirk on her face. Then she gracefully walked away. I feel a loving and almost immersive feeling when mentioning here, even now in my writing. Her outfit is beautiful, as is she.
Her temple and pantheon were one of healing, love, and fertility. She knows me well, it seems, even before this lifetime. Hathor, I fondly remember you, and I will not forget what you told me on that day. Two other people from the group who had their own interesting experiences here were Mayk and Mabel Adrianna. Adrianna was full of love and wanted to hug everyone in this place. While Mayk had told us on the roof to show our belly buttons to the sun, haha.
I still have a picture of him, but the other curious note that happened is I saw a boy who looked just like me and actually had a red jacket like mine as well! One of the temple monks/guards shooed him away, though. I imagine it is because pictures are a way for them to make money.
I don’t remember too much about Ramses’ temple. We went during the day when they gave us our ankhs, and later we went back at night. At night, we saw an amazing documentary made by a Spanish man explaining a lot of the history about Ramses and what he had done.
Around lunch time, we were seeing some of the hotels in the desert where people had stayed. It was like a villa of sorts. When we walked back to the bus, Nazir had us go through where many of the vendors were posted. I had had enough of the vendors at this point and decided to walk on the road to avoid them. They were not as aggressive as the ones closer to Luxor or Cairo, I have to say. In fact, most of the people in Aswan were rather gentle and sweet.
