Sorry it's taken a while to write again, but I've been working like crazy the last few days, and have been trying to make the most of my final week in Assiut. I'll try and reply individually as soon as I can, but it might take a while. Anyway, I've just read over this mail and it's quite sombre - I saw something very sad this morning and am still recovering. Details to follow.
First of all though, a bit more about the week long trip to Aswan, Abu Simbel, Luxor and Hurghada. It was organised by the Egyptian students from ASSA (Assiut Students' Scientific Association) who are looking after us during our time here, and was a quick tour of some of the spectacular sights and sounds of Upper Egypt. We began the trip just over two weeks ago, but due to some of the same security problems mentioned in the last email (a police escort to the outskirts of the city was compulsory), we departed one and a half hours late, in the early hours of the morning. Alas the booming voice of one of my friends woke up half of our floor in the hostel, and we left to a cry of 'Shut up, you donkeys!'.
We got to Aswan early the next morning and drove to our hotel first thing to set down our bags and freshen up. Only the hotel didn't want us! When they saw that we were not all Egyptian students they wanted to charge us 50% extra and, after a bit of arguing we decided not to stay there. The rooms still weren't that much by European standards but it was the principle of deciding to surcharge foreign guests that riled us, and after an hour of searching in downtown Aswan we ended up finding a hotel a cheap hotel in a small alleyway, sandwiched between a butchers' shop and an outrageously priced convenience store. It had a great view of the neighbouring area and there was air-conditioning, which we were so grateful for, as it was incredibly hot in the city. Even wearing tourist-style clothes and with litres and litres of cold water, walking around in temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius is really energy sapping. The sun here doesn't shine, it burns.
After a shower we quickly went exploring as we only had two days in the city. We started off by visiting the Botanical Gardens, a small peaceful plot on this really beautiful island on the Nile. Then we went to the temple of Philae a superb shrine to the goddess Isis begun by Nectanebo I and added to for over six hundred years. As well as the vivid hieroglyphics there were lots of nooks to get lost in and we had a good time. The hieroglyphs were also more intricate than some of the later ones we saw, with the pictures embossed rather than chiseled into the stone.
Many people in Aswan are of a much darker complexion compared to Egyptians in other parts of the country, having descended from native peoples south of the present day national border, and they have a distinct language and culture. They are known as Nubians, and to get a feel for their way of life and to make some much needed cash, many Nubian villagers open up their mud brick homes for tourists to have a look around. They are all brightly coloured and uniquely adorned (the one we visited had five baby crocodiles in a tank which the younger boys proudly showed us), and it was a really interesting if slightly intrusive feeling experience.
The next day we left early to catch the police escort to Abu Simbel, a small town in the deep south of the country that's home to my Pharaonic favourite sites in Egypt: the Great Temple of Ramses II and the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to his wife, Nefertari. They're massive structures (the former is 30m high and 35m wide) and when you get close you have to crane your neck to the sky to see the crowns of the statues. You really can't help being overwhelmed by the audacity, planning and commitment required to complete the thirty year project. Built around 3,000 years ago it must have been an incredible moment when it was rediscovered two-hundred years ago, a vast structure in the desert almost completely buried in the sand. I know it's no that vivid a description but I think it's one of those sights that have to be seen to be really appreciated. Go!
Later that afternoon we headed back to Aswan to visit the Aswan Dam, the magnificent High Dam and the Nubian Museum. We wanted to do something memorable on our final night here, so afterwards three of us (me, Shobhit and my Canadian friend Dan) went to explore the Old Cataract Hotel. It's said to be the finest hotel in Egypt, and parts of the movie 'Death on the Nile' were filmed here. After having juices and fruit tarts on the balcony, which offered a wonderful view of the Nile, we managed to sweet-talk the night-manager and got to see one of the best suites in the hotel, the Agatha Christie Suite. It had massive rooms with luxorious carpets and furniture, and every amenity you could think of. It's a shame we had to head straight back to our student rooms.
We left for Luxor the following morning, a large city north of Aswan containing the highest proportion of Pharaonic monuments in the world. We visited the Karnak and Luxor Temples the first day and all of the West Bank the next, but just when we were getting overwhelmed by the rows upon rows of intricate carvings ... disaster! Because it's so bright outside but very dark in many of the siderooms and inner chambers of temples, I was wearing my prescription sunglasses but had my regular specs hooked on a button on my shirt for easy access. Just as we were climbing up some rocks to enter an inner room the glasses fell from my shirt and one of the lenses cracked. Nooo! I'm really short-sighted and so for the next five days we forced to wear my sunglasses everywhere. It was a bit of an inconvenience and I got lots of amused glances when I wore the shades in darkened restaurants and the like (I must have looked like some kind of wannabe Indian badboy), but it wasn't really a problem until a few days later. I was showering when all of a sudden there was a power-cut and the hotel was plunged into darkness. I couldn't see a thing, and putting on the shades made things even darker. With a really dodgy budget-style bathroom to contend with my sore backside from the diving got a lot worse before I managed to get out.
Anyway, after two action-packed days in Luxor we moved on to the final leg of our trip and took our minibus to Hurghada. The city is a rapidly developing resort on the Red Sea coast, and one of the best sites in the country for snorkelling and diving. After spending the afternoon of the first day relaxing on the beach, we left early the next morning for a long boat ride to some of the Rad Sea's many coral reefs. None of us had a diving license so we couldn't do that, but the snorkelling trip was nevertheless an incredible experience. The fish in the Red Sea are so beautiful, varied and colourful that even without specs it was easy to see loads of spectacular one. After an hour or so we went to a beach to do some swimming, but there followed another disaster! A few of us were running along the sand when we stepped on some very sharp coral that cut up our feet, and we decided to wash our wounds in the water. I was happily doing so when I realised that my camera was still dangling from my shoulder and was immersed in the water. Despite many drying attempts it hasn't worked since.
Some of our group went from Hurghada directly to Cairo as their planes were leaving earlier than ours, so the Fellowship was much smaller by the time we got back to Assiut. It was a sad occasion, and since then the city has been as slow as usual, but we have managed to get a lot more training done. I've been going in to hospital in the evenings as well as the mornings as also got to visit the obstetrics/gynaecology and accident and emergency departments. A&E in Assiut is very different to London though. First of all, almost all the patients present with trauma wounds. The incidence of alcohol and drugs misuse is so low as to almost non-existent so there are no cases of overdose or injuries sustained following abuse, but the variety of trauma accidents here is worrying. Of the first ten patients I saw one had his hand sliced by a scythe, another had his hand crushed in a machine and a third had sustained head injuries following a motorcycle accident. That's not surprising considering that most people don't wear helmets when riding - the only form of protection I've seen are construction hard hats worn without strapping. The department was adequately staffed but the resources weren't very good and the team was always working under trying circumstances. The doctors did their best but sterile procedure was difficult to maintain and I'm worried that many of the patients will go on to develop septicaemia. That and a lack of monitoring meant that one patient on the ICU went into massive cardiogenic shock which was discovered when it was too late for intervention. A tough way to end the day.
OK, I'd better get some reading done.
All the best,
Moc
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