Our last stop on the cruise up the Nile was Aswan. Here we saw many things. One of the first stops was the "Unfinished Obelisk", a gigantic obelisk still in the quarry in Aswan; it broke during the carving, and was never finished.
We also crossed the old dam and visited the New High Dam at Aswan. The purpose of this dam, which was built in the 1960's,was for controlling the flow of water for food production and preventing flooding of the Nile and to produce electricity.
Then we went to visit the Philae Temple which is located on an island. We boarded a boat, along with several vendors who tried to sell us their goods while we crossed over to the temple. The columns of papyrus and lotus are especially lovely here in the open courtyard. There was a story told by Scheherezade about a princess being imprisoned on this island by her father to prevent her running off with her lover. Her lover seached for her everywhere but could not find her. Finally a bird told him where she was and he rescued her. This is the origin of our saying, "A little bird told me...".
From journal An Unforgettable 10 Days in Egypt