el mundo farzina

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Aswan & the Old Cataract Hotel

4am.
Wake up to catch my company car ride to the airport, hop on a paid-for flight to Aswan. Aswan is in Upper Egypt, which is basically south of Cairo/Egypt. What usually takes a 12 hour trian journey to get to, I accomplish on a 90minute flight during which i mostly sleep.
Land in Aswan and I run into Jonathon Spollen, a fellow journalist from Cairo, also covering the same event. We get to the hotel, and it is gorgeous. It’s grand, very old school, and the interiors are tastefully ethnic. We get our individual keys and head first for the buffet breakfast. I can't remember the last time I ate that much. The entire day is spent eating buffet meals and a gourmet dinner, and taking naps in between. I venture out for a swim in the hotel pool but it turns out to be filthy with dead flies and bugs floating about. I run out after a 2minute dip, and instead opt to appreciate the luxuriously strong shower in my room. I take advantage of the power shower and give myself a good scrub. Somewhere in the middle of all this laziness and what not, I attend a business loan signing ceremony :P