One of the things you have to do in Egypt is ride camels — if you don’t have pictures of yourself on a camel, people might not believe you had visited Egypt at all!

Named for the black rocks shaped (somewhat) like elephants, Elephantine Island lies opposite the corniche in Aswan.

Our convoy was a long line of cars, busses, taxis, and police vehicles. We met at 7am and headed off to the temples. It was a little odd to have armed guards along with us.

A quiet, relaxing sail along the nile near Aswan

Our hotel, the Old Winter Palace, lies on the corniche, the streetside along the Nile, and it lends itself to long, quiet walks along the water and down by the wharfs.

The workers village housed several hundred artists who were employed in the Valley of the Kings during the New Kingdom. They and their families lived here in small mudbrick houses for generations

A roman castrum — a military complex — is visibiel in the enclosure of the temple, and the foundation of the mud-brick enclosure wall is still visible.

A Turkish-Florentine summer palace from the 19th century. The walled gardens are beautiful, even in winter — with over 350 acres of flowers and carefully laid-out garden paths leading to a lovely private beach