Saturday, February 18, 2012

Aswan Chronicles : Day one “Part One- Aswan High Dam”

As you know last week I went on a small trip to the amazing Luxor and Aswan, it was a good attempt to escape away from all that jazz in Cairo for a couple of days. Of course, I could not keep myself from writing My Aswan and Luxor Chronicles.
As I said before, I got tons and tons of photos and videos and I am starting from tonight uploading them online along with posts or rather remarks from my Aswan and Luxor Chronicles.

Day one “February 8th,2012” :

A visit to Aswan High Dam
I do not understand why or how the security authorities restrict and ban the video cameras in the high Dam when the tiniest point and shot camera and the cheapest Chinese camera phone can record video !!! Already the areas of the dam opened to visitors " the above section" are well known to everybody and there is something called Spy satellite that has been used by ages in the world.

The high dam is great huge project despite all its flaws that can be solved in a way or another. "the mud problem" When you stand there please as you remember late president Nasser, remember the martyrs of the dam project who died while they were building it.

Aswan High Dam  
Do you know that there are water reservoirs underground used if the water increases more than the limits and the powers of the high dam including the old river reservoir and the Toshka reservoir ?? "According to what I understand from our guide in the tour"
Lake Nasser is too damn big to level that we can share a part in it whether Nubians or businessmen or even crazy blue jinns for God sake. There are thousands of crocodiles and hypos in it according to our guide. I know about crocs in it but not hypos. Our guide told us also that after 500 years there will be no water the lake as a result of the increasing level of the Nile mud in it inshAllah.
Aswan: Aswan high dam
The Kalabsha temple looks amazing in the heart of Lake Nasser, unfortunately, we could not see it.
The Kalabsha temple
The Kalabsha temple
The South of valley university needs more transportation facility for the students as it is outside the city of Aswan itself.

Mohamed Salim Al Awa, the Islamist presidential candidate considered by many to a pro-SCAF presidential candidate is going to have a lecture in Aswan tonight. “He went already

The army or rather the Southern zone is protecting vital buildings in the city and I am not speaking here about army bases or military zones but I am speaking about Aswan lower dam or even water station. The soldiers are protecting these places with tanks, yes the tanks we have not seen them for a while and they look a little bit different than in  Cairo. In fact, even the soldiers and officers seemed to not be that pampered like in Cairo starting with their old-fashion tents.

The city of Aswan is more than amazing, very beautiful and clean city.

The location of the presidential rest house is more than great, no wonder Sadat loved to spend some time there. In 1974 the negotiations between Sadat and Kissinger in Aswan reached to the disengagement agreement in the Yom Kippur war. 
The protesters during #jan25 revolution wanted it to set it on fire but thank Goodness they did not according to our tour guide.

The Ultras attacks on Port Said graffiti is there in Aswan as well the calls of February 11th strike and anti-SCAF graffiti that carries the signature of ACAB

The Nour Party and the Freedom and Justice party flyers, Posters are everywhere.

6 comments:

  1. You have many amazing photos, thanks for sharing them with all of us. Thank you!

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  2. speechless. amazing photos Z. full of gratitude for what you are doing

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  3. You have to take time out to smell the roses , as they say.
    Politics is not the be all and end all, although sometimes it can be fatal.

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  4. We are extremely disappointed and insulted by your superficial account of your trip to Aswan.

    Your dam which displaced more than 50,000 Sudanese people and inundated a thriving historical city with a salvage operation having been done in Egypt and neglected in Sudan, is unique amongst the world's dams in how it offers "NO" transboundary benefit WHATSOEVER whereas it caused transboundary HARM.

    Nasser supported the first military take-over of power in Sudan just to be able to build the dam and the Sudanese people will never forgive him or those who support the pure injustice of the dam and the 1959 Agreement and its circumstances.

    All your problems with the Nile Basin States are encapsulated in that dam and as Ethiopian, Kenyan, Southern Sudanese and Ugandan colleagues have told me: 'if Egypt's can't even manifest transboundary benefit to its most important neighbour, through the Nile, why should we trust her?'

    Keep on revelling in your past glories, just know that time is not on your side...

    When the spring reaches Khartoum, and it will, sooner or later, the Sudanese youth will have a whole different type of dialogue with you.

    In the meantime our electricity grid is being linked to Ethiopia's and the whole sub-region is developing.

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    Replies
    1. Strangely this post has nothing to do with Politics and my trip was not superficial my dear.

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  5. The account of your trip, as I wrote, 'the account' was and is superficial.

    And how can you say the post has nothing to do with politics when you mention AbdelNasser and those who died 'whilst building the dam'..?

    You mentioned the visit by Al-Awa to Aswan and Sadat - all of the above and you still say that the post has nothing to do with politics?

    We maintain that the views in the post regarding the dam are superficial.

    Your dam which displaced more than 50,000 Sudanese people and inundated a thriving historical city with a salvage operation having been done in Egypt and neglected in Sudan, is unique amongst the world's dams in how it offers "NO" transboundary benefit WHATSOEVER whereas it caused transboundary HARM.

    Nasser supported the first military take-over of power in Sudan just to be able to build the dam and the Sudanese people will never forgive him or those who support the pure injustice of the dam and the 1959 Agreement and its circumstances.

    As much as the dam is a symbol of pride for you, it is a symbol of revulsion for us.
    You call the dam's lake Lake Nasser and we call the part of it that floods our land without our consent Lake Nubia.

    Seriously, you've had a revolution, it's time to upgrade your perspective on things.

    ReplyDelete

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