Aswan

Facing flooding from the dam, the temple was taken apart stone by stone and moved to another island. A boat is needed to reach it and at night it is lit for a sound show.

Cracked during cutting, it was left lying in the quarry where it began. Had it been finished it would have stood 42 metres, the largest of all.

Houses sit below the dunes on the west bank with walls painted in bright colours. Some keep a crocodile in the yard and show it to visitors.

An island in mid river once held the frontier post of the old kingdom. A stepped well cut into the rock measured the height of the Nile.

A whole mid river island was planted as a garden of tropical trees. Only a boat gets there and a circuit takes 40 minutes.

Completed in 1970, it stopped the yearly flooding of the Nile. From the road on top the reservoir above and the river below are seen together.

An officer given the island planted trees brought from around the world. Palms make up much of it, so the shade runs long.

Objects and household tools from the land the dam covered are gathered here. Outside, a village house was rebuilt at full size.

A triangular sail carries the boat slowly between the granite islands. The current is gentle, so the boat stays steady even when it heels.

A seventh century monastery on the desert side keeps its mud brick walls. From the riverbank a camel carries visitors over the dunes to it.

Shared by the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon god Horus, the temple has its gates and sanctuaries in twin sets. Next door, a crocodile museum lays out rows of mummified crocodiles found nearby. Cruise boats usually reach its riverside rise near sunset.

Saved from drowning under Lake Nasser, it was cut apart in the 1960s and rebuilt on an island south of the High Dam. Smaller temples and a kiosk moved with it stand close by. You haggle for a small boat at the shore, and visitors are very few.

On the west-bank sand slope, tombs of Old and Middle Kingdom governors are cut in a row. A steep stair laid over the sand has to be climbed, so morning suits it better. From the small saint's tomb at the summit, Aswan town and its islands lie in one view.

A long market street parallel to the corniche, ending near the station, with open sacks of hibiscus and spice along the kerb. Nubian baskets, scarves and goods brought from Sudan are mixed in. It only fills with people in the evening, once the sun drops.

An island rock tells of a seven-year famine under King Djoser and the god who ended it. It was actually carved in Ptolemaic times. Boulders round the island bear graffiti from thousands of years of travellers; a hired boat gets you there.

An early Islamic cemetery at the desert edge south of town, where dozens of mud-brick domed tombs gather. Each dome is shaped a little differently, which makes walking and comparing a pleasure. It is still in use, so visit quietly.

A market for camels brought up from Sudan; Aswan is about an hour away to the south. Trading happens on fixed weekdays only, so ask ahead. Arrive soon after dawn to catch the haggling at full pitch.

Twin sandstone cliffs pinching the Nile, quarried for the temples of Luxor and Edfu. Tool marks and small shrines cut into the rock remain by the water. Hard to reach by road, it is mostly visited from boats such as a dahabiya.