Aswan: Egypt's most peaceful stretch of the Nile

Slower and less crowded than Luxor and Cairo, Aswan lives around a stretch of Nile dotted with granite islets and a temple saved from water by moving it stone by stone.

A felucca sailboat remains the most traditional way to move among the river islands.

A sailing felucca takes you to Elephantine Island, the oldest core of the Aswan settlement, with Nubian villages whose houses are painted in vivid colors.

Continuing downriver you reach the Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis and also disassembled and rebuilt on a higher island in the 1970s to escape rising waters.

Returning to the west bank, the Aga Khan Mausoleum, a tomb in Fatimid style of the Ismaili religious leader who died in 1957, dominates the hill above the river.

Toward evening, the Nubian Market of Aswan sells spices, henna and colorful fabrics among the alleys of the city center.

The Nubian houses on Elephantine Island are painted in vibrant colors not for tourism but by tradition: each family chooses its own hues according to a custom that long preceded the arrival of foreign visitors.

Moving the Temple of Philae required building a temporary dam around the original island, drained only long enough to cut and relocate the blocks to their new location.