Blogs from Abu Simbel, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa
March 20th 2012
Had an unfortunate wake up call this morning at 6:45am but all for good reason. Today we were off to see Abu Simbel which is offered as an optional excursion but everyone did it as it's a "must see" according to Sherif. We first drove to the Aswan airport and then flew Egyptair for a short 1/2 hr plane ride there. It was by far the most spectacular thing we've seen yet! As we walked around the side of the huge rock face mountain, we could see the giant carvings of the pharoahs carved into the mountain. The size of them are mind-blowing! Sherif immediately sat us down and gave us a histroy lesson. I was most amazed that they used to be closer to Lake Nasir but have since been moved back. We then got ... read more
February 4th 2012
The train from Cairo to Aswan ended up taking 15 hours so it was lucky that it was one of the most comfortable trains I'd ever been on. The seat reclined most of the way, although the a/c was on the whole way which made it fairly cold. I arrived early afternoon in Aswan and as soon as I got on to the platform I was approached by somebody looking to get me to their hotel. But as he was from one of the hotels I planned to check out and the price was fairly cheap I agreed to take him up on his offer of a lift to the Horus hotel. Before I had even seen the room, another guy had me sat down trying to sell me tours to Abu Simbel and Felluca rides. ... read more
Egypt Day 7 - Day trip to Abu Simbel
Published: January 17th 2012Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Abu Simbel
January 17th 2012
So today was the day to head down as far south as you can go in Egypt. Abu Simbel, an ancient site three hours from Aswan. Trips had to be planned with police convoy, due to the security risk in the area. I greeted my driver once again in the hotel lobby. We set off at around 11am. We passed Philae and the High Dam, and from then onwards it was a proper highway, with nothing but desert for the rest of the way. This made for impressive scenery. This was the Sahara Desert. Three hours later, after not having much going on inside the van, being the only tourist on board, we arrived at Abu Simbel. Once there I was greeted by a tour guide; part of the package already paid for. So I proceeded ... read more
December 21st 2011
Today, instead of boats, planes were my preferred mode of transportation. I woke up early, gulped down some coffee, and caught a flight out of Aswan to Abu Simbel. The Aswan airport is pretty small but it did have a duty free shop which sold, of all things, a microwave. Wonder how many of those they've sold? The only other store they had at the airport was a Sbarro's Pizza. At 7:30 am, I decided to pass on the pizza. Abu Simbel was a short 30 minute flight...it's a small village just north of the Sudan border with a massive temple set on Lake Nasser. I was only there 2 hours but that was long enough to take it all in and board another flight back 'home' to Cairo. I landed 30 minutes ago and am ... read more
Abu, Edfu and More Incredible Views
Published: October 15th 2011Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Abu Simbel
October 7th 2011
ABU SIMBEL The excursion to Lake Nasser and the two temples at Abu Simbel began with a wake-up call at 3:30am and a police convoy to the site; three and a half hours later we arrived. The first sight we saw as we walked up a steep hill was Lake Nasser. It’s really hard to believe that this beautiful lake is an artificial lake and the world’s largest because it’s so beautiful. What makes it so amazing is that it’s situated right next to the desert that encircles all of its borders. Turning to the left we saw carved out of a mountain on the west bank of the Nile the imposing Great Temple of Ramses II. This temple was carved out of the mountain between 1274 and 1244 BC. It was dedicated to Ramses II, ... read more
April 5th 2011
At 3:00am the alarm starting harassing Michael and I to wake up. I hit the snooze button as if I was at home, but when the wakeup call rang I realized I was in Egypt and literally jumped out from under the covers. I took a quick shower, packed our backpacks and we went to meet our tour guides to Abu Simbel at the front desk. Knowing that we were leaving before the complimentary breakfast the Isis Corniche Hotel offers, the receptionist handed Michael and I each our own to-go breakfast bag. We left our backpacks with the front desk as we were going to return to the hotel again before catching our train to Luxor that evening. We turned and found our tour guides waiting with a car out front. You could see the relief ... read more
March 1st 2011
With the lingering thoughts of the ages past, when I entered the temple, I was greeted by eight huge pillars depicting the Ramses in Osirid position which is basically a typical posture of god Osiris (the god of the Underworld) with hands crossed over the chest and the entire body wrapped like a mummy. Now again here Ramses went out of the way and constructed the temple in a very different way temples used to be built in Egypt. Normally till then the Egyptian temples always followed a structure of pylon, hypostyle hall and a courtyard. These basic 3 elements are repeated n number of times before the inner sanctum wherein the deity resides. At Abu Simbel, we do not have the above pattern. It is a very small temple, with just two chambers before the ... read more
February 27th 2011
Abu Simbel - An Ancient Love Story retold over the ages Ramses - The Great and his beautiful wife Nefertari...the most celebrated couple of ancient Egypt and the immortal proof of their love - Abu Simbel!!! In midst of the barren desert stretches of Nubia stands immensely tall an unbelievable piece of master craftsmanship. Cut out of mountain, it has withstood the destructive forces of nature and mankind for past 3500 years. I had heard and read so much about Abu Simbel and was so eager to see this manmade marvel, that it wont be an exaggeration to say that the high point of my Egypt trip was ABU SIMBEL. We flew down to Abu Simbel from Egypt on a very early flight from Cairo. The sunrise from the aircraft was absolutely magnificent with Lake Nasser ... read more
Abu Simbel's breathtaking temples
Published: January 3rd 2011Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Abu Simbel
December 24th 2010
The whole reason for travelling so far South in Egypt was to visit Abu Simbel. Next door to our hotel was the travel agency Swan Tours so we decided to put our trust in them. We knew that tourists had to travel in an armed convoy and that it left at something ridiculous like 3am. Therefore we were mightily relieved when they told us that there was also an 11am convoy. Unfortunately we got into an argument with them when they wouldn't give us a receipt for our money. "But we are the famous Swan tour agency, why do you want a receipt?" they asked. Eventually we got a note saying we had paid for our tour! Although it is possible to travel on a public bus at different times without the convoy, we decided to ... read more
October 29th 2010
When my kids were little they used to watch cartoon on Sat. mornings. I don’t know the title but I do know that one of the constants was a goddess ( heroine) who would stand with her arms crossed above her head and say the words, “ Oh, Mighty Isis” beseeching the Isis to bestow upon her powers to protect something or other. So, here I was in the Temple of Philae at the southernmost tip of Egypt standing in a temple begun by Ptolemy ll and completed by Roman Emperors. It was the last temple constructed to worship the ancient Egyptian religion. It was nearly lost under the water from the Aswan Dam but was rescued by the Egyptian government and UNESCO. The main temple is dedicated to Isis. Then it gets a bit complicated ... read more
