http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Egypt , Upper Egypt , Abu Simbel en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:37:34 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:37:34 +0000 We left our hotel early for the Aswan airport to head to Abu Simbel. Mayer explained that you have to go by plane or military convoy escort on a bus. Apparently there has been a history of terrorism and tourists have been robbed and held as hostages by the Sudanese on their way through this secluded part of the desert. I felt better that we would be traveling by plane. We did have a little mi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-430926.html Keep watching more photos and blog to come http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-404763.html No time yet for a decent nights sleep it was time to pack our bags with a wake up call at 0220am. We were on our way to Abu Simbel a three hour drive south 290km finishing up only 15km away from the Sudan border. I did ask if we could 'just pop over' to the border to get our passports stamped but I retreated with some of the looks they gave me.Anyway Abu Simbel consists of two archeological http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-395911.html Tom and I had the choice of taking a 3hour each way bus ride to and from Abu Simbel or taking a flight from Aswan to the archaeological site. Which one do you think we chose Right we flew 40 minutes each way. The whole Abu Simbel temple was moved up hill in the 1960s to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser created by the construction of the high dam at Aswan. Tom and I remember http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-393160.html Dag 287 288. Opp til samme tid som igaar natt rett for kl. 03. Idag natt var ikke turen til Abu Simbel avlyst saa vi fikk utdelt hver vaar frokostboks fra hotellet for vi gikk til minibussen som sto klar rett utenfor doren. Vi kjorte rundt og hentet de andre som skulle vaere med. Vi hadde ikke kjort mer enn 15 minutter ut av sentrum for vi kom til en oppsamlingsplass for busser biler og and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-386771.html The tour started with a 245am wakeup call from the boat for our 330am minibus pickup. We knew it was going to be a shared transfer but we were hoping that we were just sharing in a regular van. No luck this trip was the minibus trip sold by the hostels where they load about 20 people into a minibus. When the bus first pulled up there was only two seats left and not together. When we sto http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-382587.html The pyramids need I say more SurpriseOn our free day our guide offered us a day trip to Alexandria I jumped at the chance to see the library and the location of the lighthouse one of the ancient wonders of the world it is now a fort built with the original stones here is a photo of our group Nubian Villagelast night we enjoyed a homecooked meal in a traditional Nubian Village here we ar http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-364363.html SECRETS OF THE NILE Trip with Grand Circle Travel May 31 to June 142008This blog was written by my friend and cotraveller Joan who was the scribe for our Egypt adventure. There are a lot of pictures not here but as soon as I learn how to do captions they will be on Picasa online and I'll send links to anyone interested. They are not in order with the text as I don't know how to do this. Yet http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-309891.html My last and first visit to Egypt was a little more than 6 years ago. I was fortunate to do most of the main sitesof the Great Egypt. I was even more fortunate to be able to visit the Tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Queensin Luxor. Today this visit is simply close to impossible. But 6 years ago I didn't made it to Abu Simbel.So Abu Simbel has since been on my wishlist. And yesterday I we http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-306436.html Ninth Stop Abu Simbel Egypt. Before departing from Aswan by boat we took an hour flight on Egypt Air to Abu Simbel on the Southern boarder of Egypt just a few miles from Sudan. Abu Simbel houses probably the most impressive temples I've ever seen in my life. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Rameses II in the 13th century BC over a th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-297987.html This blows the Pyramids and Sphinx away in my opinion. They moved this temple from Aswan to build a dam. We watched part of the video as we were waiting to board our flight. It costs us each 170 US to fly round trip to Abu Simbel and we all agreed it was well worth the money. I wish I had researched more on Egypt before I left. There is so much history here and it would be great to be able to r http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-285525.html Today we arose at 3am to get the convoy to Abu Simbel. This was a bus ride that took three hours. ON the way we got to see the sun rise over the Toshka Desert. This was a pretty amazing sight over the sand and mounds that look much like small pyramids.However the most amazing sight was still to come. Upon rounding the mountain at Abu Simbel the sight of the Great Temple of Ramses II was amaz http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-272841.html Life aboard Kasr Ibrim was extravagant and the food exceptional making it very difficult to not gain weight. The majority of monuments along lake Nasser have been relocated to escape the flooding resulting from the high dam at Aswan. Moving all the monuments in the 1960s was a feat of pharonic proportions but the most impressive has to be the relocation of the Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel on http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-270244.html Abu Simbel another highlight of Egypt they just keep comingA three hour convoy the Egyptians love them to the site. At least we were in a normal bus we could keep up with the rest this time And we had the usual pit stop dubbed the one pound pee that's the usual cost price for use of the facilities the quality varies on the way there to give us time to be hassled by all the seagull http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-267901.html Getting up before the crack of dawn is something that you need to get used to if yoursquore planning on a whirlwind tour of Egypt. Rising before the sun we picked up our handy boxedbreakfast from the hotel lobby with the other travellers who were making their way to Abu Simbel on a 3hour bus ride. Being short on time we opted for a short 30minute flight to Abu Simbel to arrive just as the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-266454.html Following a very early start we made our way via bus convoy through the barren desert to one of the most amazing archaeological sights in Egypt the massive temple at Abu Simbel built by Rameses II in the 13th C BC. The Great Temple of Rameses with its' 108 foot 33 metre high statues of Rameses II seated on a throne and the smaller temple of Hathor are an impressive sight and literally take y http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-255267.html TheGreat Pyramid of Giza is the oldest tombstone on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Antique World. The Great Pyramid took about 20 years to complete and several theories are debated by scholars as to how it was built and by whom. Some theories point to slave labor but it seems more reasonable that Egyptians themselves lent their efforts working during the times of year when the Nile was fl http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-243036.html Abu SimbelWe had a morning check out of the Movenpick Aswan Resort Hotel on Elephantine Island and took a flight on Egypt Air to Abu Simbel on Sunday January 4th. Since most travelers travel to Abu Simbel by bus or take Egypt Air flights with fixed departure and same day return flights most travelers do not overnight in Abu Simbel. Because we had read that the flights were sometimes delayed and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-241178.html We got up super early 230 am to catch the 4 am convoy to the temples at Abu Simbel which was 275 km or so away. We arived in time for sunrise and got some cool pictures well we thought they were pretty neat. We stayed there for 2 hours then took the bus back total driving time 6 hours. It was worth it though. Pretty amazing considering the whole site was relocated to higher ground to in th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-238977.html The above panoramic photo shows the Ramses colossi at Abu SimbelI arrived in Aswan just after lunch on the morning train from Luxor 1st class LE41. Despite the fact that I had already spent 4 days in Luxor and Thebes I was keen on visiting some more ancient Pharaonic sites both Abu Simbel and Philae Temple were on my agenda. When I travelled back to Luxor I was even able to visit the temples i http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Abu-Simbel/blog-224159.html