Abu Simbel

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A glorious 3am start in Aswan in order to commence our drive 300km south to Abu Simbel. Due to tourist murders some years ago we were required to travel in a convoy, which departed at 4.30am. The notion of a convoy was a joke. The buses were passing each other (in terrorist language that equals a two for one deal)! and at one point of the journey I couldn't see a bus ahead of me or a bus behind me. The drive was long and on a bad road but the destination was worth it.

Abu Simbel is truly quite amazing. The temple was carved into the side of the mountain by Pharoh Ramsses II in 6th century BC. The larger monument is a testament to himself whilst the smaller monument is a testament to his (favourite) wife Nefetari. The entire monument was moved in the 1960's due to the construction of Lake Nasser and it now situated on an artificial mountain. The Egyptians seem to be particularly proud of this feat, but the Resource Management lawyer inside says why build the dam in the first place, as opposed to taking the risk of destroying this temple.

Both monuments stretch far inside the mountain, with the walls being covered in hieroglyphs and remnants of the brightly covered paint that would have covered them. Tip for travellers: Be sure to bring plenty of water with you from Aswan, the market sellers will try to sell you water at exorbitant prices (almost 10NZD for half a litre).

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Photos

Abu Simbel
You can see on the leg of this statue the names of the explorers who visited this temple in the 1800's. This ancient vandalism was evident throughout the monument