Blogs from Abu Simbel, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa

Early start today, in the van at the tender hour of 4:30am and off to today's destination: Abu Simbel...must say I really had no idea what to expect, it seemed excessive to drive four hours to a site with a two hour hang and then four hours back to Aswan, boy was I wrong! The journey started by crossing over the Old (Low) Aswan Dam, arguably one of the most famous dams in the world...built around the turn of the 20th century by the British, it was designed to provide storage of annual floodwater and increase dry season flows for greater irrigation development in the lower Nile...not much to see in the dark but still cool to say I have seen it... As mentioned the drive took about four hours, and while long it was nice ... read more

21 - 22 Nov Dernier poste frontalier avant de rejoindre le Soudan, Aswan est une ville commerciale hautement stratégique. Pour les marins du sud, la ville a toujours été un passage obligé pour rejoindre la Méditerranée par bateau. À des milliers d'années déjà, les commercants remontaient le Nil d'aussi loin que de l'Éthiopie ou de la Tanzanie (le Nil est le deuxième (ou premier) fleuve le plus long du monde après (avant?) l'Amazone... fleuve qui (peut-être) le dépasserait en longueur d'à peine 140 mètres). Le Royaume des Pharaons accueillait alors les voyageurs par un puissant avertissement: les grottes d'Abu Simbel, et particulièrement ses quatre immenses statues de pierre, les prévenaient de la grande puissance de Ramsès II (-1279 à -1213). Postés à l'entrée maritime de l'Égypte, les colosses d'Abu Simbel fascinent depuis leur découverte en 1813. ... read more

So our boat trip on the Royal Ruby along the Nile from Luxor to Aswan was 4 nights....though the boat was actually docked late at night in Aswan so we had 2 nights there. After leaving Luxor and heading through the Esna Lock we docked at a small place called Edfu and sailed through to Aswan the next day. En route we had gorgeous views and sunsets on the lush Nile with a very rich green delta each side of the river with lots of crops, veges etc. Whilst sailing sellers would come along in their tinnies and throw their ropes and hook onto our ship....they were hilarious...yelling out from the water to 4 floors up selling their wares....they would throw the item all the way up in a plastic bag and you returned money back ... read more

Un chapitre assez court cette fois-ci pour vous parler de l'endroit que j'ai préféré de tout ce voyage, mais également d'un sentiment d'humilité auquel j'ai souvent été confronté en Egypte. Engoncé dans le bus qui cahote dans la nuit noire du désert, je me force à me réveiller à 5:30 pour assister au lever du soleil. Le ciel commence déjà à s'éclaircir à l'Est, et le bleu fait place à des nuances de vert, rose, orange, jaune, alors que le sable, encore ébène, est tapi dans l'obscurité. Un croissant orange finit enfin par déchirer l'horizon, foudroyant les alentours de toute sa puissance. Quelques secondes plus tard, le dieu scarabée Khepri a tôt fait de le pousser entièrement jusque dans le ciel. Il n'est pas encore six heures, mais la puissance de l'astre solaire dardant ses rayons ... read more

A brief Stay in the town of Abu Simbel Turning the narrative back to Egypt. Day 5 of my journey. Mohammed my driver is taking me overland from Aswan to Abu Simbel. A journey of many hours. He speaks little English so we can't chat but he stopped driving in the middle of nowhere (this perfectly describes being in the desert) to point at what looked like a very large lake near the horizon. A mirage! A huge one. I remember hearing tales of thirsty ancient travelers being deceived by mirages and losing their lives, dying while trying to reach the water that doesn't exist, always in the distance. We stopped, again in the middle of nowhere, at a shady hut festively decorated with flags of many nations ,a llittle oasis in the desert. This was ... read more