Blogs from Abu Simbel, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 5

The tour started with a 2:45am wakeup call from the boat, for our 3:30am 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 stopped to pick up 4 more people, I realized what I thought were armrests and a centre isle, actually folded down into another seat. So at the very least we were able to switch with some people and sit together. Because of the terrorist activities in southern Egypt over the last 15 years, all foreigners have to travel in ... read more

SECRETS OF THE NILE - Trip with Grand Circle Travel May 31 to June 14,2008 This blog was written by my friend and co-traveller 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! We drove southward through Massachusetts and Connecticut, our hair flying in the wind and our anticipation running high. We were catching a plane for Cairo at JFK and Egypt was all we could think about. Manuela’s first job had been in Cairo back in the 60’s. JFK was its usual busy maze of ticketing, gates ... read more

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 thousand years after the pyramids), as a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari, to commemorate his alleged victory at the Battle of Kadesh, and to intimidate his Nubian neighbors. The temples were hidden under sand for centuries but re-discovered in 1800s by a European archaelogist. ... read more

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 amazing! It was a lot bigger then I imagined and quite breath taking. Our guide for the day was very helpful in explaining the temple, what was in it, and how they moved it from the lower point it was situated at, to where it is now, before they built the high dam. The dam seems to be ... read more

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 your breath away when you first lay eyes on them. I can only imagine how Swiss explorer, Jean-Louis Burckhardt, felt in 1813 when he 'rediscovered' the facade of the Great Temple. The temples were intended to show Egypt's enemies (particularly Nubia) their power and might and I'd say they would have been fairly effective - the interiors of the temples are ... read more