Blogs from Abu Simbel, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 6

Getting up before the crack of dawn is something that you need to get used to if you’re planning on a whirlwind tour of Egypt. Rising before the sun, we picked up our handy boxed-breakfast from the hotel lobby with the other travellers who were making their way to Abu Simbel on a 3-hour bus ride. Being short on time, we opted for a short 30-minute flight to Abu Simbel to arrive just as the site opened and before the intense heat of the day hit. Abu Simbel is breathtaking. Moved when the Aswan Dam was built to prevent it from being lost in the floodwaters the dam created, the temples at Abu Simbel were painfully reconstructed on the side of a man-made mountain overlooking Lake Nassar. In order to get to the front of the ... read more

Finally the slow train from Cairo arrived in the city of Aswan on the Nile. It is really hot here, must be way over 100; so we shower after our 14 hours on the train and try to get a bit cooler in the air conditioned hotel. Tonight we visit a Nubian's house where he tells us about the Nubian culture which was somewhat displaced when the Aswan dam flooded their homes and farms. Then the morning of the 1st of June we got up at 3:30 a.m. (to avoid the heat) and drove in a GUARDED CONVOY to the Abu Simbel site. Abu Simbel was relocated in a man made mountain, having been flooded by Aswan. It is impressive, not only for its size, but in my mind as much as for the fact ... read more

Untitled Today we had to get up at 6:30am if we were doing to optional trip to Abu Simbel. We left the boat at 7:30am to drive to the airport and catch our flight. The flight was about an hour. Once we landed, it was a short drive to the temples. We saw the temples of Rameses II and his wife Nefertari. After some time wandering around the temples and a short break at the cafe, we headed back to airport for our return flight and then back to the boat. We got back to the boat about an hour later than expected (~2pm) and the boat set sail immediately for Kom Ombo. We had lunch and then several of us sat around on the deck talking. Tea was served at 4pm and we had to ... read more

Woke up at 3am this morning.. packed my stuffs and went down for breakfast.. The breakfast included by the hotels here are just some bread rolls and jam, and a cup of shai.. dun think interncontinental breakfast buffet.. At breakfast, realized that a group of Chinese youths i met at Luxor are putting up at Hathor and going for the trip as well.. 330am, bus came.. a 20+ seater... bus went around picking up a few more passengers, and as i guessed, the Beijing couple came on board as well.. woah.. Chinese power in this bus! haha... Fell asleep on bus shortly after the trip started.. wanted to wake up in time to see the dawn light setting in on the desert landscape we're driving through.. i've always loved to watch the sky brightening up ... read more

The time was 4.00am on the next morning following an overnight sit-up train journey from Cairo and we were tired and grumpy about the ridiculous timing of the convoy from Luxor to Abu Simbel. The first sign that things were looking brighter was the sunrise underway out of the bus window some hours later, the second being the pleasant temperature (warm for February) and the last was the sight of few tourists around, instead of the hordes at the Pyramids in Giza. The temples and their location are stunning, with the reconstructed mountain being undetectable from the rear. Fronted by the famous four images of Phaoroh Ramses II, complete to the fallen head of the second-from-the left one. The temple is very deep, lined with more huge statues and many side chambers. Now it is said ... read more