Abu Simbel - A Historic Site

This morning it's time for us to say goodbye to one of our favorite hotels - the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan.  We had an early morning breakfast in the beautiful Pharaoh Room.  The breakfast was sumptuous.  The wait staff was excellent.  Sadly, we have to move on to our next highlight - Abu Simbel

This is one of the highlights of our trip, among many.  Click on the link above and Wikipedia will give a detail account of the history and how it was moved.  Again, we hop on our 50-seater bus for a 3-hour comfortable ride south through the desert to near the border with Sudan.  Abu Simbel is such a significant archaeological site in Egypt that it was worth traveling an entire day out of the way to see it.  You will soon find out why.

This map shows where we are heading - way to the south near the border with Sudan

Our 50-seater Bus

Driving across the desert reminds me of driving from Phoenix to Los Angeles.  Large expanse of nothing except for an occasional incidental structure or pit stop.  There are almost no trees.  No mountains.  No people.  No animals.

Coffee Shop

Snack Shop

Equipment for what?

Transmission Towers

Trucks at an intersection

When the Aswan High Dam was built, it created Lake Nasser.  The rising waters of the lake would eventually drown out the massive temples of Abu Simbel.  In order to save it, it has to be moved to higher grounds, about 200 feet away.  To accomplish this monumental task the complex was cut into 1,036 blocks, each weighing 11 tons.  25,000 workers toiled for 3 years and an important part of history was saved.

As we approach the site we could see the carvings from a distance.  You start to appreciate it more when you are standing right in front of each of the temples.  There are many carvings at the bottom and all around the four big carvings.  Each has its own meaning.  Inside the temples are more rooms and carvings.

Approaching the site

Rock relief figures of Ramses II

Scultures at the feet

His wife Nefertari

Carvings at the feet

Inside the temple are more carvings on the walls and statues.

The smaller rock-cut temple:

Facing the smaller temple

At another angle

Relative locations of the two temples

Inside the small temple:

At night we went back to the Abu Simbel site to see a sound and light show:

That night we went back to the hotel for a very generous buffet dinner.  The next morning we'll be driving back to Aswan to board our private 16-passenger yacht to sail down the Nile river.