The following morning, we had to wake up at 2:30 and to leave the ship by 3:15am heading for Abu Simbel, about 290km south of Aswan, near the Sudan border.
Because of the incident which took place some time in 1997 where some tourists were killed, security has been tight in Egypt especially the touristy areas. All tourist vehicles have to be escorted and travel in a convoy for long distance journey, we were told. And on this morning, we had to meet at a specific place by 3:30 to join the convoy to our destination.
The convoy left at 3:45 with most of us still in a zombie state. It was time to catch up with some sleep. In between sleep, I could see that we were travelling through desert land most of the time. We arrived at Abu Simbel about three hours later. It was a bright sunny day but breezy and cooling.
Abu Simbel is famous for the Great Temple of Ramesses II and the Small Temple, the temple of Hathor and Nefertari (wife of Ramesses II).
The temples were moved to its present location (which is on an artificial hill) from its original location, barely 200m away, in the 1960s, to prevent the temples from being submerged under the water of Lake Nasser. It cost USD40 million for the relocation and reconstruction.
Inside the temples, just like most of the other temples, museums and tombs in Egypt, no photographs are allowed.
The man-made hill housing the Great Temple
The Great Temple
Close-up view of the Great Temple
Ramesses II
The Small Temple
Lake Nasser (above and below)
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