Temples in the sun and sailing on the nile

Abu Simbel

Arriving in Egypt feels like arriving in any other developed country in the world.  The roads are busy, the infrastructure is positively modern in comparison to the places we have been, everyone wants to offer you a ride in their 'taxi', and they have McDonalds!!

Aswan at night from the hotel rooftop looking across the Nile

From the dock it was about a 30 min bus ride into central Aswan which is situated on the nile, about 7 km or so below the dams that created Lake Nasser.  After dropping our gear off in our rooms almost everyone on the truck headed straight for the McDonalds to enjoy our first Big Mac (or burger of choice) in almost 4 months!  Thereafter, a poor nights sleep had most of us lazing around in our rooms enjoying the cool bliss of air-conditioning for the remainder of the day.

The following day we visited the nile dams and the Philae Temple, an impressive ancient temple that was relocated to an island following the creation of Lake Nasser.  We were suitably impressed.  With the backdrop of water, trees and greenery, the temple is aesthetically very pleasing and is also impressively massive in scale, towering over 20 metres high and comprising tens of thousands of tonnes of rock, of which every surface has been carved with hieroglyphics and depictions of emperors and gods.

Philae temple, Aswan

Philae Temple

Philae Temple

Abu Simbel

The following day was a very early start (4am) followed by a 3 hour drive literally almost the entire way back to Wadi Halfa (we were only 50km from Wadi Halfa) to see Abu Simbel.  Often regarded as one of the top 5 or 10 things to see in Egypt, Abu Simbel is another temple that had to be relocated in the 1960s following the creation of Lake Nasser.  Constructed thousands of years ago by King Ramses in his pursuit to become a god, the temple was originally excavated from the rock.  It is now beautifully restored and truly amazing to behold.  After only an hour and a half we were back on the bus for the return trip to Aswan.  Arriving in the early afternoon, but tired from what felt like a full day's activities we slowly meandered through the market and bazaar to look at spices, drawings on papyrus, clothes, jewellery and more.

Relaxing on the felluca

After two days of viewing temples around Aswan, the following day had us jumping aboard two fellucas (think Egyptian sailing boats) for a leisurely 2 day cruise down the Nile.  It was two days of relaxation, traveling at a very relaxed pace, stopping every hour or two for a swim or a meal (with all meals catered for by the crew).  Sailing along at temperatures in the late 30's even in the shade (but much more humid given the presence of the nile) it was positively refreshing to go for many short swims every day.  The water was cool but comfortable, clean and clear (at least in appearance) - we didn't get out of our togs the entire time we were on the fellucas.

A felluca

Edfu Temple

Kom Ombo Temple

Kom Ombo Temple

Jen at Kom Ombo temple (yes - she is wearing her pyjama pants)

After making our way only some 30 or 40km downstream we got off the fellucas to visit two more temples this morning before making our way to Luxor were we now are.  Tomorrow morning we're up for another 4am start to go hot air ballooning over the Valley of the Kings.