Egypt: Aswan Abu Simbel (19 December 2020)

The dreaded 3.30am wake up. The hotel owner had turned my breakfast into a packed lunch, which was a nice surprise and we headed across the Nile to the mainland on the owner's boat...or one of many that he commandeered. 

The owner spoke little English so I did not know any details of what this trip would entail. I was joined by a Chinese couple, and a small Egyptian family. The four hour drive south near to the Sudanese border flew by, mainly because I was unconscious for most of it. Somewhere along the four hour drive, can't tell you much about it:

Abu Simbel was probably the most anticipated sight of my trip. Not only was it an ancient feat of engineering, built around 1264BC, but also of modern engineering. The entire complex was relocated in 1968 during the construction of the Aswan High Dam to move it above water and to save it from being washed away forever. The site was cut into large blocks, dismantled, moved and reassembled 65m higher then previously.

Yet again we arrived at a totally empty customer car park. At some point in the journey a tour guide had joined us - great, I thought. It turns out that this tour guide was booked by the Chinese couple - brilliant. After paying for my ticket, I found out that it included a free tour guide. At first I refused the guide, but after a little while thought why not, especially as it was free (except for the ubiquitous baksheesh).

The four hour journey was definitely worth it:

The sheer size of the temple was something to behold. To build this with modern techniques would be incredible, but to build this 3000 years ago is unthinkable. The inside was equally spectacular. 

The Great Temple as it is called is dedicated to the King Ramesses II, alongside the Gods; Amun, Ra-Horakhty, and Ptah. Incredibly the temple was built to illuminate the sculptures on the back wall of the temple on 22nd February and 22nd October every year - the dates of the King's birthday and coronation. Whilst at the same time ensuring that the god connected with the realm of the dead (far lef), remained in darkness:

After some time in the temple, without the guide as they are not allowed inside. We headed over to the small temple of the Goddess Hathor and Ramesses II's chief consort Nefertari:

My tour guide turned into my personal photographer, which was worth paying that Baksheesh for:

The four ride back to Aswan was much of the same as the first one - sleeping.

Back at Aswan, I decided to go bouji for dinner. The Old Cataract Hotel is around £200 per night for a room and had a couple of restaurants, one which required a jacket and shirt (no chance) and another more casual. At the entrance I had to pay £20 to receive a voucher which let me into the ground that I could put towards food and drink.

Of course, I had to start with an Old Fashioned which border on prices north of what I'd pay in London:

Whilst eating my three course dinner, I was reading up on Covid developments back home. The UK was going into lockdown #2, which led to making the decision to extend my trip. I booked a new flight departing on Christmas Eve which gave me 3/4 more days of Egypt - this turn out to be a wise choice as Christmas was more or less cancelled.