Philae Temple & Abu Simbel

I awoke on the train to the sun rising over the Nile valley, lush fields of sugar cane and vegetables, sprinkled with date palms and pickers. Shortly after breakfast, we made it to Aswan…

As with other trips, there is a WhatsApp group for folks to share their pix. Here are just a few from others…

After dropping our luggage, but yet to check in, we took a bus and a boat to the Temple of Philae, the first of two amazing sites that were completely removed from their original locations due to the building of the Aswan Dam and the creation of Lake Nasser.

The Temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis, originally started 380–362 BC, was moved from one island to another from 1977 to 1980, having already been subjected to the rising waters of the reservoir. Both the temple and project to move it were impressive, particularly because of the feature of positioning that allows light to shine on the sculptures within on two days of the year.

It is also interesting that Coptic Christians reappropriated the temple as a basilica before the Roman Empire officially adopted Christianity, and consequently there are other carvings (mostly crosses) depicting this this history. And, this is why many of the gods depicted were defaced – especially Isis (find the hole over her face below)…

More pix from around the Temple of Philae…

Eventually, we made it back to Aswan, had a traditional lunch, and walked back to the hotel through the souq…

After only a couple hours rest, we met again to board one of the many boats ferrying folks around the Nile, and took in a lovely sunset before going to a Nubian village for dinner with a local family and an opportunity to learn about Nubian culture. It was a particularly pleasant spot to enjoy a view of Aswan…

The next morning, six of us were up early to fly to Abu Simbel, an amazing pair of mountains carved into temples way back in 1300 BC. As amazing, like the Temple of Philae, Abu Simbel was moved in it’s entirely, carved into blocks, to its present location in 1968 – also due to the encroachment of Lake Nasser – which you can see we flew over part of.

There, we were greeted by Achmed, who gave us a personal tour of Abu Simbel. Unfortunately, we were not alone. A vast number of fellow tourists with an embarrassment of selfie sticks were there with us, making the experience more international – and not in a good way. In any case, it was worth the trip…

More of Achmed and Abu Simbel and the unregulated masses…

Thanks to aviation, the whole Abu Simbel experience was over by lunch time and we were able to relax at our quite nice hotel. After rest and pool time, five of us went to a perfume and glass blowing shop. We were given a thorough demonstration, including lots of sniffs and a massage, and I succumbed to buying more than planned. Turns out, what with my Omani purchase of Frankincense, the middle east has become a very fragrant experience…

We took another boat across to another Nile island for dinner at King Jamaica. We met King Jamaica at his delightful restaurant, see below. I would’ve enjoyed it more but had become afflicted with what I’m calling “mummy tummy” and was too cold, but it was a good time…