Amazing Abu Simbel

  Aswan, Egypt
Thursday, May 10, 2007

Today we got up at 3:30am to travel on a 3 hour bus ride to go see the wonderous temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, about 50km from the border with Sudan.  The temple is several thousand years old, and was believed to have been built by the great Pharoah Ramses II to Ra, the Sun God, because on two days every year the temple is positioned so that the rays of the rising sun penetrate all the way to the back and illuminate three of the four statues there (missing out the God of Darkness).  The temple is famous for the four MASSIVE statues of the pharoah at its entrance, and is supposed to be one of the highlights of Egypt. 

Dan and Gabrielle at Abu Simbel

In the 1960s, it was scheduled to be lost forever beneath the rising water of the Nasser Dam project.  Then UNESCO stepped in, and over four years painstakingly dismantled the entire temple and moved it, piece by piece, 200m up the hillside and out of the reach of the rising waters.  They also moved the temple beside it, a gorgeous building dedicated to the Pharoah's second wife, Nefertari.  The temple was the first one ever built by a Pharoah for his queen, and the story goes that Ramses II was so in love with the beautiful Nefertari that after he married her, he refused to take any other wives until she died.  After her death, he consoled himself by marrying 45 more women.

Gabrielle and the Pharaoh

Whatever the story of the temples, they were AMAZING.  Like... wow... up there, maybe even better than the Pyramids.  That good.  I'm totally serious.  The massive sculptures outside were impressive enough, but then you step inside, and the entire surface of the interior, every column and wall, every side room and pillar, is covered in elaborate carvings, heiroglyphics and battle scenes, most of them in colours so vivid you would think they were painted last year, not 3000 years ago.  It was just SPECTACULAR.  I really can't say this enough.  If you are ever in Egypt, DO NOT MISS THIS!!! 

Nefertari's Temple

The Temple of Ramses II was truly gigantic, it dwarfed us completely standing beside the huge statues guarding the entrance, and the inside was lined with further massive statues of the god Osiris, watching calmly for thousands of years.  The Temple of Nefertari was smaller, but just as beautiful, every surface carved and painted in gorgeous colours.  Despite the heat (close to 50 Celcius) we explored for about two hours until it was time to head back to Aswan, still buzzing with excitement.

The Colossi of Ramses II

In the afternoon we boarded a felucca, a traditional Egyptian sailboat, and cruised down the Nile.  It was just lovely, resting under the shade on the deck, sipping Egyptian beers from the cooler, and watching the riverbanks slide by.  At one point we moored in a sheltered area and jumped in for a swim in the Nile - contrary to popular belief, the river near Aswan is relatively clean and unpolluted, with no crocodiles, sharks, bilharzia, or other nasty bacteria or carnivores, and we had a lovely cool swim after the heat of the day.

Quiet Mooring

Late in the evening, we stopped on an island that was home to a Nubian village.  The Nubians are an ancient civilization whose traditional lands are in the border region between Egypt and the Sudan.  For many years, they were enemies of the Ancient Egyptians, and fierce wars were fought between the two.  In the 1960s, with the building of the Nasser Dam, some 500km of Nubian land was flooded and the Nubians were forced to relocate.  Some moved South, into the Sudan, while others moved North to Aswan and other settlements in Egypt.  Debate continues about whether this was a forced move, and if the Nubians were compensated, but it is clear that although they were 'resettled' by the Egyptian government into prefabricated villages, they were very negatively impacted by the move, and to this day are treated somewhat as second class citizens in Egypt.  The government, for example, built a school in the village we visited after the elders and village people petitioned them that there was no schooling for their children, but left it completely empty.  Everything in the school - chairs, desks, whiteboards, books, paper, EVERYTHING - is a result of the villagers fundraising themselves, and donations by tourists.  Imaginative Traveller is a supporter of the school, and we got to visit and were shown around by one of the teachers, who was obviously and deservedly proud of what they have managed to accomplish there.  Afterwards, our tour leader told us we could donate some of our spare Egyptian pounds if we wanted - we were all keen to do so, having seen exactly where the money went, and how hard the villagers had worked to get the school going.

Relaxing on the Boat

Afterwards, we headed to a local house for a traditional Nubian dinner, served by women carrying the huge crockery pots balanced on trays on their heads, and complete with a nosy donkey leaning in the door and braying every so often.  The Nubian homes are all brightly coloured and decorated, usually with geometric patterns in shades of bright blue and yellow, with a central courtyard to allow the breeze to blow through during the day.  Even at 9pm, the temperature was well above 30 Celcius, so we were glad of the breeze from the Nile.  Some of the girls had henna tattoos done on their hands and ankles by a local woman while we waited, and then after dinner we all trooped back out to the felucca for a night under the stars, floating on the Nile.

Traditional Tattoo