Overnight Train, Philae Tempel, and High Dam
Trip Start
Dec 08, 2006
1
7
21
Trip End
Jan 03, 2006
Aswan,
Egypt
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Well, it has been yet another busy day here in Egypt. Last night we got on a train from Cairo down to Aswan in South Egypt. The train ride was about 13 hours long, and we slept most of the way, which was nice because we were really tired and sort of feeling sick. After arriving here and eating lunch, we took a tour to the High Dam and Philae Temple.
The high dam was completed about 30 years ago and is crucial to the survival of Egypt. They were forced to dam up the Nile in order to save Egypt from flooding that was occuring from the Nile. After completing the dam, a 500km long lake was formed called Lake Nasser. When visiting the dam, we drove right up on to it which overlooked Lake Nasser and the Nile Valley.
After visiting the High Dam, we went and toured the Philae Temple, which is located on an island close to the High Dam. We took a motorboat over to the Island and then spent the rest of our afternoon touring the temple. Waleed, our tour guide, explained a lot of history of the temple to us which was really interesting. We then had the chance to just explore the place for ourselves which was really fun. The temple was massive, and in 1972 - 1980 they moved the temple from one island to another. It is so massive that it was very hard to believe that they were able to move it and keep it in excellent condition.
I am now about to head to bed (which Randy has already done) because we have to wake up at 3:00am tomorrow for a trip to the temple of Abu Simble near the Sudanese border. We will then board a felucca (Nile Sail Boat) and begin our 2 day cruise up the Nile tomorrow.
I am including a few pictures here, but am gonna post all of our pics on my space (http://trentrollings.spaces.live.com) because it is easier and quicker to load them on there. Well thanks for checking out our TravelPod and God Bless!!!
Trent and Randy
