Aswan to Abu Simbel and sailing North
▲▲▲Thursday – yet another wonderful restful night – and we awake to find that most of the people on the boat have departed.
There must be only about 30 people left on board if that, and there are no more joining us. This is going to be even better.
It’s like we each have our own exclusive waiter. Mohamed says that the people who left us did the cruise from Aswan and back or just Luxor to Aswan. Our cruise is Luxor and return – – plus it is only the first week or so of the tourist season. Yep, we picked the right time for sure.
We breakfast early because today we have our flight to Abu Simbel – the site of the imposing Temples of Ramses II – otherwise known as Ramses the Great. This was not included in the tour – it is an added extra but if you are going to be in Egypt then it is definitely worth the money.
Flying Egypt Air – we depart Aswan airport and arrive at Abu Simbel airport to find that they are doing a lot of artwork on the buildings as you can see in the picture on the right. It should look great when it is finished.
The sky is still a brilliant blue and the temperature is heating up. I have my trusty cotton head-dress that I have learned to weave around my head like a native and I have plenty of bottled water. Still no sign of the dreaded ‘mummies tummy’ – must be the Amaretto that I have in the sanctuary of my room!!!
We get on our little bus and head off. What a place. Beats anything you read in books. The Temples overlook Lake Nasser and I am astounded with the size and the overall majesty of the place.
Mohamed gives us the customary talk about the temple and – it is hard to realise that this place – like Philae – has been moved to higher ground because of the Aswan Dam. I just can’t imagine how on earth they managed to cut it all up into blocks and then reassemble it as if nothing had happened.
HISTORY LESSON : Three hundred and twenty km from Aswan in Nubia is this most beautiful and imaginative construction. The temple is dedicated in theory to Amon-Ra, Harmakis and Ptah but in reality it was constructed for the greater glory of its builder – Ramses II (Ramses the Great).
The temple is 38 metres wide by 65 metres long and carved out of a single piece of rock. The façade consists of four colossal statues of the Pharaoh seated on his throne. Each statue is 20 metres high and measures 4 metres from ear to ear.
When you go through the entrance there is a long hallway which is part of a temple. There is a poem written by Pentaur serving at the court of Ramses at this time, written in heiroglyphs and engraved on the walls of the Temple.
It is an epic saga of how Ramses – finding himself alone with his personal guard goes into battle with seventy five war chariots against an enemy possessing more than two thousand chariots and comes out victorious.
Inside the temple there are eight Osirian pilasters. These are about fifteen – twenty metres high and they line the way to the sanctuary.
Penetrating into the heart of the mountain, one reaches the Sanctuary where there are statues of the triad to whom the temple was dedicated along with one of Ramses II.
It was here that the ‘miracle of the sun’ took place. Twice a year on 21st March and 21st September, a ray of sunlight would bathe Amon-Ra and Ramses in light. A few minutes later the light would fall on Harmakis. The light would never reach that of the god Ptah – for he is the god of darkness.
The statues, left to right – Ptah, Amon-Ra, Ramses II and Harmakis. The temple walls also celebrate the military grandeur and might of Ramses II.
Ramses II also built a smaller temple, the Temple of Hathor, barely ten metres long, which he dedicated to his wife Nefertari. This is built beside his masterpiece. Never before in Egypt had the wife of a pharaoh been depicted on the façade of a temple and indeed only Nefertari was the only royal wife who ever did achieve this honour. Her name means ‘The Beautiful Companion’.
Below is a picture of the front of the ‘smaller’ temple showing Nefertari the same height as Ramses II. What is truly surprising is that for the only time in Egyptian art, the statues of the king and his consort are equal in size.
If you look at the photo of his greater temple her statues are very small – not even knee height. The temple of Hathor and Nefertari, also known as the Small Temple, was built about one hundred meters northeast of the temple of Ramses II and was dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Nefertari. This was in fact the second time in ancient Egyptian history that a temple was dedicated to a queen. The first time, Akhenaten dedicated a temple to his great royal wife, Nefertiti.
The rock-cut facade is decorated with two groups of colossi that are separated by the large gateway. The statues, slightly more than ten meters high, are of the king and his queen.
On either side of the portal are two statues of the king, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt (south colossus) and the double crown (north colossus); these are flanked by statues of the queen and the king.
The danger that the temples might disappear beneath the waters of the artificial lake had world wide repercussions. UNESCO immediately set up two commissions to study the problem.
The complex of Ramses and Nefertari was reconstructed exactly as it had been on a site ninety metres above the original level. However, it was soon realized that it was not possible to reconstruct the temple just like that because the weight of the artificial rock built above it would cause the temple to crumble. Therefore, two enormous domes of reinforced concrete were built over it which took the pressure of the mountain and protected the sanctuary.
After walking around and inside the temples and taking loads of photos our group goes inside the massive high concrete dome and we see how the temples were dismantled and then reconstructed on higher ground before the dam and the lake were created.
The temples were sawn into 1036 blocks, the average weight of each was 30 tonnes. These blocks were added to the 1110 pieces cut from the surrounding rock. It is truly amazing.
When we have finished our tour of walking through the dome we come out on the other side of the temples – outside the main entrance. Just as well I took lots of photos as we were going along as this is where the tour ended and we can’t go back to the front of the temples.
The usual tourist stands greet us along with a splendid view of Lake Nassar. It has been an incredible visit.
We get back on our bus and return to the airport where we board our Egypt Air express for Aswan. Back on board we have a bit of a late lunch. I know I keep saying the food is great.
Fresh Nile perch was on for lunch today – scrumptious plus lots of salads & lots and lots of olives. After lunch I do what I do best – – – – more lounging about in the pool and soaking up the sun. Every day while enjoying the luxury of the pool deck the same song has played over and over and over. It is the theme song from Titanic – The Heart Will Go On.
Whilst enjoying the song, lying in the sun and feeling the gentle motion of the boat – I have an uneasy feeling of doom and hope that we will not experience our very own Titanic adventure.
When it is time to cool off and dive into the pool I do so with my sun glasses on and then have to retrieve them when I notice they are missing – – – once I even went back to my room looking for them, until one of the crew pointed out to me that they were on the bottom of the pool.
Aswan is the furthest south that we cruise. We now turn around and head back north. There will be no stops – except overnight – on our way back to Luxor. So lots of time in the pool – – – and just relaxing – – – and speaking of relaxing – –
Here is Kylie, after having learnt her lesson about the sun, she is now taking refuge in the shade. What better way to enjoy an afternoon? Feet up, listening to music and writing out a few postcards.
Late in the afternoon we cruise past the Temple of Kom Ombo – the one that Kylie missed – – so at least she gets to see it – even if it is from a distance.
There seems to be a lot more cruise boats on the river than what we saw coming to Aswan.
It is now getting dark and we have to stop here for the night which gives us some great photo opportunities of sunset on the Nile.
Looking forward to an early night and a very peaceful night’s sleep.
Highlight of the day : The unforgettable Majesty of Abu Simbel
