Abu Simbel – The Glory of Ramses II

Ramses II was Pharaoh of Egypt for a remarkably long 67 years during the 13 Century BC. He was one of the longest ruling Pharaohs ever and during his reign accomplished many great things, including what’s said to be the first large military battle between the Egyptians and Hitites called the Battle of Kadesh. During his reign it is said that Egypt prospered with growing power, wealth and status which made most people in Upper and Lower Egypt very happy.

Me and Mom in front of Abu Simbel

To commemorate the Battle of Kadesh and to intimidate his Nubian neighbors, Ramses II had the temples of Abu Simbel carved out of the side of a rock during a 20 year period beginning in 1264 BC. The first temple, dedicated to himself and god Amun, is a magnificent masterpiece with four extra-large (20+ meter high) statues of himself on the outside and a grand interior on the inside complete with another statue of himself along with three other Egyptian gods. The second temple, dedicated to his wife Nefertari, is not quite the size of the first, but still impressive with six large statues decorating the outside.

Mom and Pamela in front of glyphs at Abu Simbel

Pamela and Mom in front of the Temple of Nefertari

We don’t think a trip to Egypt is complete without seeing these grand temples, some say the masterpieces of Egypt. That being said it does take a bit of work getting to the temples. They can be reached overland from the Southern Nile city of Aswan or via air from Cairo. We did the overland route from an Aswan hotel. Unfortunately due to the temples close proximity to Sudan overland access for tourists is restricted to secure convoys that leave very early in the morning. Armed police in the first and last bus. Sometimes in the middle bus. The convoys first started after an attack on tourists many years ago. Since then there have been no reported incidents but the convoys continue as a revenue source for the police.

Here’s the timeline of our visit to Abu Simbel:
3:15am: Alarm goes off (Ugh, too darn early)
3:45am: Depart hotel with a breakfast box of bread, cheese and hard boiled egg. Yumm!
4:00am: Convoy of buses and minivans meet on the side of a road near police station. Sit around for a while watching the guides, drivers and police smoke cigarette after cigarette.
4:30am: Once someone deems enough buses have arrived it’s time to depart.
4:30am to 7:30am: Approximately 300 kilometer drive South through the desert. The sun came up around 6:30am.
7:45am: Arrive at Abu Simbel with everyone else. All tourists go in the same direction towards the main temple.
8:00am to 8:30am: Guide lecture on Abu Simbel
8:30am to 9:45am: Free time to explore the temples and take photos.
9:45am: Back to the bus going through the gauntlet of touts and shops Some of the touts at the exit to Abu Simbel are horribly rude and unnecessarily pushy. One even said some very disrespectful things to Pamela.
10:00am: Once everyone is back the convoy departs. It could take a few minutes to round everyone up, it could be several hundred people.
10:00am to 1:00pm: Same drive back through the desert. You do pass through the Tropic of Cancer on your way up and down but I didn’t see a sign for it. There were quite a few burned out old cars, trucks and buildings. No bathroom breaks either….so don’t drink too much.

Guys with guns waiting for the convoy to start.

Vans on the convoy

If we were to go back to Abu Simbel we would probably fly from Cairo straight to Abu Simbel then take the convoy back to Aswan. This would then get around taking the overnight train from Cairo to Aswan and avoid the early morning convoy. In either case we were super-glad to have seen the temples of Abu Simbel and consider it one of the highlights of our trip down the Nile.

Pamela in front of the temples of Abu Simbel

Mom and I in front of the Temple of Nefertari

All our pics from Abu Simbel can be found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/117257906652666550268/AbuSimbel?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Cheers for Now -

Pamela and Dave