Of all the sites I was scheduled to see in Egypt, Abu Simbel was the one I looked forward to the most. The photos I found online of Abu Simbel were just amazing. I'm not sure if Abu Simbel is on the list of "Places to See Before You Die" but if it isn't it definitely needs to be. It's an incredible site.
There are mainly two ways to get to Abu Simbel... the only first option is a 1hr. flight (from Aswan) and the second is to drive. The journey from Aswan to Abu Simbel is a long 3.5 hrs and the voyage begins around 4am. From what I understand there isn't much to see in the area so you're really just going to see Abu Simbel and an hour or two later you turn around and drive another 3.5 hrs. Oh, and did I mention you make this drive with police escorts through the desert. When I read this little detail, I became concerned... a lot can happen in the 7 hours you're driving through the desert. If you wanted to torture me, this option would be a sure way to do it. lol!
In planning our Egypt trip, I made a great case for myself as to why it was better to fly to Abu Simbel. Much to my surprise, R wasn't buying it. He decided he wasn't going to fly (remember how I mentioned he dislikes flying) and would SKIP Abu Simbel. Yep, that's right he was just going to skip it all together. When I asked R if he'd regret it he said, "Absolutely Not". hmmm... Convincing someone with this attitude was going to be tough. And going to Abu Simbel alone wasn't something I'd thought about - I mean I thought R would definitely want to go. But going alone wasn't going to stop me. If you know me well, you know that once I set out to do something I become very focused & determined to make it happen. A little glitch would not stop me. But I had some reservations about how to tell S. I knew he wouldn't be thrilled about me going by myself but he knows me well... and he knew I'd get there whether he was comfortable with the idea or not. I'm not like R... I would regret it.
But once I told R I was going to Abu Simbel with or without him he began to give Abu Simbel more thought. The seed was planted. R began to do his own research which included in depth reading about the airlines as well their safety reports. I tried to reassure R that there were hundreds of people that flew to Abu Simbel each day so the plane wouldn't be tiny aircraft where they ask people to sit in different seats so the plane can be balanced. After much thought, R decided he would go but he warned me that if he felt uneasy after seeing the plane he'd back out and I'd have to go by myself. I was happy he was at least giving it a chance. If he did get on the plane, I promised to hold his hand through the flight. ;)
Flying to Abu Simbel meant we didn't have to watch up at 3am. Instead we caught the 9am flight. Or at least that's what we thought. Our flight was delayed twice and we left Aswan much later than we thought. Since our flight was delayed I asked Mohammad if that meant we would have less time to see Abu Simbel. But he reassured me that I'd have plenty of time to see everything.
While we waited we noticed a group of women staring at us. Again, I thought. Were these women staring at R? Did they really think he looked like George Bush, Jr.? After much whispering and staring, one of the ladies walked in our direction only to get a better look at us . lol! But right when she passed us I caught her staring at us and I began to say, "I know who you think he looks like..." but the woman interrupted me and said, "YOU look exactly like my daughter! I can't believe the resemblance." They were actually staring at ME this whole time? lol! R & I both started laughing. All three women were American and were together on another tour. We talked for about an hour and I discovered the woman who approached me actually lives about 30 mins from my parents. It's amazing how small the world can be sometimes. These women were really sweet and R & I enjoyed talking to them. I even took photos with the woman from Florida so she could show her daughter who was resting at the hotel and decided not to go to Abu Simbel. Right before we boarded our plane, she gave me her personal card and inscribed it with a little note..."Come see your twin." ;)
After a short and very comfortable flight, we grabbed a taxi and drove about 5 minutes to Abu Simbel. The day was absolutely gorgeous. Being that Abu Simbel is located near the southern border of Sudan it was much warmer than it had been in Aswan.
The closer we got to the temples, Mohammad asked us to cover our eyes. After a few more steps he told us we could look. And this is what we saw.
Standing in front of this temple was an incredible moment. The temple is massive in size. The facade is 33 meters (108.27 ft) high, and 38 meters (124.67 ft) wide, and guarded by four statues, each of which is 20 meters (65.62 ft) high.
The Temple of Ramses II is considered the grandest and most beautiful of the temples commissioned during the reign of Ramses II, and one of the most beautiful in Egypt. The construction for the temple complex started in approximately 1244 BCE and lasted for about 20 years, until 1224 BCE. The Temple of Ramses II was dedicated to Ra-Harakhty, Ptah and Amun, Egypt's three state deities of the time.
This temple was one of six rock temples erected in Nubia during the long reign of Ramses II. The temples were built to impress Egypt's southern neighbors, and also to reinforce the status of Egyptian religion in the region. Historians say that the design of Abu Simbel expresses a bit of ego and pride in Ramses II. I'd have to agree considering all four statues represent Ramses II seating on a throne wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. lol!
Several smaller figures are situated at the feet of the four statues, depicting members of the pharaoh's family. They include his mother Tuya, Nefertari, and some of his sons and daughters. Above the entrance there is a statue of a falcon-headed Ra-Harakhte, with the pharaoh shown worshiping on both sides of him.
The facade is topped by a row of 22 baboons, their arms raised in the air, supposedly worshiping the rising sun.
The interior of the temple is a magnificent sight. Photos are not allowed inside the temple unless of course you bribe the guards. Seeing other tourists bribe the guards was quite disheartening for me.
When you walk into the first hall of the temple there are eight large statues of the king as Osiris, four on each side, which also serve as pillars to support the roof. The walls are decorated in relief with scenes showing the king presenting prisoners to the gods as well as the king in battle, including the great battle of Kadesh on the north, and Syrian, Libyan and Nubian wars on the south wall.
Behind the first hall is a another hall with ritual offering scenes. In one scene both Ramses and Nefertari are shown with the sacred boats of Amun and Ra-Horakthy.
Towards the back of the temple there is a sanctuary which contains a small altar and in its rear niche are four statues. These statues represent Ramses II himself, and the three state gods of the New Kingdom - Ra-Horakhty of Heliopolis, Ptah of Memphis and Amun Re of Thebes. Amun was the king of the gods in the New Kingdom and during that time he was joined with the sun god Re to become Amun Re, the creator and father of the pharaohs. As you can imagine there were many temples dedicated to him.
What is fascinating about the sanctuary is that the axis of the temple is arranged so that on two days of the year,20 February and 20 October, the rising sun shoots its rays through the entrance and halls until it finally illuminates the sanctuary statues. These dates are allegedly the king's birthday and coronation day, but there is no evidence to support this. Due to the displacement of the temple, it is widely believed that this event now occurs one day later than it did originally.
The Temple of Nefertari, the smaller temple, is located to the north of the Great Temple of Ramses II. It was dedicated to Hathor, the goddess of love and beauty, and also to his favorite wife, Nefertari. The façade is adorned by six statues, four of Ramses II and two of Nefertari.
One unusual detail about this temple is how the six sculptures are the same height which indicates the esteem in which Nefertari was held.
R & I thought we'd be funny and pose as a modern day Ramses & Nefertari. lol!
What's really incredible about Abu Simbel is that it was reconstructed in 1964. That's right... between 1964 and 1968 the entire site was cut into large blocks (up to 30 tons averaging 20 tons), dismantled and reassembled in a new location– 65 meters (213.25 ft) higher and 200 meters (.12 miles) back from the river. In 1959, an international campaign began to save the monument.
The temples were under threat from the rising waters of the Nile, a result from the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Both temples suffered from the rising water of Lake Nasser but with the help of UNESCO, they were saved and moved to their current location.
I think R & I could have easily spent the entire afternoon at Abu Simbel. We took our time and looked at everything. It was absolutely fascinating.
When we arrived at the airport, Mohammad checked us in and gave us our boarding passes. When I looked at my boarding pass, I noticed my name was incorrect. And by incorrect I mean COMPLETELY wrong. I asked R if his boarding pass was correct and it was. Thinking I received someone else's boarding pass, I expressed my concern to Mohammad. But he told me, "Don't worry. My boarding pass doesn't have my name either." hmmm? I found this really odd. I mean in the US we're warned that if the name on your ticket doesn't match your identification, they can refuse to let you on the plane. And here I was with a boarding pass that just didn't 't have a slight typo it was someone completely different name.
As we waited in line, I saw the woman I met earlier from Florida and she said, "I think I have your boarding pass." "Really?" I said. But when I looked at the name it was someone else. I told her, "Your boarding pass doesn't have your name on it either." Now this was weird. But Mohammad explained that because the airlines have so many people flying in and out of Abu Simbel that this is just the way things are done. I suppose it explains why Mohammad didn't rush us at Abu Simbel. I guess we could have taken any flight back to Aswan.
When we boarded the plane I told R, " I bet you 90% of the people on this flight have the wrong boarding passes". We laughed about it but seriously if anything happened to our plane identifying the passengers would be an absolute nightmare. But I didn't want to think about it.
Our flight started out fine but shortly after we took off we began to experience some serious turbulence. R quickly grabbed my hand and closed his eyes. I began to feel guilty considering R was on this flight primarily because of me. I tried to reassure him & told him everything would be fine. I looked over at Mohammad and he didn't look good either. He immediately grabbed a bag as if he were about to get sick. And me? Well, I just looked away. I didn't want to get sick. I remained pretty calm but some morbid thoughts crept into my mind.
But thank god, we landed safely.
I love the photo of you and R posing as modern day Ramses & Nefertari, fantastic photos!
Posted by: Greek girl | 01 April 2010 at 22:45