We
arrived in the city of Aswan after a night of no sleep in a very
uncomfortable Egyptian train that I think we would both rather
forget... There was not much to see in Aswan however the McDonalds
were we had lunch was worth a huge mention! definitely one of the
great Egyptian tourist locations LOL. We had a free day to explore
this town and catch up on some much needed sleep. In the evening we
caught a motor boat to the amazing Philae Temple (Built for the
Goddess Isis) for a light and sound show and it was magical.
The
experience was amazing as throughout the show the temple was lit in
different coloured lights and this gave the feeling that this temple
was still very much alive with the spirits of the gods...
What was
really interesting was the names of the persons that have visited
this temple including the great Napoleon who name remains etched in
the temple walls! Our second day of Aswan began in the middle of the
night with a 3.15am wake up call as we were off to join a police
secured convoy through the desert to the famous Abu Simbil Temples..
There were about a hundred vehicles in this convoy as protection is
required while traveling through the desert... A little scary but all
good... Although it was a ridiculously early start we were able to
watch the sun rise over the desert and this was so beautiful...
After
4 hours in a bus we arrived and the Abu Simbil temples which were
built for Ramses II and his wife..
Now this king was completely in
love with himself... This was incredible..
We were not allowed to
take photos inside so here is a photo of the inside from a post card
to see how glorious this place really was..
This tour is just go go
go as that same night we caught a motorboat to a traditional Nubian Village during sunset - so beautiful.
It was
a huge eye opening experience especially when we ventured into the
local school where a teacher tried and failed to teach us Arabic...
It was pretty funny. We also visited a local house where we were able
to play with pet crocodiles and ate a traditional Nubian dinner (it
was nice but very bland).
After dinner we were privy to a Nubian show
with dancing, singing, and of course, audience participation where
Dan was again picked from the crowd to preform and it was hilarious..
Tomorrow we are off again heading further Nth through Egypt
