Wednesday, 10/28. We are back in Cairo, and finally have fast functioning internet! Will catch up on all the posts now that I can add photos.
Abu Simbel, Egypt What a day. We left our cozy ship and headed to the Aswan airport for our flight to Abu Simbel, which was sheer chaos. But we managed to eventually get to our nice business class seats, whereupon the flight attendant spilled half a can of Fanta on my newly laundered tan slacks. Fanta. Orange soda. Orange.
The flight was only 30 minutes, and the Abu Simbel airport is very small. We were able to get a taxi driver at a semi-reasonable price, whose colleagues spent 10 minutes trying to help him figure out how to get to our next cruise ship. After one false move, we ended up at the end of a dirt road on the water (comforting) with a couple of guys in a motorboat filled with luggage. They told us we were headed in the right direction, which was a surprise. In true Egyptian fashion, there was not a single sign or indication that this was the jumping off point for a cruise ship.
We got hauled into the little boat, and took off. After rounding a boulder, we saw our ship, the Omar El Kayam, and realized we would have to climb up a wobbly ladder to reach it.
We got yanked up that floating ladder, and entered a room filled with a large German tour group. Somehow, we were given a huge suite, which made up for the rest of the morning.
At 2:30, our tour guide met us in the lobby for our visit to the temples of Abu Simbel. We assumed it was back to the motorboat and then maybe a bus. But no. We went out the other lobby door, the one facing a stone cliff, and we were directed to climb up a rocky path leading to a plateau where transportation awaited. We had a great view of that trail from our porch.
Our guide called our conveyance a tuk-tuk, but to us it was a very small pickup truck powered by a motorcycle. We sat on the back, with our legs dangling over the edge and got rushed further up a hill to a ticket booth. It was then we realized that our ship is docked quite close to the temples.
The next transportation option was a golf cart that careened down a steep hill to stop at the temples. We took it.
And then we had arrived.
Yes, it is as awesome as you would imagine. The four colossai in front of the major temple represent various versions of Ramses II, staring out over Lake Nasser. They are each about 60 feet tall.
Around a slight corner is the secondary temple of Hathor, dedicated to Ramses’ favored wife, Nefertari.
Most everyone knows how the two temples here were moved from another location when Lake Nasser was contemplated. What an ambitious feat of imagination and engineering.
We gaped in wonder and then admired the inside of the main temple. Ramses built a career on the famous battle of Kadesh, where he defeated the Hittites in what is now Syria. (It actually ended in a draw, but Ramses skipped over that part.) This celebrates his great warrior talents and his leadership in conquering Egypt’s enemies/
On the opposite side of the Great Hall, we could see Ramses laying waste to Libyans and Nubians in his chariot. That Ramses was exceptional at smiting his enemies.
These were not like artistic tomb paintings, but the carvings and the paintings that were there were outstanding and very dramatic.
The inner sanctuary shows four gods, one of which is Ramses. Yesterday at the solar alignment festival, the rising sun first illuminated Ramses’ face. We missed that but evidently thousands showed up.
All in all, a gorgeous tribute to himself, mostly to show the Nubians here at their border that Egypt and Ramses were not to be messed with.
The smaller temple of Hathor celebrates Ramses’ love for Nefertari, “for whom the sun shines.”
I suggested Don consider something similarly suitable for me.
This cruise is docked at night and sails during the day, allowing us to see sights only visible from the water. So far it’s been much more relaxed than our last week. This ship is also larger than our last, as it is not on the Nile, with its locks.
(Just no internet.)
AMAZING!
Aye with the Fanta toxic spill. A sticky insult to clean laundry. What a crazy way to board your ship. Your new digs sound like a very nice way to visit Abu Simbel. If you are not on the Nile, where are you? I had a look at a map and I guess it is a lake before the Nile?