Abu Simbel & Aswan, Egypt

Travel Dates: November 2022

A continuation of the Intrepid 8-Day Egypt Tour. Check out Part 1 with the start of the trip in Cairo here and Part 3 in Luxor here

Day 3: Abu Simbel

We woke up at 3:30am to catch a 5:30am flight from Cairo to Abu Simbel (with a quick stopover in Aswan). Abu Simbel is an optional morning excursion and starting cost is $380 (price fluctuates based on when you book). We booked this online in advance and Intrepid charged us $455 per person. When we got to Cairo, our tour guide Mohammad told the group it would be $380 if anyone wanted to join last minute. Luckily, we were able to get the difference refunded from the tour company.

Although still pricey for a roughly two hour tour, I recommend visiting Abu Simbel as the history behind it is astonishing. Named after a boy who stumbled upon it buried in the sand, the great temples of Abu Simbel were built under Ramses II, regarded as one of the greatest pharaohs of Egypt, especially given his long reign of more than 60 years. The temples were carved directly into the mountainside on the bank of the Nile River, and the entranceway to the temple was specifically engineered so that the internal chamber would light up twice a year from the sun: on the anniversary of Ramses II’s ascension to the throne on February 22, and on his birthday on October 22. The sunlight illuminates three of the four statues: the gods Amun and Ra, and Ramses II himself. The god Ptah, who is associated with the underworld, is intentionally kept in the shadow. When you visit the temple on a normal day, they use lights to create this phenomenon for tourists.

In the 1960s, the creation of the Aswan High Dam would raise water levels, threatening the submergence of the Abu Simbel temples. Led by UNESCO, they worked for about four years to move the temples stone by stone to higher ground, where it sits today.

Besides the vast temple of Ramses II, he also built a smaller temple for his wife Nefertari. It’s not as grand, but still amazing. Though the joke is that Ramses II had a huge ego that even for his wife’s temple, the statues of himself there are larger than Nefertari’s.

We rushed back to the airport, which is ~10 minutes from the temples to catch our flight to Aswan. In Aswan, we were picked up and taken to a medium-sized cruise ship, Le Fayan. This would be our accommodation for the next few nights, with all meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) included on the boat. Any drinks you order are additional charges, except during breakfast where the drinks are free (coffee/tea, juices, and water). The cruise ship has a sundeck and small swimming pool/hot tub area on the top deck, along with lounge chairs and cabanas. It’s a nice place to relax and enjoy the views of the Nile.

Around sunset, we went on a Felucca sail boat along the Nile, with a drink included– juice, soda, beer or wine. We arrived at a Nubian village and walked to a local family’s home for dinner. Wearing closed-toe shoes is highly recommended as the walk is through dirt alleyways. We were welcomed to the local’s home with traditional Nubian food and learned a brief history of their culture. We met all the members of the family, and after dinner, the kids played music, sang, and we all danced. This was a memorable cultural experience and a highlight for our trip. We ended the night by taking a motor boat back to Le Fayan.

Day 4: Philae Temple & Kom Ombo Temple

After breakfast, we took a bus and then a motor boat to the small island of Philae Temple. Similar to Abu Simbel, this temple had to be relocated due to rising waters (although it was already partially underwater before relocation). The temple is dedicated to Isis and depicts the mythology of Isis, Osiris, and Horus. The heartbreaking part of the temple is its destruction and disfigurement by early Christians. You will see majority of the statues and wall carvings defaced, along with graffiti from the Christians who wanted to rid of Egyptian religion. Despite this, the temple complex is still beautiful to see.

On our way back to the cruise we stopped by an aromatherapy shop where we could smell samples of mint, eucalyptus, and other floral essence oils, and learned about the medicinal benefits for some of them. Be wary if you want to buy them, because it’ll be diluted and not the same as the samples in the store.

We then visited a local Egyptian cotton store to shop for bed sheets, scarves, clothing, etc. Because the products are made with 100% authentic Egyptian cotton, the price for most items are pretty expensive (i.e. a set of cotton queen bed sheets is ~$130).

Lunch was served back on the ship while we started to sail north. For those who get sea sick, the Nile River is pretty calm so you should be fine (but pack medication like Dramamine, just in case). In the afternoon, complimentary coffee, tea, and biscuits were served in the lobby/lounge area.

We docked in the evening and visited Kom Ombo Temple, which is dedicated to two gods– Horus and Sobek. After ample amount of free time exploring the temple, we went to the adjacent Crocodile Museum to look at mummified crocodiles, which are in honor of Sobek. We ended the day with dinner back on the boat.