Aswan and Abu Simbel

Going further down the Nile, we stopped at Temple of Edfu, one of the largest ancient Egyptian temples in existence.

The Temple of Edfu, like many other ancient temples, had a Nilometer. The ancient Egyptians used a Nilometer to measure the level of the Nile, and collect taxes. If the Nile was exceptionally high (flood-stage) or low (drought) then the taxes were reduced, since the farmers were suffering from ill-conditions. Conversely, if the Nile was flowing at an optimum level, the higher taxes were levied.

There are some local legends in which if a woman is scared in a Nilometer, she will become pregnant. Our guide Selma noted that is was rare to see locals in these temples, but what did we see coming out of the Nilometer:
An older women and (presumably) her daughter.

Later that day we had a felucca ride on the Nile. This is what a felucca looks like:

Quickly into the ride, a row boat with two young boys came along side ours. Just like Christmas carolers, they sang songs, hoping for a tip.

Then our crew provided the entertainment with Nubian songs:

Our cruise docked at Aswan, home of several ancient temples Temple of Kom Ombo, and Temple of Philae. Now, as much as I love ancient Egyptian temples, they were starting to look the same. “Oh look, a huge column covered with hieroglyphs.” “Hey, another image a Horus.” Many of us were suffering from temple burn out. On interesting aspect to find how the later Christians changed the site, or old graffiti.

But even with the temple burn-out, what did many of us do? Take the optional flight down to Abu Simbel to see yet another temple. The half-hour flight saved several hours of driving through the barren desert. When tour buses do make the trek, they go caravan style, just in case one breaks down. There are no services between Aswan and Abu Simbel, if a bus breaks down, it is abandoned and everyone gets on to the other tour buses. Waiting for a tow truck could be deadly, due to the heat.

With Aswan having a rather small airport, we were pretty surprised to see this:

Yes, that is a Sbarro’s in the Aswan Airport. This spread of Western fast-food never ceases to amaze me.

Abu Simbel is south of the Tropic of Cancer, the furthest south I had ever been. Ramses II, being such a modest guy, built his most impressive temple down here to intimidate the Nubians, and anyone else coming down the Nile.

While the temple is large and certainly impressive, the “wow” factor for me is that temple was moved in the 1960’s. When the Egyptians constructed the Aswan High Damn, they calculated that this temple would be submerged. So the entire temple, inside and out, was disassembled and placed in a man-made mountain on higher ground.

Surprisingly, it was not unbearably hot at Abu Simbel, as there was a nice breeze coming over Lake Nasser. (Read: It only felt like it was 102F, instead of 120F.)

Our return flight brought us back to Aswan around noon. We spent the afternoon on the boat, before heading back to Cairo on the overnight train. Plane, boat and a train in one day. Is it any wonder that several of us (myself included) felt an odd sensation like we were still “moving” the next day in Cairo?