Today we woke up at 2:30 am for our 4:00 departure for Abu Simbel. This is one of the temples that was relocated when the High Dam was constructed. However, this was a little different that the other temples since this was not constructed out of stone, but rather carved into it from the side of a mountain. So, how do you relocate a temple like this? Why you move the entire mountain! This is pretty much what they did. In a feat of amazing engineering, the entire temple was measured, disassembled (along with much of the mountain), moved by truck to the new location, and then carefully re-assembled. Since the original temple was carved and not built, it had to be cut into pieces and then literally glued back together again. Colored epoxy was used so that much of the cut lines are not visible until you get up close and look very carefully. Some of them are easily seen, but this is a minor blemish compared to losing the entire temple.
So, about the trip. We left Aswan in a police caravan with about 6-7 other mini-vans and buses for a 3-1/3 hour ride through the desert. Basically, we were traveling along Lake Nasser behind the High Dam until we were within a stone's throw of the Sudanese border. This may be why the police convoy, but I think it was just to give them something to do:)
We arrived in Abu Somberly around 7:30 and had about 2-1/2 hours to tour the temple. It was a bit confusing at first since the approach is from the back side of the mountain and it's not clear which way to go or if you have to climb over the top of the mountain. We thought we had a guide for this, and our tickets even included a fee for a guide, but this is Egypt and nothing is as it seems here. Without a guide, we found our way around the mountain and wow! This place is incredible! There were 4 huge statues at the entrance to the large temple. Three of them are in great condition, but parts of the fourth have fallen off and are laying on the ground next to it. Still, the scale is incredible! Inside, the relief work and paintings are still in great shape. We were able to understand some of the symbols from our tour the day before, but a guide would have really helped make this a better experience. I did take some pretty good photos which capture the scale of the outside, but cameras are not allowed inside. This is pretty typical in Egypt since the flash destroys the color and these have already lasted over 4,000 years in some cases and they want them to last a bit longer!
After the tour, we all got back in the mini-bus and headed back to Aswan. The return trip was much hotter and most of us fell asleep on the way. The rest of the day was spent napping and eating.
Tomorrow we are touring a few islands here in Aswan in the Nile and then getting on a felucca and sailing up towards Luxor. Felucca's have been sailing the Nile for 1,000s of years, and the design has remained the same for most of that time. It should be an interesting trip. We just hope that the weather isn't too hot, and that we have good wind for the trip.
Until next time,
Eric
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