We were up before our 2:30am wake-up call for our flight to Aswan. Everything was going well as everyone was on the bus in good time. Then we hit a traffic jam. we were stuck in a honking mess, slowly inching forward until our driver, with aggressive honking and determined jockeying for position, got us back on the road. We cheered his skill as we got back on track. We made it through security and to our gate just as our plane was boarding.

We were immediately whisked off from the airport to a 3 hour ride to Lake Nasser. The desert is immense and uniformly flat and unicolour. There are naturally occurring hills that resemble pyramids. We were left wondering what lies beneath. we drove by a desert reclamation project. They are attempting to reclaim farmable land and so far it is working.

Abu Simbel was built by Ramesses II (1279-1213 BCE) to celebrate his victory over the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh. The monument was constructed here because it was the right spot for the sun to shine on his image twice a year (February 21 and October 21, his birthday and coronation days). He had a second temple built for his favourite wife Neferatari.

The whole complex was set to be flooded with the completion of the Aswan High Dam. A UNESCO project saved this site and others by moving them. The entire Abu Simbel temple site was cut up, moved to higher ground and painstakingly reassembled in the exact orientation of the original. The only change was that the sun hit the inner temple figures one day later. It was a massive international project costing over 40 million USD at the time.

Our day focused on this site, culminating with a fantastic sound and light show. I got up early to see the sight from our cruise shift as we left port. I will give you more information about the cruising portion as we go.