Transition from Lake Nasser to the Nile

This will be our last day on the Omar Khayam and Lake Nasser. Later today we will arrive in Aswan.  We will disembark from the Omar Khayam and move into a smaller ship, The Senator. Omar Khayam has been our introduction to cruise ships, and I must say we have enjoyed ourselves.  In addition to providing a comfortable journey it provided a means for us to see the remote Nubian portion of Egypt.After today we will travel the more populated areas north of Aswan Dam.  In other words, we move back to civilization more like we know it.

Before we get to Aswan, there is another temple for us to explore:  Kalabsha Temple.

This temple, like the ones we have already seen, has been moved to avoid being flooded when the Aswan Dam was built.  This is the youngest of the temples we have seen so far.  It was built by the Roman Emperor Octavius Augustus from 30 to 14 BC.

One of those two little boats is what we take to get back and forth from our ship to Kalabsha Temple.

This is one of the small temples off the the side of the main event.

Front door

I was surprised to see petroglyphs, not so different from the ones found in Oregon and Washington.

Kalabsha Temple is the last Nubian temple that we will see.  Our next stop is Aswan.  As you can see from the photo, Aswan Dam, which created Lake Nasser, is immense.

Aswan Dam

I still can't believe I'm in Egypt and here I am, overlooking Aswan Dam.

While the Omar Khayam was certainly luxurious by our standards, The Senator, which is much smaller had an elegance that we weren't prepared for.  Although unprepared we settled right in to life on a ship with only 16 cabins.  

Before checking in to our cabins, we all enjoyed a welcome drink in the lounge.

AFter the welcome drink, and lunch, we left The Senator and enjoyed a felucca ride on the Nile. This was a very relaxing introduction to the city of Aswan.

Here's our Nubian captain, steering the felucca, playing the drum and singing.

Our captain and his assistant.

This is the old Cataract Hotel.  Agatha Christie wrote some of Death on the Nile while staying here.  

Back on The Senator, after our felucca ride, we sat on the top deck and enjoyed the river and the sun.

Lots of felucca's drifted by as we enjoyed relaxing on the top deck.

The sunset, and the lights on the tombs across the river, give our view from The Senator a magical quality.  The structure on top is a tomb.

This has been another perfect day on the Nile.

Philae Temple and the Temple of Abu Simbel

Good grief!  This trip has started with a bang.  Yesterday's tour of the pyramids near Cairo was a walk in the park compared to today's itinerary.

2:30 a.m coffee, tea and boxed breakfast available in the lobby
3:00 a.m. bags outside our doors
3:30 a.m. depart hotel
4:15 a.m. arrive at airport
5:45 a.m. flight to Aswan

In Aswan we took a small boat to see Philae Temple.  This is one of the many temples that would have been flooded when the High Dam at Aswan was built in the 1960s.  This is one of about 10 temples that was moved to higher ground for preservation.

Philae Temple - our introduction to Egyptian temples.

This is a little side temple, and it's so pretty in the morning light.

 At this temple we were  impressed to learn that it had been moved stone by stone to its current location.  The thought of such a project is mind boggling, but then again, building it in the first place with primitive tools is also beyond belief.

Our lovely guide Tarek started introducing us to the gods, and goddesses here.  This temple was the center of the cult of the goddess Isis. Tarek also introduced us to Osiris and Horus.  Learning the gods, goddesses and pharaohs didn't get easier as we traveled along.

We spent an hour or so contemplating this amazing sight, and then jumped on the boat, returned to the airport and flew to Abu Simbel.

Abu Simbel is about 40 miles north of Sudan, on the banks of Lake Nasser -  the lake formed when the Aswan dam was built. This temple was also moved from it's original sight to it's present location.

The Temple Abu Simbel. Next door is a smaller temple dedicated to Ramesses' wife Nefertari.

Abu Simbel was built by the pharaoh Ramesses II and is dedicated to the god Re-Harakhte. He built a temple next door for his wife Nefertari and dedicated it to the goddess Hathor.

After exploring the temple complex we headed to our home away from home, the ship Omar El Khayam.  I understand it is a small ship as far as ships go, with 60 cabins.

This is the first cruise for Taylor and me.  We checked into our cabin, rested for about 5 minutes, ate dinner and went back to Abu Simbel.  No matter that we were up and functioning at 2 in the morning, if we came this far we should see it at sunset, and also see the sound and light show.

The little black rectangle between the feet of Ramesses II and Ramesses II is the door to the temple. The lights are on and we are waiting for sunset to enjoy the show.

 Finally, with the show over and visions of gods, goddesses and pharaohs dancing in our heads we headed back to the Omar Khayam for bed.  We survived a very long day, but wait, there's more to look forward to.  Tomorrow morning at sunrise our ship will sail and we must be up on deck to see Abu Simbel for the last time.