Across the Tropic of Cancer

On Saturday morning, we roused ourselves at a most uncivilized 3:00 am in order to meet the bus arranged for us by our host for the long drive south to Abu Simbel. We found the bus empty on our arrival, but speculation that we had it all to ourselves was soon put to rest as we quickly began accumulating additional passengers at other stops.
The bus nearly full, the driver headed south to a prearranged rendezvous for the convoy of buses that makes the daily run across the open sands that separate Aswan from Abu Simbel. We were surprised that the convoy is still used, as I do not think the desert bandits who once made such measures necessary are still active.
At 5:00 am, the convoy took off, and the rising of the sun an hour later showed we had left the comparatively lush lands by the Nile for the open desert, intermingled with rocky outcroppings.
We arrived around 8:00 without incident at Abu Simbel, and were told by the driver to be back at the bus by 9:45 for the return trip. This left us with under 2 hours to see the site, after a 3 hour drive there (not to mention back again), a temporal imbalance that was further tipped against our favors at the ticket window. Here we found a single line, worsened by tour group operators who shamelessly inserted themselves ahead of us to buy tickets for their whole parties.
Fortunately we had the foresight to skip the WCs on the way in, and so found ourselves relatively close to the start of the line. Even so, by the time tickets were in hand, we found ourselves with barely five quarters of an hour to tour the monument.
Abu Simbel is best known for the four huge figures of Ramses II that sit overlooking the waters of the Nile. The temple was built to commemorate that king's victory at the battle of Kadesh, and the inside walls feature many reliefs that portray the battle itself and the aftermath, with a hierarchically proportioned Ramses towering over a group of bound Hittites, clutching them by their hair, in a typical execution pose with blade held high in hand.
Deep inside the temple, at the far back and aligned with the entrance, is a room that contains a statue of Ramses seated with 3 gods of Egypt. The whole monument is oriented such that the rising rays of the sun illuminate this figure on the 22nd of February and October, Ramses birthday and coronation day. Had we but planned the trip a little sooner, we could have witnessed the October occurrence.
This site is notable as a modern engineering marvel as well as an ancient one, as the entire monument had to be dismantled block by block and moved to escape the diluvial torrents unleashed by the construction of the high dam. This relocation has resulted in the aforementioned astronomical phenomenon occurring a day earlier.
The Abu Simbel complex also contains a temple to Hathor, represented here by Nefertari, the favorite of Ramses' many wives. His regard for her is reflected in the statues lining the front of the temple, where her likenesses are the same size as his. This lineup consists of three Ramses and three Hathors, intermingled.
Despite the time crunch we managed to see the entirety of the site, though we all agree an extra hour or two would have been welcome. The path back to the parking lot lead us through the longest tourist gauntlet yet, where we were accosted by hordes of vendors desperate to sell their wares. These aggressive peddlers even ventured to block our path as we vainly sought to aloofly pass unhindered.

A quick three hours later found us back at our humble abode on Elephantine island, where we arranged for a lunch of chicken, chicken, and fish (for Tut, Tut, and Mummy, respectively). After this welcome repast, our host Sadiq took us on a boat ride to Kitchener's island, a botanical garden so-named for its illustrious previous owner, who had plants from many countries brought and planted there. Among the multitude of greenery were a couple of Hoopoe birds, whose heads feature a feathery fan that when unfurled brings luck to those who see it. Our tour of the island was brief, for all members of our party were weary after the early start, and we ended the day with Stellas overlooking the Nile.

-Nathaniel

 

Before Sunrise 

Through the desert 

 

Abu Simbel comes into view

The whole crew 

 The entrance hall lined with towering Osirid statues

 

Ramses in execution pose

 

The back chamber illuminated by the sun

The temple of Hathor in the foreground, with Abu Simbel on the left

 

Hathor in full bull form inside her temple 

 Mirages in the desert during the return trip. Woe to the sad wanderer seeking to quench his thirst in these ephemeral pools.

 

On our way back through a narrow street on Elephantine island (Theodore is carrying a bag of water bottles that had begun to split open)

 

Hoopoe bird on Kitchener's Island

 

A pair of feluccas seen on the return from the island