A side-trip via airplane to Abu Simbal. This tour was an add-on, since it encompassed an hour's flight south of Aswan to nearly the Sudan border. That being said, I don't think you've properly seen Egypt without seeing this site. "Amazing" doesn't begin to cover it.
The sheer scale of these monuments boggles. The faces of the Pharaoh are 4 meters broad. In a couple of the shots, you can see an Egyptian man with white robes near the bottom left... that might give you a sense of scale.
This was another massive UNESCO rescue site. They essentially cut the mountain into pieces, moved it and rebuilt it outside of the flood zone.
The most amazing thing about this place was the amazing motifs and paintings inside the temples. Never before had we seen such colour, detail, relief and artistry. Unfortunately, photography was forbidden inside.
A truly exhausting day. So much transportation- ship to bus to bus to plane to bus to bus and reverse that for the trip home. Anything less spectacular than Abu Simbal and the day would have been a total disaster. However, when your ultimate destination is this amazing, it kind makes all the crazy travel worth it. Not that I wasn't exhausted, dehydrated and travel sick by the end of it; just happy to be back on the boat and have nothing to do the next day but sail.
1 comment:
I was hoping you'd post day 7 soon :) Those are absolutely massive! What incredible photos!
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