Edfu is the most complete temple from the Ancient Egyptian period still standing, in part due to its younger age (it was completely rebuilt in the Ptolemaic period, around 200BC). The brilliant thing about this was the fact that it gives you an insight into what the ones at Karnak and Luxor must have been like when they were new (albeit on a slightly smaller scale).
Edfu Temple, between Luxor and Aswan - it would have been an even more awe-inspiring sight in 200BC
We also stopped in at Kom Ombo temple, but I think a combination of temple fatigue and the fact that it really wasn't unique in any way conspired to leave us by the banks of the Nile, checking out the view.
Finally we arrived in Aswan, after about 3 hours in the minibus. Interestingly, besides the occasional police checkpoint and the time where one policeman jumped into our bus to hitch a lift to the next checkpoint and sat with his machine gun inadvertently pointed at the driver (a slightly scary part of the trip), the convoys didn't appear heavily guarded - it was really hard to tell whether it was security theater or whether there was more happening behind the scenes.
We were staying at the Sara Hotel in Aswan, which is located around 2km south of the town on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Nile. We spent the afternoon by the pool, but it isn't heated (and was 19 degrees) so we only spent about 30 seconds each in it, followed by a couple of hours recovering in the 25 degree warmth and continuous sunshine. (if you think the view from the pool deck is great, you ought to see the one from the roof!)
The view from the pool deck, while the Nile floats lazily by
Unfortunately that night we got a pretty interrupted sleep - the Hotel owner was having a birthday party for his 8-year old daughter until about 2am - ask us if you are really interested the gory details of what happened when we asked them to turn it down (in their defence the Hotel Manager was incredibly apologetic to us the next day and gave us a free lunch).
As a result we were in a pretty grim state when we got up at 3am for the long drive out to Abu Simbel. The convoy leaves Aswan around 4am, and arrives at the temples at 7am. While this sounds like a pretty painful way to start the day, it was definitely worth it. Abu Simbel is actually a pair of temples, constructed by Ramesses II for himself and his wife. They were due to be submerged when the Aswan Dam was created in the late 60s, but UNESCO came to their rescue. The entire site was analysed, numbered, and then cut into pieces, before being moved about 65m further up the rock face into an artificially constructed hillside, carefully built to match the one which is now deep underwater.
Abu Simbel was a pretty amazing place, and totally awe-inspiring (if we don't look totally awe-inspired, it is the 3am start and the 3 hours in the bus taking its toll)
Even more incredible when you realise that that hill-side is entirely fake (once upon a time they ran tours inside it - it is mostly hollow!!!)
Looking at the temples, it would have been a crime to have submerged them. Not only are the statues on the outside massive and awe-inspiring, but the carvings and statues on the inside, as well as the various shrines and internal rooms for the priests, would have been a terrible loss. The dam was a Soviet-funded project, and it makes you wonder whether that Soviet-era attitude towards beautiful things of the past was almost responsible for the destruction of another irreplaceable relic dating back to 1265BC.
Even the smaller version (for his favourite Queen) was stunning
After only 2 hours on site (which was probably enough time, really, especially given the crowds) we hopped back on the bus and headed back into Aswan. Almost everyone slept almost all of the way - given how featureless the desert was, sleeping was probably the best option, although is the sort of landscape which really needs to be experienced to be appreciated. It was also as close to Sudan as we're ever likely to go (only 50km from the border).
It just kept on going like this...
That afternoon was again spent by the pool, before we headed up to the Nubian House tea room (don't believe the Lonely Planet, there is no 'tea buffet' and the scale on the 'greater Aswan' map should be about 1km=1cm, not 200m=1cm). The best thing about this place was the view back over Aswan as dusk fell. We had another delicious dinner back in Aswan, though, including grilled pigeon (much like quail, really) - and decided that all was forgiven with the Lonely Planet...
For our second day in Aswan we took a wander through the market, before heading back to the hotel to collect the aforementioned free lunch (the hotel ran a shuttle-bus service, which really was useful as it was something of a hike back into town).
We spent the afternoon wandering around Aswan - historical highlight was the 'unfinished obelisk' which was planned to have been twice the size of the ones we'd seen at Luxor (in fact most of the stones at Luxor and Karnak had been shipped 200km down the Nile from this quarry). It would have been the largest single standing stone in the world, even today, but 3/4ths of the way through carving it from the ground they discovered a flaw in it and abandoned it, rough hewn in its pit.
Crazy to think that, once they'd cut this out and carved it, they were going to ship it all the way to Luxor 200km down-river. Crazier still that, having carved it almost out of the ground, they just left it, rather than trying to salvage as much as they could...although it is possible that you didn't get second chances in those days...
Somehow it's probably a bit heavy to take home as a souvenir
From all this walking we were pretty hot and tired, so went to the park slightly up the hill on the Southern end of town (past the surprisingly enormous and modern Coptic Christian cathedral). Here we were blissfully hassle free. It was a pretty magical place to enjoy the sunset and the serenity (at least until the German tour group spoil the serenity - but not the sunset)
How's the serenity!
That evening we flew to Cairo, for the last leg of our great adventure (it was Bel and Andrew's second last leg, as they had the Red Sea to look forward to, but some of us had to go to work...)
No comments:
Post a Comment