Great temple of Abu Simbel.
Aswan to Abu Simbel.
There are a lot of tours to take you from Aswan to Abu Simbel: our story was a little troubled but we made it. We waited until the very last moment to book a tour (this means: the day before) in order to get the best price. But we waited too long and they cancelled our reservation.
It was the night before and there was no online booking we could make for the day after (they need a couple of days in advance for reservations online). So we walked to the train station, to see if we could go there by train. Here we discovered that YOU CANNOT GO TO ABU SIMBEL BY TRAIN: you need to book a private tour in the very early morning because the trip is long and all the vans go together. (they tell you that is because of the risk of being robbed on the way…)
We started asking to the taxi drivers, who clearly gave us very high prices (too high).
One man overlistened our conversation with a taxi driver, took us to a restaurant and told us to wait there because he had a friend who knew someone who sold tours (apparently that’s how it works in Egypt!). He brought the guy there; we bought our tickets (at a very reasonable price compared to the others: 20 dollars per person) and we were all set to go to Abu Simbel the next day!
Abu Simbel – Aswan.
After two hours visit, the way back Abu Simbel – Aswan is the same 3 hours trip and they will drop you off in the same site where they had picked you up. We were really tired so we mainly sleep, also because what you see outside is a lot of sand and arid landscape.
Reconstruction of Abu Simbel.
The reconstruction of Abu Simbel, site of two temples built by the Egyptian king Ramses II, now located in Aswan (governorate), took place in 1960 by means of a complex engineering. The temples were salvaged from the rising waters of the Nile River caused by erection of the Aswan High Dam. Moving the temples was a massive job, one that involved cutting it into pieces between 3 to 20 tons in weight and re-assembling them precisely as they were. It took almost five years, involved about 3,000 workers and cost (in the 1960s) about $42 million.
The four colossal statues of Ramses in front of the main temple are spectacular examples of ancient Egyptian art.
Tour from Aswan to Abu Simbel.
The tour from Aswan to Abu Simbel was in a shared mini van (we were 12 people) with air-conditioned. The driver picked us up from a hotel at the entrance of the city at 3 a.m. and it took 3 hours to arrive. These tours make you arrive there in the early morning at the time of opening and they leave you 2 hours to enjoy the visit. The entrance fee was 215 Egyptian Pounds (around 13 dollars).
If you want to see more awesome pictures of Abu Simbel, check our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Hcho3j2ky/