Abu Simbel - Oct 31, 2007 - Abu Simbel, Egypt

Happy Halloween everyone!

OK, so whose silly idea was it to get up at 3am in order to see another temple? I'll give you one guess. Oh, yes, and I guess I was silly enough to agree. The convoy to see Abu Simbel lined up where soldiers with machine guns inspected the undercarriage of the vehicles using huge mirrors mounted on wheels that slid under the vehicle. Big tourist busses and mini vans alike were filled with sleepy tourists. Once we passed 4 different checkpoints the convoy was on the road. Our group rode in a mini van.

(Mom you shouldn't read the next part)

My idea of a convoy was that we would all stay within sight of one another in order to take advantage of safety in numbers while we traveled. Instead it became a race to see who could arrive first. We left while it was still dark so you would expect that all the vehicles would have their headlights on wouldn't you? No chance it was quite dark as we drove along the highway at full speed! We were traveling at 120 km per hour at least with our headlights off. Drifts of sand across the road often emerged unannounced so we veered to miss them. I managed to wrangle a seat belt out but couldn't get it adjusted to fit. I figured it was better than nothing. There was a constant beeping noise which I first thought was someone's watch alarm but found out later that it was the speedometer beeping when our speed reached more than 120 km per hour. The speed limit on the road was 90. Al asked the driver to slow down so the beeping would quite as it was quite annoying but also so we would be safer. Our driver had trouble going slower than 120 and the scary part is bus after bus and mini van after mini van passed us easily. Soon we were no longer part of the convoy.

The scenery was desert for as far as you could see. It changed slightly in colour from black volcanic rock mixed with amber sand to a total golden expanse of flat land. We saw the sun come up over the desert. Very pretty! We arrived to more check stops and police with machine guns in full army gear. Army helmets and the bullet proof vests. How can they stand the heat?

Abu Simbel at 7am was well lit by sunlight. It sits on the edge of Lake Nasser, which is a man made lake from a dam built on the Nile. (3rd largest dam in the world) It provides power to all of Egypt. The lake is huge - looks more like the ocean with huge swells and white caps. You can take a 4-night cruise boat from the dam to Abu Simbel. We had 2 hours at the temple to explore and take photos and eat our boxed breakfast before taking the dangerous van ride back.

The convoy left at 9 am and the race was on again! Drive like an Egyptian down the middle of the road at breakneck speeds and passing any time even on corners. For those of you that like to drive fast here is the place to come. The roads are narrow and often without warning sand drifts emerge much like our snow drifts. Extremely dangerous at high speeds when you have to veer to miss them. Needless to say we did arrive back safe but not sound. We were a little rattled. Next time Al and I would advise to fly into Abu Simbel and stay overnight at the Eskaleh hotel. The temple opens at 5am so you would have the place to yourself.

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