Abu Simbel Temples Day Trip from Aswan

Depart Aswan in the pre-dawn darkness for the three-hour drive south through the Western Desert to Abu Simbel, arriving just as the gates open. Nothing quite prepares you for the first sight of the four seated colossi of Ramses II, twenty meters tall and carved directly out of the Nubian sandstone cliff 3,200 years ago.

Step inside the Great Temple, where a hall of painted pillars leads to the innermost sanctuary. Twice a year — on February 22 and October 22 — the rising sun still penetrates 60 meters deep to illuminate the statues of Ramses and the gods Ra-Horakhty and Amun, a testament to astonishing astronomical precision. Beside it, the smaller temple honors Queen Nefertari in the form of the goddess Hathor, a rare honor for a royal wife.

Your guide tells the extraordinary tale of the 1960s UNESCO campaign that saw the entire mountainside cut into 2,000-ton blocks, lifted, and reassembled 65 meters higher to save the temples from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. Enjoy free time for photographs beside the lake before returning to Aswan by early afternoon.