A Breath of Fresh Air – Aswan and Luxor, Egypt

The train station platform in Giza is packed, filthy and loud as we wait for our overnight train to Aswan, which is running late.  Old, decrepit trains pull into the station, one after another, and the kid sent with us by the hostel to ensure we get onto the right train looks nervous, unsure which is the right train to put us on.  A train pulls in, and many of the other obvious tourists on the platform board.  Is this our train?  The kid looks unsure.  We stand on the platform as the train pulls away.  What exactly have we gotten ourselves into?

About an hour later, we are escorted onto a train.  Much to my relief, the sleeping cabin is private and clean, with warm blankets and soft pillows.  We both sleep well on the thirteen-hour ride south.

Aswan is literally a breath of fresh air after spending several days in Cairo.  It’s hot, but the air is clear and the traffic is light.  After a quick lunch and settling into our hotel room, we meet up with our tour guide to explore the sites, including the Unfinished Obelisk, the High Dam (which was built to control the flooding of the Nile River, provide hydroelectric power and resulted in the creation ofLake Nassar), and the beautiful Philae Temple.

The next morning we arose at 3am to meet up with the convoy to Abu Simbel, just north of the Sudanese border.  All traffic to Abu Simbel is required to travel in one of two convoys and stop at multiple checkpoints along the way.  After a nearly four-hour ride, we arrived at the magnificent temples of Abu Simbel.  As you can see, all of our pictures are of the exteriors of the temples.  Like many of the sites in Egypt, photographs of the beautiful carved and painted interiors of the temples is forbidden.

In Luxor, we explored the Mummification Museum, a small but interesting museum dedicated to all things mummy.   A little creepy, but at the same time fascinating. In the late afternoon we meet up with our guide for a tour of the Karnak Temple, catching the sunset before heading to the Luxor Temple, which is lit up after dark.

The next day our guide takes us to the West Bank of Luxor to tour the Valley of the Queens, the Valley of the Kings, Deir el- Bahri (the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut), and the Colossi of Memnon.  Again, photography is forbidden inside the amazing tombs, so you’ll have to use you imagination to see the amazing paintings and carvings that line the walls.

It was a hectic four days touring Aswan and Luxor, but the sites were incredible and with the help of a great guide we learned more about ancient Egypt that we could have possible imagined.  Next up, recovering from so much site seeing on the beaches of Dahab.

Related posts:

1. An (un)welcome to Egypt
2. World Travel is not all Hot Air Balloons and Mediterranean Yachts
3. New Found Freedom
4. Best Values in Japan

Tagged as: Aswan, Egypt, Luxor, ruins, transport