Aswan and Abu Simbel: Egypt’s Deep South

After the noise of Cairo and the busy temples of Luxor, Aswan feels like a deep breath. The Nile runs blue between black granite boulders and green islands, feluccas glide past, and on the west bank the Nubian villages are painted in every colour. It is also the starting point for Abu Simbel.

The best of Aswan

• Philae, the island temple of Isis, saved from the rising Nile and rebuilt stone by stone on a higher island.
• The Unfinished Obelisk, abandoned in its quarry when the granite cracked.
• The High Dam, with Lake Nasser stretching south towards Sudan.
• A Nubian village visit by boat, with tea in a family home.
• A felucca at sunset around Elephantine and Kitchener’s Island.

Abu Simbel

Ramses II had two temples cut into the mountain here, far to the south, to impress anyone arriving from Nubia: four seated colossi of himself in front of the Great Temple, and a second temple for his queen, Nefertari. In the 1960s, as Lake Nasser rose, both were sawn into blocks and rebuilt higher up – one of the great rescue projects of the twentieth century.

Getting to Abu Simbel

Most people go by road from Aswan: about three and a half hours each way, leaving before dawn and back by lunchtime. If you are short on time, you can fly in from Aswan or even from Cairo and do it in a single day.

The sun festival

On about 22 February and 22 October each year, the first rays of the sun travel the full length of the Great Temple and light up the statues in the sanctuary. Those two mornings draw big crowds, so plan and book well in advance.