Egypt is hot. We visited late September and we had some triple digit days. The underground chambers become as hot and humid as a wet sauna. Sometimes, it felt as though the guides were full of hot air!

One popular cruise excursion is to see one of the most famous of Egypt’s ancient monuments – Abu Simbel, 190 miles from Aswan. The 7-8 hour bus tour with 4:00 am departure did not appeal to me so I looked into the alternative route: a 40-minute flight and purchased the flights online, not through any tour operator.

We disembarked the cruise and hailed a taxi to take us to the airport.

It was going to be a long day. We were flying from Aswan on the 10:40 flight to Abu Simbel and returning on the 14:25 flight and continuing on to Luxor by train where we would overnight. The prior evening we had walked to the Aswan railway station to purchase train tickets for the next day’s 18:00 train.

We had to travel with all our luggage so at baggage claim in Abu Simbel I asked if we could check in our luggage for the return flight and as it was rolled away he assured me it would be done.

We did have to carry our personal carry-ons with us though. We exited the airport to board one of the provided shuttle buses to Abu Simbel Temple. Arriving at the site, we purchased the admission ticket, watched the video and visited this amazing UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Abu Simbel is a iconic site comprising two massive temples situated on the banks of Lake Nasser that were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the reign of Pharaoh Rameses II. It is considered one of Egypt’s most grandest and beautiful temples.

With the passage of time, the Great Temple became mostly buried by sand and was forgotten until March 1813, when Swiss researcher Johann Ludwig Burckhardt found the small temple and top frieze of the main temple. (This is the same man who through deception was guided to the ancient Nabataean city of Petra, Jordan the year before.)

Amazingly, this entire temple complex was moved – relocated to higher ground – to save it being lost forever under the rising waters of Lake Nasser due to the construction of the High Dam.

The project was an masterful engineering feat. Two concrete domed structures were placed in a new location, the Temples were cut into 1042 massive blocks and reassembled under the domes which were then covered with sand and rocks to make it appear as though the temples were carved out of the sandstone cliff.

The salvage of the Abu Simbel temples began in 1964 by a multinational team of archeologists, engineers and skilled heavy equipment operators working together under the UNESCO banner; it cost some $40 million (equivalent to $377.42 million in 2022). Between 1964 and 1968, the entire site was carefully cut into large blocks (up to 30 tons, averaging 20 tons), dismantled, lifted and reassembled in a new location 65 metres higher and 200 metres back from the river, in one of the greatest challenges of archaeological engineering in history.

Some structures were even saved from under the waters of Lake Nasser. Today, a few hundred tourists visit the temples daily. Most visitors arrive by road from Aswan, the nearest city. Others arrive by plane at Abu Simbel Airport, an airfield specially constructed for the temple complex whose sole destination is Aswan International Airport.

Wikipedia

Returning to the airport by shuttle bus and walking up to the check-in counter I pointed to our luggage sitting behind the counter and said “That’s my luggage!” and was handed the baggage claim tickets. It worked!

Another 40-minute flight to Aswan, another taxi ride to the city and we arrived at the railway station with just enough time to catch the earlier 16:00 departure. I asked if we could change our reservation, but they wouldn’t allow it so we had 2 hours to kill until the 18:00 departure.

We walked a few blocks in the heat with all our luggage to the “mall” where we encountered the real Egypt. No filters. Not very clean. No English menus. No inflated gringo pricing. Where the bottle of water we were charged 35 E£ on the boat cost only 8 E£. At a mall restaurant, the young waiter spoke English and we ordered coffees, a bottled water, and a tasty chicken lasagna.

Walking through the bazaar on our return to the railway station we were continuously heralded with hearty welcomes and greetings.

We settled into our first class seats on the VIP train which was pretty grimy too. (In fact, we saw a little mouse grazing on crumbs under the chair across the aisle.) The train departed on time and we arrived in Luxor where we once again pulled our bags on a 5-minute walk to the hotel I had booked for one night.

We were expecting hot air the next morning.

It was our first ever hot air air balloon flight.

We retraced our steps back to the hotel arriving with just minutes to spare. The Hurghada bus was scheduled to depart in 45 minutes so we quickly packed, grabbed a few things off the breakfast buffet and were driven to the Go-Bus station where we sat down on a dusty curb to eat our breakfast, and waited, and waited. The bus was delayed an hour! What a shame to have missed out on the lovely breakfast provided on the hotel’s rooftop terrace.

The was seats were extremely cramped for the 4-hour drive through desolate desert, but we arrived safely in Hurghada.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that Uber was available and a 45-minute Uber to the hotel was quoted for less than $4. Just as I was about to push the button to order the ride, a taxi driver said he’d do it for a little over $4. Since it was my intention to pay the Uber driver an additional amount we accepted his ride. He admitted it was a long ride, but seemed pleased with the $6.50 we paid at the end.

Passing through a security checkpoint, we departed “real Egypt” and entered an exclusive conclave of resorts where we checked into an All Inclusive for the next 3 nights.

Relief again flooded over me. The place was dated, but it exceeded my expectations. We found tranquility, a king bed, balcony and sea views, great food and espresso drinks, pools, chaise lounges and a sandy swim beach on the Red Sea!

It was just what we needed to decompress. There was no one with open palm signifying they’d appreciate a tip. No harassment, no decisions, no early morning tours, no vendors (except for Mahmoud, one persistent guy, trying to earn a commission by selling spa services, but we finally got rid of him.)

$6.50 to arrive and $27 to depart!

$27 is what the taxi to the airport cost which we booked through the hotel; we opted not to tip additional. (We think Uber drivers aren’t permitted to enter the gated community to pick up.)

Would we return? Absolutely – by direct flight to the Red Sea resorts. But, as fascinating and wonderful as it was, our Egyptian Adventure will most likely be a “once in a lifetime” experience.

Meet You in the Morning next time with a breakdown of all our expenses in the Cost of Travel: Egypt.