Abu Simbel

Knowing that I was an Engineer, our guide had informed me that today would probably be one of the highlights of the trip. Considering what we'd seen so far, that was hard to imagine, but I wanted to be well-rested anyway. We'd be heading another 300km furthe south, right to the border with Sudan, and when we'd been given the choice to fly or take a pre-dawn bus, I immediately opted to sacrifice the extra cash for the sake of a few more hours of sleep. Little did I realise that this would also give me access to an additional engineering marvel.

The reason that Philae went under water was because Lake Nasser was created, and our flight path would be taking us straight over it. Between 1960 and 1970 the Egyptians, supported by the good folks who eventually gave us Chernobyl (USSR), constructed the World's largest earthen dam wall at the city of Aswan. While the reservoir isn't quite as big as its Southern African cousin, Lake Kariba, it has allowed Egypt to generate hydroelectric power and control the flooding that used to wreak havoc on the crops downstream.

With my nerd-meter dialled up to 11, our flight landed, and we were transferred to see what we actually came for. Abu Simbel is the name of the village that hosts the enormous temples of Ramesses II and his wife Nefertari. Originally carved out of the mountainside more than 3, 000 years ago, these monuments were put at risk when Lake Nasser was created. Thankfully these temples, like the ones on Philae, were rescued as part of an immense international effort to Save the Monuments of Nubia. The entire complex was cut into blocks, then painstakingly reconstructed, in conjunction with an artificial mountain, 65m higher up! Considering that this was all done in the 60's, before the birth of modern computing, GPS, AI, the internet, or even mobile phones, this is justifiably regarded as one of history's great engineering projects. It seemed almost poetic that a marvel of "modern" engineering (the relocation) was used to save a marvel of ancient engineering (the monument), from another marvel of modern engineering (the dam). Unfortunately, I was let down by my own incompetence regarding a simple piece of engineering, and I had forgotten to charge the batteries in my camera. I managed to snap a small handful of shots, and the rest I needed to commit to memory.

Later that day we returned to Aswan, only to find that our guide wasn't done with us yet! We sailed across to the opposite bank of the Nile, drank at traditional Nubian Tea House, took a dip in the waters, rode camels at sunset past the ruins of the 1,300-year-old Monastery of St Hedra, and finished with a night of revelry at a local Nubian's home. I was very glad that I hadn't opted for the pre-dawn bus that morning! Thankfully the following day would turn out to be one of the most relaxing experiences in my entire life.Okumaya devam et