One of my childhood dreams was to visit Egypt and know for sure it was as incredible as the pictures I had seen.
So, I had over 25 years of excitement built up when I finally made it there. It truly was all I had imagined it to be and so much more.
The remote Abu Simbel Temples, located close to the border of Sudan by Lake Nasser, were carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Ramesses II in the 13th century BC, as a lasting monument to himself and his beloved queen Nefertari.
After the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River and the creation of Lake Nasser, the twin Abu Simbel Temples were becoming submerged in the lake. To save the complex, it was relocated to an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir at the cost of USD 40 million. Between 1964 and 1968, the entire site was cut into large blocks (up to 30 tons and averaging 20 tons), dismantled and reassembled in a new location– 65 m higher and 200 m back from the river, in what is consider one of the greatest archaeological engineering achievements of our time. Some structures were even saved from under the waters of Lake Nasser. Abu Simbel, part of the Nubian Monuments, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
Waking up in the middle of night to make it there, and sleeping on soaking wet mattresses fully clothed the next night were still worth making it to Abu Simbel.
Enjoy and have the “Bestest Day”!
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