Day 21: Aswan, Egypt

Viking Amun Riverboat

12 January 2026

Jim coughed all night and woke with a temperature and miserable cold. Such a pity as today was our special trip to the temple of Abu Simbel. It was one of the optional trips we booked because Abu Simbel is supposed to be one of the most amazing sites in Egypt.

Jim very considerately decided not to go on the trip and infect everyone else, as it involved buses and planes, so I set off on my own at 8.30am. (Well, not entirely on my own - there were 44 other people plus 2 tour guides going.)

Our first stop on the bus was the Aswan High Dam, built in the 1960s, which radically changed the water levels in the Nile and stopped the annual flooding. It also meant that large areas of the country were in danger of flooding, including the important temple of Abu Simbel. An international mission took 4 years to completely dismantle the temple (by cutting it into large blocks) and transporting it 65 feet up the side of the hill and 200 feet inland. It is even more of an amazing feat because this temple happened to be built into the side of a hill. They created a fake hill and installed the new temple, including the colossal statues of Rameses the Great at the front. 

We drove to the top of the Aswan Dam and looked out over the incredibly enormous lake that was created - Lake Nasser. You would swear it was an ocean! Apparently, if the dam ever broke, all of Egypt would be underwater in 6 hours. 

The most memorable thing about the dam for me was the profusion of stray dogs around, including one with an injured leg sitting on the dam wall. Even though the stall holders feed the dogs, I'm sure, I doubt they ever get veterinary attention. Very sad.

We moved on from the dam to Aswan Airport, where we caught a flight to Abu Simbel (about 45 minutes in the air). Then we took a bus to the temple. A lot of effort to get to this place, so I was hoping it was worth it. As we were flying, I looked out the window and actually saw the temple from the air. You could tell it was absolutely enormous, even from so high up.

The temple is located on the shore of the lake and you have to walk down a long curving path from the carpark. The figures at the front of the temple are 66 feet tall - truly the largest statues I have ever seen. It makes such an imposing facade for the temple and it looks like it is built into the side of a real hill. You can't tell that it's a man-made structure at all. The original builders of the temple (3,000 years ago) were incredible - and the reconstruction work was also amazing. People's heads don't even reach to the level of the feet of the statues. Incredible!

Inside the temple, it was slightly less impressive. It had beautiful columns, lovely images, lots of hieroglyphics - but nothing we haven't seen before. It's hard to beat the facade.

There was actually a second temple on site as well - built to Queen Nefertari, the wife of Rameses II. The special thing about her temple was that her figure on the front was almost as tall as the figure of Rameses - not as tall, but almost as tall. Apparently that's a first for Egyptian temples. Wives and daughters are usually pictured as small figures by the Pharaoh's feet. Her temple would have been considered amazing if it wasn't right next to Rameses' temple. It is also built into the side of a hill, so another impressive feat of engineering.

We spent a couple of hours at the site, which was plenty, because we still had a bus ride, a flight and then another bus ride ahead of us. To get out of the site, I had to walk back up a steep path to the top, run the gauntlet of another long strip of markets, being hassled continually by stall holders, before getting to the bus. By the time I got back to the boat, it was 3.30pm, and I definitely felt tired from all that travelling. It was worth it, but I wouldn't rush to do it again. 

Jim was much better when I got back, and it turned out he went with the rest of the boat guests to the Aswan Dam, took a ride on an Egyptian sailboat and visited a nearby market. (He said he went to a coffee shop and had a Turkish coffee while other people looked at the stalls.) There was an afternoon activity as well that he didn't take part in, as the effects of the Codral were starting to wear off.

In the evening, before dinner, we joined in with a Trivia Quiz in the lounge. Our team of two (called the Tomb Raiders) came a respectable 3rd. It was actually a lot of fun.