WBA in Israel: Abu Simbel

Eunice and I arrived in Aswan, Egypt's southernmost city, on Dec. 31st, but didn't sample the reputedly raging club scene (according to our young Nubian friend) because we were set on travelling to Abu Simbel the next day. The village of Abu Simbel is only 40 km from the Sudanese border, so foreign tourists are only allowed to travel to the site in a police-escorted convoy. The time of departure of said convoy was 03:30, so we tucked in early and slept our way into the new year.

The 280km journey from Aswan took about 3 hours, I think. We headed south in a train of about 50 tour buses and vans, with barren desert lining both sides of the single-lane highway. Unfortunately, the co-driver of our van had the inexplicable compulsion to roll down his window and fill the small van with a fresh dose of frigid air ever 10-15 minutes, lowering the temperature by at least 20 degrees F. Unable to speak Arabic, and unwilling to shout and gesture over the heads of our sleeping (how they managed to sleep in this icebox, I do not understand) travel companions, Eunice and I just sucked it up.

On a rather unrelated note, Eunice and I felt that Egypt had a high number of (unconfirmed, but highly suspect) Asian fetishers, both with an Asian female companion and actively searching for an Asian female companion. But that is the not a subject appropriate for a public blog, as it involves the explanation of our controversial and potentially offensive method of distinguishing an Asian fetisher from a non-fetisher white (or other) male.

Back to Abu Simbel. The tourist droves-attracting sights of Abu Simbel are the temples of Ramses II and Hathor, which sit on the banks of Lake Nasser.

The Temple of Ramses II-- dedicated to the gods of Ra-Horakhty, Amun and Ptah, as well as Ramses himself.

The sheer magnitude of the temple is amazing.

Damn big.

The carvings and wall paintings inside are gorgeous, but like all other temples and tombs in Egypt, pictures are prohibited.

The Temple of Hathor, dedicated to Ramses's wife, Queen Nefertari.

It's essentially just a smaller version of Ramses's temple.

Posing as one of Ramses's and Nefertari's prince and princess children carved below the larger figures.

View of both temples.

Lake Nasser.