My round trip: Luxor – Aswan – Abu Simbel – Luxor

I am sitting now overlooking the Red Sea after having just completed my round trip: Luxor – Aswan – Abu Simbel – Luxor

It was a great trip with more temples and a Nile cruise where you basically do nothing for two days except sitting and eating. Not sure how people do it for a week but trying a new method of transportation to get back to Luxor was worth it.

Luxor to Aswan by train

I flew from Cairo to Luxor and so I decided to catch the train to Aswan to add to the adventure. I must admit, I was a little bit nervous catching a regular train in Egypt though. The Egypt government doesn’t really encourage public transport for tourists. I did it anyway, and it was fine.

I organised the ticket for the Express train, 1st Class (don’t buy anything else) a few days in advance. It was easy to find the platform and the train on the day as well. I have read a few stories about big delays, but this train was luckily only 15min late.

So, after sitting in a rather dirty but comfortable seat, I arrived in Aswan three hours later. Tip: avoid using the toilet in the train if you can. Not pretty.

Aswan – Abu Simbel – Aswan

Once in Aswan I organised my next two days rather quickly. There is nothing to see in the town as such. Except the unfinished Obelisk. (Not a must but I had nothing else to do so here are some pics). Same as in Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, you only come to Aswan to see the Abu Simbel Temple.

The two massive rock temples at Abu Simbel are near the border of Sudan (that is most likely the closest I would get to Sudan ever), 230km southwest from Aswan. It is a trip that you need to organise through a Travel agency but it was pretty easy. Egypt definitely doesn’t lack keen travel agents trying to get your booking. There are plenty around.

The bus was leaving at 4am in the morning and I came back at 1pm. Driving through the desert while the sun was rising was a unique and new experience. After a quick stop at a very deserted but well positioned coffee shop (in the middle of nowhere) we continued our trip and arrived at the Abu Simbel Temple just before 8am.

It was a quick turn around trip (3 hours each way in the bus and 1.5 hours at the temple) but definitely worth the early start.

Abu Simbel Temple

The Temple complex is quite stunning and breathtaking as soon as you approach it. The Twin Temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC by Ramesses II. I only mention it because amazingly everything has been relocated entirely in 1968 by archaeologists to save it from flooding during the Aswan High Dam construction on the Nile River. What a commitment to history that was!

There are no photos allowed inside the temples so I took plenty outside. It was just magnificent! The size of the statues are very grand and the wall engravings are beautiful to see. I had to share the experience with lots of other tourists and big groups of people of course but I still managed to avoid them in some of the photos. Luckily it is off season.

You should definitely put it on your list to see. I am glad I saw it! Being back just after lunch I had enough time to rest in the afternoon in Aswan, strolling through the old souk (city) markets.

Aswan – Luxor

The Nile River Cruise

The same travel agency that organised the Abu Simbel Trip for me organised tickets for my Nile River Cruise. After all you can’t go to Egypt and not do a cruise on the Nile River.

The cruise (Semiramis II) was a 7 day cruise and came from Luxor to Aswan, heading back to Luxor again. So I basically hopped on it in Aswan for two nights, heading down the stream to Luxor. I paid 35USD per night, all included (except drinks but I didn’t drink so it was a pretty good bargain). I was clearly one of the youngest people on board, with the average age of travellers being around 65 and mostly from Europe (UK, Scotland, etc). Clearly escaping the European snow.

Given that it was on its way back it only stopped quite briefly at the Kom Ombo Temple and the Temple of Edfu. It was nice to see the Kom Ombo Temple at night, however, as we clearly weren’t the only boat docking there, I decided to avoid the crowds inside and do a quick walk around the temple on the outside.

In addition I also missed out on the Temple of Edfu, as it was too early in the morning to visit. But I would say I have done my share of temple visits in Egypt so I didn’t mind.

Second day on the cruise…

The second day on the boat was rather long. (Do I dare say boring?) I was a little bit stuck on the boat not able to go anywhere. It was either sitting on the deck, enjoying the sun or eating. It was ok for one day but it definitely showed me I am not ready for long cruises and most likely will not be until I am very (very) old. Maybe.

We docked in Luxor in the evening and so after breakfast the next day I was off the boat and on the bus heading towards Hurghada for some beach time. With my dad!! No more temples in Egypt! xx