Another early day for us as we set off on road at 4 am to further south to Abu Simbel Temple.
Bonus for early trip is being able to capture the sun rise over the desert while on our way to Abu Simbel.
Abu Simbel Temple consists of 2 rock cut temple and are dedicated to 13th century Pharaoh Ramesses II and his first wife Nefertari. This temple is part of the Nubia Campaign by UNESCO with internationl efforts to save the monuments of Nubia threaten by the rising water due to the construction of High Dam.
The entrance of the main temple (the bigger one). Note that the head of the second statue from the left is broken off and laying on the ground in front of the statue. This happened during an ancient earthquak at its original location..
Egyptian goose is found quite frequently on the wall of the temple.
The scene of the king on his chariot shooting arrows against fleeing enemies, who are being taken prisoner.
Scene of offerings to the gods.
It is believed that the axis of the temple was positioned by the ancient Egyptian architects in such a way that on October 22 and February 22, the rays of the sun would penetrate the sanctuary and illuminate the sculptures on the back wall.
Entrance of the smaller temple.
WHile on our way back to Aswan, we saw another natural phenomenon usually occur during high heat - mirrage.
The "water" is the results of light ray gets refracted when moves through the cold air and into the hot air layer.
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