Night Visit to Temple of Kom Ombo (E13/25)

 

After the long journey back from Abu Simbel, our cruise set sail North towards Kom Ombo.

It was such a relaxing things to do watching sun slowly set on the River Nile.

It was already dark when we arrived at Temple of Kom Ombo.

The unique features of this temple is everything in double. There were courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms duplicated for two sets of gods. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, while the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon god Haroeris.

I try to take the stars on the dark sky above the temple without success.

The air was heavily pooluted with light and the dust particle during this season . The best I can get is the satelite that are brighter and nearer to earth. 

Abu Simbel Temples (E12/25)

 

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.

Colourful Nubian Village (E11/25)

 

After our visit to Philae Temple, the sun is already setting.

Our next stop is the very cheerful village called Nubian Village. It is know to be very colourful as all the building are painted with bright colours. It is best to visit during the day in order to have a full view of the whole area in bright colours.

Luckily, some of the building are brightly lighted allow us to still experience the Nubian village in its original form.

Nubian village is one of the few that capture tourist's heart genuinely with the colourful building, friendly host and great hospitality.

Nile crococodile are now only found southernmost part of Egypt after the construction of High Dam. In Nubian village, you can have a closer look that the villagers breed.

The eye of crocodile. 

We are treated with traditional Nubian bread.

Not forgetting the very nice Nubian tea too.

We are taught with some basic Nubian language too. A very friendly host indeed.

The shops are arranging their goods in the same colourful manner. 

Sea star are sold in the spice shops too.

What a wonderful day well spent visiting Philae Temple & Nubian Village.