Oct. 2, 2010

Our day of highs and lows. Our group of 16 checked out of the Four Season's at 2:30 AM! to catch a short flight to Abu Simbel near the Sudan border. After arriving at the airport, we learned that our flight (Egypt Air) was delayed until 7:00a.m. The temple at Abu Simbel was so worth the wait. It was built by Ramses II at about 2,000 BC and had been covered with sand and silt for thousands of years. It was discovered again in the late 1800's, and it was actually taken apart, numbered each piece, and relocated 160 feet back from Lake Nasser from 1964-1969 with funding from UNESCO. It was relocated after the Aswan Dam was built. It was one of the highlights of Egypt for me!

We were going to fly back to Aswan after visiting Abu Simbel, but our flight was delayed again. We sat on the plane for two hrs. before asking everyone to de-plane and go back to the terminal. There was talk about bussing all the passengers back to Aswan, but luckily the plane's problem was fixed and we returned to Aswan by plane at about 6:00 p.m. If we had to bus back to Aswan, we would have "convoyed" with other busses and a police escort because the area isn't really safe, I guess.

After a long day at the Abu Simbel airport, we all checked into the MS Sunboat III--where we'll be for the next week, cruising along the Nile River.
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Location:Abu Simbel Airport