This is Part 5 of the series “Middle East 2024” which took place in Abu Simbel and Kom Ombo on the Nile cruise in November 2024.

After spending yesterday doing the Nile Cruise half-day tour and visiting the eastern bank of Aswan, it was time to visit Abu Simbel in the morning and then sail northwards to Kom Ombo.

Getting to Abu Simbel

Transport options

The journey from Aswan to Abu Simbel takes 3 to 4 hours by road each direction. It is also possible to take a 45-minute flight although timings are limited and clearing security would reduce the time savings.

Most Nile Cruises shuttling between Aswan and Luxor will offer an optional half-day tour where one will wake up very early to take a vehicle (private or shared) to Abu Simbel and back. This road opens from 5am to 5pm so one will reach Abu Simbel earliest at 8am. It was certainly much more crowded in the morning though with all the day-trippers.

There are also Lake Nasser cruises where the boat will actually head to Abu Simbel. One can visit the temple in the afternoon as well as at night for the light show. Such cruises also visit the less-visited Amada Temple, Kalabsha Temple and Wadi El Seboua.

It is also possible to stay overnight in Abu Simbel where you can watch the light show at night as well as visit the temple when it first opens its doors at 6am. I was considering this option at first but decided that since I was already on the Nile cruise, I might as well just go with the cruise where I will at least have a guide to explain the site. I braced myself for crowds of daytrippers.

Visiting Abu Simbel as part of a half-day tour

There was some miscommunication where the tour company admin did not tell my guide that I will be paying for the Abu Simbel tour using card which was thankfully resolved quickly. I paid by card after the whole tour ended where a staff came over to my accommodation with a credit card machine. Do ensure that expectations are aligned across both the admin and the guide as sometimes, they do not communicate.

I woke up really early, got my breakfast box and then boarded the van (shared with others) at around 4:30am. I slept as much as I could as we drove through endless stretches of desert. There was a rest point in the middle for a quick toilet break. There will be many vehicles parked so remember which is your vehicle! My van had a recognisable genie lamp on the dashboard which helped the groggy me to identify the correct van.

Grand Temple of Abu Simbel

We finally reached at 9:15am where we walked along Lake Nasser to see the magnificent temple. It is difficult to visualise how large 20-metre statues are until coming to Abu Simbel. The 4 statues of Ramses II sitting on the throne flank the entrance of the Great Temple and towered over all of us. These immense statues as well as the smaller statues were all carved from the mountain.

After my guide explained the significance of Abu Simbel temple and how this is his favourite temple, I queued up to enter the temple (guides are apparently not allowed). There were even more intricate carvings and paintings on the walls and the ceiling. The pillars were the statues of Ramses II rather than the usual lotus or papyrus bud columns.

The innermost sanctuary featured four statues, including the deified Ramses II, with the leftmost Ptah (the god of the underworld) remaining in the shadow. Twice a year on 22 February and 22 October, the Sun Festival occurs where the sun’s rays will illuminate all the statues (Ramses II, Amun-Ra, Re-Horakhty) except Ptah in Holy of the Holies (around 60 metres deep). It is amazing how the ancient Egyptians could do such calculations and construction with such precision.

I spent around 15 minutes inside the temple which was extremely crowded, making the experience feel less sacred.

Temple of Nefertari

Pharaoh Ramses II loved Nefertari so much that he built a temple in honour of her beside the Grand Temple. Ironically, there were more statues of Pharaoh Ramses II at the entrance (4) than of Queen Nefertari herself (2). On each side, one statue of Nefertari stood between two Ramses II statues. This temple was dedicated to the goddess Hathor. I spent less than 10 minutes inside the temple.

Returning to the cruise

After spending 1.5 hours at the Abu Simbel complex, we left at around 11am and finally reached Aswan at around 2:30pm. After a quick lunch on the boat (quick enough to not even have a photo of the food!), I came back to see the extra towels being made into a crocodile!

I then lazed around on the upper deck of the boat and had some complimentary waffles. There were merchants paddling their wares on their small boats where they threw their items to us and interested buyers will throw down their money. I also watched the sun set.

Kom Ombo Temple & Crocodile Museum

We reached Kom Ombo at around 6pm. Kom Ombo Temple is a special temple dedicated to two gods – Sobek (crocodile god) and Horus (depicted as a falcon). It has two identical halves and perfectly symmetrical along the main axis with each half having its own entrance, halls and sanctuary for each god. In addition to the reliefs of Horus and Sobek, there were also other interesting scenes such as one featuring surgical instruments (e.g. scalpels, forceps).

Before exiting the compound, I visited the Crocodile Museum that featured crocodile mummies and sacrophagi.

Epilogue

We returned to the boat at around 7:45pm which sailed down to Edfu. I had dinner and sent some dirty clothes to the laundry. Washing 3 T-shirts, a pair of trousers, 2 pairs of shorts, a pair of underwear and 3 pairs of socks cost 245 EGP and I received them the next day (albeit a little damp). At least my dirty white socks became white again. It is best to do laundry on the first or second day of the cruise, especially if the clothes don’t end up being fully dry.

There was a galaba party which I did not join as I did not really feel like dancing in the midst of strangers whom I never spoke to. Definitely a downside of being solo on the Nile Cruise…