That would have been the earliest morning call I had ever received when I go on a holiday. On my usual days, if someone calls me at 3am while I am sound asleep, I would have probably kick up a fuss or even curse and swear your heads off!!
As I continue my sleep on the coach, an armed policeman hops onboard with his super long rifle. Together with another few hundreds of tourists, we formed a police convey to cross miles of desert towards the same destination - Abu Simbel.
I woke up several times to be greeted by lots of sand
Abu Simbel is considered the most magnificent work by Rameses II. It was build as a monument for himself and his favourite wife, Nefertari. Again, the original site had been submerged in water, so what we see today isn’t original…
We've reached!!!
Ibrahim mentioned that the original location of the temple was positioned in such a way that twice each year, rays of the sun during dawn will penetrate the sanctuary all the way into the inner shrine and illuminate the face of Rameses II, while leaving the rest of the sculptures in the dark. The 2 magical days used to be on February 21 and October 21, which are coronation day and his birthday respectively. Rameses II is a Libra just like me!!!
The magnificent statues, one gone, 3 to go...
However after the relocation of the temple 200 metres from its site, the face of Rameses II is lilted on February 22 and October 22 instead. He has to celebrate a happy belated birthday every year from now on….
When we walked into the temple, it became darker as we took each step forward. Finally, within the sanctuary at the far end of the temple, we saw are 4 sculptures of which Rameses II is 2nd from the left. No photo taking was allowed….but if you know me well enough, I broke the rule, again!!! I did it so quietly that even my friend didn’t realized I did it, again…
About 100 metres away from the great temple, there was a smaller temple build in honour of Queen Nefertari, and dedicated to goddess Hathor. Nefertari is standing between 2 statues of Rameses II on each site of the façade of the temple, so together there are 2 Nefertari and 4 Rameses II. I cannot remember what is inside the temple, except some chambers and walls full of cravings.
Temple of Hathor
Random...
Typical tourist poses
In 2 hours time, we were back on the coach to continue our sleep towards Aswan. That was all for the day, and we waited for night to arrive, while we entertain ourselves with UNO…
Police convey, we'll the last coach in the convey
When night falls, we lugged our heavy luggage towards the train station and I found myself in a tiny cubicle with Ash. ARGHHHhhhhh!!!!!!! I am a little claustrophobic, so I cannot stand living in a small area facing 4 walls. Luckily, there was a connecting door in our room to pj’s room, and I sat facing her, who was at most 3 meters away, so it was not too bad after all.
Waiting for the train
Bye Aswan
We have hardly any space left
The reason why I constipate... No vege =(
My upper deck bed, Wheee~
After a dinner with lots of meat, a transformer came along and within seconds, an army bunk appeared right before my eyes!!! 2 double deck single size beds. So cool to be true!!! Before I knew it, I dreamt my way into day 6…..
2 comments:
i thought Part 4 was the last ~~~~
i thought the policeman is going to rob u all!!
haha
I think there will be 3 more parts and that's it.
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