Day 4 I am sick in Abu Simbel

Photo above:The Great Temple of Abu Simbel and Temple of Hathor were relocated in 1960 to the current location as Lake Nasser threatened to engulf the temples. The original temple was cut from the mountain and moved to the artificial cliff 65 meters (213 ft) above their original location.

Day 4 at 2:30 AM I get up to prep for the trip to Abu Simbel. Julee's fever is gone but I think I've caught something. I started coughing last night and my throat is really scratchy.

At 3:30 the group meet downstairs to be picked up by our driver. We booked for a bus for the ten of us together. I am already doped up by Dramamine Night and two Tylenol pills. It's very chilly outside even though I am wearing five layers. I am freezing.

We wait for almost an hour to join the convoy of buses and minivans. As soon as the lead bus starts, every driver and his cousin starts to compete to get to the front. It's a chicken race, mad scene of armed soldiers standing by the cars, roads blocked just for this convoy at such early hours of the morning, honking and yelling.

After falling asleep for almost three hours, we arrive at Abu Simbel. As soon as I turn the corner of a mountain, I see the grand colossus of Ramses II sitting in the middle of the mountain. One of the statues is damaged but you can see the broken pieces with his ear on the ground. The temple is massive. Supposedly in Feb. and Oct., the sun rise will light up the inside and all the way to the back of the temple from the not so grand gate. It is such ingenious engineering.

Photo above: The smaller temple built by Ramses II to honor his favorite wife, Nefertari.

Photo right: Nefertari. The statue with one leg forward means it was built while the person is still alive. (If both legs are back, that means the statue is built after the person is dead.) Nefertari is in the form of goddess Hathor, with the cow horns and sun disc on her head.

In the afternoon we stop by the Philae Island to visit another temple... Philae Temple was built to worship goddess Isis. Everyday in Egypt, we have to haggle for anything including the ferry price across to the Island. The trick for haggling in Egypt as we've learned from Daniel is to start from 1/3 of the asking price. I was really shocked when I first heard about it because I always thought asking 1/2 to start with was already pretty good. Then again, we got charged for 75 EGP (for Julee and me) for our first dinner in Cairo. Later we learned we could have ordered the shawarma for 3 EGP and the entire meal probably was no more than 20 EGP.

I feel really dopey now, will leave to take a nap before we head out to the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan to see the sunset. Old Cataract was where Agatha Christie wrote the "Death on the Nile".

photo above: Gigantic wall of hieroglyphics on the Philae Island

Kiosk of Trajan on the Island of Philae