Policeman using the phone at a security post next to the Abu Simbel temple in South Egypt

A view of a policeman at the Abu Simbel temple in the southern Egyptian region of Nubia. Egypt suffered from a terrorist problem a few years back that impacted its tourism industry since a few of the terror attacks were targeted at tourists (in fact, one of the major attacks at the Hatsheput temple near Luxor killed off more than 50+ tourists). As a result, there were a number of measures implemented to reduce the threat to tourists (in the case of Abu Simbel, this meant that tourists could not go off to Abu Simbel on their own; instead there were specified times when all the vehicles were bundled in a convoy.

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Small opening in the hill at the back side of the Abu Simbel temple

The temple of Abu Simbel is actually 2 temples, the larger one created by the pharaoh Ramesses II, and a smaller (not so smaller) one right next to this, created for his wife (which was strange, since in Egyptian custom, the wife would normally deserve a statue where she would come to the knees of the pharaoh). The temples were created in small domes (like hillocks) after they were moved from their original locations in order to prevent submergence under the water - this photo is that of a small opening at the back side of this hillock (would be meant for repair / maintenance purposes).

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View of Lake Nasser from near the parking area at the Abu Simbel temple

Abu Simbel is a magnificent temple located deep in the south of Egypt, located at a distance by road of 280 km from the nearest large city of Aswan. It is located on the Nile, which was almost its undoing, since the construction of the Dam at Aswan led to a huge project in the 1960's to move the endangered monument a bit higher up (this movement was done stone by stone, a remarkable feat of engineering). So, now when you are the Abu Simbel temple, you are actually at a higher point than where the temple was located originally, and the current location of the water level of Lake Nasser (visible in the photo), hides the original location of the temple, which is now under water.

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Police officer standing on a rise above the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt

The temple of Abu Simbel is an important tourist destination for people visiting Egypt, especially because of the fact that the temple was going to be submerged due to the rising waters of Lake Nasser (created by the construction of the dam at Aswan); in the past decade, Egypt suffered huge declines in its tourism industry because of terrorist strikes at tourists (which led to a steep reduction in the number of tourists visiting the country). Post these terrorist strikes, there was a lot more emphasis on ensuring security for tourists, and hence you find police officials everyone, including this guy at the top of the hill that hosts the Abu Simbel.

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Occasional change in the terrain as we were driving from Aswan to Abu Simbel in Egypt

The distance by road from Aswan to Abu Simbel is around 280 km (the actual distance is lower, but you know how road distances tend to be larger than the actual distance). Most of the terrain is flat, but from time to time, there are some hills / mountains on the way, such as can be seen in this photo. However, the route is for the most part, boring. The only interesting element in the road trip was when you are able to catch the orb of the sun at sunrise / sunset.

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Driver of the vehicle taking us from Aswan to Abu Simbel, a hour drive in South Egypt

The driver of the vehicle taking us from the city of Aswan to the isolated temple of Abu Simbel in the southern Egyptian region of Nubia. The temples were located far away from modern civilization centers, they were in fact meant to showcase to the southern neighbors of Egypt about the power of the Egyptian pharaohs. Getting to the temple from Aswan can be done by boat, flight, or by road. We went by road, and since almost the only vehicles on the road were the tourist convoys (with vehicles traveling some distance apart), it was an easy drive for the driver (I would suppose the only problem would be to ensure that he does not fall asleep because of the sameness of the terrain over which he was driving.

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Electric transmission line alongside the Highway to Abu Simbel in Egypt

The route from the city of Aswan to the location where the temple of Abu Simbel is present is interesting only to those people who like desert travel. It is a 4 lane highway, stretching for a length of 280 km, where you can get there in less than 3 hours, since almost the entire traffic is only of tourist vehicles (allowed only at specific time intervals). Alongside the road is an electric line, with frequent transmission towers. For somebody interested in photography, it became boring after some time, so took a few photos of the surroundings (and there was no exploration possible - the driver of the tourist vehicle seemed scared of the police rules enough that he was hesitant in even stopping the vehicle and letting us look around on this highway).

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Tourists standing at the foot of the large statues of the Pharaoh at the temple of Abu Simbel

This photo gives you a good look of one of the temples at the temple of Abu Simbel, located 280 km (by road) from Aswan, in the southern Egypt region of Nubia. This is the temple dedicated to the pharaoh Ramesses II, and there is another temple just next door dedicated to his wife (which was a strong projection of her as a powerful queen, since typical statues of a queen show her coming to the knees of the pharaoh). In this photo, you see the size of the 4 large sitting statues, along with the tourists (looking much smaller than the statues) at the base of the statues.

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The damaged statue out of the 4 statues at the entrance to the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt

There are these 4 huge statues at the entrance to the temple of Abu Simbel. These statues depict the great pharaoh Ramesses II (who is acknowledged as the most powerful known pharaoh of ancient Egypt) in the sitting position. The pharaoh is depicted wearing a double crown (that of the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt), with the size of these sitting statues being 20 meters (which is huge). The statue in the middle (in this photo, it is actually the second statue from the left out of the total of 4 statues) was damaged in an earthquake, which caused the structure of the statue above the waist to fall, and can now be seen at the base of the statue.

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View of the smallish entrance to the Abu Simbel temple in the region of Nubia in Egypt

The entrance to the Abu Simbel temple in the region of Nubia in south Egypt. The entrance to the temple is a small entrance, shorn of any immediate carving at the entrance (although there were these 4 huge statues just a few feet to the sides of the entrance). The entrance did not allow more than a person at a time to enter comfortably, and unfortunately for me, there was a warning that photography was not allowed inside the temple. You did not have to deposit your camera (like you have to do at the Valley of the Kings) at the entrance, but it is expected that you do not try to any photography inside the temple.

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The statues outside the entrance to the Abu Simbel temple with tourists at the base

A view of the front section of the Abu Simbel temple in the region of Nubia in south Egypt. This is not the original shape of the temple, since this is not the original location of the temple. The temple was located at a lower level, but was supposed to be submerged after the rising of Lake Nasser post the construction of the Aswan Dam. As a result, the temple was moved in a massive engineering effort and moved to a higher level while retaining the structure of the inside and outside of the temple. The difference was that it was located in a domed structure after the movement, which is what you can see right now. The temple was constructed in the year 1244 BC (after an approximate time period of 20 years of construction). The temple was a projection of the pride of the great pharaoh Ramesses II, and also meant to showcase his grandeur to the people of Nubia.

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View of the temple of the Abu Simbel from a distance, giving an overall view

A view of the domed structure that now contains the temple of Abu Simbel (or part of the structure, since the actual structure contains 2 temples); the area that is seen is the temple of the pharaoh Ramesses II, and to the right you can see a small part of the structure of the smaller temple, that of the primary queen Nefertari (who had an exalted status, given the presence of such a temple, since normally the queen would be just a much smaller statue coming upto the knees of the pharaoh). The Abu Simbel complex consists of 2 such temples, both of them moved from a lower point where they would have been submerged by the water (refer this link for images of the temple before the movement of the temple).

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Closer view of 2 of the huge sitting statues at the entrance to the Abu Simbel temple

The statues at the entrance to the Abu Simbel statue are literally huge. They display the ancient and very powerful pharaoh Ramesses II, placing him at the same level as the gods, and the pharaoh did project themselves as being divine, giving them the authority to rule over the country of Egypt. In this photo, you are able to see 2 of these statues, and in total there are a total of 4 such statues. Out of the 4 such huge statues, 3 of them are in fairly good condition, with the remaining statue being in a state of damage, with the statue above the waist being pretty badly damaged.

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Boundary wall of the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt

There is a boundary wall all around the Abu Simbel temple, located at a small high above the surface of Lake Nasser. Given the worries about the security situation in Egypt from around a decade ago, when there were attacks on tourists by radical Islamist groups. The attacks had a huge negative impact on the very important tourist industry of Egypt, leading to an effort to ensure much more security. There is now a police presence at all tourist locations, and this is visible to ensure that there is a feeling of a much higher security level for everybody. The metal fence would be a part of this security.

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View of the statues outside the Abu Simbel temple along with tourists

A view of the overall structure of the Abu Simbel temple located in south Egypt. Even though this particular tourist destination is one of the most isolated of the popular tourist destinations (located 280 km in terms of road distance from the city of Aswan), there are a number of people who come to see the place. You can visit the Abu Simbel temple through a flight (landing at the Abu Simbel airport), or via road (the most popular way to get here - travel in a convoy that leaves twice a day from Aswan (convoy and regulated time is because of security reasons)), or travel on a cruise ship from Aswan, which takes around 3 days on Lake Nasser. Once you get here, you see these 4 huge statues in a seated position, lording it over the tourists coming to visit the place, and in between the statues, there is an entrance where you can enter inside the temple.

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Tourists outside the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt, at the shore of Lake Nasser

The Abu Simbel temple is located at the shore of the Lake Nasser (formed by the construction of the High Dam at Aswan, around 280 kilometeres away). During the construction of the dam, it was realized that the formation of the huge lake behind the dam will cause the submergence of the temple, and an international effort was undertaken to ensure that this world heritage building was saved, and the entire structure was moved stone by stone to a higher spot, where a hill was built with space inside for the temple, and the huge statues were placed in front. In addition, the temple was re-done such that the light coming into the temple at a specific time period every year was also retained. A number of tourists come to this place, both due to the magnificence of the temple as well as the engineering effort that was taken to save the temple.

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Tourists at the entrance to the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt

A number of tourists at the entrance to the Abu Simbel temple in South Egypt. Even though the Abu Simbel temple is located far away from Aswan, it is very popular and a large number of tourists do try to get there. Once you get there however, the whole view of the temple and the surrounding can be done in 2-3 hours (and by road, it takes 3 hours to get there and 3 hours to get back). But you get a sense of awe at the location, based on the structure of the temple and the engineering effort it took to move the temple to a safer location (as it was going to go under the water with the increase in water levels with the construction of the Aswan dam).

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Statue on the wall above the entrance of the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt

This is a statue located on top of the entrance to the Abu Simbel temple located in South Egypt. The temple can be reached from Aswan, through multiple ways (you can there through flight, you can get there through a convoy that starts from Aswan, or you can get there on a cruise on Lake Nasser from the city of Aswan). This is most likely a statue of the pharaoh (but somebody other than me would need to confirm this). I do not have a confirmation on this one, and my guide when we were visiting the temple was a trainee, unable to provide this information.

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Statue located above the entrance to the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt

A view of a statue located above the entrance to the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt. The statue looks to be fairly good condition, with the temple being around 34 centuries old (from the time of the reign of the pharaoh Ramesses II). From the photo, it is not apparent, but the statue is located at a bit of height, not at ground level. It was interesting to see such a statue, actually built inside inside the wall rather than being placed in front of the wall. Next to the statue, you can see some more graphics, depicting some events from the pharaoh's life.

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View of the entrance to the structure of the Abu Simbel temple along with statues on either side

This is a view of the structure of the front of the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt, located at a distance of 280 km from Aswan. In the photo, you can also see the top part of the hill inside which the temple has been constructed. This photo gives you a great view of the front section of the temple (partial) with a view of 2 of the statues of the sitting pharaoh (there are 2 more statues that are not seen in this photo). One of the statues is broken above the waist, being the only statue that is so damaged (the other 3 large statues are still in a pretty good condition).

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The entrance to the Abu Simbel temple along with a statue above the entrance

A view of the entrance to the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt. When you look at the entrance to the temple, it seems a bit rough, but when you look closely, the side part of the entrance remains as fine as ever, it is near the top that the condition looks a bit degraded. Located high above the entrance, there seems the statue of the pharaoh (although it requires somebody more experienced to be able to say what the actual sculpture shows). Given the age of the structure, it seems remarkable as to how well preserved the structure is.

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Statues to the left of the corridor inside the Abu Simbel entrance in Egypt

This is a view of the corridor inside the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt, soon after entering through the narrow entrance. Once you enter through the entrance, there is a corridor with statues lined both to the left and to the right of the path (with the statues being part of the walls). It looks very imposing, with these statues towering over the tourists who enter the temple. As per the policy shown at the entrance of the temple, photography is not allowed inside the temple (once you go in through the entrance), so capturing the beauty inside the temple was not permissible.

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View of the ceiling paintings at the temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt

A view of some of the paintings on the ceiling of the corridor just inside the entrance of the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt. The temple was constructed by the great pharaoh Ramesses II as another way of portraying his power and strength, and also a way to show to visitors from the south that "here is the kingdom of a great and powerful monarch, think about attacking at your own peril". This is the maximum that one can take a photo of, with this photograph being taken from beyond the open entrance, and you are not allowed to do any photography inside the entrance to the temple.

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Tourists sitting on a bench near the water of Lake Nasser next to the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt

The temple of Abu Simbel is located right next to the river Nile, or rather the huge reservoir of Lake Nasser. Due to the construction of the Dam at Aswan, the rising water levels due to the reservoir behind the dam was going to submerge the structure where the temple of Abu Simbel was originally constructed. In order to save the temple, there was a huge engineering effort done to move the temple, and the present location where the temple is now located was after the movement of the temple. In this photo, you can see tourists seated on a bench next to the temple, where you can see a view of the water of the lake behind.

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Tourists and the statues inside the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt

A view of some of the large statues inside the Abu Simbel temple in South Egypt. These are statues that are lining the inside corridor of the Abu Simbel temple just from the entrance of the temple. You can get an idea of the size of these statues (lining the walls of the temple) when you look at the scale of the tourists in the same photo. Since there was a restriction in carrying your camera inside the temple, these were the only view that I could from the outside. However, I could also see many photos of the inside of the temple on many sites, so was wondering whether these photography restrictions were new, or people anyhow took photos inside.

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