Surroundings of the Abu Simbel temple in South Egypt

Surroundings of the temple in the southern half of Egypt, near the border with Sudan. The area is pretty isolated with not too many people or other signs of civilization nearby, with the geography of the area having the presence of two types of features - one is the desert with some mountains; and the other is the River Nile passing through the area.

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Security personnel outside the entrance of the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt

For the last many years, Egypt has been focusing on ensuring that there is a high level of security in the tourist sites in the country, ever since there were some terrorist attacks that claimed the life of many foreign tourists in Cairo and at Queen Hatshepsut's temple in the 1990's. As a result, in order to save the tourism industry, the security infrastructure had been enhanced all over, and given the isolated location of the Abu Simbel temple, the security conditions for the Abu Simbel visit are controlled, with visitors allowed to travel there in convoys, twice a day. At the temple, there are many security personnel along with security scanners to provide the required level of security.

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Edge of the hillock and trees with a view of the water of Lake Nasser in the background at the Abu Simbel temple

This is more of a landscape / lakescape type of photo. The photo shows an edge of the hillock that houses the Abu Simbel temple, along with the trees to the side of the path. The major view in this photo is that of Lake Nasser (the reservoir formed by the damning of the River Nile at the dam in Aswan 260 km downriver). The water at this location looks great, with the water forming a great contrast with the general brown color of the surface and the small hills that are at both sides of the lake.

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Security personnel at the Abu Simbel temple in South Egypt

For the last many years, Egypt has been focusing on ensuring that there is a high level of security in the tourist sites in the country, ever since there were some terrorist attacks that claimed the life of many foreign tourists in the 1990's. So, the security infrastructure had been enhanced all over, and given the isolated location of the Abu Simbel temple, the security conditions for the Abu Simbel visit are controlled, with visitors allowed to travel there in convoys, twice a day.

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Person walking on the path surrounding the hillocks of the Abu Simbel temple flanked by trees

Many previous photos show the hillocks in the Abu Simbel temples (where the temples have statues at the entrance and the sanctum inside the hollowed out area of the hillocks). And there is a path around the hillocks, which takes the users around the perimeter of the temple. The path is flanked by a large number of trees, which seem out of the place for location, but looks good and the overall photo looks great.

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Security officers and tourists at the Abu Simbel temple in South Egypt

Many years back, the tourism industry in Egypt suffered pretty badly because of terrorism related issues, and hence there was a focus on providing additional security at all the tourist related sites, with the police force being equipped with far more deadly weapons in order to thwart terrorism. In the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt, because of its isolated location, the need to put in more security was also high. Here, you can see the vehicles carrying police personnel along with police officials and tourists near the parking area of the Abu Simbel temple.

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Tourists outside the buses parked with the water of Lake Nasser near the Abu Simbel temple

Given the distance between the large city of Aswan, and the temple of Abu Simbel (a distance of around 260 km) along with need to ensure security for all the tourists, travel to the temple complex is only at permitted times, in convoys. So, buses are a favored way to reach to Abu Simbel, since they allow larger groups to travel in comfort. In this photo, you can see tourists emerging from their buses, parked a short distance from the entrance gate of the Abu Simbel temple and with a view of Lake Nasser in the background.

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Path from the parking to the entrance gate of the Abu Simbel temple in South Egypt

The temple of Abu Simbel in South Egypt is located in an area where there is little else, and hence it has a lot of space for itself. In this photo, you can see the distance of the entrance gate from the parking area of the temple. Inspite of the area being mostly barren, there are a lot of efforts by the local administration to try and plant some amount of greenery, such as these trees planted on the central verge (and a number of trees inside the compound of the temple).

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Trees and tourists at the entrance to the temple of Abu Simbel in south Egypt

The Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt is located in a barren area, way away from other population centers (and located 280 km from a large city, Aswan). Even though the Nile is running next to this area, the geology and make-up of this section means that the area looks dry and brown rather than having greenery. Just near the temple and inside the complex, there has been some attempts to provide greenery by planting a number of trees.

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Path around the hillocks hosting the temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt

A path around the large hillocks that host the temples of Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel, located in south Egypt, is essentially a set of twin temples, one dedicated to the pharaoh, and the other to his chief wife. These hillocks have the huge statues at the outside, on the main entrance, and inside the hillocks is the sanctum of the temple. There is a path around the hillocks, and most tourists do take the round, covering both the temples and taking a round of the perimeter.

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Cruise ship with the background of the blue water of Lake Nasser in south Egypt

View of the cruise ship near the temple of Abu Simbel in south Egypt. The temple of Abu Simbel is petty ancient, from the time of the greatest Egyptian pharaoh, Ramesses II. It was built on the banks of the Nile, as a way to showcase the grandeur of the pharaoh. However, with the construction of the High Dam at Aswan and the creation of the reservoir, Lake Nasser, the temple faced being submerged. To save the temple, it was moved to a higher level. Now, it is a famous tourist attraction, with tourists ships coming over the Lake from Aswan to visit it.

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Row of palm trees in a line in front of the Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt

There is a lot of effort to make tourist places more attractive. So, even though when you look at the overall structure of temple of Abu Simbel, it seems a dry and barren place, there are lots of stretches of greenery all around, and most of that is effort that has been put in. In front of the entrance to the complex of the temple, there is a row of palm trees in the middle of the road.

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Front view of the temple at Abu Simbel along with the 4 large statues in front

The front view of the temple at Abu Simbel. The temple complex at Abu Simbel comprises of 2 statues, with the main temple dedicated to the pharaoh, while the smaller temple is dedicated to the chief queen of the pharaoh. In the temple, there are 4 main statues of the pharaoh in a sitting position, huge statues of the temple. These are imposing statues, with 3 out of the 4 statues in a pretty good condition.

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Selling cold drinks and other eatables near the entrance of the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt

The Abu Simbel temple in south Egypt is a very famous temple, more famous because of the massive engineering effort that was needed to save the temple from being drowned due to the rising waters of Lake Nasser (formed due to the construction of the giant dam at Aswan). At the temple, near the entrance, there are vendors and machines where cold drinks and other eatables are sold.

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Row of shops outside the compound of Abu Simbel in south Egypt

The temple of Abu Simbel is located far away from any other civilization, with a distance of around 3 hours drive from the closest city, Aswan. At the same time, Abu Simbel is a very famous tourist destination, and a number of visitors come to this tourist location. At the temple, there are a number of vendors that sell stuff that Egypt is famous for as well as stuff that can be found at tourist locations all over the world.

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View of cruise ship through trees at the temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt

Cruise ship near Abu Simbel in the southern region of Egypt. There is a stretch of greenery around the temple, and right next to this is part of Lake Nasser. There are cruise ships that take people to Abu Simbel from Aswan, which is a nice comfortable way to get there. In this photo, you can see a cruise ship moored at the side, below the actual compound of the temple.

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Path around the hillocks holding the temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt

This is a path that goes around the hillock of the temple of Abu Simbel located in the south of Egypt in Africa. The temples of Abu Simbel is located primarily in 2 hillocks which have statues on the outside part, and the hillocks contain the sanctum of the temple. Around the hillocks, there is a path that lets visitors go around the hillocks and do a circumnavigation of the temple area.

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