We headed out to the airport very early to board an Egyptian Air flight to Aswan and then Abu Simbel. Since this was just a day trip, we only had carry-ons and when we got to the airport our guide smiled at the security people and they let us through without ever looking at our bags. Flying Egyptian Air is quite an experience. They have nice Airbus planes but the entire flight they show a hideous video about Egypt that includes wonderful songs with English subtitles that say things such as "Get me close to you" and "You are the worthest thing" (that's sic). We first flew to Aswan but unfortunately there wasn't enough time to see any sights there, we might have to return one day. As you can see, the airport was totally packed.

The temples at Abu Simbel would have been flooed when the big dam was built, but fortunately Unesco actually paid to have the whole shebang disassembled and moved to a higher location so that it stays above water. You can get some idea of the scale of the thing from these pictures:

There are two temples - one belongs to Ramses II and the other, smaller one, was built for his beloved wife Nefertari. If you look above the statues you can see where they sliced the rock to move it to higher ground.

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