Day 55- Aswan/ Able Simble

Day 55- 9 October 2008 Today we awoke at 3.45am and was on the bus by 4am headed for Able Simble which is about 3 to 4 hours from Aswan. We had to again go by convoy, but as our bus was pretty slow we did not see any armed guards or other buses (except the ones overtaking us). We arrived in Able Simble around 9.30am. As we walked up to a giant part of a mountain we headed around the edge of the water and before we knew it, the giant temple was revealed. This is a massive temple built in teh side of the mountain and has 4 large statutes of the pharoh in the front and through a small walk way there are 4 or so rooms including the sanctuary temple at the back which has a further 4 statutes which on 2 times a year, the lught shines through the whole temple and illuminates 3 of the 4 statutres (the 4th staying the shadow and is the god of darkness). There are amazing carvings and relief on the walls. There is also a smaller temple next door which is just as amazing and very similar but on a smaller scale. This is the Temple of Hathor, built in honour of the goddess of love and music and Ramsses wife, queen nefertari. It was Ramesses 11 that built this and the small temple. This is the temple that was to be underwater and was moved in the 1980s (i think) back from the lake. After our 3 or 4 hour trip back, we visted a perfumary (egyptian style) and then had macdonalds on the nile (one the of the most picturesec mcdonalds i have seen) and then got a motorboat and wewnt around the Elephantine and Kitchener Islands, viewing the nilometre, Aga Khan village and ended up on the beach. We then hoped on camels and went for a camel ride in the desert to a nubian village. I was given the reigns and allowed to steer the camel (which decided to go really fast). We ended up at the nubian village (nubians are very dark egyptians) and we were shown around a nubian house and had dinner there. We also tried Sashish pipe (water pipe) and got to hold some crocodiles which had been plucked out of the nile river. We then got back on teh motor boat and went back to the hotel for a dip in the pool.