Abu Simbel

Deep in the Nubian heartlands of southern Egypt sits Abu Simbel: a humble village that finds its solitary draw card in the magnificent monolith structures of the Great Temple of Ramses II and the Temple of Hathor. Set neatly on the banks of Lake Nasser, these two relics of Egypt’s ancient civilisations date back to around 1,200 BC and were the subject of one of the country’s most ambitious reconstruction and preservation projects in the 60s, when they were painstakingly relocated to reside above the waterline of the reservoir formed by the raising of the Aswan Dam (situated just 230 kilometers to the north). However, this new location could only enhance such a wonder of the ancient world, tagged now by UNESCO and famed for its elephantine effigies of the revered pharaoh Ramesses the Great. And the fascinations don’t end there either. Abu Simbel tour guides are also quick to extoll the mind-boggling solar phenomena that occurs on twin dates in October and February each year, when rays of sunlight pierce the inner sanctums of the temples and illuminate the icons of the gods, save for the mysterious and eerie figure of Ptah – ruler of the underworld.