Egypt-Day 5/Christmas Day- Abu Simbel and Arrival Cairo

This Christmas morning reminded us of past Christmas mornings from our youth because we had to wake up while it was still dark outside! Our bags were packed the night before so we just had to drag ourselves out of bed to get a cup of coffee, a box petite dejeuner for the ride and get on the bus. For safety reasons, we were transported by military convoy south near the Sudanese boarder through the desert to Abu Simbel. There, we would view the monumental temple complex beside Lake Nasser and then fly to Cairo.

ABU SIMBEL: This temple complex was dug on the Western mountain range in 1290-1224 BC and was dedicated to the triad gods Amon-Ra, Ptah and Ra-Harakhte, by Ramses II. The Temple of Re-Harakhte, also called the Great Temple of Ramses II, is one of the most impressive temples in Egypt and in the world. Next to this temple there is the so-called Small Temple of Abu Simbel: the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to Hathor (the wife of the Sun God) and to Ramses II 's favorite wife: Queen Nefertari. These two temples would have disappeared for ever under the waters of the Nasser Lake if the UNESCO had not acted. Impressive that they were moved.
The temples in Abu Simbel were discovered by J. L. Burckhardt in 1813. Travelers to this area since Victorian times passed them by as they were completely covered in sand. The Sun Temple of Ramesses II is one of the most impressive temples in Egypt.
Ramses II, son of king Sethi I, reigned 67 years (1290-1224 BC). He was famous for the number of wives and children he had; more than 6 wives, and more than 100 children. You may think he didn't have time for anything else. This is not the case; he was a military strategist and a builder. Some of the monuments constructed during his reign are: the temples of Karnak (Luxor), The Ramesseum (on the West Bank near Luxor) and the monumental temples of Abu Simbel. He also commanded his troops in many glorious battles.


The seated statues are over 20 meters(65ft) high!







After our morning visit, we boarded a chartered flight at the nearby airport and flew to Cairo. From the airport, we made a stop for lunch along the way. What an eye opener our trip from the airport was!! Cairo lived up to it's reputation as being both very polluted and very poor. Even the ride was a bit hair raising...


The restaurant was mostly outdoors with a buffet of typical Egyptian food as well as "food for the masses"-grilled chicken, baked fish, humus, salads of carrots, chick peas, beets, warm pasta dishes and rice. There was a woman baking pita bread in an outdoor oven who made a shrill noise like a wounded peacock!! We were SURE it was a bird until we saw make the noise with her mouth.



The grilled chicken was some of the best we'd ever eaten. Nick would like to have a grill just like theirs...


When we finally got to the 5 star JW Marriott we truly felt like it was Christmas Day!! We entered the hotel and saw everything festively decorated much like we would have found it if we'd been at a hotel in the States.



MERRY CHRISTMAS, JOYEUX NOEL!!



We got to our lovely rooms...



and almost immediately went to enjoy the comforts of the hotel's spa...



Later that night, we had a fabulous Christmas dinner in the hotel with our friends, the Pellegrino's and the Le France's. The theme of the entire meal was the sea....we began with all the sushi you could eat and then could choose from too many other types of fish and seafood to even begin to describe! The deserts were amazing too, especially the Häagen-Dazs ice cream sundaes!

Tomorrow we're off to see the Great Pyramids!!