Egypt Day 6: Abu Simbel, the High Dam, and Philae Temple!

Work is busy which is great, the news is nausea-inducing, which is not, and 2/3 of my children were sick for most of last week, which despite having Monday off felt 865 days long. Let's go back to Egypt!

On Day 6 (Dec. 26), our alarms went off at 3:15 am which is just absurdly early. One thing to note about this trip is that it is very much an adventure/activity trip. Until we got to the beach at the end, I don't think we ever had an alarm set for a time after 7 a.m. and most days they were set far earlier than that.

Our boat generally opened the breakfast buffet one hour before anyone was heading out on their personal excursion, but for that morning they just had bags packed for us with fruit, pastries, yogurt, juice, and water. It was great because I definitely can't eat that early in the morning but I was starving a few hours later when it was all of 6 a.m. and lunch was still very far away

But back to our journey. We would be driving to the grand temples of Abu Simbel, 175 miles south through the Saharan Desert, almost to the border of Sudan. They open the road at 5 am and our guide said you want to be in line far earlier so as not to be trapped behind all the buses. Sure enough we found ourselves in a line of vehicles at 4 a.m. and it felt very Mad Max-like as we drove south for 3 hours with a hundred other vans once the road opened just before 5. Watching the sun rise over the desert was beautiful and a new landscape for us.

A quick note on the kids. I cannot overemphasize, and at the time could not believe, how amazing they were with the crazy wakeup times, travel delays, VERY informational tours, no international data service (that's a purely parental privilege), less than ideal sleeping arrangements (we were supposed to have 2 singles + a couch or rollaway in each hotel, but that only ended up happening on the boat), new/different food, language barriers, and SERIOUSLY crazy wakeup times. They were incredible. Flexible, open, interested, go with the flow, and obsessed with the temple cats. Cora, daily conquering her nerves and fears, to pantomine what she wanted in her omelette with the sweet and non-English-speaking chef at the boat breakfast buffet. Claire, handling changes in schedule, which can be so hard for her, and not spiraling even though I never, ever knew the answer to daily-Claire-required-questions like "how long will this tour last?" and "what are we doing next?". Landon, trying all the new foods, getting very creative with his swim workouts and not complaining that I made him miss holiday training at home, waking up before the sun to do something that is not swimming, and indulging his dad's need to know everything about ancient anything.

I am so, so glad we got to take this trip with them. It was by far our most complex, most different-from-home, most flexibility-required trip, and it became the most exemplary of why we travel. Their world expanded, their comfort with discomfort grew, the opportunity to watch in real time as James and I handle all the hiccups (some big, most small) that come with 12 days far from home. I think 11 is the youngest age I'd do this trip, and even then only if your 11-year-old is a Cora who is a third-baby-oldest-child who loves museums, history, and sleeping when sleep is available. It was a really special, fascinating, educational, and joyful adventure and I treasure the memories of the five of us exploring the ancient world together very tightly in my heart.

Back to Abu Simbel. Three hours of driving into the Saharan desert later, we arrived!

It's an incredible architectural and engineering wonder, both ancient and modern.

It’s actually two temples, one for Ramses II, and one for his favorite wife Nefertari, both built in the 13th century BC.

Through a global initiative in 1960, both temples were moved about 200 yards so they wouldn’t be destroyed by flooding when the High Dam of the River Nile was complete. The story of how they did it is extraordinary and it’s a bonus that the Swedes saved the dayint a crucial engineering moment.

As I do in museums, I try for the most part to put my phone away, listen to our guide, and just be physically and mentally present in these extraordinary ancient wonders. Pictures can't possibly capture them, so I want enough to spark memories and joy for me later, but not so many that they get in the way of just being there. Because we were there! I couldn't get over it then and still can't now.

Nefertari's temple was really neat to explore because all the carvings and statues were so distinctly feminine.

After spending our time walking through both temples and the surrounding area, we headed back towards the parking lot and cafe, noting that the parking lot was now VERY full, and ordering some food because it may have been 8 a.m. but we had been awake for a very long time.

On our long drive back through the desert towards Aswan, we rested and saw mirages on the horizon of the sand.

We stopped at the High Dam, which we'd learned about on our drive to Abu Simbel, and now got to see in person.

Another engineering marvel, this time in conjunction with the Soviet Union in the 1960’s, that finally stopped the annual destructive flooding by the Nile in upper Egypt. When it was built, the High Dam created enough electricity to power all of Egypt.

After lunch on the boat (if you can call the meal you eat 11 hours after waking “lunch”) we took a boat to Philae Temple, located on an island in Lake Aswan.

Originally built for the Goddess Isis, smaller temples were added to many other gods and goddesses over time.

One thing I enjoyed in every temple was how the bodies were always shown as lean and a little soft. Exactly how I think mine would be if I didn't sit at a desk all day for my job, but also not like I'm adding crunches just for fun. We also enjoyed the very prominent belly buttons. Some were carved SO deep. It seemed very important to show that everyone had one. Even the gods and goddesses had soft bellies. I found it comforting.

The kids main takeaway from Philae are all the cats and kittens who rule the tiny island, protect the temples, and get fed by the local fishermen.

The whole complex was really cool. We let the kids roam (i.e., pet all the cats) while James and I walked with our guide to learn more about some of the smaller temples surrounding the main one.

The short boat ride back was beautiful as the sun set around us.

We were back on the big boat by 7 pm, ate dinner at 7:05, and were in bed at 8.

What a day, what a trip! And on Day 6, we were only halfway done.