Hi, guys! I hope you had a wonderful February 🥰 This week, let’s continue our Nile cruise exploring Abu Simbel and Kom Ombo Temples!
Actually, this blog post was ready a few weeks ago. However, with the intense situation in the Middle East, I didn’t feel good posting a blog post with my smiling faces holidaying in Egypt.
I also didn’t want to encourage people to go to Egypt during the war.
However, there’s no certainty when the war will end. Hence, let this blog post inspire you to travel when you have the chance 🙏
Up until now, I still regret not visitting Ukraine and failing to visit Israel. I also still want to visit Iran; my friends said it was beautiful…
But who knows what will happen in the Middle East in the future? So, after this war, if you have the chance to visit Egypt or other countries, don’t hesitate!
Okay, enough intermezzo. Guess what time I had to wake up this time?
3:30 AM. 🤣 🤣 🤣 😭 😭 😭
By this time, maybe some of you are turned off by the idea of joining a group tour to explore Egypt, hehe… But you know what?
It wasn’t only my group tour that had this itinerary; many local Egypt group tours or Nile cruises had the same itinerary.
So you have to be prepared, accept it as it is, and enjoy the journey ✨✨✨
My schedule for that day was:
- 03:15 – Wake-up call
- 03:30 – Tea and coffee at the lounge
- 04:00 – Departure by bus to Abu Simbel Temples (4-hour journey)
- 08:15 – Arrive at Abu Simbel
- 10:00 – Back to Aswan (4-hour journey)
- 14:00 – Arrive at Aswan, lunch onboard
- 16:00 – Tea and coffee on the sun deck
- 17:30 – Visit Kom Ombo Temple
- 19:00 – Sailing towards Edfu
- 19:30 – Dinner onboard, sleep
- 02:00 – Docking in Edfu
Sunrise and the Long Journey to Abu Simbel, Egypt
I don’t (and can’t) drink tea on an empty stomach early morning, so I decided to skip it and sleep longer.
Although I had to depart very early, the desert road was very smooth, so I could resume my sleep on the bus.
It was like, woke up for a while to change clothes, then continued sleeping 😄 😄 😄
The morning weather was chilly and the sky was still pitch-black. December is winter in Egypt; it was cold on the bus although the AC was turned off. I had a good sleep 😴 😴 😴
During the 4-hour bus journey from Aswan to Abu Simbel, there was only 1 toilet break at the one and only rest area. There were many cars, vans, and buses stopped nearby.
You could buy coffee, tea, some snacks, and use the toilet before continuing driving to Abu Simbel.
By the time I arrived at Abu Simbel, the sun shone brightly in the middle of a clear, blue sky. Wow, what nice weather for exploring the temples and taking photos!
Although it was around 8am, there were already many visitors at Abu Simbel.
Luckily, there are two temples at Abu Simbel — the Great Temple (for Ramesses II) and the Small Temple (for his wife, Queen Nefertari).
This way, the crowd would be spread between the two temples, so there was room to breathe and take photos while exploring.
My tour leader, Ahmed, shared a short story about Abu Simbel before letting us explore the two temples for two hours.
Two hours seemed like a decent free time to explore the Great Temple and Small Temple. However, you should check your watch regularly and not spend too much time at one temple.
FYI, the queue to enter the Small Temple was very long (but quick), and you’ll also need some time for the toilet queue + the long walk back to the bus.
And remember to apply sunblock, guys! ☀️ ☀️ ☀️
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MS Nile Premium – Relaxing Tea Time on the Sundeck
After another delicious lunch onboard, we gathered at the lounge to hear a short sales pitch from the souvenir shop’s staff.
He was selling custom-made bracelets and t-shirts with Egyptian hieroglyphs engraved or embroidered on them.
It was interesting because you can have your name on the bracelet, written in Egyptian hieroglyphs! As for me, I bought a t-shirt with “Egypt” embroidered in the middle for my dad.
The t-shirt material was good and the price was reasonable, especially for a cruise shop.
Honestly, I feel the custom-made t-shirt had much better quality than the ones I saw at souvenir shops near the temples or main attractions in Egypt. I was very satisfied with my purchase! 👍 👍 👍
Then, we returned to the room for the AC and browsed the internet. At 4pm, we checked out the sundeck for a while. The area was quite full, but we managed to get a table.
I moved to a reclining chair and sipped my tea slowly while enjoying the view. Afterwards, we gathered at the lobby at 5:30pm to explore Kom Ombo Temple.
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Night at the Temple: Late Visit to Kom Ombo, Egypt
When my sister and I reached the lobby, we waited for a while because the cruise was still sailing. There was a delay and the estimated time to arrive at Kom Ombo Temple was 6:30pm.
Me: “Hi Veronica (my Malaysian tour leader), it’s so dark outside… Can we see anything at Kom Ombo?” 😂
Veronica: “Yea still can, no worries.” 😊
At that time, I instantly thought of Night at the Museum movie. Oooh, will there be a surreal experience at the exotic Egyptian temple at night? 🤩 🤩 🤩
You know, things like I accidentally find a secret passage in the temple or experience something magical. Hahaha…
Too bad nothing happened. Or maybe I was lucky nothing happened – ha! 😆
Apparently, there were lights at Kom Ombo, so it wasn’t pitch-dark at night. We got off the cruise and walked for around 15 minutes to the temple.
Kom Ombo is a unique, double temple dedicated to Sobek (Crocodile god) and Horus (falcon-headed god for protection, sun, etc).
The temple isn’t as big as other Egyptian temples, so 1 hour is enough to explore it.
When you visit Kom Ombo, remember to visit the crocodile museum nearby to see the crocodile mummies!
After we returned to the cruise, we had dinner and rested. Tomorrow will be another tiring yet fun day 🤩 🤩 🤩
Ok guys, thank you for exploring Abu Simbel and Kom Ombo with me today. See you again in our next adventure! 🌻 🌻 🌻
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