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Happy birthday to me!!!! Our day started with a wakeup call at 2:30am (yes, that's right), breakfast, and a bus to the airport. The plane from Aswan to Abu Simbel only took about 15 minutes, then another 20 minutes by bus from the airport to the temple. This is the one thing I have been waiting for more than anything- I have wanted to visit the two temples of Abu Simbel for a long, long time, and for me to be visiting it on my birthday just made it so much greater. The two temples were built by Ramses II over 3,500 years ago, and were moved in the 1960's because of the flooding of the desert by the new dam. We got a few great pictures, and because of the time we arrived, we were also able to watch the sun rise over the mountains, and directly into the front door of the main temple.
Caught the plane back to the hotel and rested up until the afternoon, when we visited the crocodile temple of Kom Obo. This temple was different to some of the others we have seen, as it was used to worship two gods- Horus, a good god, and the crocodile god, who was an evil god. The temple had two entrances, and off to one side, there was a pit that was used to catch croc's in the Nile. The temple priests would catch these crocodiles and let them loose in the courtyard, causing visiting commoners to panic, and make offerings so they wouldn't be eaten. This was also one of the few temples that still has original colour on the walls- some of the pillars have had water damage, but above this you can clearly see reds and blues.
Night time came and it was party time!! We all got dressed up in the outfits we bought the previous night and played a few games. Drinking and dancing until late made for the end of a great day.
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