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Night Location: Sleeper Train en route to Cairo, Egypt
Mummysode of the Day: On our early morning bus trip to Abu-Simbel, Mum sat bolt upright for hours on the very back seat of the bus, observing the driver's erratic behaviour, including the driver's conservation of headlight power. Mum had no real plan as to what she would do in an emergency, however felt safer being awake and supervising the operation.
Two days ago we found out that our trip to Abu-Simbel would have to take place after a 7 hour bus ride instead of a short early morning flight. Amber believes that there never was a plane and they just speak of planes to lure tourists in and then give them no option but a bus. Mum thought the whole outcome was providential as another girl in our group had spoken about the plane and said, "The whole time, you just hope it gets there." This was not music to Mum's ears.
We woke up at 3AM to leave for the bus at 3:30. Our bus was to join a huge bus convoy with a police escort at the front and the back for protection (from what or who we are unsure and didn't dare ask so as to avoid alarming Mum). As it turned out, we feel that we only needed protection from our bus driver who was racing all the other buses sometimes without headlights on. In addition to the startling speed, the conditions he was driving on were less than ideal as the Egyptians love speed bumps that are not marked and the road through the desert is patchy at best. We were frequently woken up as the bus driver had only just spotted a speed bump/pot-hole/corrugation and therefore needed to slam on his brakes. Fortunately we arrived in one piece, shaken not stirred, and along with all the other tourists made our way to the temples.
These two temples are a feat of ancient engineering as much as they are a feat of modern engineering. Due to the creation of Lake Nasser, these temples had to be moved piece by piece to higher ground. This was fairly challenging as they were both built into the side of cliff faces. What is more impressive is that you cannot tell that they are not resting in their original position from antiquity.
Rameses II built these temples in the far South to demonstrate the far reaching power of Egypt. The dominant temple was built for himself to be worshipped as a god and he also built a smaller but even more beautiful temple for Nefetari his Pharaoh wife. The detail of the carvings, inscriptions and reliefs are beyond words. A freaky fact about this temple is that twice a year on Rameses II's birthday and death day, rays from the sun shine through the entrance to the rear of the temple to illuminate four statues of Egyptian gods. Interestingly since moving the temple and with the help of computer technology, modern engineers weren't able to recreate this perfectly as now only three of the gods are lit up.
Abu-Simbel is the hottest place in Egypt. Even arriving shortly after 7AM it was already in the mid-30s. Astonishingly even after a three hour drive from Aswan, the temples are both on the shore of Lake Nasser, we can't really comprehend how big that lake is.
The bus ride back to Aswan was equally as frightening, Mum believes it was even more dangerous as the racing was more overt. We were all very grateful to get off the bus and back onto our boat for lunch, a shower and a rest followed by the packing of the bags.
All day we have had the thought of our 13 hour train ride back to Cairo hanging over us, knowing how much we enjoyed it last time. We walked to the train station and stopped at a local coffee-shop for drinks. It seems to be the done thing in Egypt to spend 90 minutes over a drink while chatting and smoking. Gemma was offered 3000 camels again as the Egyptians seem to be sensing her departure soon. Their urgency has been heightened and therefore are upping the bidding to Mum.
The train was as we remembered, perhaps a little less stinky and Amber and David's seat stayed upright. The speed of the train is incredible given its lack of maintenance. Safety on board is possibly worse than the bus as at every moment it feels as though we are about to derail and hurtle into the paddock or a rubbish canal. This is quite disconcerting when you are lying on your bunk. The toilets this trip were far worse, possibly from tourists experiencing the famed Egyptian dysentery. In Mum's itty bitty nighty she went to the toilet that was flooded with liquids that shouldn't be mentioned in places that can't be comprehended, and returned leaving Gemma's thongs in the corridor so she could disinfect them. Several people walked past to see Mum in her nighty bent over the thongs scrubbing them with hand sanitiser and tissues. Poo lingers.
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