M-whY

Abu Simbel and Aswan are separated by 250km of desert highway, and as it's the intention to have tourists there and back before the heat becomes unbearable, that meant a pre-dawn depature. My wakeup call came at 2:45am, though I decided I could forgo breakfast for an extra half hour of snooze. As usual, rounding up all the passengers was a chaotic affair, after which we joined the long line of minivans and coaches stopped on the road out of town.

"I guess we're just waiting for everyone else." When every foreigner who hadn't made the trip yet were collected, our police escorted convoy got moving. Parts of southern Egypt contain pockets of unrest, and seeing how important tourism is to the country, authorities aren't taking any chances. Should anything happen to us, well, the baksheesh economy is in for a prolonged recession.

It's not like I've never been up at this hour before, but usually when I am, there are half a dozen empty Mountain Dew bottles on my desk. With no caffeine in my system this morning, my eyelids drooped and I napped the entire three hour ride. "So do we have a guide today or not?" I wondered aloud after being dropped off in the parking lot. Aaron spotted Osama, our guide from yesterday, and we began following him, then realized he was in charge of a different group today. Finding ourselves in front of the entrance, we got in line for admission and purchased our own tickets. Like at every other attraction in Egypt, no one cared that we set off all sorts of alarms while passing security. Seeing how hundreds of tourists had all just arrived at the same time, I don't blame them for being a little lax, though if this was the case every morning, I wonder why they bothered installing those metal detectors in the first place.

Originally carved out of a mountain face and overlooking the Nile, the Great Temple of Ramses II was one of those that found itself submerged under Lake Nasser when the High Dam was completed. Therefore, Ramses' mummy would have to thank UNESCO for saving his quartet of colossal 20m tall statues. One of them lies in ruins actually, but the other three remain intact and are deservedly the subject of much awe. Getting a photo of them sans tourists is pretty much impossible, however. We did the best we could, then went inside for a look at the interior.

"Why won't they let us use cameras," I complained. I then noticed other people were getting away with photos - there were way to many of us to police - and so I joined the ranks of offenders and snuck a few of my own. In the first hall were several more statues of Mr Ramses, and on every surface in the temple, reliefs had been carved depicting scenes like battles he was victorious in. Stone images of Ra-Harakhty, Amun, Ptah, and (of course) Ramses II sit on thrones in the innermost chamber. Twice a year, on dates that most probably have significance, the first rays of the rising sun shine through several rooms aligned such that the deities are illuminated.

Aaron couldn't figure out how to turn off the conspicuous shutter clicks his digital camera made, so he'd only end up with photos of the facade. Not that big a loss, since it's the most impressive feature anyways, of this and the nearby Temple of Hathor. Dedicated to Queen Nefertari, evidently Ramses' favorite, it's one of the rare temples consecrated to a queen. Six statues, four of the king and two of the queen, stand in pose as they have for centuries.

The experience would've been different had the place not been swarming with visitors, but the attention they get can only add to the pharaoh's prestige. Ramses II may have been seeking a different type of immortality when he he built these monuments, but it's due to their popularity that efforts have been put forth to preserve them. The daily predawn convoys and the six hour return journeys will continue, because, as this traveler who has been to that 'antique land' can affirm, these colossi are well worth seeing.

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