Category Archives: Lake Nasser

Egypt and Jordan – Day 6, Feb 8, 2026


We overnight at Wasi El Seboua, and start our day very early.

Breakfast at 5:45-6:45, then at 6;50 we board the skiff to visit the Valley of the Horns – a collection of 3 wonderful Nubian temples that have been saved from Lake Nasser.

The first temple is the largest of the two – and has an entrance protected by a row of Sphinx – body of a Lion, Face of either a King or a God. The idea is that you are being protected by the King or God – and he has the strength to protect you!

Like all the other temples in the Nubian area – it was rescued from the rapidly approaching waters of Lake Nasser. And I’m so glad they saved it.

Hassien shows us the smaller statue of a woman (labeled sister/bride) hidden behind the large statue of Ramses II. I think to myself – how cool is it to have a guide that can READ hieroglyphs.

The drawings inside are in excellent condition – given that they are 4000 years old – dating from Ramses II.

The first part of the temple has no roof but they have protected it from the birds by wire fencing – and the drawings are not colored – but they are brilliantly detailed. I’m particularly impressed by the drawing of a boat carrying the God/King. It looks so like the one in the GEM museum. Amazing.

One wall carving that Hassien highlights for us shows someone offering the king burning inscense on the end of a long pipe. Looks very similar to pipes I remember from the 60’s!

Leaving the temple – and going back into the sunlight is a stunning exerience. The sky is so clear, the scenery so dramatic. Wow.

I think the most impressive part for me were the Sphinx. Several are completely intact – and Ramses II is clearly the face – including the double crown of Egypt.

It is a rather long walk from the first temple to the 2nd – and up a rather high hill – but they provide transport in the form of a cart pulled by a motorscooter. As two of the more senior in the group – both of us are offered a seat – I gladly take advantage and take the ride. I’m glad I did too – it’s not ‘hot’ but it is getting warmer, and the walk is significant. And of course – there’s no shade.

The 2nd temple – the Temple of Dakka – is much smaller – a simple one room chapel that was started in the 3rd century BC and worked on during the reigns of Ptolemy IV, VII and the Roman Emperors. IE: it took 400 years to build! Think of that for a moment. At least they get the prize for determination.

There is quite a bit of ancient graffiti – and when the chapel became a church, some of the Egyptian art was ‘removed’ (aka chiseled out) as inapporiate. We have seen this before – and will see it again. I get it – but it is a shame when the faces of god’s are destroyed because they are deemed ‘bad’.

It is this temple that shows the marks of the Roman’s sharpening their swords on the outter walls. Inside there are wonderful carvings – including one that shows a young King receiving food from a god. You know that it’s a young King because he has no beard, only a side lock of hair. And he’s sucking his thumb. Hassien comments that the artists in Nubia weren’t very good at conveying the idea of a young person – so it’s a adult face – but with childish features. Cool, eh?

He would have been nude – but the ‘wallet’ as Hassien puts it has been chiseled away – deemed inappropriate for a church wall!

This editing has been repeated in other places as well.

There is a tiny inner chamber that has the best of the carvings – most intact and most beautiful. The fun of this chamber is that there is room for 2 at the most so we must wait our turn to enter!

Again – the change for inside to outside is stunning. I wonder if that was part of the original intention?

The third and smallest of the temples – the Temple of al-Maharraqa is noted for the spiral staircase that ran up to the roof for special ceremonies. It is clearly only a Roman Temple – which makes it much younger, dating from somewhere between 30 BC and 14 AD. Still – that’s 2000 years!

We walk back down to the ‘landing’ place, reboard the skiff – and head back to our ship.

As a treat – they offer us a visit to the helm – and I’m surprised to find the controls very basic. There’s a depth meter, Radar, a compass, the switches for the lights in all parts of the ship – and two joy sticks for controlling the rudders. Ed comments that avoiding complexity makes a lot of sense when you don’t have easy access to mechanics and I’m going to agree with him. Keep it simple – and keep in running.

Apparently there are only 2 ships currently running in Lake Nasser our of an original 5 that we saw parked at the dock in Aswan. Luckily – we were on the newer of the two – and glad to be there!

After our tour of the helm, Hassien entertains us with a very interesting talk on the history of Egypt – going all the way to the present – and highlighting that in 5000 years – they have only had 7 months of a truly elected government. Strong Dictators – from Kings to Military Generals is the norm – and it works for the population.

Then lunch (yum), a brief break while I nap, then tea on the Pool deck and an Egyptian Dinner Party. I will observe that this is my favorite meal – They definitely can do Egyptian!

After our boat docks in Aswan – we have a party in the 5th floor lounge – drums and a singer with 4 dancers.

Then its bedtime. Tomorrow is another long day. We are checking out of one ship and into another on the Northern side of the Aswan High Dam. It’s not a long trip – but we have temples to see before we can pack, move luggage, and change ships!

Signing off to go to bed.

The Soup Lady.

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Egypt and Jordan – Day 5 – Feb 7, 2026


Cruising Lake Nasser – what a delight.

The weather is absolutely perfect – which given that Egypt gets 1” of rain a year is probably not a hard target. But it’s not only clear and bright and lovely – it’s not insanely hot either. So perfect.

Our ship pulls away from it’s mooring at exactly 6:15 – and we arrive in front of Abu Simbel just in time to admire the morning sun illuminating the two temples. Lovely.

Now that we have a broader view of the Temples at Abu Simbel and the surrounding landscape it’s easy to see that our ship was actually moored extremely close to the monuments – the need for a boat ride and a bus ride one of ‘guest safety’ – not distance. I had a feeling this would be true – my intense sense of geographical orientation had been ringing off the hook. I just couldn’t explain the relatively short boat/bus rides and my feeling of exactly where the monuments were located.

The interesting thing about seeing the Temples from the water is that you can also understand where they had been before being moved. It’s really not that far!

After breakfast – not up to Kempinski standards – but I did love my eggs – so fresh and delicous – Andrea and I decide to do a walk.

Ok – we’re on a ship – and it’s a small ship at that – but we still want to walk. The best bet is the 6th floor – where there’s an open air covered lounge area, a swiming pool, two ‘hot tubs’ – one with cold water, the other empty, and enough space to allow folks to walk two abreast.

We walk and chat – and walk and chat. I haven’t done that since my last walk and chat with the Intrepid Traveller – and I admit to missing her, and our walks terribly.

At 10:30 we get a passing view of an old fortress – Kasr Ibrim – and then a detailed lecture on the subject of Ethopia, Egypt and the dam. Not the Ashwan Dam – the one that Ethopia has built blocking off the source of the Blue Nile. The dam has yet to generate any electricity – but it is blocking the entire flow of the Blue Nile into Egypt – and as per Hussien – the discussions between Egypt and Ethopia are not going well. 15% of the water for the Nile comes from the White Nile, 85% from the Blue Nile – so it’s a major problem.

He predicts that if the normal 7 year cycle of the Nile repeats (as it usually does), Egypt will face severe water challenges and it is highly likely that a war will be waged to settle the issue. He explained the situation from Egypt’s perspective – and detailed some of the compromise positions that Egypt has offered, all of which have been denied by Ethopia. He’s predicting that Egypt will (with Sudan’s ok – since Sudan lies between Egypt and Ethopia), try to grab the new dam and run it. Keep your eyes open on that topic.

Sigh – great – another war.

After the lecture we have free time – and I chit chat with my fellow travellers before deciding that I’m seriously hungry. Good news – it’s almost lunch time!. Suddenly several huge flocks of birds skimming the water of the lake fly in formation right in front of the Ship. Our birder friends recognize the larger white birds as Pelicans! They are certainly a lot prettier than the brown ones on St. Croix.

I know it’s insane – but the open air and the exercise has combined to make me hungrier than normal – and I find myself counting down the minutes to ‘feeding time’!

As all the other meals, it’s a buffet with a small section that has two cooks who are preparing food in front of your eyes. Today’s selection is grilled chicken. Yum.

After the lunch, we take the smaller boat from the Ship to a landing near the Amada Temple. Another Temple devoted to Rhamses II – he did a LOT of building in Nubia – and again – it’s glorious.

Unlike Abu Simbel which is lit inside with Electric lights, the Amada Temple is not lit inside. But Hassien is allowed to come inside with us – so in fact the tour is more interesting. The quality of the wall carvings, like those at Abu Simbel is wonderful. Hassien uses a very bright flashlight to illuminate the walls – translates some of the Hiergliphix for us – and explains the meaning of the various images. He also explains how the Egyptians used both natural and artificial colors. They were excellent chemists- and the artificial colors were a lot less $$ – so they are used here – and the colors are still bright 4000 years later. When the temples were moved – the walls were coated in at attempt help preserve the colors – I hope it works.

I do love the pictures I took – there is the oval of the light of the flashlight – illuminating images as Hussien carefully explains the meaning of the pictures. Like Abu Simbel – and unlike Egyptian Temple art I’ve seen in the past, these images seem to move. Brilliant.

Hassien directs our attention to newer ‘graffiti’. This was a camel way station on the way to Mecca – and there are images of camels drawn along the top edges of the walls. A Muslin version of Killroy was here!

We explore the temple complex – its not huge but it is glorious – and then reboard the skiff to head back to our ship.

I should mention how we get on and off the skiff. Leaving the ship, there is a metal staircase that is lowered to the level of the skiff, and then a 2 step ‘stool’ is added to make it relatively easy to get up and down. Helping out are several ‘sailors’ from the ship – and I for one am quite happy to hold their outstretched arms or hands!

When we have to get off the skiff and onto land – there have been created landing areas that are a bit uphill – and the skiff pulls up level with the landing, a boarding plank is placed from the bow of the boat to the landing site, and two sailors hold a pole as a make-shift ‘railing’. Another sailor will stand below the plank to offer a supporting hand on the other side. It sounds dangerous – but actually feels quite safe. I am not thrilled to ‘walk the plank’ – but I haven’t fallen yet!

We return to our ship, I grab a very welcome cup of tea from one of the staff, and we head up to the open air terrace to watch the sunset. At around 5:00 PM Hassien gathers us in the Lounge to watch an old TV show dedicated to the Herculean Task undertaken by UNESCO to rescuse the Nubia Temples. Images of hundreds of workers carefully hand sawing the monuments into pieces which are then carefully transport to the new Temple sites – with the same orientation to the sun of course – but above the eventual high water mark.

Of most interest to me is the fact that they built an arch of steel above the temples, and then hid the arch with stones to create the effect of the temples being built into the rock face as they were when they were made 4000 years ago. This was done between 1960 and 1965 – paid for and orchestrated by French, British, American, etc. experts. I’m so glad they did this – these Temples are unbelievable.

The sunsets – and sunrises – are amazing. A huge round disk appears on the horizon – and showly assends to the sky. This repeats at sunset. But this is not at all what the sunsets look like in Canada. Not even close. Because the horizon is basically flat – no mountains ring the lake – there is nothing to distrub the view. You can easily see why the Egyptians thought there was a scarb pushing a round disk around the sky. It’s stunning.

I take photos – but in this case – a picture just doesn’t do the view justice.

There is a ‘cocktain’ party tonight in the Lounge Bar – they present the heads of departments to us while music plays and we applaud. It’s a chance to meet and chat before going into dinner.

As is our norm – we eat and chat – this time we join Ed and Todd – and are having such a good time the staff has to come over to ask us to leave already! Oppsie!

It’s late, it’s bedtime – and I’ve definitely done my 10,000 steps for the day.

Signing off for another day.

The Soup Lady

Egypt and Jordan – Day 4 – Feb 6, 2026


Abu Simbel – Like the Alhumbra – A MUST SEE!

I’m quickly stealing some WIFI time – it’s 5:00 AM here in Egypt on Feb 7th – and I want to get one more blog done before we lose WIFI for several days.

I’ll do my best.

As instructed, we get up at 1:00 AM, put our packed luggage outside our door by 1:30 AM, and gather in the lobby. The Kempinski has prepared packed breakfast for us – and is serving coffee and tea. I can’t drink coffee at 1:30 in the morning – so settle for hot water.

We are begining to recognize our fellow travellers – and they are a very well traveled group of folks! Several have done multiple trips with Odyssey – one couple has doen at least 15 trips – others are more in the 5 or 6 range. Their reasons for choosing Odyseey – much like mine -are the variety of the trips and the high level of service and accomadation. But don’t let that fool you – it’s also the top level guides that determine (as per our fellow traveleers) the enjoyment of the trip – and I must say Hussain has definitely impressed me.

Anyway – we need to get to the airport. It uurns out that just having a reservation doesn’t guarentee you a seat on a specific flight. You have to show up at the airport and check-in. And there are hurtles to cross on the way to that goal.

For once in my traveling career – I’m delighted hand over all responsibilty to someone else. Just listening to him explain all the steps we must accomplish just to check-in daunts me.

I must say that at 2:00 AM, Cairo is a slightly different place. There are still lots of folks walking and driving around – the number of motor bikes is incredible – I think they might match the number of cars. But you don’t see any bicycles – interesting, eh? But the heat in summer probably makes any kind of manual labor challenging – bike riding included!

There are often folks sitting on sidewalks with their legs in the street. Hussain simply says they are stupid – and it is a rather dangerous position given the number of cars roaring past, but I suspect it’s a lack of seating. If you sit on the sidewalk curb, your legs are more comfortable than if you try to squat against a building – and you are probably less likely to be asked to leave. Clearly Hussain doesn’t want to discuss this – but since I often want to sit down rather than stand – I definitely notice the lack of ‘sitting’ options. There are some – just not a lot.

There are also a lot of police presence. And they are clearly ‘working’. We spot at least 10 different large groups of police cars/vans stopping cars and pedestrians, and pass numerous police standing and keeping watch behind steel vertical barriers. They are armed, and alert. And I don’t dare try to snap a picture.

Just as we are leaving the hotel, a police transport van pulls in – and discharges a large group of uniformed soliders – armed with rifles or AK-47s. They quickly disappear into the alley behind the Kempinski.

I think I mentioned earlier that we often have a ‘security’ guard with us on the bus. This morning is no different – we wait till he joins us, and then we head out to the airport.

I’m proably way too nosey for my own good – but I can’t help but see how many shops are still ‘open’, and how many men are wandering the streets in small groups. You would not see this in downtown Montreal.

I think to myself – we are so blessed.

We go thru 2 levels of security as we near the airport, then the bus parks and we all climb out. Porters take the suitcases (I check – yup ours are still in the pile), and we start thru the levels of security to get into the airport.

First we put all our carried on items thru a scanner, walk thru what looks like a metal detector – but are individually patted down afterwards. I’m guessing that the detector is not working. The pat down – done by a young woman in my case – and a man for Victor – is quite complete. Both of my legs, my arms, my chest, and my back are patted down. I have to remove my hat (it goes thru the scanner), and of course all electronics. All we bring with us for the pat-down are our tickets and our passports.

Once thru that – we move into the airport proper – and line up for another check – this one is a passport verification. Then we get to the domestic check-in line, and are quickly processed. The airline attendant offers to check Victor’s carry-on (for free) and we agree. I keep mine with me – I’ve already been told that 4 of our fellow travelers have no luggage – I’m not letting my clothes for the next 4 months out of my hands!

We wait while Hussain tries to figure out where the missing luggage is today – it was misplaced on the trips here – one set in Vienna, one in Instanbul. I think they locate the luggage from Vienna – but the suitcases mis-directed in Instanbul are still missing. I hope they show up. We are getting on a ship at our destination – and not having your suitcases – sheesh.

Anyway – we follow Hussain thru another two lines of security – one is another full pat down, one is a shoe-less version.

Finally we are at our gate. I eat some of the breakfast packed for us by the Kempinski (yum) – and we have hurried up to wait. Apparently we are on the 2nd flight out to Ashwan this morning – but since it’s still very dark – I’m not worried.

Plane loads up – we do the quick 1.25 hr trip to Ashwan to land in a completely different world.

First off – Ashwan is a lot warmer than Cairo and I’m over-dressed. And there are a lot less people and a lot more military.

We board our waiting bus – no security to leave the airport so that’s fast – and the porters again handle the luggage. We watch carefully to be sure our suitcases are all accounted for – and notice that now red stickers have been added with the numbers 508. Wonder why?

It is a 4 hour trip to Abu Simbel – and we are driving thru the Sahari Desert. There will be just one bathroom stop at the half-way mark – so I drink my water very slowly. I also finish all the food packed for us by the Kempinski – and it’s barely 8:00 AM. At least the sun is up.

Unlike the Gobi Desert – which was white and soft sand – the Sahari – at least here is flat and more red-ish. There are also surprising large patches of green.

Military duty is required of all men in Egypt. Men with less education serve 3 years, men with high school education serve 2, and those with University degrees serve 1 year. That makes for a lot of Miliary – and finding things for them to do is a challenge. So 20 years ago – the government decided that the Military should create farms in the desert and grow important food crops like wheat and alfalfa. And that having the Military build factories in the desert would be a good idea as well. The isssue is that factories built and run by the military don’t have to follow the same rules as factories built by private interests – and thus have much lower costs. Apparently 75% of the current production is now being done by these factories. The farms have been less successful – adding only 5% to the amount of food grown. Since they are located in the desert – the amount of water drawn from Lake Nassar to keep these farms green (and they are very green) is huge.

Eventually we get to our bathroom break – which everyone agrees is very unique. Part huge area of toilets – Part small snack bar – Part local coffee and Hooka shop – it’s our first look at how ‘real’ Egyptians travel. Lots of photos are taken!

I’m begining to feel the negative effects of getting up at 1:00 AM and having to travel and find 2 seats in the bus that are un-occupied. I curl up and nap – and wake up to find a completely silent bus! Everyone has gotten out – leaving me behind! The doors are all locked closed – and I have a moment of panic. But then I spot our bus driver and bang on the window. He opens the door and points to where the group is gathering in preperation to go into Abu Simbel. Whew, I didn’t miss anything – and I grabbed about an hour and a half nap. Works for me.

We walk with our whispers into the Temple area. Hussain hands out our tickets, we pass the gates, and continue down a beautiful manicured walkway with flowering bushes and some trees towards two large mounds. When we round the mounds with Lake Nassar behind us – we come face to face with Abu Simbel.

Stunning. Glorious. Amazing. Once in a life time. Incredible.

I simply am in shock. This is Ramses II Temple – created here 4000 years ago to celebrate his first victory over the Hittites at age 25 and completed only a few years before his death at age 97.

No wonder UNESCO saved this wonder of the ancient world from the waters of Lake Nasser.

It was originally located about 200 yards away – the top of the temple ending about 60 yards below the current level of the water. It was cut into large squares, GPS scanned – and reassembled here – still oriented towards the sun so that the face of Ramses II in the inner most chamber is illuminated only twice a year – on his birthday, and on the anniversary of his becoming king.

But it’s not just the outside that’s glorious – inside are some of the most magnificant examples of heirogliphic art I’ve ever ever seen.

I always thought of heirogliphics are flat and rather stilted – but here – in situ – with the shadows and natural lighting (and lots of help by artifical lighting as well) – they literally come alive. It’s hard to describe exactly how magnificantly beautiful these paintings are – but it’s easy to say – you must come and see them for yourself.

One of our fellow travelers – who has come to Egypt several times – told us that this was his first time making the trip to Abu Simbel – normally he stops at Luxor – but he should have made coming here a priority. It is truly unique and different and wonderful.

We then go into the smaller – but still insanely beautiful temple to Ramses II primary wife (he had over 100 kids – so there were lots of woman to choose from) Nefertari. I’m even more stunned by these images. The dresses seem to swirl around the legs – and there is no question that she is serving the gods (and Ramses II).

I would easily stay longer – and I’m sorry that Hussien isn’t allowed inside with us to describe what we are seeing – but there are rules.

I did some research – and if you look up Abu Simbel there are video’s on the internet. I’m going to be watching them – I suggest you do to!

We gather again, brave our way past the vendors desperate to sell us something – one man bargained himself from $40 for a blouse down to $6 – while our fellow traveler ignored him – and reboard the bus.

This time we are taking a very short drive down to a boat launch where we will take a 25 passenger skiff to our ship. The Omar El Khayam will be our home for the next few days as we cruise around Lake Nasser admiring the Nubian momuments saved from its waters in 1960-1965.

Our check-in is seamless – 508 is our room number – and we get to finally eat lunch and nap.

Today’s evening activity is a sound and light show at Abu Simbel so we gather at 6:30 to make the short trip by boat back to the bus parking area – and from there go back to the park. We get seats and relax watching the sunset and the sky go dark.

The sound and light show is a good effort. The music is very dramatic and coordinates with the story line and the projected videos. I enjoy it – but I’m really looking forward to dinner.

At the end, we walk back to the bus and then to the skiff and then to the ship. I’m convinced that we are making a big circle – so I decide to verify my thinking the next day when we sail on toward Ashwan. But for tonight – I love dinner – Veal Chops are yummy and I see cooked carrots! Vegtables – I’m so excited I actually get seconds.

We enjoy an animated conversation with some of our new friends – Tom, Sherie, Pam, Susan and Andrea – then it’s back to our room. They tell us that WIFI is going to stop as soon as the ship sails – so I grab my chance to quickly do at least one blog – and when I start seeing double – I head off for bed. Tomorrow is a long needed ‘quiet’ day – we sail at 6:15 and do a pass by to see sunrise on Abu Simbel at 6:30. Then at 10:30 we’ll pass by the remains of an historically famous – but currently in ruins – fort called Kasr Ibrim. I’m totally looking forward to a quiet day. I feel a bit like I’ve been go go going for ever!

Signing off to head off to bed – The Soup Lady