Aswan is the fourth largest city in Upper Egypt with currently around 300,000 inhabitants and is located on the eastern bank of the Nile. The southernmost city in Egypt lies immediately north of the two Aswan dams. Aswan is a friendly city, easy to survey and with numerous restaurants overlooking the river. Let us follow the Nile together and dive into the real life of the Nubians.

Excursion description

Our driver picks you up directly at your booked hotel and brings you safely to Aswan. Once there, your personal english-speaking tour guide will welcome you and accompany you the whole day and will be happy to answer all your questions. Right at the beginning we enjoy a small boat trip, because our first sight is the Philae Temple in the middle of the Nile, and can only be reached by water. The Philae Temple or Isis Temple stood on the island of Philae until 1977. But to protect it from the water masses it was rebuilt during the construction of the dam on the island of Agilkia. The temple complexes originate exclusively from the late period and Greek-Roman times. A great speciality are the many crosses from Christianity, some of which have already been chiseled out, in the walls of the temples.

After our guide has given you some information worth knowing, our driver will take you to a Nubian village. Explore with us the real life of the Nubians in this charming village directly on the Nile. Typical and impressive here are the colourful Nubian houses. Enjoy a cup of tea on site and let this special experience take effect on you.

Another very interesting place to go in Aswan is of course the Nile dam. This is one of the few places in Egypt sharply guarded, because it would flood the whole Nile valley in case of a destruction. The dam has on a length of 2 kilometres the width of a street and raises, besides, the water level from 85 to 121 m. The Aswan Dam dams up the Nile to Lake Nasser, which extends into Sudan, where it changes its name and is known as Lake Nubia. The dammed Nassersee is enormous with a depth of 180 meters and ten times the size of Lake Constance.

After so many impressions you will surely get hungry. Therefore you now have the possibility to strengthen yourself with a rich lunch in a typical Egyptian restaurant. Enjoy here the special Egyptian flair without big tourist rush. We attach great importance to a private atmosphere.

In the afternoon we start a private guided tour through the Old city of Aswan. Of course at your pace and individually designed according to your wishes.

In the evening you can relax in your hotel room and look back on this great day.

Early the next morning you start direction Abu Simbel. On the west shore of the Nassersee you will find two rock temples. The enormous rock temple in Abu Simbel should be dedicated to the gods Amun-Re, Re-Harachte and Ptah. But the reality looked different and it was rather built to glorify the fame of its builder Ramses II. The impressive front of the temple shows four colossal statues of about 20 meters height representing the Pharaoh. The human being feels very small next to one of the 4 enormous statues of Ramses, who looks far over the horizon towards the rising sun. At his feet one sees the members of the royal family and at the very top of the cornice one can make out baboons. Still during Ramses’ lifetime the temple was shaken by a huge earthquake, whereby one of the seated statues lost its head.

Right next to it and not so enormous Ramses II had the Hathor-Temple built for his wife Nefertari. Hathor was the goddess of love, beauty and motherhood. The location of the two temples was chosen in such a way that the sun penetrates twice a year into the rearmost part of the Abu Simbel temple and onto the altar at the feet of the three deities: Amun-Re, Armageddon and Ptah. Very unusual is a coronation scene with Rameses between Horus and Seth on the south wall, since Seth is not shown here as incarnation of evil but as protective god. Since the temple complex was threatened by flooding in 1960, it was cut up in an elaborate operation and brought to its present location piece by piece. It gives the impression that the temple is integrated into the rock. In reality, however, it is hidden behind the supporting scaffolding and inside you can find all the technology for ventilation and lighting of the temple. Let this overwhelming structure have its effect on you. You determine the duration on site and afterwards our driver will bring you back safely to your hotel at the Red Sea.

Included services:

• Private driver
• English-speaking guide
• Rich lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch the next day
• Entrance fees for Philae temple, boat trips, Abu Simbel
• Visit of the dam, visit of the Nubian village
• Hotel accommodation