The key attractions of Abu Simbel are no doubt the imposing Great Temple of Ramses II and its accompanying Temple of Hathor. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Ramses II in the 19th Dynasty (13th century BC), as a monument to himself and his queen Nefertari to commemorate his alleged victory at the Battle of Kadesh (now modern Syria). The 4 colossal statues of the pharaoh seems to be watching over the incoming travel by traders from the south, and undoubtedly acts as a display of his might towards his Nubian neighbours.

Over the centuries, the temple was "lost" to the world and buried under the sands due to shifting of the Nile and the desert until 1813 where it was accidentally rediscovered by Jean Louis Burckhardt (a Swiss explorer). In fact, only one of the heads among the 4 colossal statues was completely above the sand where the next head was completely broken off from its statue. Enough sand was cleared away 4 years later for anyone to explore the temples proper. While the Great Temple of Ramses II displayed the power of the pharaoh, the Temple of Hathor was dedicated to his wife Queen Nefertari while she is portrayed as Hathor (the goddess of love, joy and motherhood).

Due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam, most of the Lower Nubia and its ancient monuments will disappear under Lake Nasser. A UNESCO-sponsored Nubian Rescue Campaign was initiated to relocate temple monuments to higher ground and portable artefacts/relics to museums. Thus, the temples of Abu Simbel were relocated in the 1960s by cutting the original monument up into 2,000 huge blocks (weighing 10 to 40 tons each) and reconstructed on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the new water levels. The temple (on the new site) was officially opened in 1968 while the sacred site which it had previously occupied for more than 3,000 years disappeared under the lake.

The town (or maybe it is really a village) of Abu Simbel is a laid-back and quiet settlement that is located on the west bank of the Nile and no doubt, owns its modern existence to the 2 monuments. We took an evening walk to the temples only to find out that the Sound-and-light show was on though we gave it a miss due to its high admission fees (E£75 or S$18.75 per entry). Got back to town and discovered the joys of eating the humbly delicious felafel (mashed broad beans and spices rolled into balls and deep-fried) sandwiches. The locals were surprised that we stepped in and wanted to take photographs with us (to be precise, it was just Sally that got all the attention). After all, few visitors stay here overnight (most will do a day trip from Aswan) and even with lower probability that a visitor will walk into a local eatery. However, this is the town that is the least touristy of all (perhaps it might change one day) and it gave us the idea that we finally stepped into Africa (the other cities made me felt that I was still in the Middle East).