In order to catch the sun rise, we woke up really early and headed for the temples (E£90 or S$22.50 per entry) by foot at 5.45am (boy it was chilly!). When we got there (some Japanese tourists were earlier than us), the sun was just slightly above the horizon, oozing the day's first ounce of sun shine across Lake Nasser. While the sun climbs up to the increasingly blue sky, the colossal statues of Ramses II began to emit a radiant glow; as if Ramses II became alive again.

And this is exactly what has been fascinating tons of people (including us) worldwide. In its hay day (more than 3000 years ago), the temples must had imposed fear and authority to anyone (traders or enemies alike) who had sailed into Lower Nubia via the Nile. While the temple was dedicated to the gods like Ra-Horakhty, Amun and Ptah, it was probably more of a self-glorifying monument displaying Ramses II vast power and influence of his rule. The inner compounds of the temple often bear the pharaoh's prowess in battles, dominating his enemies and slaughtering them in front of the gods. One particular relief attempts to describe the battles of Kadesh (modern day Syria) where Ramses II was shooting arrows from his chariot at his fleeing enemies.

While the Great Temple of Ramses II displayed the pharaoh's might, the accompanying Temple of Hathor paid tribute to his queen Nefertari (who is depicted as wearing the goddess Hathor's clothes). While most consort's statues probably come as high as their pharaoh's knees, Nefertari is portrayed to be as tall as her husband. This probably symbolizes Ramses II's love for her.

After spending a good 4 hours here (I took almost 240 photographs!!), we headed back to the village for breakfast (more bread, yawn...). As Sally's knees were deteriorating, we went back to the hotel to rest and pack up for our flight (back to Cairo) in the afternoon.

We headed towards the airport and managed to hitchhike a ride to the airport (3kms away). Made our way back to Cairo via Egypt Air (about S$250 for a one-way flight, 3 hours) with a short transit in Aswan. There was not alot of things to look forward to in both the airports of Abu Simbel and Aswan. After all, these airports were merely offering a fast way of shuttling tourists in and out of these famous monuments.