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Aswan A busy market town, picturesque Aswan is located on a particularly beautiful stretch of the Nile.

A busy market town, picturesque Aswan is located on a particularly beautiful stretch of the Nile. With a riverscape dominated by sand-covered hills, the palm-fringed banks are dotted with sleepy Nubian villages and white-sailed feluccas float en masse around the islands that are scattered throughout the river. Aswan is one of the more laidback and relaxing places in Egypt to spend some time, though summer can be uncomfortably hot.

A significantly important Egyptian city for a number of reasons, much of the highly valued granite that was used for the obelisks, statues and shrines all over Egypt was quarried in this area. It is also the home of Lake Nasser and the Aswan High Dam. The Dam was built between 1960 and 1970 to control the annual floods that occurred along the Nile, to generate hydroelectricity and to provide water for irrigation. Prior to the construction of the dam, many ancient temples were in danger of being lost underwater. A world-wide effort by UNESCO saw the rescue, and in some cases relocation, of several temples such as Abu Simbel, Philae Temple and the Temple of Wadi-el-Sabua.

The famous temples of Abu Simbel lie some 230 kilometres away from Aswan near the Sudanese border. The rock-cut temples were re-discovered by Jean-Louis Burkhardt in 1813 when he found the top of one of the temples protruding from sand dunes. In 1817, they were dug up before being relocated in 1964. When you see the sheer size of the temples, it’s only then you can fully appreciate what a task it would have been to move them. Built under the order of the powerful and enduring Pharaoh Ramses II, the larger temple is dedicated to him and the sun god Ra, whilst the smaller temple is dedicated to his favourite wife, Nefertari and the goddess Hathor.

While in Aswan, visit the Nubia Museum to learn about the local people and see photos of Philae and Abu Simbel before they were moved. Enjoy a felucca ride to the island of Elephantine, where you can see the Temple of Khnum and Ruins of Abu. Visit Kitchener Island and explore its botanical garden and the 6th century Coptic Monastery of St Simeon.