The Nile & Lake Nasser

Life along large parts of the river bank today appears little changed from ancient times. Some scenes seem almost biblical - the banks lined with palm trees and mud brick villages, women washing clothes in the river and boys riding donkeys past fields of crops. Beyond the fertile river plains, often fringed by imposing red hills, the desert forms a stark contrast.

Apart from the magnificent temples of Seti I and Hathor at Abydos and Dendera respectively, the most interesting part of the river for the visitor, is in Upper Egypt between Luxor and Aswan. The spectacular pharaonic sites at Luxor, formerly the ancient city of Thebes and capital of Egypt for 1000 years, include the great Temples of Ramses and Karnak, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the fascinating tombs of the Pharaohs in the Valleys of the Kings and the Queens.

Upstream, past the impressive temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo, on the Nile’s First Cataract lies Aswan. This ancient garrison of both the Ptolemies and the Romans was a fashionable winter retreat in the 19th century, and remains popular today, with its picturesque setting, delightful islands lying in the river and the beautiful Temple of Philae. It is also the gateway to Nubia and Lake Nasser to the south.

Lake Nasser was formed after construction of the Aswan High Dam (1960-71), and is a striking spectacle, stretching some 500kms and reaching well into Sudan. It is the world’s largest reservoir with a surface area of some 6000 square kilometres and depths of up to 180 metres in places.

Its creation led to a staggering feat of engineering by UNESCO, when most of the temples of ancient Nubia were moved stone by stone to higher ground to avoid destruction by the rising waters. Thanks to these efforts, temples such as Kalabshah, Wadi El Seboua, Dakka, Meharakka, Amada and perhaps most importantly, the magnificent, world-renowned temple of Ramses II and his Queen, Nefertari, at Abu Simbel were saved for posterity. In the past 15 years cruises on the lake between Aswan and Abu Simbel (or vice versa) have made these stunning sites more easily accessible to travellers.