MS Movenpick Prince Abbas Lake Nasser Cruise: Aswan, Nubia & Abu Simbel

You join the ship at Abu Simbel, either flying in from Aswan or Cairo or driving down, and the greatest monument on the lake is the first thing you see rather than the last.

The Great Temple of Ramses II, with its four twenty-metre colossi facing the water, and the sanctuary cut sixty metres back into the rock where the sun reaches the gods twice a year, in late February and late October. Beside it the Temple of Nefertari, where the queen is carved at the same height as the king – almost unheard of in Egyptian art.

Both were dismantled into more than a thousand blocks between 1964 and 1968 and rebuilt higher and further back, inside a hollow artificial hill, ahead of the rising lake.

Because the ship moors here, you have the evening sound and light show and the site at first light, which the road convoys never get.

Meals: Lunch & dinner

Sailing north, the ship passes Kasr Ibrim, the only monument on Lake Nasser still in its original place. It was a fortress on a clifftop sixty metres above the valley; the water rose until the cliff became an island. Occupied continuously from about 1000 BC to 1812, and still an active excavation, so nobody lands. You see it from the deck.

Ashore at Amada, the oldest temple on the lake – Thutmose III and Amenhotep II, two centuries before Abu Simbel. French engineers moved it whole, on rails, rather than cutting it into blocks, which is why its painted reliefs are the best preserved of anything here.

Alongside it, the rock-cut temple of Derr and the tomb of Pennout, viceroy of Nubia under Ramses VI – a rare private tomb this far south, showing an official’s world rather than a king’s.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Three temples from three different places, now sharing one site.

Wadi el-Seboua – the Valley of the Lions, named for its avenue of sphinxes. Ramses II built it; Christians later made it a church and painted St Peter over the sanctuary, so the king now appears to be offering flowers to a saint.

Dakka, a temple of Thoth begun by a Meroitic king from Sudan and completed by Ptolemies and Romans, with a pylon you can climb. And Maharraqa, small and unfinished, holding the only spiral staircase known in any Egyptian temple.

The ship sails on through the afternoon toward the High Dam.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

The last group of monuments stands near the High Dam. Kalabsha is the largest free-standing Nubian temple, begun under Augustus for the sun god Mandulis and moved here from fifty kilometres south in thirteen thousand blocks.

Beit el-Wali, cut into rock for Ramses II, holds the best surviving painted colour on the lake – his Nubian campaign, with tribute of gold, ivory, leopard skins and a live giraffe. The Kiosk of Qertassi, a small Roman pavilion with Hathor columns, stands with them.

Disembark at the High Dam and transfer to Aswan airport, the railway station, or your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast only

You board at the High Dam rather than in Aswan town – the lake begins on the far side of it. Your guide meets you at Aswan airport or the railway station and drives you out.

The first three monuments stand together on a promontory near the dam, none of them where they were built. Kalabsha is the largest free-standing temple in Nubia, begun under Augustus for Mandulis, a Nubian sun god the Romans adopted. It was moved in the 1960s from a site fifty kilometers south, in thirteen thousand blocks, paid for by West Germany.

Beside it, Beit el-Wali – a small rock-cut temple of Ramses II with the best-preserved painted colour of anything on this lake. The reliefs show his Nubian campaign: the king in his chariot, and Nubians bringing tribute of gold, ivory, leopard skins, ostrich feathers and a live giraffe.

The Kiosk of Qertassi completes the group – a small Roman pavilion with Hathor-headed columns, moved here for the same reason as the others.

Back aboard, and the ship sails south. Lunch and dinner on board.

Meals: Lunch & dinner

Three temples that began their lives in three different places and now share one site.

Wadi el-Seboua means Valley of the Lions, for the avenue of sphinxes leading up to it. Ramses II built it, and its later history is the interesting part: it became a Christian church, and a painting of St Peter was added over the sanctuary reliefs. The result is that Ramses now appears to be presenting flowers to a Christian saint. Nobody planned it, and it is one of the odder sights in Egypt.

Dakka was a temple of Thoth, begun by a Meroitic king from Sudan and finished by the Ptolemies and the Romans – three cultures on one building. You can climb its pylon.

Maharraqa is small, unfinished and unique: it has the only spiral staircase known in an Egyptian temple.

Sailing again in the afternoon. The lake is at its widest here and the shoreline is pure desert.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Amada is the oldest surviving temple on the lake, built by Thutmose III and Amenhotep II in the 18th Dynasty – older than Abu Simbel by two centuries. It was saved differently from everything else here. Rather than cutting it apart, French engineers put the entire temple on rails and moved it two and a half kilometers in one piece, so its painted reliefs survived intact. They are the finest color you will see on this cruise.

Beside it stands the rock-cut temple of Derr, another of Ramses II’s, and the tomb of Pennout, who governed Nubia for Ramses VI. A private tomb this far south is rare, and it shows an official’s life rather than a king’s.

Sailing on, the ship passes Kasr Ibrim – and this is the one place on Lake Nasser still standing exactly where it always stood. It was a fortress on a cliff sixty metres above the valley floor; the water rose until the cliff became an island, and the ruins on top are what is left. People lived there continuously from around 1000 BC until 1812. It remains an active excavation and nobody goes ashore. You see it from the deck, which is the only way anyone sees it.

The ship moors overnight within sight of Abu Simbel.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

The whole cruise has been building to this, and arriving by water is the reason to do it this way. The four seated colossi of Ramses II – each about twenty metres high – face the lake, and you see them from the deck before you see them from the ground.

Inside the Great Temple, the hall of Osiride pillars leads back into the rock to a sanctuary where four seated gods wait in the dark. Twice a year, in late February and late October, the rising sun reaches down the full length of the temple and lights three of the four. Ptah, god of the underworld, stays in shadow. That alignment survived the relocation.

Next to it, the Temple of Nefertari, dedicated to Hathor. Ramses had his queen carved at the same height as himself on the facade, which happens almost nowhere else in Egyptian art, and the dedication says she is the one for whom the sun rises.

Both temples were cut into more than a thousand blocks between 1964 and 1968 and rebuilt sixty-five metres higher and two hundred metres back from the water, inside an artificial mountain. You can find the joins if you look. Most people stop looking after a minute.

The ship stays moored here overnight, so the evening sound and light show is available and you have the site again at first light, before the road convoys arrive from Aswan.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Breakfast on board, then disembark. We transfer you to Abu Simbel airport for the short flight to Aswan or Cairo, or drive you back to Aswan by road, which takes around three hours.

If you are continuing to Luxor, Cairo or the Red Sea, tell us before you travel and we will connect it.

Meals: Breakfast only