Masa ‘a AlKair – We have arrived Abu Simbel and finally have communications again. The days in Lake Nasser we were completely without any electronic communications.

You cannot describe this place. Talk about the middle of nowhere. Our ship, as well as four other ships, are tied up to a huge rocks in the water. Each ship has it own rock. Now, why we are all here at one time, who knows? I guess it is so the camel drivers can come. You must go by boat to the shore. When you land, the boat is in the water, they put a plank on the bow of the boat and then two men hold a large pole which acts as a railing. We had to walk about a mile or more from one temple to the next, and then ascend a very steep hill. You could opt to ride a camel, and Ahmed found a tractor for Linda to travel from one temple to the other. Once on the hill, the view was breathtaking. Before Lake Nasser was created this area was once rich fertile land; now it is desert.

In the afternoon, we visited Amada, the oldest surviving temple in the Nubian region. It was 3,500 years old and still had color on the walls. Some of the hieroglyphics were in perfect condition.

We got the feel for being in the desert today. We walked through deep sand, saw, scorpions, snakes, and crocodiles. One from our group took a photo of a croc that had to be 20 feet long. As I started the email, this is truly out in the middle of nowhere.

Ahmed takes people on four and thirteen day desert excursions. You travel by camel and stop at different oasis and of course sleep outside. Studying camels up close and personal on this trip, I find them very interesting animals. They are very much like horses, but much nastier. They can go one month in the summer without water, and two months in winter. The people caring for them sleep outside. No chance of rain because this area only receives .1 inch of rain a year. Not even certain how they measure that little bit.

The desert trip will be one I will pass on, so if it is in our book, 1000 Places to See Before You Die, I will leave that one off, so should live a long life.