We arose bright and early for the police-escorted drive down south to Abu Simbel to view the temple of Ramesses II. During the long drive back, we also visited the Aswan High Dam and the temple of Philae. In the evening, we visited the local market and did some typical Egyptian coffee-shop chill-out.

Abu Simbel is a site with two temples built in the 13th century BC, during the Reign of Ramesses II. It commemorates his victory in the Battle of Kadesh. Once it became evident that the rising waters of Lake Nasser during the construction of the dam would eventually submerge the temples, they were carefully carved up and reassembled at a higher location. The massive relocation operation took over 4 years to complete.

Today we began our 2-day sail down the Nile on a felucca. It was an opportunity to simply lay back, enjoy the sunshine, and let the winds take us on our way. When we docked in the evening, we enjoyed a small bonfire with some song and dance.

Though most of the country is desert, fertile soils brought from the African south in the Nile floods create a strip of arable land along the river and into the Delta. The great majority of Egypt's 78 million people live near the banks of this, the longest river in the world.

Continuing our felucca sail, we visited Daraw and its camel and livestock market. The day was otherwise spent much like the last, enjoying the breeze and letting the current guide our way.

The River Nile, at 6,650 km is believed to be the longest river in the world, slightly longer than the Amazon. It's most distant tributary begins in the Nyngwe Forest in Rwanda, reaches Lake Victoria in Tanzania, then exiting as the White Nile in Uganda. It joins with the Blue Nile in Sudan before snaking northward through Egypt and emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.

As we completed our Nile cruise, we visited the temple of Kom-Ombo and then joined another police-escorted convoy to Luxor. Exploring the city a while, we enjoyed dinner at an African restaurant before returning to our hotel for the night.

Luxor stands on the site of the ancient capital city of Thebes. The city includes the temples of Karnak and Luxor, and the numerous tombs and temples of the West Bank, including the Valley of the Kings, Colossi of Memnon, and Deir el-Bahri.