Nicki and I have had a fabulous week away down in southern Egypt looking at many of the temples and tombs at Aswan and Luxor.  The history sitting in behind the places we visited is very hard to put into context but you can certainly get an appreciation of the efforts needed to construct them.  The weather wasn't too hot and the only pain was that at many of the places, we were annoyed by the local youths who wanted to just stare at the younger ladies in our group or take sneaky photos.  They would blatantly follow us around.  We were lucky though in quite a few places in that the security guards would keep them at bay so we could focus on what the guide was saying and take photos without a yob in them.  Definitely templed out for now.

A panorama of the famous Abu Sembel temples.  Took us 3 hour through the desert to get there.

An panoramic view, this time from the top of Abu Sembel looking out over Lake Nasser.  The lake was created when they built the Aswan High dam in the late sixties.

The only shot I could take of the incredible Valley of the Kings.  I tried to sneak some shots inside one of the tombs with my phone but had it confiscated!! 

The face of the 111m high Aswan Dam.  It was massive!

A paddle in the famous Nile!

Philae Temple- one of a number of temples and tombs that was rescued before they were covered by the rising waters of Lake Nasser.  This temple was shifted to an island in 40 thousand pieces and reconstructed.  Absolutely amazing!!

This little boy was dancing away as the Nubian Village Drumming troupe entertained us the night we stayed there.

A shot of me in front of the Abu Sembel Temple, just to give some scale to the size of them.  20m high!!  These were also lifted 200m from below where they are now, to save them.

Nicki in front of the damaged statue of Rameses 11.  Apparently it was damaged by an earthquake a millennia ago.

An amazing mirage that we saw on our trip back to Aswan from the Abu Sembel Temples.  It honestly looked like you could just run out and dive in :-)

A view of the rubbish in the street below our shonky hotel that we  endured a night of in Aswan.  Sadly this is a fairly common sight where ever you go in any Egyptian city and town :-(

Enjoying a very peaceful felucca cruise on the Nile.

This is the type of felucca common on the river.

Mummified crocodiles that we saw at the Kom Ombo temple.  Early Egyptian believed that they were god-like so preserved them for the after-life.

A group photo in front Horus, one of the Egyptian gods.  They flank the entrance to the Edfu Temple, between Aswan and Luxor.  The entrance gateway was massive.

Some of our group took up the challenge of the famous (or infamous) balloon ride in Luxor.  This shot was taken from the roof of our hotel.

Again a fairly common sight around most cities we have been through.

We toured an Alabaster factory.  This craftsman showed us how the bowls were hued out and polished.

The impressive Hatshesput Temple in Luxor.  This was built by one the few female pharaohs.

Camels and a lone horse grazing.

The carving and reliefs in this temple at Dendera, Luxor, were very unusual in that they were deliberately carved deep to stop successive rulers from scrapping off and putting their own over the top!!

A very long staircase down from one of the few temple that we were allowed to go to the top of-Dendera Temple again. To climb to the top, we wound our way up an amazing square spiral staircase.

The temple at Abydos was the oldest one in the whole of Egypt, well over 3000 years old.  It was situated right in the middle of a rumpty old dusty town.

So many of the places we visited had beautifully coloured reliefs in them.

Karnak Temple, in Luxor, is the biggest of all the temples.  It covers 60 acres and has the largest collection of columns in one spot- 134!!

We were very lucky in that all the places we visited had uniformed guards or undercover security like this chap here guarding them.  They are obviously very aware of the tempting target these places pose to would-be terrorists.

One of the two massive obelisks at Karnak Temple.

At Luxor Temple we saw this working mosque that had been unknowingly built on the ruins of the temple.  Incredible to see the mix of cultures.  Just to make it even more bizarre, we also saw a small piece of Roman relief on a wall here.  The Romans had plastered over the Egyptain hieroglyphics and  painted there own over the top.  This means we saw evidence of three cultures inhabiting the same spot over periods of the millennia.

Enjoying our final felucca cruise :-)

One of my favourite shots- sunset on the Nile.

The Aswan High Dam- A boyhood dream come true!!

Yes we did brave the local cuisine in a tiny village on the first day.  The falafels were delicious, the cooking conditions were dodgy!!  Nobody suffered after them, thank goodness.

A view from the doorway of the Nubian Village we stayed in on our first night.  It was beautiful and quaint, right on the Nile.

Just an example of the huge amount of carvings we saw on our travels.  Sadly, many of them had been defaced (scratching out) by successive invaders.  So much history destroyed :-(

The entrance to Habu Temple in Luxor.  The corridor seemed to go on for ever.

Kicking back relaxing in a typical arabian room they had set up by the Kom Ombo Temple.

The huge gateway entrance to the Edfu Temple.  Absolutely massive.  60m high!!

Just another example of the detailed drawing on the ceilings of many of the temples we visited.

A camel traffic jam!!

Rush hour donkey style!!

The huge entrance to Karnak Temple, Luxor, lined by the pharaoh in his godlike form of the ram.

Marching round the statue of the scarab beetle five times is supposed to mean your wish comes true.  I don't mind looking dorky in front of all the other tourist, as long as mine does come true.

Nicki and I, along with three other couples, headed off to the pyramids at Dashur and Saqarra.  They aren't as impressive as the ones at Giza but more accessible.  Our guide, Alfie, was a mine of information.  Another memorable day, especially with being able to finally get down inside one of the huge structures.

The entrance down into the burial chamber of the Red Pyramid

The very weathered face of the Red Pyramid.

We had to give this local a bribe (baksheesh) so we could take photos in burial chamber.

Making our way 60m down into the Red Pyramid.

Climbing up to see the burial chamber.

Amazing to think that thousands of years ago, a pharaoh lay here surrounded with all his wordly possessions.

The Bent Pyramid.  Unbelievably, the engineers got the angle wrong half way up!! 

Looking back at the Red Pyramid.

Yes, we have now been there and done that!!

A close-up of the limestone covering many of the pyramids had.  The blocks are huge!!

An amazing sight! We called him the camel peacock :-)

One of the statues of Ramses saved from the flooding when the created Lake Nasser behind the Aswan High dam.  It has been carved out of one solid block of limestone.

The burial sarcophagus of a long ago stolen raided pharaoh.  This was only down a 20m tunnel.  Amazing, amazing amazing!!

This burial chamber was totally decorated in hieroglyphics.

Looking down into the sarcophagus at the hieroglyphics.

Coming out of the small pyramid.  You can see how corroded it is.

A fairly typical street scene- filth and rubbish everywhere :-(

A close up of one of the weathered limestone blocks used to build the pyramids.

One of the Saqarra pyramids that is currently being carefully renovated by an international effort. 

This was one of the very deep entrances to the burial chambers.  This was filled with sand to discourage tomb raiders.  The stairwell has only been there for the last eight years.

Our group of adventurers posing in front of the Red Pyramid.