Aswan Day Trip from Marsa Alam

Tour Details:

We will meet you at your hotel in Marsa Alam; you will recognize our driver by the sign with your name in his hands. During your trip  to Aswan, you will get a glimpse of the Egyptian landscape and the way of life of the people living here. There will definitely be some stops to capture some scenery on camera.

Upon arrival in Aswan, your excursion program will begin with a visit to  the Aswan High Dam. It is a huge structure that blocks one of the largest rivers in the world, the Nile, the construction of which began in 1960 and took more than 10 years to complete the dam 111m high. It is truly a marvel of engineering and cooperation of the people in the name of technological progress. Lake Nasser, which covers an area of more than 5000 km2 and a volume of about 160 km3, is a reservoir formed as a result of the construction of a dam.

Just before entering the city, visit the open-air museum –  the ancient granite quarries of Aswan. Our guide will tell you how, in the time of the Pharaohs’ clocks, people learned how to quarry granite, which was later used throughout the country in the ambitious projects of the Pharaohs. Imagine the extraordinary abilities of the ancient Egyptians who worked in these quarries and then transported these massive stone blocks over incredibly long distances – for example,  The pyramids at Giza, located 700 km north of Aswan, are built of local granite. Here you will also see the Unfinished Obelisk, which is a monolithic obelisk that was abandoned due to cracks. But if it were to be installed, it would be the tallest of the existing ones.

The construction of the Aswan High Dam threatened the destruction of many ancient buildings, so some of them were dismantled and rebuilt on the hills in order to preserve these important historical monuments from the flooding of the newly formed lake in the future. One of the monuments saved by the monument was the Nubian temple of Filai, moved to the island of Aguilika, which will be your next stop. This temple was created to worship the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis,  who, according to the myth, by the power of her love, reunited the heart of her husband Osiris, after he was killed and cut into many pieces, scattered throughout the country. According to the preserved data, the temple was built in the 4th century BC, but later, expanded and rebuilt several times and eventually turned into a Christian sanctuary under the Roman conquerors. During the walk, you will see beautiful colonnades, kiosks, pylons and reliefs.

After visiting the temple, you will have lunch at one of the local restaurants, after which you will sail on a traditional Egyptian felucca sailing boat to Kitchener Island, named after its former British owner. On the way, you will sail past the famous Aga Khan Mausoleum and  the  tombs of the nobles , about which our guide will give you enough interesting information. And now you have reached a small island, in the heart of which there is an Arab town, and a small piece of paradise: a magnificent botanical garden, which is full of exotic trees and plants.

The excursion program will end with a visit to another island – Elephantine Island. It was once a fortress that marked the border between Egypt and Nubia. You’ll see the remains of the ancient city  of Yebu/Abu, which he founded about 5,000 years ago, the ruins  of the temples of Khnum and Satet, and  the necropolis of sacred rams. See  the Nilometer, which is a narrow, long corridor with a staircase (of 90 steps) descending directly into the Nile. Four scales are carved on the walls of the corridor to determine the water level during the flooding of the river. You will also walk through the Nubian villages that are still located on the island.

In the evening you will return to your hotel, Marsa Alam.

The tour runs daily.