Things to do
What to Do in Aswan
The Mausoleum of Aga Khan:
The mausoleum of Aga Khan III, Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah, who died in 1957. The mausoleum is located at Aswan, along the Nile of Egypt, since Egypt was formerly the centre of power of the Fatimids. There is a story for building this mausoleum. Agha khan had a paralysis in his leg and people advised him to travel to Aswan where he can recover. After the recovery, he decided to be buried in Aswan.
The mausoleum is built in the style of the Fatimid tombs in Cairo. It is built of pink limestone, while the tomb is built of white Carrara marble. The Aga Khan was buried there two years after he died, since he used to spend part of the winter season living in a nearby villa. A red rose is laid on the Aga Khan's tomb every day, a practice first started by the Aga Khan's wife, Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan.
Lake Nasser:
Is more about empty landscapes and is less touristy. You have an option to do a Lake Nasser Cruise in addition to the Luxor to Aswan Nile Cruise.
Abu Simbel:
The site of two temples built by the Egyptian king Ramses II (reigned 1279–13 BCE), now located in Aswān southern Egypt.
In ancient times the area was at the southern frontier of pharaonic Egypt, facing Nubia. The four colossal statues of Ramses in front of the main temple are spectacular examples of ancient Egyptian art.
By means of a complex engineering feat in the 1960s, the temples were salvaged from the rising waters of the Nile River caused by erection. Carved out of a sandstone cliff on the west bank of the Nile, south of Korosko (modern Kuruskū), the temples were unknown to the outside world until their rediscovery in 1813 by the Swiss researcher Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.
The 66-foot (20-metre) seated figures of Ramses are set against the recessed face of the cliff, two on either side of the entrance to the main temple.
Carved around their feet are small figures representing Ramses’ children, his queen, Nefertari, and his mother, Muttuy. Graffiti inscribed on the southern pair by Greek mercenaries serving Egypt in the 6th century BCE have provided important evidence of the early history of the Greek alphabet.
The temple itself, dedicated to the sun gods Amon-Re and Re-Horakhte, consists of three consecutive halls extending 185 feet (56 metres) into the cliff, decorated with more Osiride statues of the king and with painted scenes of his purported victory at the Battle of Kadesh. On two days of the year (about February 22 and October 22), the first rays of the morning sun penetrate the whole length of the temple and illuminate the shrine in its innermost sanctuary.
