After passing through Aswan, past the great Philae Temple dedicated to the goddess Isis, which was dismantled and reconstructed on Agilkia Island before its former site, Philae Island, was flooded when the old dam was constructed, and onwards past the Aswan Dam and the enormous manmade lake, Lake Nasser, the Nile Valley comes to an abrupt stop at Abu Simbel.

Aswan, Egypt’s capital city, is distinguished by an abundance of palm trees and tropical gardens, which are situated across one of the Nile’s biggest stretches of water