The first convoy leaves at 3.45 a.m and is back at 12.30. You will have two hours in AbuSimble.
With the first convoy you can choose:
• reserve seats in a minibus for 100 EGP each (= "car sharing" - not really advised, these busses are full up to the last jumpseat, some people snore, some dont wear fresh clothes)
• reserve a car with driver (f. ex. Toyota Corolla, space for 2-3 persons): 500 EGP
• reserve a minibus with driver (space for 8 persons): 650 EGP for all
The second convoy leaves at 11 a.m and will be back at 7 p.m. With the
second convoy there is no "car-sharing" possible. Which leaves:
• reserve a car with driver (f. ex. Toyota Corolla, space for 2-3 persons): 500 EGP
• reserve a minibus with driver (space for 8 persons): 650 EGP for all
Meeting at the reception of your hotel will be 15 to 30 minutes before departure of the convoy. Of course all vehicles have air condition.
Advices: 
The tourist police requires copies of your passports (the main page with photo and passport number) from Waleed. He needs them the previous day to prepare the papers for the convoy for you. You can give the copy (copies) to him, if you arrive in Aswan two days before your visit at Abu Simbel, or you can send them to us as jpg or pdf.
Photographing is
not allowed inside the temples.
Guides are also not allowed inside the temples. Thats why I recommend to buy this book instead (I have no contact to the publisher in any way). It is available at Egyptian airports and in souvenirshops in Aswan and Abu Simbel for about 80 EGP. It has beautiful pictuers and good descriptions. I would suggest to read some before leaving to Abu Simbel and reread after your return. Like this you will have beautiful memories which cannot be forgotten.
If you come with a Nile Cruise, you might be surprised to find our prices to be much lower than these from your tour operator. That's why we are frequently asked to organise the excursion for guests on Nile Cruises. But some tour operators don't allow their guests to go on their own. Please read more here, if you booked with a tour operator.
These who would like
to stay longer / overnight, to see the monument at off-peak-hours, or who would love to
see the Sound&Light-Show in the evening, take one convoy to get there
and must return with the same driver with the second convoy or the next day (The driver must register
you for the journey there and your return - bureaucracy is not easy ... Of course
you will have to pay more for car and driver to stay with you). Staying overnight
is possible.
My opinion about the Sound And Light Show in Abu Simbel: not the best one
in Egypt ... 30 minutes slight show, at the end blue lasers, then 10 minutes
to make photos from the (very nicely!, see picture) illuminated statues. I
stayed at Nefertari (4*hotel), didnt like the food and got an aching back
from the bed.
More informations (without responsibility taken): http://www.soundandlight.com.eg/Default.aspx
" .... The next morning at 3:00 am., Waleed was at the hotel to introduce us to the drivers who will take us to 3:45 convon to Abu-Simbel. I was worried that the round trip (540 km) will be too much for us but it turned out ok. Nobody complained. The drivers were polite and very careful and alert which was very important to us. I could hear that Walee was always in contact with the driver to check how everything was going. The sight of Abu-Simbel temples exhilirated us. I am glad aswan_individual could offer it..." Madeleine Vega, Los Angeles
"Hi Petra,
Just to thank you for your good services. We had a super time in Abu Simbel, and the temples for ourselves between 16:00 and 17:30pm. It is well worth spending the night in a crap hotel just to avoid the crowds and be able to appreciate the temples in peace and quiet, but honestly, Nefertari wasn't that bad, it is very run down, overpriced of course, very 60s, and old, and too quiet, the bed not too comfortable, but the pool was very clean! We had dinner at Escaleh, which was great. Escaleh is quite far from the temples (I would estimate 30 to 40 minute walk), so our choice of Nefertari paid up in the end.
I will certainly advise your site to other travellers in the future. Waleed was on time, very profissional, and the driver Meena did his best to please us.
Take care and hope business is good for you, Odile and Laurence from Cairo"
"... Again, the nice air conditioned car was used for this long jouney which made a big difference for my wife as she was starting to recover from her fatigue. In fact, she slept very comfortably in the car and did not feel any motion/travel sickness at all. Very courteous and professional driver too ... (Chris and Jimmy from Australia)"
More comments in our guestbook
It is 4 a.m. and the convoy is gathering together. „Why at this early time before any healthy man is getting up?“ I ask the driver, „because we will be back before the day becomes real hot“. Good argument. Beside this, there is a second convoy at 11 a.m. I have the chance to sit in the front beside the driver. In the back of the minibus light snoring from eleven different nationalities drowns the sound of the motor. The sleeping people do not see the stars and the moon above the desert. They do not see how the sky is building a luminous stripe in the east and the red sun getting up like fire.
After 280 km, 40
km from the frontier to Sudan, we arrive at 7 a.m. on the parking lot
behind Abu Simbel. "9 a.m. we will meet again here, the bus will
not wait.“ At the ticket counter people are pushing to get a ticket.
One has to walk around the mountain (the cupola of the monument), marvelling
at the grotesque shapes of the coasts of Lake Nasser, and the sudden sight
around the corner is taking your breath away ... The Temple of Ramses
II (1279 – 1213 BC) is so huge and powerful, a second smaller temple
beside having been built for his wife Nefertari and God Horus. Four Ramses
are sitting beside each other, all statues being 20 meters high. Head
and upper part of the body of one of the hulks fell after an earthquake
down to his own feet. Time is short if one wants to see both temples from
the inside. Because all tourists are coming with the same convoy there
is a lot of tailgating.
But in spite of all this fidgetiness a big calm is lowering down on the visitor after entering the halls inside. The old statues upraise themselves. Paintings grace the walls and in the sanctuary of the big temple, four archaic Gods (inclusive Ramses) are waiting to meet the light of the sun, which will fall down on them every 21st of february and 21st of october, to wander from one to another, taking 10 minutes time all together. Abu Simbel is one of the most impressive places I ever saw.
Flights with Egypt Air
Aswan
Individual is not a travel agency / travel company and cannot book flights
for you. But we are frequently asked. In this case we recommend to go "around the corner" to the next
travel agency near your home, or to write to Uwe Kossmann (mail to in English: info@mywayoftravel.de), a travel agency in Berlin, who works
with Egypt Air and can book flights for you if you pay with credit card.
Please be courteous and contact Mr. Kossman only if you have definitive plans for using a travel agency for booking your flights. He is extremely busy and would appreciate it very much if you used him as your travel agent and not just as an information booth.
This is a copy from an email to one of our guests (Sept 2009):
Dear Mr xxx,
thanks for your request.
It´s the policy of EGYPT AIR to have those flights on waitinglist first.
Unusual but normal for this airline. In thirty years of being in the business,
I never got a confirmation at the time of reservation.
It takes about some days up to a maxiumum of three weeks to get a confirmation
status
Flights to Abu Simbel are:
MS 145 ASW ABS 0555 0640
MS 245 ASW ABS 0630 0715
MS 369 ASW ABS 0655 0740
MS 147 ASW ABS 0825 0910
MS 247 ASW ABS 0900 0945
MS 371 ASW ABS 0925 1010
MS 149 ASW ABS 1050 1135
MS 249 ASW ABS 1130 1215
MS 373 ASW ABS 1155 1240
Flights back to Aswan are:
MS 146 ABS ASW 0710 0755
MS 246 ABS ASW 0745 0830
MS 370 ABS ASW 0810 0855
MS 148 ABS ASW 0940 1025
MS 248 ABS ASW 1015 1100
MS 372 ABS ASW 1040 1125
MS 150 ABS ASW 1205 1250
MS 250 ABS ASW 1245 1330
MS 374 ABS ASW 1310 1355
There are no afternoon or evening flights on tha city-pair
To make a reservation I need your full names and contact details
Have a nive evening, kind regards
Uwe
MY WAY OF TRAVEL
Note: Waleed (or someone he sends) will meet you in your hotel (if you stay at Movenpick or Pyramisa Island: at the ferry on the Aswan side) and wait with you for the driver. With Aswan Individual you will not be left alone to wait for the driver!
Convoy 3.45 a.m.
With minibus sharing - only transfer, without ticket or guide for Abu
Simbel:
100 EGP each person
-------------------
Private microbus with aircondition
for you and your group (no sharing with strangers) - only transfer:
650 EGP for the microbus (up to 8 persons)
500 EGP for limousine
(1 or 2 persons)
Optional with guide:
plus 100 EGP
-------------------
If with stop on the way back at Highdam and Philae:
800 EGP for microbus
650 EGP for limousine and waiting for you at Philae
(tickets, guide, boat to Philae not included)
Optional with guide and boat to Philae and back
for Abu Simbel, Highdam, Philae:
plus
270 EGP
tickets not included)
-------------------
Convoy 11 a.m.
Because of security restrictions of the tourist police, carsharing of
individual persons is not possible. Every group must rent a microbus for
themselves. Thats why:
Private microbus with aircondition for you and your group (no sharing
with strangers) - only transfer (tickets or guide not included):
650 EGP for the microbus (up to 8 persons)
500 EGP for limousine
(1 or 2 persons)
-------------------
Ticket for Abu Simbel during the day: 90 EGP
Ticket for Sound & Light Sound-Show: 75 EGP
Highdam: 20 EGP
Philae: 50 EGP