We will pick you up directly from the entrance door of your hotel in Aswan; you will recognize our driver by a sign with your name in his hand.

You will start your program with a visit of the Aswan High Dam, a huge embankment dam across the River Nile; the construction started in 1960 and it took the workers ten years to finish it up to a dam height of 111 meters – an extraordinary and impressing masterpiece of engineering. The thereby created reservoir, the Lake Nasser, covers a total surface area of more than 5,000 km² and has a storage capacity of approximately 160 km³.

Before we enter the city, you will visit an open-air museum: the ancient granite quarries of Aswan. Our guide will explain to you how in Pharaonic Egypt the people gained granite from this place to be used all over the country for the ambitious projects of their kings. Imagine the outstanding abilities of the ancient Egyptians who were working on these massive blocks of stone and transported them over incredible distances – even the pyramids in Giza, 700 km farther north, consist of Aswan granite. By the way you can also discover an example of obelisk building: the Unfinished Obelisk, probably ordered by the famous Queen Hatshepsut, but broken during the carve-out and therefore left; if they had managed to get it out of the quarry in one piece, it would have been the biggest obelisk of all ancient times.

After this visit you will have lunch in a local restaurant.

Lots of antique buildings had been threatened by the Aswan High Dam project, and some were dismantled and rebuilt on higher located places to save these important historical remains from disappearing in the floods of the new lake. One of these rescued monuments was the Nubian Temple of Philae, now located on the island of Agilkia, which will be the next station of our tour. This temple was created to worship the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis; according to an old Egyptian myth, Isis found on this place the heart of her husband Osiris after he had been killed and cut into a lot of pieces which had been spread all over the country. The oldest preserved remains were dated back to the 4^th century B.C.; the temple was extended and rebuilt several times, and in the end even transformed into a Christian sanctuary by the Roman conquerors. Have a walk around and discover this beautiful piece of history with its colonnades, kiosks, pylons and reliefs.

Then our driver will bring you back to your hotel in Aswan.

Inclusions:

• Transfers from/to your hotel and between the sights in a private air-conditioned vehicle
• Guided tours in your language
• Entrance fees to the mentioned sites
• Mineral water and soft drinks
• Lunch in a local restaurant
• All service charges and taxes

Exclusions:

• Gratuity (tips) for drivers, guides
• Personal items, meals, drinks or services not mentioned
• Egypt entry visa