For our Marsa Alam tours from the beautiful Bay of Marsa Alam to the sights of the Upper Egyptian city on the Nile Aswan, we will pick you up early in the morning from one of the Marsa Alam Hotels. We make our way to Aswan, located close to the border of Sudan. Surely everyone has heard the story of our first Aswan sites, the

Aswan Dam

In the past, the banks of the Nile River were often hit by uncontrolled floods. For this reason, Egypt decided to start this big project in 1960 and opened it after 10 years of construction, one year after completion in 1971.

The Aswan Dam regulates the water level of the Nile River as well as the electricity supply to Egypt. Nowadays the Lake Nasser, created by the construction of the Aswan High Dam, holds up to 170 kkm3 of water!

Ask our guide about the history of Lake Nasser and the changes in the Nubian life in this region. The Aswan High Dam is not the first dam in Egypt and we will continue our Aswan Sightseeing Egypt excursion with a visit to the “old Aswan Dam” to the

Philae Temple

located on an island. While we are crossing the "old Aswan Dam" you can already spot the beautiful Philae Temple, built on a rocky island in the lake. The Temple of Philae was removed from its original location on Philae Island when Lake Nasser was flooded and rebuilt on today's Agilkia Island. The most important buildings were decomposed into more than 37.000 blocks to rebuilt the temple complex, true to its origin in a construction period of 13 years. Since 1979 the Philae Temple is also one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Enjoy the journey to the island with one of the boats that's waiting for us at the jetty, and don't hesitate to ask your tour guide for more details about the impressive history of the Philae Temple.

Back on land, we take a break for a traditional lunch and then make our way to the next stop on our Aswan Sightseeing Egypt tour, the

Aswan Quarry – Unfinished Obelisk

Our way takes us to an old Aswan Quarry where once rose granite was mined, and the famous Unfinished Obelisk is waiting for us. If completed, it would have become the heaviest Obelisk in the history of Egypt.

Archaeologists assume that the Obelisk was built during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut and intended for the Karnak Temple. You will notice that the lower part is still connected to the Rock from which it has cut. Here you also can see the unsuccessfully attempted division. Allegedly, material defects prevented the completion of the Unfinished Obelisk.

With impressive memories of Aswan, we leave the Aswan Quarry for our drive back to your accommodation in Marsa Alam.