A very stupid idea

Only buses and microbuses arranged by hotels or tour operators can travel to Abu Simbel in police convoy. So every buses have to arrive at the checkpoint early, by 5 am! Those buses that arrive earlier have to wait and queue up along the road for departure in police convoy. It's total useless in my opinion. Firstly, I hardly saw any police, other than when passed through the checkpoint to Abu Simbel, and once at checkpoint along the road, and at Abu Simbel itself. Secondly, obviously some bus drivers drove faster, some slower. So it ended up all buses were scattering around the road, and at some point I believed that bus in front of our van was at least 3 km away! What convoy was that? Anyway, that's the requirement, if you like to visit Abu Simbel as a day trip from Aswan.

We actually booked our trip previous day with Marwa Hotel for EGP 50 each. We shopped around but seemed like all hotels also quite firmed with EGP 50. So we just booked with Marwa Hotel as good gesture, as I think the hotel was good. That proved to be good decision too. As we're leaving to Luxor today, so we checked out at 4 am, before departed to Abu Simbel, and they allowed us to keep our bags in a room, free of charge. Beside, when we returned, they allowed us to bath for free too. Good service!

Tip: There will be sunrise on the east on the way to Abu Simbel. If you want to view, sit on the left side of the bus. And make sure you stay awake.