Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel is Egypt at its most jaw-dropping: two vast temples that Ramesses II carved straight into a Nubian cliff in the 13th century BC, guarded by four enthroned colossi of the pharaoh, each over 20 metres tall. Deep in the far south near the Sudanese border, it feels like a genuine expedition to reach.

Step inside and the Great Temple's halls stretch back into the rock, lined with reliefs of Ramesses triumphant at the Battle of Kadesh. Beside it stands the smaller temple to his queen Nefertari. Astonishingly, the whole site was cut apart and lifted 65 metres uphill in the 1960s to escape the rising Lake Nasser.

Twice a year, on 22 February and 22 October, the dawn sun pierces the temple to light the innermost sanctuary, an alignment engineered over three thousand years ago.