Forget the Pyramids at Giza, our top Egyptian monument - and there are more in this country to choose from than anywhere else on the planet - is Abu Simbel, in the far south of Egypt. The scale, setting and grandeur of the temples, overlooking the waters of Lake Nasser and the desert beyond, are stunning - but the story of how it was moved makes it all the more remarkable.

Getting to Abu Simbel really adds to the impressive feel of this place - travel by road for around three hours (or a quick hop by plane if you're more inclined!) from the southern Egyptian city of Aswan, and you're in the middle of nowhere, looking out over the waters of Lake Nasser, with the desert stretching off as far as the eye can see, towards Sudan somewhere over the horizon. The Pyramids at Giza are stunning, but modern-day Cairo is very close by, whereas here, you can really get a sense of how the Egyptian empire spread its powers far and wide.

As you arrive at Abu Simbel, the shape of the new manmade mountain that houses the temples today comes in to view, and as you round the corner, the sheer scale of the statues hits you. If you've been in Egypt for long you'll probably have come across the temple's builder, Ramses II, before, as he seemed very fond of building temples on a massive scale, generally dedicated to himself and usually adorned with his own image on a giant scale. Four massive statues of Ramses II, each around 20 metres high, guard the entrance to the inner temple and sit majestically looking out on to the lake, and what was the River Nile, up until the 1960's.

As you enter the inner temple the blazing sun gives way to the cooler, darker inside. Walk through the hypostyle hall, a chamber of huge columns, each fronted by a 10 metre high statue of the great ruler. At the heart of the temple is the innermost chamber, the Sacred Sanctuary, where statues of the four Gods of the Great Temple sit. Here's some impressive engineering for you - the alignment of the Temple, facing towards the rising sun, is such that, twice per year on the birthday of Ramses II and the anniversary of his coronation, the suns rays travel through the hypostyle hall all the way to the inner chamber, to illuminate the four statues. Not bad, for a temple that was built over 3000 years ago!

In the 1960's the Aswan High Dam was built to create Lake Nasser, which today is vital to Egypt's economy. However, the flooding of this stretch of the Nile meant that numerous ancient Egyptian sites would be submerged - including Abu Simbel itself. A huge rescue operation was launched, and over the course of four years the Temples of Abu Simbel were cut in to huge blocks and transported some 210 metres away from the river and 65 metres higher up, being reconstructed in a new, manmade mountain. Today, it's only when you recall this amazing story do you begin to look for signs of the move, which are visible, but only if you look closely enough.