I took this the morning before the official sunrise. Photos inside the temple aren't allowed, but when the sun rose, light came through the temple and covered the statue of Ramses II in the inner temple, as predicted. Statues of gods are on either side of him, but only half of each of their statues were lit. The 4th statue in the quartet is the God of Darkness and his statue always remains dark.
On this day, only 10 of us were there to watch the sun stream through the temple - me, a Norwegian student, and a group from Japan. We were in the inner chamber for the entire sunrise and it was an amazing experience.
The next day (the official day) there were over 1,000 people, with the military controlling the line. After the sunrise, people were rushed through, with only a few seconds to view the illuminated statues.
Outside, it was a party - with Nubian dancers and local bands playing. All the locals were there, dressed in their finest, and very welcoming to all of the visitors.
