Abu Simbel is far away. I took a plane from Cairo to Aswan. Then from Aswan town we travelled 4-5 hours by car through the dessert to get there. It is close to Sudan, another African country. In view of the distance, US $200 is not expensive. Abu Simble is very famous but I cannot memorize the history now. There is an artificial reservoir, a dam and two famous statues that moved from some other place........
Many people spoke English in the tourist spot. I cannot remember where I exhange money, my trip is eight years ago loh...............