|
Destinations
& Articles
Egypt
Then
and Now
Published
in the Winter 2005-06 Issue of Canadian World Traveller
Text
and Photos:
Michael Morcos
On our arrival at Cairo’s
International Airport at 3 a.m., we drove to our hotel, which
overlooked the legendary Nile River. Over the years, this
fabled capital city had grown in population to over 18 million
inhabitants, becoming the largest city in Africa. Today, new
buildings vie for space with historic monuments in this
ever-expanding, dynamic city. Greater Cairo now stretches out
on both banks of the Nile as far as the eye can see.
But I had brought my wife and
teenaged son and daughter from Canada to experience all of
Egypt, the land of my birth, so we left this teeming city the
next day to visit the ancient archaeological sites of Saqqara
and Giza, located on the West Bank of the Nile.
 Saqqara
The impressive, wind-eroded Step
Pyramid, located in Saqqara, was built for King Djoser
(Dynasty 3). This is the first known monumental structure made
of stone anywhere in the world. As its name suggests, the
pyramid is formed by a series of six levels of stone,
decreasing in size as they ascend to about 60 meters in
height. In its vicinity, local farmers and shepherds worked
the land with their oxen, buffalos and donkeys, seemingly
oblivious of their historic surroundings.
The Giza
Plateau
We then travelled a short distance north
to the Giza to see he Great Pyramids and the mysterious
Sphinx.
 The spectacular Pyramid of Khufu
(c.2585-2560 B.C.) is the largest of the three principal
pyramids on the Plateau. It reaches 137.2 meters in height.
The Pyramid of Khafre (c.2555-2532 B.C.) is 136.5 meters in
height. Near its summit, it still retains some of its original
smooth limestone veneer that once clad the entire structure.
The Pyramid of Menkaure (c.2532-2510 B.C.) completes this
astounding trio.
Climbing these pyramids, one realises
how huge the stones and the actual structures are. What a feat
of engineering it must have been then, as it would be even
today! After walking around the pyramids, we approached
the world-famous Sphinx. No one knows its true age, but when
the legs of the Sphinx reach out to envelope its visitors,
while its majestic head towers above, the effect is quite
breathtaking.
Back to
Cairo
We had a busy day back in Cairo. It was
very hot and humid in the city when we visited the Cairo
Museum with its impressive King Tut exhibit. After a
refreshing dip in the hotel’s pool to wash away our
accumulated sweat, we visited Cairo’s newest shopping mall,
which matches any North American mall. Thankfully it was
air-conditioned! It was big, brightly lit, and crowded with
shoppers, but the mostly imported merchandise on display was
quite expensive. We wondered how the locals could afford to
shop there!
 Mohammad Ali
Mosque
The next day, we visited the ornate
Mohammad Ali Mosque (also known as the Alabaster Mosque),
which was begun in 1830 and finished in 1857.
Mohammad Ali Pasha, built it in the Ottoman style.
From
the arcaded courtyard, we had a magnificent view across the
city to the pyramids at Giza. In addition, the lookout from
its Ottoman style dome, which soars to 50 metres, offers a
dramatic, 360-degree panoramic view of Cairo.
Khan
El Khalili Bazaar
We lunched at a street café, which
featured great cheap food. It cost us just five Canadian
dollars for our family of four!
 After lunch, we wandered
through the Khan El
Khalili Bazaar, one of the most interesting bazaars,
not only in Egypt but also in the entire Middle East. It was
named after Prince Jaharkas Al Khalili, who was one of the
powerful Mamluke princes in the 14th century. It is
famous for its unusual oriental souvenirs, typical handmade
crafts and entertaining vendors.
The Medieval atmospheres of
this traditional market, together with the labyrinth layout of
its streets, gave us a glimpse into what medieval markets were
like.
Aswan
That night, we boarded a night train for
the 926 km journey south along the Nile to Aswan. It was a
pleasant, air-conditioned ride, with onboard meals served with
our choice of beer and wine, and comfortable sleeping berths.
 When we arrived the next morning, it was
already 35 degrees Celsius, which climbed to 43 degrees in the
afternoon! We took a refreshing boat ride on a Felucca,
the traditional Egyptian graceful sailboat found all along the
Nile. That night, we visited a local Souk (outdoor
marketplace), which was smelly, noisy and dirty… but we
loved it for its authenticity! And what was that meat hanging
from those hooks? We didn’t dare to ask!
Next morning, we visited the Aswan High
Dam, which controls the flow of water to avoid flooding along
a great part of the Nile. This huge, rock-filled dam created
one of the world's largest reservoirs, Lake Nasser. The dam,
known as Saad el Aali in Arabic, was completed in 1970 after
18 years of work.
Defying the hot, hot weather we
experienced in Aswan, we toured the Philae Temple, which has
the last known hieroglyphic inscriptions in Egypt, dating from
394 AD. The hieroglyphs are crude in execution but are clear
enough to read.
 A Cruise
Down the Nile
After lunch, we boarded our boat for a
cruise down the Nile north to Luxor. Our first stop was at Kom
Ombo, This is the site of a Ptolemaic temple, built in the
early second century B.C. to pay homage to the
crocodile-headed god Sobek and the falcon god Haroeris (HoArus
the Elder). Being a popular stop for many of the Nile’s
cruise boats, the site was crowded with tourists.
We continued down the Nile to Edfu (our
mooring for the night). Its Temple of Horus has a
massive entrance pylon covered with sunk-relief carvings. This
Ptolemaic temple was constructed between 237 and 57 B.C. But
the highlight of our stop was witnessing a local wedding party
proceeding along the streets of the town, accompanied by local
musicians. At one point, the party stopped in the middle of
the main street of the town to celebrate.
 The next morning, we continued on our
cruise to Luxor through the locks at Esna. The scenery along
this section on the Nile was incredible. Lush vegetation
hugged its banks while sand dudes of the Sahara Desert
encroached right behind it. Along the banks, local kids swam
and waved at the passing boats and cows grazed under the
watchful eyes of their owners.
Luxor
At Luxor, we left our boat early in the
morning to visit the incomparable and almost overwhelming
Valley of the Kings. Among the must-sees are the Avenue of the
Sphinxes, its stone sentinels combining the bodies of lions
with the head of Nectanebo I (380-363 B.C.); Luxor Temple
itself and its principal entrance, the Pylon of Ramesses II
(c.1279-1213 B.C.), which is flanked by two seated statues of
the king; and the impressive Court of Ramesses II (c.1279-1213
B.C.) with its colonnade of closed papyrus-bud columns.
We also visited the Temples of Thebes
with its sphinxes that combine the bodies of lions with the
heads of rams; The Temple of Amun at Karnak and its colossal
columns; and The Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak Temple, which
was begun during the reign of King Sety I (c.1290-1279 B.C.)
and was finally completed by his son, Ramesses II (c.1279-1213
B.C.).
What a day it had been! We had absorbed thousands of years of
history in just a few days. That night, we had drinks with the
friends we had met on the boat who hailed from around the
world and said our fond farewells.
Sham
el-Sheikh
 The next day we toke a flight from
Luxor’s airport across the Red Sea to Sham el-Sheikh,
Egypt's best known and most visited beach resort on the Sinai
Peninsula. Talk about a change of pace! In just over an hour
we were checking into a resort hotel with seven pools and a
fabulous beach for three days of pampered and well-earned rest
and relaxation.
However, in my exuberance at being able
to snorkel in the crystal-clear waters of the Red Sea,
surrounded by colourful schools of tropical fish, I managed to
badly scrape my legs on the sharp coral rocks! Even this
mishap couldn’t spoil what was a great experience.
Our next leg of our journey would take
us by bus to Cairo to catch a train to Alexandria, Egypt’s
second largest city.
A Desert
Adventure
The bus ride back to Cairo from the
Sinai proved to be quite an adventure! The police stopped the
bus twice for security checks, the first time for passports
and IDs and the second to check our baggage for explosives
with trained sniffing dogs, before allowing the bus to enter
the tunnel under the Red Sea that would take it back to the
African mainland.
However, the bus ride proved interesting
in another unexpected way. Along the route, we occasionally
caught sight of wild camels and oil pumps in the desolate
desert landscape. These chance sightings proved to be welcome
distractions from the very bad Arab language movies that were
being shown on the bus!
 Alexandria
After our transfer to a train in Cairo,
we finally were on our way to Alexandria. Around 330 B.C.,
Alexander the Great ordered the Greek architect Dinocrates to
build this Mediterranean port city. It quickly flourished into
a prominent cultural, intellectual, political, and economic
metropolis, the remains of which are evident even to this very
day.
Our accommodations were on one of the
upper floors of a beachfront apartment. The cool breezes of
the Mediterranean Sea constantly wafted into our room and the
view of the sea and the bridge that was built across the small
cove in front of our highrise building was spectacular, especially when
the bridge was illuminated at night.
 We
visited the Bibliotheca Alexandria, a stunning new edifice inaugurated in 2001 on the city’s waterfront. It is both a
commemoration of the original Library of Alexandria that was
lost in antiquity and the world’s fourth largest present-day
library. We also spent a relaxing afternoon at the
extensive Montazah Palace Gardens, which were once
the private royal gardens of King Faruk, the last king of
Egypt. Today it's a beautiful public park full of palm trees,
pines and flowers and the site of exclusive hotels.
That
night, we had supper at a seaside Greek restaurant that
consisted of fish caught on the very same day and cooked to
our liking. What a truly fantastic Mediterranean
meal! We then went to the shopping area of the city at 11 p.m.
and found it packed shoulder to shoulder for miles!
An
Early Morning Dip
The
next morning, I got up early and went for a swim in the warm,
clear waters of the Mediterranean. The waves were quite
strong but invigorating. I was enjoying my temporary solitary
swim, as I knew the crowds would soon arrive to claim the
beach.
I knew that our idyllic sojourn in this
pearl of the Mediterranean was ending and it was time for us
to return to Cairo to spend a couple of days with family and
friends who lived there and shop for souvenirs to bring back
to Canada.
 As we got on to our return flight to
Montreal with our dark tans, sun-bleached hair and a lifetime
of memories, we all agreed that our family tour of ancient and
modern Egypt had been a smashing success in every way.
For More
Info:
Egyptian Tourist Authority
in Canada
2020 University, Suite 2260
Montréal, QC H3A 2A5
Tel.: 514-861-4200
Fax: 514-861-8071
Email: info.ca@egypt.travel
Official Website: www.egypt.travel
A
Back to Destinations & Articles
Listing
| 
