Egypt 08

After Eleven Years – Finally

I first talked about visiting Egypt in 1997, but somehow (can’t quite remember why) I ended up in Turkey and Greece. Talk about visiting the country surfaced every now and then, but never once materialised. Eleven years later, I finally set foot on the Egyptian soil (or desert sand). It is never too late.

Before I went to Egypt, all I knew about the country was – the pyramids, the sphinx, the mummies, Nile River – and that it is very famous for its ancient civilisation, a country full of archaeological and historical sites. What I knew then was only ‘the tip of the tip of the iceberg’. Seven days later and having gone through the ‘intensive course’ on Egyptian history, under the very knowledgeable guide, Safwat, who is an archaeologist turn freelance-tour guide, my knowledge of Egypt has become ‘the tip of the iceberg’.

History is never my strong subject. I find it hard to differentiate between years like 1865 and 1685. I find it just as hard to remember the names of the kings, queens, gods, the different dynasties etc. And I shall not confuse and bore you with such as I hope you will continue to read on.

But before I leave this section, just a little note about Egypt today.

Egypt, located on the north-east of the African continent, is very much made up of desert (mainly Sahara Desert) and only about 5.5% of the land is being used. This is concentrated along the fertile banks of Nile River and the Delta area.

Being in the desert region, there is a vast difference in temperature between the day and night. It was very hot in the day and cool in the evening. The hottest was in Luxor where the temperature hit 40 degree Celsius.

Cairo is a much much bigger and modern city than I could ever imagine. And I particularly like Alexandria. It is a beautiful city facing the Mediterranean. The constant bad traffic jam did somewhat spoil the otherwise perfect setting of the city a little.

And, there is this city called Luxor which I have heard so much about, yet know so little. Located about 721km south of Cairo, it is best known as the ‘world’s greatest outdoor museum’.

Security is extremely tight generally and almost every building, including hotels, has a security screen (like the one at the airport), though not all are being used (perhaps they would when the needs arise).

It is the first time where I actually traversed across a country from one end to the other, starting from Alexandria in the north, to Abu Simbel in the south, a total of about 1,264km. I was also on a 3-day cruise along Nile River, the longest river in the world (at 6,654km). The cruise took us from Luxor to Aswan, covering a distance of about 250km.

Overall, the visit was indeed an eye opener and it has been a very educational one!

The Summary

Summary of the trip
(Click on the photo to view larger version)

The Route

(Click on the photo to view larger version)

Bahrain

We had an overnight transit in Bahrain.

At the immigration at the airport, it seemed to take the officers forever to clear the passengers because we were ‘overnight’ transit passengers. Day in day out, they have ‘overnight’ transit passengers, day in day out, they seem to face the same ‘problem’ (That was what our tour leader told us), whatever the problem is.

Finally, we were out of the immigration only to be told that the hotel vans which were waiting for us had left with passengers of other tour group! Another round of waiting. By the time we left the airport, it was a good two hours from the time we first landed (at 2:30pm). Even then, not all of us (23 of us including the tour leader) could get onto the two mini vans! Few were ‘left behind’ and arrived at the hotel an hour after us.

The weather was very much like that of Malaysia and temperature at the time was 33 degree Celsius.

Bahrain (or Kingdom of Bahrain as it is officially known) is made up of 36 islands and is located in the heart of the Arabian Gulf. It is slightly bigger than Singapore in size (706sq km) but with the population of only 15.5% of that of Singapore (700,000).

The airport is located on one of the small islands on the north east of the biggest island where the capital city, Manama, is located.

The country is so flat and barren that as the plane started to descend towards the airport, it appeared to me like chapatti placed against a big sheet of blue-coloured paper. Pockets of palm and date trees could be seen here and there and high rise buildings were far and few. The three most prominent ones are shown below here.

We did not have much time and opportunity to explore the country, except for a walk round Manama in the evening.

Much to my surprise, their currency, Bahrain Dinar is about 9.5 times Malaysian Ringgit!

Streets of Manama, the capital city (above and below 2)

The three most prominent high rise buildings (above and below)

View of Bahrain from the plane (before take off for Cairo)

View of Bahrain from the plane (above and below 2)

A popular household item in Bahrain

Egypt – the First Impression

Arrived in Cairo, Egypt, at about 12:30pm and soon after we arrived, it started to rain. We were told that it rains only a few times a year in Cairo and the rain on our day of arrival was one of the very rare occasions.

Shower of blessing from Egypt to the Malaysian tourists? or vice versa?

Though the rain was not very heavy, there was flood and cars were stalled (I thought it only happens in Malaysia!) causing massive jam at some areas.

Our first stop upon arrival at Cairo was the Egyptian Museum.

The museum does not look too impressive from the outside, but what are displayed inside is. It is one of the world’s most famous museums and houses 250,000 antique pieces from the 7000 years of Egyptian civilisation, including the fabulous treasures from King Tut Ankh Amun’s tomb. We also visited the Royal Mummies Hall which is housed within the museum (not included in the tour and we had to pay 100LE (Egyptian pound, about RM60) for entry. In a way, I could not believe that I was seeing the mummies ‘real’.

No photographs are allowed in both the museum and the Mummies Hall. But I have to say, what we saw were truly amazing and impressive.

Around Cairo (above and below )

Flood and stalled car

Around Giza (above and below)

Sky turns dark between 5:00 and 5:30pm
during this time of the year (late October) in Egypt

Egyptian Museum (above and below)

Our first dinner in Egypt. We had grilled chicken,
beef and pigeons among many others (above and below)

Streets of Cairo and Giza areas (above and below 2)

School children waiting for their school bus

Khan El Khalili – supposedly the most famous and best
shopping bazaar in Egypt. ‘Everything under the sun can be
found here’ is not an overstatement. And like most bazaars the
world over, ‘bargaining’ is the order of the day. (above and below 3)

On the Way to Alexandria

Left hotel at 8:00am to head for Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt, about 221km north west from Cairo. Deserts and farms – of oranges, bananas, corns and sugarcane – dominate the landscape along the way.

Scenery along the way to Alexandria

Assembly plant of the Malaysian made car,
Proton, is located somewhere here

Smart City of Cairo (like our Technology Park)

Not in the itinerary and entrance fee (1LE) not included,
but a ‘must visit’ place – toilet stop

City of Alexandria

‘Alexandria has an atmosphere that is more Mediterranean than Middle Eastern’, says one of the travel guides which I came across. I could not agree more.

The beautiful beaches fronting the city were lined with colourful umbrellas providing some good shades to the many sun-bathers and holiday makers. Since the time I went to Greece 11 years ago, I had always liked the Mediterranean Sea and the region. And here I am, standing on the edge (once again) staring into the deep blue Sea of the Mediterranean. It is so serene, so romantic. Arh, if only we could have more time here!

While in Alexandria, we visited the Catacomb (no photographs are allowed), Pompey’s Pillar and King Farouk’s Palace (viewed from outside only).

Catacomb – these tombs were tunnelled into the bedrock in the age of the Antonine emperors (2nd century A.D.) for a single wealthy family still practising the ancient Egyptian religion (Kom El-Shoqafa). It consists of three levels (about 35m deep) and the last level is closed because it is always submerged under water. We had to walk down a narrow spiral staircase to reach level 1 and level 2.

Pompey’s Pillar, approximately 25m red granite column with a circumference of 9m, was constructed in honour of the Emperor Diocletian.