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!