RoamingRajuWe had an incredible time on our visit to Egypt early this year! Although most people know Egypt to be an African country, it is a transcontinental country with a part in Asia. What a country I tell you! Certainly worth a visit especially for history buffs.
Our journey started in Cairo—the capital city of Egypt. Our flight from Istanbul arrived late in the afternoon and after relatively quick immigration formalities, we were out of the airport in less than 30 minutes. Cairo has a very good Uber network so we took an Uber to the hotel that was 10 minutes away—we stayed in the Heliopolis region of Cairo which is close to the airport and full of hotels. Hilton Cairo Heliopolis is certainly amongst the ten best Hilton properties I have visited. There were peacocks on the ground! This place has eight different restaurants from Thai to Indian to Italian to Chinese to Lebanese to French and so on. Every one of those restaurants served authentic food. On the first day, we tried Thai food. It was really good. One day, we tried their Lebanese food. We ended up eating Italian food on the last day. The food was wonderful all three days. A great start in Egypt for sure.
We were going to the pyramids of Giza the next day. Since we wanted to see a few other things on the same day, we thought it would be better to get a private car. So, we booked a private car the night before for our excursion. Quite frankly, you could do away with Uber just fine. We noticed that Uber was easily accessible and there was no need for a private car.
Anyway, we started early to beat the heat as well as the traffic. Still, one just cannot beat Cairo traffic! After about an hour or so, we were at the pyramids. These are massive structures to say the least. Can you imagine building these structures 4,500 years ago? Just amazing. We started with the Great Sphynx—it is absolutely wonderful. We continued towards the pyramids.
Camel Ride Anyone?
A camel vendor asked if we wanted to ride camels. I am glad we said yes. Although I was a little apprehensive about getting on a camel, my wife and I jumped on separate camels. It takes a little getting used to, but it is very similar to riding a horse in the sense that you have to move your body to make sure your back doesn’t get sore. The camels took us quite a bit away from the pyramids. From this spot, we were able to see all the pyramids from a panoramic view. It was incredible! Check out some photos below.
Our camel ride continued to the pyramids so we could take a close-up look at the pyramids. We had tickets to go inside one of the pyramids. A fair warning—if you are claustrophobic, don’t try this. The entrance into the pyramid is very small. You have to bend down to go inside and stay bent until you reach the middle—about 50 steps or so. Once there, you are in a small place maybe 10 feet by 10 feet. Then you go up another 50 steps or so, staying bent again, before you go down and up again. Anyway, by the time we came back up, my wife was not in a good shape. She is afraid of small spaces and her anxiety must have kicked in. Her blood pressure dropped. She was dizzy and just not in a good shape. We sat down on the security guard’s bench. She took some deep breaths and drank water. After about 15 minutes or so, she was fine and we were ready to move again. The fact that it was 104 degrees did not help either.
After the pyramids, we continued to the Hanging Church. This is a 1,000-year-old church. This area appeared to be an ancient Christian area. We went to the Coptic Museum next door and then the St. George’s Church. Our plan was to go to the Egyptian National Museum but because of the heat, we decided to skip the museum and called it a day.
The next morning, we called an Uber to go see the Salah Al Din Citadel. I found out that Al-Din is a last name. Made me wonder if Aladdin is just a butchered version of the original Al Din! Who knows? Anyway, this fort used to have a mosque and two palaces. Over 1,000 years, the palaces were practically destroyed. But the mosque stayed quite intact for the most part. They had renovated the place so it was a wonderful site to visit. We continued our sightseeing at Barron Palace. This is an interesting place. It has ancient Indian architecture. It turns out a French industrialist who made his fortune in Egypt among other places, loved India and wanted to build his palace in Cairo. Anyways, that was the last place for us in Cairo. We were ready to go to Luxor that afternoon.
We arrived in Luxor in the early evening hours. Luxor has no Uber by the way. Knowing that, I had pre-booked a car for our entire four day stay in Luxor. Our car was waiting for us at the airport and quickly took us to the hotel. Hilton in Luxor is another great location. It is right on the Nile River in a quiet part of the city—away from all the hustle and bustle. We decided to start around 8 am the following morning and our car was waiting for us at the hotel. One quick note, if you are an early riser, you might want to consider starting at 6 am (it is too early for us) as the sun gets really brutal as the day progresses. Several tourists we met started their excursions at 6 am, and all the tourist sites open at 6 am.
Nile River
I was in awe of the beauty of the Nile River. Aside from being the longest river in the world, you could see the width and depth of the river. The water was clean. I made a comment to my wife that water flourishes civilizations. The soil is rich in minerals and an abundance of water. The two most important factors for a civilization. I am still in awe quite frankly.
Our first step was Karnak Temple Complex. What a place. What history! I can’t imagine the type of architecture they built some 5,500 years ago. The empire ruled most of Africa. Every king who came built their own temple to please the Gods. They were using the canal system in those days! Some of the rituals our guide was describing reminded me of rituals that still go on in the Indian culture. The next stop for us was the Luxor Temple. There is a 3 km road that the ancient Egyptians built between these two temples called the Sphynx Avenue—you can see the remanence of that even today. Once you see Karnak Temple Complex, the Luxor Temple does not look as grand. It is all relative I guess.
The sun was getting hot so we came back to the hotel for a few hours. That afternoon, we booked the Felucca sunset ride. Felucca is a sailboat that is made of wood and the sail is made of Egyptian cotton. Everything works with hand on the Felucca. If you get a chance, be sure to take a Felucca ride on the Nile. Make sure you are not on a motorized boat as the charm is just not there. We visited Banana Island while on the Felucca ride. My wife noticed a sugar cane juice vendor so we had to have some! After that, the sun was about to set so we jumped on the Felucca for some amazing views and pictures.
The next morning we were visiting the West Bank of Luxor. This is where the tombs are. The locals call it the dead people’s temple. Our visit started with Colossi of Memnon. There are these two giant statues in the middle of nowhere. The whole statue is made from one stone it appears. It was just awesome. We continued to the Temple of Hatshepsut. It is a three-story structure and was built by a queen. There is some walk to and from this temple to the parking area. Our final stop for the day was Valley of the Kings. It is an area of several tombs right in the mountain. Apparently, the mountains make the natural pyramids so it was easier for them to just carve the tomb. Here is an interesting tidbit. The length of the tomb corresponds to the length of the rule by a King. You see, once the King takes the throne, he starts building the tomb. The longer the rule, the more time to build a tomb hence a more elaborate tomb!
Police Escort!
On the final day, we decided to visit the towns of Edfu and Esna some 2.5 hours from Luxor. Our driver had the permits for our visit ahead of time. However, at the security checkpoint, they stop you, look at the permit, and call a police escort to take you to the final checkpoint. I thought that was interesting. They tell you it is in your best interest. I always wonder when people tell you something is in your best interest in the name of restriction of freedom.
The Edfu temple is beautiful and has its own history. After about an hour or so at the Edfu temple, we went to the Esna temple. This you could do without for sure. On our way back, we had to find an Indian restaurant in Egypt. We found this place in Luxor that was run by an Egyptian couple. I asked them how they were managing an Indian restaurant in Luxor. Apparently, he learned some dishes from an Indian chef who was visiting Luxor 15 years ago and started a restaurant! It turns out his business runs on people who come from India on tours and the tour operators book meals for the groups with him. A true entrepreneur he was for sure!
Donkeys Everywhere…
On our way, we were passing through an agricultural area. Being at the banks of the Nile, the soil is rich with minerals and the water is abundant. It appears people just pump water from the river—you do need a permit though. The farms were smaller in size. As a result, I did not see any automation. In fact, in almost 50 miles of agriculture belt, I only spotted one tractor. They used donkeys for everything. My wife spotted a donkey plowing the field on a farm. They had donkey carts and they also ride on donkeys. It seems the donkey is their go-to animal!
It was time for us to end our wonderful trip to Egypt. We had an amazing time. We were impressed with the history, the people, the culture, and so on. This one we will remember for a long time. When were you impressed by another culture? Do share your experience. Until next time…