EGYPT

Land of the Pharaohs

The Nile River

RiverNileCruise
CruisingtheNileisapopularwayofvisitingupperEgypt.
TheNileRiverhasbeenEgyptslifelinesinceancienttimes
andthereisnobetterwaytotracethepassageofEgypts
historythantofollowthecourseoftheNile.Almostall
EgyptiancruiseshipstraveltheLuxorAswanroutewhich
issafe,scenicandterminatesattwoofEgyptsmost
importanttowns.TakingaFeluccadowntheNileisan
adventurousoption.Feluccasaresailboatsthathavebeen
usedontheNilesinceantiquity.AFeluccaisnotquiteas
comfortableasaluxurycruiseshipbutnothingcanbeat
sailinginaquietrigthatwasdesignedthousandsofyears
ago.

MosqueofIbnTulun
Builtbetween876and879AD,theMosqueofIbnTulunis
oneoftheoldestmosquesinCairo.Itwascommissionedby
Ahmadibnln,theAbbassidgovernorofEgypt.The
mosqueisconstructedaroundacourtyard,withonecovered
halloneachofthefoursides.Theminaret,whichfeaturesa
helicalouterstaircasesimilartothatofthefamousminaretin
Samarra,wasprobablybuiltseveralcenturieslater.Partsof
theJamesBondfilmTheSpyWhoLovedMewerefilmedat
theMosqueofIbnTulun.

Dahab
Dahabislocatedsome85km(53miles)northof
SharmelSheikhontheGulfofAqaba,nearthe
southerntipofSinai.Onceanisolatedcoastal
village,Dahabturnedintoahippiehangoutinthe
1980sandbecamesomethingofanalternative
resort,mixingcheapaccommodationwithalaid
backlifestyle.Activitiessuchaswindsurfing,
snorkeling,scubadivingandcamelandjeeptrips
makeitoneofthemostpopulardestinationsalong
theRedSea.

SiwaOasis
LocatedintheLibyanDesert,SiwaOasisisoneofEgypts
isolatedsettlements,with23,000people,mostlyethnic
Berbers.Locatedonanolddatetraderoute,Siwawasan
oasisvitaltothetraderoute,asthenaturalspringsand
shadegivingpalmtreesgavetravelersrespitefromthe
desert.WiththecollapseoftheRomanEmpire,Siwa
beganitsdecline.Inrecentdecadestourismhasbecomea
vitalsourceofincome.Muchattentionhasbeengivento
creatinghotelsthatuselocalmaterialsandplayonlocal
styles.

EgyptianMuseum
Hometoatleast120,000itemsofancientEgyptian
antiquities,theEgyptianMuseumisoneofCairostop
attraction.Therearetwomainfloorsofthemuseum,the
groundfloorandthefirstfloor.Onthegroundfloorthere
isanextensivecollectionofpapyrusandcoinsusedinby
theancientEgyptians.Onthefirstfloorthereareartifacts
fromthefinaltwodynastiesofAncientEgyptandalso
manyartifactstakenfromtheValleyoftheKings.
HighlightsincludetheobjectsfromtheTombof
TutankhamenandtheRoyalMummyRoomcontaining27
royalmummiesfrompharaonictimes.

Abu Simbel was built by

Ramesses II

Ramesses II

AbuSimbel
AbuSimbelisanarchaeologicalsitecomprisingtwo
massiverockcuttemplesinsouthernEgyptonthewestern
bankofLakeNasser.Thetwintempleswereoriginally
carvedoutofthemountainsideduringthereignofPharaoh
RamessesTheGreatinthe13thcenturyBC,asalasting
monumenttohimselfandhisqueenNefertari.Thecomplex
wasrelocatedinitsentiretyinthe1960s,whenthetemples
werethreatenedbysubmersioninLakeNasser,duetothe
constructionoftheAswanHighDam.AbuSimbelremains
oneofEgyptstoptouristattractions.

ValleyoftheKings
TheValleyoftheKingsnearLuxorisavalleywhere,fora
periodofnearly500yearsfromthe16thto11thcenturyBC,
tombswereconstructedforthekingsandprivilegednobles
oftheNewKingdom.Thevalleycontains63tombsand
chambers,ranginginsizefromasimplepittoacomplex
tombwithover120chambers.Theroyaltombsare
decoratedwithscenesfromEgyptianmythologyandgive
cluestothebeliefsandfuneraryritualsoftheperiod.Allof
thetombsseemhavebeenopenedandrobbedinantiquity
exceptforthefamoustombofTutankhamun.

Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun on the
throne

RedSeaReef
TheRedSea,offthecoastofEgypt,isoneofthemost
beautifulplacesintheworldtogodiving.Thewatersof
theRedSeaarerenownedfortheirspectacularvisibility
andfeaturessomeofthemostexoticseascapes.Withits
wideexpanseofcoralformationonthereefs,itishome
tothousandsofdifferentseacreatures.RedSeabeach
resortsarelocatedonbothsidesofthesea,ontheeast
sideandpartoftheSinaipeninsulaisthelong
establishedSharmelSheikhanditsneohippy
counterpart,Dahab.OnthewestcoastoftheRedSea
liesrelativelyoldandtouristyHurghadaandaclusterof
newresorttowns.

Karnak
Althoughbadlyruined,fewsitesinEgyptaremore
impressivethanKarnak.Itisthelargestancientreligious
siteeverbuilt,andrepresentsthecombinedachievement
ofmanygenerationsofEgyptianbuilders.TheTemple
ofKarnakactuallyconsistsofthreemaintemples,
smallerenclosedtemples,andseveraloutertemples
locatedabout2.5kilometersnorthofLuxor.Oneofmost
famousstructuresofKarnakistheHypostyleHall,ahall
areaof5,000m2(50,000sqft)with134massive
columnsarrangedin16rows.

GizaNecropolis
ThePyramidsofGiza,situatedintheimmediate
vicinityofthesouthwesternsuburbsofCairoarethe
undisputabletopattractionsinEgypt.Thepyramids
atGizawerebuiltoverthespanofthreegenerations
byKhufu,hissecondreigningsonKhafre,and
Menkaure.TheGreatPyramidofKhufuisanawe
inspiring139meters(455feet)highmakingitthe
largestpyramidinEgypt,althoughnearbyKhafres
Pyramidappearstobelargerasitisbuildatahigher
elevation.

Khafre
Menkaure

Khufu

THEEND

RaileanuJan