Tell me one country where the Sea touches the desert, where the river makes the way for life in the middle of nowhere, where Greek, Roman and Arabic influence shape it's ancient history, where you can wonder at the deeds of a civilisation which existed way before any other.
The answer we all know, the place we all seek to visit, the mystery we all want to imbibe: Egypt.
So when my parents wanted to choose me a country with a moderate budget, I had no hesitation. It is a place for both the explorer and the tourist. We planned, or rather had a tour agency plan our trip. It was good, it was hectic but lively. Came back with a thousand memories.
We had early morning ( or late night) flight from Chatrapati Shivaji Airport to Kuwait City 🇰🇼, from there to Cairo. Both the journeys by Kuwait Airways, must say a good airline.
I enjoyed a beautiful sunset mid air, which I hadn't earlier. And the Suez and Red Sea were treat to watch from above.
We reached Cairo at 11:30 am local time.
After completing the immigration and ForEx hassle, we jumped on our A/C coach and start our way to the restaurant. We passed the beuatiful and large Cairo City on the way and saw the magnanimous Citadel of Salah Ed-Din.
Then we crossed the Nile, a river not so wide but showering crystal blue color from itself, and entered the city of Giza.
You can differentiate the sky scraper dominant modern Cairo with the brick laden walls of old buildings of Giza just by a glimpse. Our restaurant and the hotel was well inside the Giza, just a mile from the famed structures, the ancient wonders of the world.
After we've done our lunch, we checked in our hotel, which I must say is very Luxury, and after some rest, headed to the Pyramid for Sound and Light program.
The S&L program was great. It was a windy evening, the hour-long program consists of Sir Anthony Hopkins' voice and a brilliant light show on the three pyamids and the sphinx. After that we had our dinner on the pyramid complex itself and went to bed after that.
We headed early morning to the north coast of the country. The highway from Cairo to Alexandria was very smooth. We covered the distance in 3 hours with a tea break in between.
The reached the city, and much to our astonishment it was nothing short of an European city. The Mediterranean weather coupled with the buildings, and the marine drive. Just awesome! The tram-tracks and the narrow lanes resemble much with North Kolkata.
And, the road beside the Mediterranean was just wonderful. I lost my words when I saw the sea. The colour of the water is what I've never seen before.
Have a look to the pictures where I tried to snap Alexandria's daily life.
We visited four places in Alexandria:
The famous Catacomb, Bibliotheca Alexandrina ( the largest library in the world when it weren't yet destructed), The Citadel of Quiatbay, also known as Alexandria Fort and last but not least, The San Stephano mall, largest on in the city to do lunch.
Out of these The Catacomb is the place where the ancient Egyptians and the people in Greek and Roman period kept their dead bodies. Photograph was not allowed inside it, still I am guilty of not controlling my hankering, henceworth you guys can see what I saw.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, or the library, on the other hand was large, and advanced as well. We had a 30 minute guided tour inside of it. There is a giant reading room, a couple of museums, one of those is of the life of great Egyptian Film Director Shadi Abdel Salam.
After lunch, we visited the Citadel of Qaitbay. It is a fortress situated just on the brink of the sea, basically a land's end. The panoramic view of the city from the terrace is breathtaking. The fort was originally meant to protect the city from any attacks coming from north; thus also called the lighthouse fort.
Our third day entailed the reasons for which probably the people from all over the globe come to Egypt. The Pyramids.
We started early morning around 8 o' clock. First, we visited the Pyramid of Khufu, largest of the pyramids in Giza Plateau. And, as expected, I entered inside of it, brilliant experience, there is nothing inside but the 10 minute journey in itself is a thrill.
After that, we went to the panoramic view point from where you can see all three of the great pyramids, from left to right: Kufu, Khafre and Menaukure. You can opt for a camel ride here if you want.
From the highest point of the plateau, we go to the lowest point, ie, Sphinx. It is a statue carved from single stone, which has a shape of Lion as it's body and a human head. It is also termed as "Guardian protector". We ended our Pyramid complex tour with it and had our lunch here.
Afterwards, we went to Perfume house and Papyrus institute in Giza, where we did some shopping. And then headed to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. In the way, we stopped by the famous Tahrir Square where the revolution took place in 2011.
The Egyptian Museum is one of the biggest and most popular museums in the world. It has nearly 2,50,000 ancient egyptian antiques including the Sarcophagi, TutanKhamun's Tomb's treasures, even the Royal Mummies! ( Ramesses II, Queen Hatshepshut, Tuthmoses all are there). You will be astonished to see the corpse of the great legends not decomposing even after 3000 years of death. A magical feat indeed. Photography inside Mummies room was not permitted.
After the enriching museum tour we went straight to the old part of city to the Khan El-Khalili market for shopping and bought quite a few souvenirs for friends and family.
Early morning today we got on a NileAir flight to Aswan in southern Egypt. We checked in our Cruise M/S Liberty, and after lunch we started our tour to the Unfinished Obelisk, the place from where the Granite stones had been taken to Cairo to build the pyramids.
After that, we visited the Philae Temple in philae Island. We reached the temple complex via a 10 minute boat journey through Nile. The temple features mainly Godess Isis and Godess H'athor.
We hopped on our bus to get to Abu Simbel. It was 4-hour journey to the temple through Sahara Desert. We stopped for a toilet break and captured the beautiful sunrise in desert.
And in the way back, we saw at least ten mirage. And, it was surreal. I couldn't possibly emphasize how real it seemed. But unfortunately I dont have any photograph of it as it can't be captured.
Now for the temple, it is situated beside Nasser Lake, the largest man-made lake, and has two main part. One the main temple of Ramesses II and the other one is of his most favourite queen, Nefartari.
In my opinion, this is the best temple of Egypt and just can't be missed.
We stopped as the Aswan High Dam on our way back to the cruise. Then the Nile Cruise started, and we got off Kom-Ombo temple and visited it alongwith the Crocodile Museum. There were mummified crocodiles in the museum, and the temple was of Sobek, the Crocodile God.
The whole day our cruise sailed through Nile.
We started off our day at Edfu, visiting the Horus Temple. We reached the temple via horse carriage. After that, around midday we reached Esna, and witnessed the Esna Lock gate on action. As the water levels of Nile is different on the two sides, it has to be same to get a smooth flow. The water downing process was a treat to watch.
And, as an interesting sight, there were many street ( or may be riverside in this case ) vendors who came up in their boat and tried to sell stuff by throwing up bags in the cruise deck and taking the money that we threw in river.
In the evening, our cruise stopped at Luxor, it's final destination, and we visited the Luxor Temple. Brilliant Parthenon-isque temple with a long obelisk and a mosque in it.
We slept overnight on cruise after enjoying a belly dance program.
I ticked one thing off my personal bucket list this day, ie, Hot Air Balloon ride. We started before sunrise, got to the west bank, and did the 45 minute ride. Anybody can and should do this, the experience is out of the world. It's nothing of an adventure sports, but the thrill to view the desert, and the green fields by Nile from 2000 feet above is unmatched.
Certainly one of the best highlights of the whole trip!
After the riveting experience, we spent the day mostly visiting the temples and valley of Kings.
First we went to the Colossi of Memnon.
From there, we visited Valley of Kings. 62 tombs of Pharaohs, their queens and noble persons are there, including the famed tomb of Tutankhamun. Howard Carter discovered the tomb in 1921 from here.
The Queen Hatshepshup temple was also very picturesque with the backdrop of the mountain.
Karnak Temple was our last stop today, a grand temple conglomerate mainly in ruins now. There is the Hypostyle hall with 138 pillars and the special Sphinx row with the head of Ram, instead of human.
After staying overnight in a riverside 5 star hotel in Luxor. We headed back to Cairo, then Kuwait, then Mumbai. All in one day. So we reached India, tired, at 3-10 am IST next day. Full of memories and experiences.
*ACCOMMODATIONS*
As we went with Coxs&Kings, a travel agency, they put us in great hotels ( might be more than necessary if you are planning to travel solo or with friends)
The Cairo Pyramids, where we stayed 3N at Cairo was good.
The hotel in Luxor, Sonesta St. George, just by the Nile, again a 5-star experience.
And the Cruise ( where we spent 3N) is also worthy of recommendation. The sunbathing of the high deck with the breeze of Nile, one could think to spend his/her rest of the live there, you can't blame.
*FOOD*
You will get varieties of food here, the sea fish is good, dates are good. They have a special kind of bread. We got continental foods in buffet manner in both cruise and hotel with never ending items on salads and dessert.
*COST*
It depends on how you spend. Without personal expenses and Hot Air Balloon ride, the expenditure was per head 1,10,000 INR approx.
Now, in Egypt, especially in southern area, you have to buy drinking water as there is scarcity.
But, if you wanna go by your own, I think for this itinerary 80,000-90,000 will be the range.
They accept EGP( Egyptian pound) everywhere, which is 4.36 times our currency. In majority of the places, they also accept USD.
I am writing down the entry fees in EGP for the main attractions in Egypt:-
Kom-Al-Shoqafa( catacomb) : 80
Bibliotheca Alexandrina: 70
Giza Plateau: 160
Inside Khufu Pyramid* : 360
Egyptian Museum: 160
Royal mummies room, Egyptian Museum*: 180
Unfinished Obelisk: 80
Philae Temple: 140
Abu Simbel: 200
Aswan High Dam: 30
Kom Ombo: 100
Edfu Temple: 140
Luxor Temple: 140
Valley of Kings( for 3 tombs) : 200
For TutanKhamun's tomb*: 250
Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple( Hatshepshut) : 100
Karnak Temple: 150
Asterix(*) means that amount is not included in the itinerary package.
Overall a good experience, in a group tour, there is pros and cons, but the place itself is magical, just like what I've read in the books.
Must visit!