Egypt and it’s history had always fascinated me and it was in November 2024 that I had the opportunity to visit Egypt . It was a journey that led me through a lot of history, taking me to some gigantic monuments and temples that were waiting to tell me the story of lost civilizations. The sheer vastness and expanse of some of these monuments held me in awe and at times kept me thinking of human nature; of how entire civilizations were erased from the face of this earth. The ruins led me to stories of human greed and at the same time, the excavations and restorations told me a story of man’s resolve and determination. As I start this series on Egypt, I hope to unfold many of these facets in front of you.
From my introductory remarks, it should be clear that the episodes that follow will be loaded with information on the gigantic monuments built by the pharaohs over many centuries. Most of them considered themselves as intermediaries between God and the commoners. Some considered themselves as God and that explains temples with colossal statues of kings. The belief in life after death had led most of them to bury the dead with all materials needed for an after life. That explains the vast amount of treasures unearthed during excavations. The richness of their civilization will leave one astounded. So gear up for some exciting episodes to follow. Let me start on a lighter note focusing on their music and dance. Let’s go….
Flying in to Cairo, I was fortunate to have a window seat and that gave me the opportunity to witness the infinite expanse of sand and sand dunes as we cruised over the Sahara. A patch of blue caught my attention and as we neared it, I could see it was a water body with ships . This was the Suez canal, an economic lifeline of Egypt.
The Suez Canal (the white spots are ships)
Landing at Cairo, I almost felt I was landing in a desert…even the runway was sandy and seemed to merge with the desert landscape…
The desert landing….
I started this journey with a group of 24 senior citizens and a young and charismatic tour manager.
Starting our journey through history….at Cairo airport
After the formalities at the airport, we boarded the bus to our hotel at Giza close to the pyramids. The Pyramids slowly came into our view as we approached Giza.
The first views of the Pyramids
We checked in to our rooms and settled down for sometime .
At the hotel entrance with my roommate
Soon we were on our way for a dinner on board a cruise boat. The wharf from where the cruise started was all lit up and decorated. The decor there highlighted some of the architectural features of the monuments we were to visit in the next few days.
Our group near the wharf entrance
The decorated wharf side. A model obelisk and a sphinx can be seen.
We walked on to the illuminated cruise boat
Entering the cruise boat
Taking our seats we proceeded to the buffet table to collect our food. The spread was good with a variety of Egyptian food including the famous Koshari , Falafel and Hummus. Koshari is rice with some lentils, falafel is similar to our dal vada and hummus is more like a dip. The rice we had throughout our trip was a little sticky and had a different flavor.
The dinner spread with falafel, hummus and pita bread
Enjoying the dinner on board the cruise boat
Once we had settled down, the boat started cruising on the Nile letting us savor the night views of Cairo. The boat had two decks and we could go up and enjoy the views too…
Night views of Cairo from the cruise boat
Meanwhile, the entertainment on the boat started off with an Egyptian song and very soon, the guests also joined in for a dance.
The singing and dancing added to the fun of the cruise
The ace drummer
A graceful belly dancer glided on to the stage setting many a heart on fire!!….Belly dance is a very famous dance form of the middle east and some parts of Africa and she danced gracefully and enthralled us with her movements…
The twist of the belly!!!
A Sufi whirling dervish performance was the last of the cultural treats of the evening. He whirled around with such perfection and grace that made me wonder how me manages to not lose his balance…
The dervish dance
Having immersed ourselves in the cultural and culinary feast we had not realized that the boat had reached back at the starting point. We soon alighted from the boat and took our bus to the hotel.
With instructions on the next days plans, given by our tour manager, we all rested for the night looking forward to an exciting stay in Egypt..
Our next day tour was to Alexandria….so see you next week at Alexandria. Till then, do subscribe, like and give your comments.
Travel-along.in 