Our trip to Egypt has been an experience of a life time. It felt like one has been transported back in time to five thousand B.C. Their history is a part of their very existence. The magnificent pyramids and the sphinx, the stories of the pharaohs, the beautiful Blue Nile, the amazing temples built by famous kings who ruled this land thousands of centuries ago. That’s what Egypt is all about.Let me start from the beginning of the tour. We started from Delhi by Kuwait airways which meant that we had to spend a few hours at Kuwait airport. Once we took off from Kuwait we were travelling above the desert. What a unique sight it was. Miles and miles of bare land below us with no life, not even a blade of grass. Such is the desert of Sinai. From thirty thousand feet above the sea level the sand dunes appeared like mere designs on the vast expanse of the desert. There were a few hills here and there but no greenery. Then suddenly there was this blue water of the gulf of aqaba. Very soon we landed at the Cairo airport. Cool breeze greeted us but there was hardly any greenery...
Next day was the visit to the famous Pyramids and the sphinx. The sheer magnificence of the structures leaves you spell bound. It is difficult to fathom how they could construct such huge edifices in those ancient times when there was no machinery. Cranes or bulldozers! It’s truly remarkable. In the evening there was this sound and light show at the Pyramids which had such a strong impact on us that for some time we forgot where we were and became a part of that great era. Next was the cruise at The Nile. ‘The Nile’, the beautiful Blue Nile. The water is indeed absolutely blue. The green belt along the Nile is the birth place of human civilization.
This is where the man learnt to do farming, making papyrus paper which even today holds the facts of history. There is so much greenery around the river that one forgets the desert for a while. During the cruise we stopped over to see the temples of king Remses the II and the goddess Isis. These are again marvels of construction of those days. But here we get to witness the marvel of today as well. When the famous Aswan dam was getting built these two temples were getting submerged in the waters.
So the Egyptian Government with the help of U.N. managed to transport the temple to a higher ground – slab by slab, stone by stone. It’s a great feat of the modern times. Seeing them one can never guess that they have been re-established.The tour of Egypt is not complete without a visit to Alexandria, a city built by famous Alexander the Great.
This lovely town runs along the Mediterranean Sea. The emerald waters of this sea take your breath away. It’s simply awesome. The most modern and huge library is the pride of this city. On the outer walls of this library there are words engraved from all the languages that exist in this world. We saw words of Hindi, Gurumukhi, and Telugu etc. Isn’t it fascinating!Then there is this Valley of the Kings.
The most famous recent discovery of this place is the Mummy of King Tutankhamen. In those days as the kings were enthroned they built these huge tombs carved in the hills where after their death their bodies could be kept, preserved as mummies, along with their valuables. Not much is left of the treasure part of it as it has been stolen over a period of time, but the tombs are indeed beautiful from inside. Paintings and carvings are worth seeing.Last but not the least was our stopover at Luxor, the shopper’s paradise.Even here we had some historical monuments.
There was this Obelisk, made out of a single stone more than seventy meters high. One fails to understand how they ever erected it. The stone has been brought from hundreds of miles away! It’s really amazing.Luxor gives you an opportunity to take back with you souvenirs of this most exotic land, paintings on papyrus paper, leather goods, hukkas of all sizes and what not. Ever since I had read about Egypt in my childhood, it had fascinated me and for me a visit to the land of the pharaohns was like a dream come true.
Published: 2008-07-06Author:
Renu Nath
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