Egypt

Nile Cruise

Nile Cruises...the very words conjure up images of mystery, enchantment and unforgettable experiences of one of the most ancient civilisations. A Nile Cruise is so much more than a conventional holiday. From the magical Temples of Karnak and Luxor to the stunning Valley of The Kings, the burial place of The Pharaohs, your itinerary will lazily follow the Nile visiting some of the most spectacular and fascinating ancient sites in the world. Nile cruises may vary considerably, but typical Nile cruises are either three, four or seven nights. The shorter tours usually operate between Luxor and Aswan, while the longer cruises travel further north to Dendera, often offering day tours overland to more remote locations. Therefore, a fairly complete 14 day tour of Egypt might include several days around Cairo, seeing the pyramids, museums and other antiquities, a short flight to Abu Simbel in the very southern part of Egypt, completed by a seven day Nile Cruise. The usual cruise is aboard a Nile cruiser, often referred to as a floating hotel. Indeed, the better boats have most of the accommodations of a land based hotel, including small swimming pools, hot tubs, exercise rooms, discos, good restaurants, stores and even small libraries. Depending on what one is willing to pay, rooms may be very utilitarian and small, or larger than some land based hotel rooms. Some boats even have suites available. Boats will always have private baths, air conditioning, and TVs, and it is common for there to be movies each night. Floating hotels also offer various entertainment. Many of the boats have dance areas with a disco or even live entertainment, and most offer a variety of nightly shows. These might include cocktail parties, Nubian shows, belly dancers and whirling dervish, plays and even costume parties where guests don traditional apparel. Like land hotels, meals onboard most Nile cruisers are usually buffet style and include hot and cold food along with a variety of international and local cuisine. Most boats have good modern water filtration, which is fine for showering, but it is still recommended to drink bottled water, which the boat will have aboard. The ultimate time for a Nile cruise is between October and mid April, when the weather is fairly cool, making a visit to Upper Egypt quite pleasant. However, most cruise boats operate all year.

Hurghada

Hurghada is a city in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. It is a main tourist center and second largest city (after Suez) in Egypt located on the Red Sea coast.The city was founded in the early 20th century, and is a major hub for holiday villages and hotels providing aquatic sport facilities for sailboarders, yachtsmen, scuba divers and snorkelers. Hurghada stretches for about 36 kilometres along the seashore.

Aswan

Aswan, Egypt's southernmost city, has long been the country's gateway to Africa. The prosperous market city straddles the crossroads of the ancient caravan routes, at the 'other' end of the Nile not far above the Tropic of Cancer. In ancient times it was a garrison town known as Swenet (meaning 'Trade'), and it was also important to the early Coptic Christians. The main town and temple area of Swenet were located on Elephantine Island in the middle of Nile (the island was known then as Yebu, and later renamed by the Greeks). The temples and ruins here are not nearly as well preserved and impressive as those elsewhere.

Alexandria

The mighty Macedonian Alexander the Great came to Egypt in 331 BC after conquering Greece and selected a small fishing village on the Mediterranean coast to establish his new capital, Alexandria. The city is oriented around Midan Ramla and Midan Saad Zaghoul, the large square that runs down to the waterfront. Alexandria once had a great library that contained more than 500,000 volumes, and at its peak the city was a great repository of science, philosophy and intellectual thought and learning. The Graeco-Roman Museum contains relics that date back to the 3rd century BC. There's a magnificent black granite sculpture of Apis, the sacred bull worshipped by Egyptians, as well as an assortment of mummies, sarcophagi, pottery, jewellery and ancient tapestries. Another highlight is one of the few historical depictions of the Pharos of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Luxor

Luxor is one of Egypt's prime tourist destinations and is built on the site of the ancient city of Thebes. People have been visiting the magnificent monuments of Luxor, Karnak, Hatshepsut and Ramses III for thousands of years. Feluccas and old barges shuffle along the Nile between the luxury hotel ships of the Hilton and Sheraton cruising to and fro Cairo and Aswan. Luxor Temple was built by Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC) on the site of an older temple built by Hatshepsut and added to by Tutankhamun, Ramses II, Nectanebo, Alexander the Great and various Romans. Excavation work has been under way since 1885. The Temples of Karnak are a spectacular series of monuments that were the main place of worship in Theban times. Luxor is accessible from Cairo by buses or trains, which run every day.

Cairo

Chaotic, noisy, polluted, totally unpredictable and seething with humanity, the sheer intensity of Egypt's capital city seduces some people but turns others off. In any event it's quite unlike any other place on earth. Life is what this city is about and, to paraphrase a cliche, only a person who's tired of life itself could fail to see the charm of Cairo. The city doesn't have the resources for graceful boulevards and cobbled squares and the kind of dolled-up, prettified buildings that cry out to be photographed. Historic buildings are buried in age-old quarters of the city that have yet to be tamed and made tourist-friendly in the way that they have in places such as Istanbul or Jerusalem. The high population density and lack of room to move throws up startling juxtapositions: mud-brick houses and towering modern office buildings, flashy cars and donkey-drawn carts. Area: 214 sq km (82.6 sq mi) Population: 16.5 million Country: Arab Republic of Egypt People: Egyptians, Bedouins, and Berbers 99%; Greek, Nubian, Armenian, Sudanese, other European (primarily Italian and French) Main language: Egyptian Arabic Time Zone: GMT/UTC +2 hours (daylight saving time observed late April-30 September) Telephone Area Code: 02 Egypt Country Code: 20

Events:

March: Nitaq Festival in downtown Cairo, full of theatre, poetry, music and art. September: The International Experimental Theatre Festival hosts a vast array of international troupes. October: The Pharaohs' Rally encourages international 4WD teams to tear up the desert around the Pyramids. November: The Arabic Music Festival presents a raft of classical, traditional and orchestral programs at the Opera House. December: The Cairo International Film Festival.

Orientation:

Finding your way about Cairo's vast sprawl is not as difficult as it may seem. Midan Tahrir is at the center. Northeast of Tahrir and centered on Sharia Talaat Harb is downtown, a bustling commercial district. The city's main train station at Midan Ramses marks Downtown's northernmost extent. Heading east, Downtown ends at Midan Ataba and the old but still kicking medieval heart of the city known as Islamic Cairo takes over. Bordering downtown to the west is the Nile River, which is obstructed by two sizeable islands. The more central of these, connected directly to Downtown by three bridges, is Gezira, home to the Cairo Tower and the Opera House complex. The west bank of the Nile is less historical and much more residential. The primary districts are Mohandiseen, Agouza, Doqqi and Giza.

When to go:

Cairo has only two seasons: summer and 'not-summer'. Given the choice, you're far better off visiting during 'not-summer', a period that stretches roughly from September to April or May. January and February (10-20°C/50-68°F) can be overcast with the occasional shower, but the months immediately either side are comfortably warm, with daytime temperatures leavened by breezes. It's also worth considering the timing of the various Muslim festivals when planning your trip. During Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, many businesses work half-days, museums and tourist sites shut early and many restaurants only open after sundown.

Beaten Track:

Saqqara There isn't much left of the former Paranoiac capital of Memphis, 24 km south of Cairo, although the museum contains a fairly impressive statue of Ramses II. The real reason for heading out here is to see the pyramids, temples and tombs strewn around Saqqara, the heart of Memphis' ancient necropolis, 3 km away from the former capital. The star attraction here is Zoser's Funerary Complex, dominated by the world's first decent attempt at a pyramid, the Step Pyramid of Zoser. Also of note is the Pyramid & Causeway of Unas, the site of funerary hieroglyphs known as Pyramid Texts. Saqqara is a great place to play Indiana Jones and explore half-buried ruins surrounded by peaceful desert. Birqash Camel Market (Souq al-Gamaal) A visit to Egypt's largest camel market, 35 km northwest of Cairo, on the edge of the Western Desert, makes for a wild contrast to Cairo city life. The market is an easy half-day trip from Cairo but, like all of Egypt's animal markets, it's not for the faint-hearted. Hundreds of camels are swapped here daily, most having made the long haul up the 40 Days Road from western Sudan. Port Said The main attraction of Port Said, and the reason it was established, is the Suez Canal. The spectacle of the huge ships and tankers lining up to pass through the northern entrance of the canal is something to be seen. The central district around the canal is full of five-storey buildings with timber balconies and high verandahs in grand belle epoque style. South are the striking green domes of Suez Canal House, built in time for the inauguration of the canal in 1869, but, unfortunately, off limits to visitors. Feluccas, the ancient broad-sail boats seen all along the Nile, can be hired out by the hour from several places along the Corniche, and are great for a sunset cruise after a hard day's sightseeing. Saddling up for a horseback ride out by the Pyramids, especially in the evening, is a great way to escape the clamour of Cairo. Billiards, snooker and tenpin bowling have taken off in Cairo in a big way. There are also plenty of places to see a belly-dancing display. There isn't much greenery in Cairo, but if you can find it, a stroll among the all-too-rare foliage has something going for it. Try the Nady al-Qahira Garden, Orman Botanical Gardens, zoo, Manial Palace or Gezira Club. Despite the heat, lack of land and water shortage, golf is a recent addition to Cairo's outdoor pursuits. Swimming is a great way to cool off but finding a pool isn't easy or cheap. Try a hotel pool.

History:

Cairo is not a Paranoiac city, though the presence of the Pyramids leads many to believe otherwise. At the time the Pyramids were built, Egypt's capital was Memphis, 22km (13.5mi) south of the Giza plateau. The core foundations of the city of Cairo (then called Al-Qahira) were laid in 969 by the Fatimids, an early Islamic dynasty from North Africa. There had been earlier settlements, notably the Roman fortress of Babylon, and Fustat, which was established by the Arab army that conquered Egypt for Islam in 642. But the Fatimids established the core of Cairo as it is today; their mosque and university of Al-Azhar is still Egypt's main center of Islamic study, while the three great gates of Bab an-Nasr, Bab al-Futuh and Bab Zuweila continue to straddle two of Old Cairo's main thoroughfares. Under the rule of subsequent dynasties Cairo swelled and burst its walls, but at heart it remained a medieval city for 900 years. It wasn't until the reign of Ismail, grandson of Mohammed Ali, in the mid-19th century that Cairo started to change in any significant way. Before the 1860s Cairo extended west only as far as what is today Midan Opera. The future site of modern central Cairo was then a swampy plain subject to the annual flooding of the Nile. In 1863, when the French-educated Ismail came to power, he was determined to upgrade the image of his capital, which he believed could only be done by dismissing what had gone before and starting afresh. For 10 years the former marsh became one vast building site as Ismail invited architects from Belgium, France and Italy to design and build a new European-style Cairo beside the old Islamic city. During his reign the Suez Canal was finished and opened with much fanfare, and the city attracted the attention of the whole world. In the heady times that followed, tourism and business boomed, and Cairo almost had the character of a gold rush town. European bankers, with the connivance of their governments, bestowed lavish loans at insatiable rates of interest upon Ismail for his grandiose schemes. In 1882 it all came to an end when the British stepped in and announced that until Egypt could repay its debts, they were taking control. The 70-year British occupation of Cairo came to an abrupt halt with the Revolution of 1952. Since the Revolution, Cairo has grown spectacularly in population and urban planners have struggled to keep pace. In the 1960s and 1970s the west bank of the Nile was concreted over with new suburbs like Medinat Mohandiseen (Engineers' City) and Medinat Sahafayeen (Journalists' City), while expansion continued north, most notably in the hideous form of Medinat Nasr (Nasr City). More recently, population pressure has meant that the rocky Muqattam Hills - which had traditionally halted the city's eastward spread - have been leap-frogged, and the once-barren desert is now a vast and messy construction site for a series of satellite cities. Cairo saw significant, if agonizingly slow, improvements during Mubarak's years in power. The changes, however, fall well short of keeping pace with the litany of woes - overcrowding, collapsing infrastructure, poverty, pollution - afflicting the overstretched metropolis. The city's major sources of revenue, the Pyramids, Egyptian Museum and Islamic monuments, are also under threat from pollutant-accelerated decay, neglect and downright bad management.

Getting There:

There are many good options for getting to Egypt, and there are easy connections between Cairo and many European cities. The national airline is Egypt Air, and Air Sinai also has many domestic connections. Cairo is most travelers' first stop, although people are increasingly disembarking in other major cities and later making their way to the capital. First-class train services connect Cairo with Alexandria, Luxor and Aswan.

Getting Around:

Cairo's Metro system is efficient and the stations are clean. It's also extremely inexpensive and, outside rush hours, not too crowded. People are also using more private microbuses to get around. Destinations are not marked on microbus routes, so they are tricky to use unless you are familiar with their routes. Overcrowded buses and minibuses are still the most common form of transport for the masses, but for anyone who prefers breathing while traveling, taxis are the only option. Driving in Cairo is not for the faint-hearted. It's like the chariot race in Ben Hur only with cars. The river bus terminal is at Maspero, on the Corniche in front of the big round TV building. Boats depart frequently for University, a landing over on the Giza side of the river, just north of the University Bridge.

Aswan

Aswan, Egypt's southernmost city, has long been the country's gateway to Africa. The prosperous market city straddles the crossroads of the ancient caravan routes, at the 'other' end of the Nile not far above the Tropic of Cancer. In ancient times it was a garrison town known as Swenet (meaning 'Trade'), and it was also important to the early Coptic Christians. The main town and temple area of Swenet were located on Elephantine Island in the middle of Nile (the island was known then as Yebu, and later renamed by the Greeks). The temples and ruins here are not nearly as well preserved and impressive as those elsewhere.

Hurghada

Hurghada is a city in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. It is a main tourist center and second largest city (after Suez) in Egypt located on the Red Sea coast.The city was founded in the early 20th century, and is a major hub for holiday villages and hotels providing aquatic sport facilities for sailboarders, yachtsmen, scuba divers and snorkelers. Hurghada stretches for about 36 kilometres along the seashore.