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Travel review: Egypt - the wonder of history
SUNRISE SPECTACLE: Hot air ballooning in Egypt.
Caroline Davison discovers the treasures of Egypt, far from the political unrest of the Arab spring.
Sitting on a camel gazing at the pyramids with the sun on my shoulders, I wondered if this trip could get any better.
I couldn’t help but marvel at the work that had gone into these Egyptian tombs. Thousands of men were paid by the state to construct the structures between 2575BC and 2150BC using more than two million stone and granite blocks.
I had spent the night before settling in at Mena House, a beautiful and welcoming five-star Oberoi hotel overlooking the Great Pyramid in the centre of bustling Cairo. Throughout my stay in Egypt I often felt like I was constantly tripping over relics in the street, with history pouring out of this magical place.
Tucked away off a main road – and a five-minute walk from the Pyramids – is the Sphinx, for example, standing majestically guarding the Wonder. It was only excavated from 1817 onwards, but is now exposed and is in the process of being fully restored.
The city centre is loud, busy and eclectic. Horse-drawn carriages line up at traffic lights beside rickshaws, cars and motorbikes, while donkeys can be seen pulling carts or eating vegetables beside the road. Beeping horns ring out at all hours as motorists use it as a polite way of saying “I’m here,” and the call to prayer every few hours adds to the atmosphere.
Bustle
I was travelling in a minibus with a tour guide throughout my jam-packed week-long visit, taking in Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel. My guide, Helal, a serious thinker whose occasional smiles were worth waiting for, regularly helped me fight through the noise and bustle to find local food outlets, which were often cheaper and tastier than fast food or sit-down restaurants.
Chicken shawarma – a roti-style bread containing finely chopped chicken, tomato, onion, coriander and mayonnaise – was a personal favourite. Humous, pitta, kebabs, and meat cooked in tagines tasted so much better than the fare made specifically for Western palates. However, the Indian restaurant at Mena House was the best I’ve ever tasted – and definitely worth splashing out on.
After the bustle of Cairo, it was off to Aswan, where I stayed in a hotel on an island on the Nile. In the scorching heat, I visited a Nubian tribe on a nearby island.
The Nubian people are skilled at making crafts, such as jewellery, woven baskets and wooden figures. I was shown some examples while the chief showed me around his home. My eyes were also drawn to his pet – a small crocodile kept in a cage in the communal area. Apparently the Nubians love them. I wasn’t quite so taken.
Next stop was Abu Simbel, a 40-minute plane journey from Aswan. Helal informed me upon the plane’s landing that it’s only a 30-minute drive from Abu Simbel to the Libyan border.
Concern
But throughout my stay in the country, I did not feel threatened or frightened once by the fallout of the Egyptian revolution last January, or the crises that have gripped the Middle East in the past year. The concern I had was for the local people, who rely on tourism for a living. Usually in high season, there is an hour-long queue to get into the Pyramids. The day I was there, there were five other people in sight. Now is definitely the time to go.
The two temples at Abu Simbel were built by King Ramses II in about 1260BC as a tribute to himself and his wife, Nefertari. The temples were moved in their entirety in 1968 to a purpose-built site nearby, when Lake Nasser was created by the Aswan High Dam.
Turning a corner to see King Ramses II’s temple is one of those few “wow” moments in life. The facade shows four huge statues of the pharaoh throughout his life. And the inside is no less staggering, with pillars, paintings and hieroglyphics charting the king’s story. The remarkable thing is the temple was constructed so that the sun shines through its opening and on to the statue of the king twice a year - thought to be on his birthday and the date of his coronation.
My final adventure was in Luxor, which I travelled to by train. From here, you can visit The Valley of the Kings, home to Tutankhamun’s tomb. His was the only one not to be looted by robbers in the whole valley.
Rumour has it a water carrier on archaeologist Howard Carter’s team found the resting place by chance after dropping a drink and noting that it sank through the floor, which was directly above the hollowed rock below. The relatively small tomb was crammed with gold statues and chariots from floor to ceiling and it took 10 years to catalogue the find.
Luxor Temple is also a delight, with its sprawling site packed with columns, obelisks, statues and pylons, which are stone entranceways. But as an extra treat, I was pulled there through the city on a horse-drawn carriage at dusk, so as night fell, its imposing structure was lit by spotlights, casting a romantic glow over the area.
The temple is linked by an avenue of sphinxes to Karnak Temple, which was my port of call the following morning. Both Luxor and Karnak temples were constructed over a number of years by different rulers, and Karnak is more jam-packed and even bigger, with ruins, chapels and a sacred lake adding to its charm. It’s almost too much to take in, as it’s so immense. As I wandered around, the most exciting part for me was the hypostyle hall, which is a 134-pillared area that made me look and feel even smaller than my 5ft 3in. Its 10 metre columns overwhelmed me and it was a quiet place of reflection, where I could think back at the wonderful experiences of the past few days.
Marvel
I’d travelled around using so many different modes of transport throughout the week, including minibus, sleeper train, felucca, motor boat, horse and, of course, camel. But the piece de resistance took place as I floated over the Nile in a hot-air balloon at sunrise, overlooking the Valley of the Kings, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple and the Valley of the Queens, I couldn’t help but marvel at all I’d experienced on this once-in-a-lifetime journey to Egypt.
TRAVELFACTS:
* Caroline Davison was a guest of On the Go Tours which offers group tours, family adventures and tailor-made holidays in Egypt. Locally guided group tours start at £299 per person, while the 10-day Classic Family Adventure, from £629, includes 4-5 star hotel accommodation (B&B), some meals, all transportation and Egyptologist guide.
* Guideline prices on flights include ex-Heathrow direct from around £350 with bmi, or from £285 with Lufthansa via Frankfurt. Manchester has no direct flights to Cairo, but via Frankfurt costs from £275 (Lufthansa) or via Amsterdam from £305 (KLM).
* On The Go reservations: 020 7371 1113 and www.onthegotours.com
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