Egypt

Walk the world without caring about the weather tomorrow

Let’s join the camel trains heading to Egypt for the awe-inspiring Giza pyramid complex and Great Sphinx. Those things are great: unfathomable Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, splendid Musee du Louvre in France, wonderful Jet d’Eau large fountain in Switzerland, enchanted Fairy Chimney in Turkey, futuristic looking Burj Al Arab Hotel in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a lot more, but none of them could give you the kind of larger-than-life impression reflected from the ancient wonders in Egypt.

Wandering around those aged monuments is seriously a mind-blowing experience. Your life is put at stake as the greatest civilization the world has ever known would make you reel into fatal hallucination in which you were an audacious pirate sailing alone to the end of the world looking for the meaning of..death. Okay, it’s me who is soaking in imagination, trying to say that Egypt is so breathtaking that once you’ve been there, it would be shameless for you to leave the world in peace as you’ve done the best thing in your life.

The Magic of Egypt

Even millennia before Thomas Cook sailed his steamers up the Nile, this magical land had already allured visitors with its oh-my-god ancient wonders. Travelers have been amazed by Egypt’s archaeological World Heritage Sites for centuries ever since the ancient Greeks paid visit to the pyramids. Back in 430 BC, while Greek historian Herodotos stopped over at those splendid monuments in Egypt, from the mesmerizing pyramids of Giza to the astoundingly stunning temples of Karnak or Philae, or the painted tombs in the Valley of the Kings, many of them were already 2500 years old. Time flies, we are in new millennium and gazillion of tourist clichés has popped up like mushrooms to pay homage to this sacred destination as the sheer age of this great civilization is beyond belief. Every year, tourists from all over the world are enticed to visit the temples, hieroglyphs, mummies, and visible above all, the great pyramid, with an addition of modern seasoning of eye-catching diving resorts of the Red Sea.

Modern travel to Egypt is all about letting your jaws drop before the glorious monuments seen all over the place. It’s the pointed precision of the Pyramids of Abu Sir, sky-high minarets of Cairo that manipulate the skyline, and grand tombs and temples of Luxor that allure generations of visitors during their city sojourns, jaunting up and down the Nile and exploring through dramatically stark desert backdrops. Anyway, the Pyramids of Giza, the Valley of the Kings and other ancient monuments are just part of the gargantuan iceberg of the world-renowned Egypt. It is so much an enthralling tourist spot because it is very much a country in flux. All these short journeys are punctuated by a babble of exotic sounds and aromas in a few huge and dusty cities. Be it savoring a cup of coffee in a laidback cosmopolitan cafés in Alexandria, or lingering over a calming glass of shai (tea) after a frantic shopping spree in Khan al-Khalili in Cairo, it could be just so homey at times.

Besides, the landscapes alongside the life-giving Nile, running north through the country to the Mediterranean, is beguiling. Villages are in the shade of gracefully swaying palms, overlooking the emerald ribbon of irrigated fields fed by Nile. Be it sailing on a grand cruise ship or just shabby traditional felucca boat, the panorama is an unswerving visual feast. Heading to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheik on the Red Sea coast would give you another kind of thrilling experience. These spots are the portals to a miraculous underwater world of Technicolor fish and coral that attracts countless divers from all over the world. After that, you should challenge the inland that has monasteries amid the arid mountains of Sinai, and hit the far-away desert oases, home to the enduring nomads whose camel trains still wander the Saharan sands. All in all, you will not only find fabulous sights but hardy inhabitants here. From the Cairo’s city streets that emulate the suffocating density of Tokyo streets, to the ruthless bits and pieces of the open desert, Egyptians show their incredible resilience amid their ability to constantly find humor and optimism in the most implausible of atmosphere.

Travel To Egypt - Top 10 Best Places

Traveling in Egypt might not equal to easy-going and hassle-free, but certainly eye-opening. But what are the 10 best places to leave your footsteps while getting that goldfish eyes? If you are in trouble finding it out, the A-list below could be your salvation. I hope it helps.

Cairo - For a glimpse of the more recent past, wander through the dusty, decrepit glamour of Garden City, a labyrinth of crumbling 19th and early-20th-century mansions
Alexandria - Sip coffee, smoke sheesha (water pipe), or join in on the heated debates that take place in the many antique coffee houses that dot this hip metropolis
Luxor - gateway to the Valley of the Kings, amongst other fabulous attractions
Abu Simbel - a very remote town in the far south, with some beautiful ancient temples
Aswan - Watch the sunset over one of the most beautiful stretches of the Nile at Aswan, ancient Egypt’s frontier town, and still a place where you can feel yourself in Africa
Dahab - Kick back and recover from chronic temple fatigue at this ocean-side backpacker nirvana
Hurghada - a town on the Red Sea, filled with all-inclusive resorts and diving
Lake Nasser - created by the Aswan Dam
Saqqara - filled with relics and ruins of ancient Egypt, they’re often combined as a day trip from Cairo
Siwa - a stunning remote oasis near the Libyan border

3 Reasons Why I Love Egypt

Why I love Egypt? I guess it is more or less similar to the reasons I love Greece, mostly because of the impact my childhood imagination has on me. This time not because of the manga series or anime from Japan, but an unverified truth (okay, it’s verified by scientists ages ago, but at least not by myself yet!) I heard from my friends.

Ever since the first time I heard of Egypt, I have been wondering if it is just an imaginative place exists in thriller (not fast and furious! You got only pyramids and camels here, not an extensive Autobahn network and racing cars in Germany for me to realize my fantasy of adrenaline-fuelled raid.) Do pyramids really have so many unfathomable questions that even the greatest scientists are puzzled? Cutting an apple into half and putting it in the pyramid, without adding any chemical substance, is it true that it is not rotting due to the special energy that exists within the pyramid’s perfect geometrical structure? Let’s figure it out.
What’s next up in your mind after the image of pyramid? I bet if it is not the Great Sphinx, it would certainly be the mummy! YES! There are so many forms of mummies out there, hyped in the movies and cartoons, I really wish so much to see the real one with my own eyes! Oops, my goldfish eyes after they are shocked to open up so big by the real and serious stuff.
I don’t know if you guys ever dreamt of becoming a super hero or a prince but I do, and always. If you do too, are you a handsome prince from Spain riding a white horse (if it’s not a fighting bull), or just a depressed and beaten prince walking in the middle of the falling autumn foliage in Kyoto, Japan? You want to know mine? I want to be a weird princess (not that type living in a gorgeous castle waiting for you!) riding a camel passing the Giza pyramid complex, Great Sphinx, desert oases and then bumping into my comrades riding camel trains. We talk a while and all of a sudden, the mummies attack. Aiks, I’m always going nuts every time talking about this country. I love Egypt!

Egypt

Egypt flag

Egypt map

map of Egypt - attractions

A beachfront restaurant in Dahab, a popular destination for Red Sea divers

Ancient painting in tomb of Si Amun, mountain of the dead.

Ancient egypt mummies in tomb on the mountain of the dead.

Ancient painting in tomb of Si Amun, mountain of the dead.

Avenue of the Sphinxes at Luxor Temple.

Blue waters and coral reefs of Ras Um Sid, dive spot and resort holiday location.

Camel in the early morning light as trekkers ascend Mt Sinai, Sinai Peninsula.

Domed interior, Coptic Cairo.

Dunes in the Great Sand Sea, Western desert, near Siwa oasis.

Egyptian hieroglyphs

Feluccas (local sailing boats) on Nile River.

Giant statues at temple complex at Abu Simbel.

Interior of Mausoleum of Barquq.

Luxor Temple at night. The light show creates an eerie spectacle as the temple is lit up and the statues and Obelisk are featured

Osiris statues at Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir Al-Bahari.

Sunset over ancient egypt pyramids.

Temple of Philae.

Tutankhamun's exquisite death mask. Made of beaten gold and inlaid with precious stones this most famous of archaeological treasures can be discovered at The Egyptian Museum.