Egypt is one of Africa’s richest countries in terms of history. Egypt’s history goes back to the ancient times before the Bible. The biblical and cultural history of Egypt is as diverse and intriguing as the undiscovered tombs and cities lying underneath the desert sand in Upper and Lower Egypt.
Cairo is a city full of life. One feature I quickly noticed when I set foot in Cairo is the traffic. Cairo is home to over 16 million inhabitants of which an extra two million people commute into the city in the morning and depart at sunset. Despite the city having huge multiple-lane spaghetti highways, the traffic is very heavy. As you approach the city centre, a highway of three lanes is tuned into 5.
The pyramids at Giza could be clearly seen from most parts of the city on a clear day. The Great Pyramids of Giza is really an imposing and monumental framework. It’s completely mind-boggling to envision that the ancient man with limited technology and workmanship could put up this kind of a huge framework. Obviously, how the pyramids were built is a query of superb global debate and may never be conclusively responded to. Other theories even point to outer space aliens being the sole builders of pyramids in Egypt.
The great pyramid of Cheops, which is the largest of the pyramids in Giza stands at height of 140 metres. It’s a spectacular sight to arrive at the foot of the pyramid and just look at its sheer size. It is estimated that each block of stone weighs about 2.5 tons and more than 2.3 million of these blocks were utilized to construct this pyramid.
The most interesting aspect of the pyramid is the entry passage into its inner chambers. This is a task many people such as myself found challenging. Anybody who is 6 feet tall such as myself will certainly run a sweat when attempting to maneuver the way up the internal chambers of the pyramid. The entrance is roughly 1 meter square. This does not stop there; I then understand that this really is really a stair case passage ascending at an angle.
From the Pyramids, I visited the Valley of Temple where dead kings had been mummified. The mysterious Sphinx kept guard in the cemetery for more than 5000 years. Egypt won’t be finished without a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities housing the biggest collection of Egyptian monuments in the world, 250,000 items. Here, you can also see the jewelry of the well-known King Tut Ankh Amun, which goes back to 1352 B.C. A tour of the Citadel of Saladin is really a must. This was built in 1176. The Alabaster mosque of Mohamed Ali which was constructed on 1824 AD is also worth viewing.
In the summer time, Cairo is mostly active during the night than throughout the day. This is because of the higher temperatures experienced throughout the day. Stores, restaurants, malls etc remain open most of the night.
Other areas to visit in Egypt are Luxor, Alexandria and Sharm El Sheikh. A 4 day luxury cruise along the River Nile is an awesome experience.
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