Egypt Cairo – The trip is something special, the trip is a unique set and harmony of positive energy and good mood. A trip always brings a person beautiful memories that will always remind them of the beautiful moments that happened on that trip. On a journey, a person can meet new people and make new friendships, a trip can bring a person countless beautiful experiences. All you need to do is indulge in the charms of travel and completely turn to the side of enjoyment. Leave everything else to magic and its powers. That’s exactly how I surrendered to the magical Arab Republic, which is partly in Africa and partly in Asia and has access to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The country where the wonders of the world live a modern life, where the sea breaks the desert landscapes dotted with the Nile, where summer is even in November, is exactly Egypt, the “gift of the Nile”, a gift in the sandy desert of the Sahara. The astonishing history of the country, where civilization was born 5,000 years ago, the mystique of ancient buildings, and the legends about the lives of its rulers are what fascinate the visitors of this extremely interesting destination again and again.
Egypt is a country with a tradition, a country that is considered the cradle of civilization, but it is not enough to stop there. It is the cradle of peace, happiness, and challenges, a place where everything seems possible. Cairo is a city with a long tradition, and on the streets, you can see the reality of the modern world. An amazing blend of contradicts.
CAIRO
It was love at first sight, in a huge city where over twenty-five million people live. I was fascinated that human anthill, where everything boils, hums, and vibrates, one of those places where the traveler can never be bored. I was fascinated the encounter with the great civilization from which it all began, which is the “cradle of the world”. I will always remember the ascent to the Giza plateau and the first look at the pyramids. Even today, after many years and travels, I still feel that feeling that definitely cannot be described, but must be experienced. I felt so blessed that I got a chance to see it. Ever since my travel beginnings, I have dreamed of the day when I will see with my own eyes those fascinating, veiled mysteries of the pyramid, which have been attracting attention and arousing human curiosity for thousands of years.
Step step, from the Giza, the Sphinx, Tutankhamun’s treasure, the Library of Alexandria, pyramids, Coptic churches, large mosques, and bazaars, meeting interesting people, situations, tastes, and colors, often breaking through the traffic jams of the metropolis, to experience a culture that marked the beginning of human civilization and that still lasts, certainly different, but extremely active and alive. It is interesting that most of the buildings in Cairo are unfinished, which seems very unaesthetic, and the reason is that they have to pay a high tax on the completed facility. So the Egyptians came up with the idea that it was better to live in semi-skilled houses. Another interesting thing is that the family upgrades one floor of the house for each son who gets married so that they actually look more like small buildings. At one point we saw a scene that amazed us. Namely, immediately behind that greenery and houses, grandiose pyramids appeared.
As for the pyramids themselves, Cheops is the largest, close to 150 meters high and built of about 2 million stone blocks. It is estimated that it was built around 2560 BC. order of Pharaoh Cheops. At its top, you can see the remains of white limestone formwork, which once covered the entire pyramid. On the east side of the pyramid are the remains of a temple in which funeral rituals for the late ruler took place.
In the moment of imagination and fascination with these buildings, so many theories about their origin and mysticism that they possess just went through my head. It was amazing to me that even today, in a world where everything was very easy to reach, the age of technology and many discoveries, no man has yet been able to determine with certainty their origin. Fascinating! During my thinking, I was suddenly startled the guide’s voice inviting us to enter the pyramids, to feel their insides. Fear permeated my entire body, but I still decided to do it. It was very stuffy and unbearably hot inside, so I didn’t stay long, but I was very glad that I found the strength and got to the heart of that extraordinary thing.
Of course, there is the Sphinx, one of the largest statues made of a single stone on Earth and represents the body of a lion with the head of a pharaoh. The statue is 73.5 meters long, 19.3 meters wide, and 22.2 meters high. It looks to the East, from where the sun rises. Today’s Sphinx lacks a nose and a pharaoh’s beard, which is very likely the result of sandstorms, although there are various other theories (such as that the nose was destroyed Napoleon’s soldiers).
After an extraordinary tour of the pyramids, we headed to the National Museum. It is the largest museum of ancient Egyptian history and art. The museum displays exhibit from prehistory to the Greco-Roman era, with more than 160,000 items. It is located in central Cairo. The museum was founded in 1835. On the upper floor of the museum is the contents of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, which counts thousands of objects, from the smallest to sarcophagi and beds. The room in which the famous golden mask of the pharaoh is located is strictly guarded and at the same time the only air-conditioned one. Photography is strictly forbidden and a large fine is paid if you are caught taking pictures, but I simply could not resist the divinity in front of which I stood, petrified.
In Cairo, a city that never sleeps, there is so much more to see but also to feel. After a hard day, no matter how exhausted I felt, I couldn’t resist visiting their phenomenal perfumeries. According to the legends, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra was a very beautiful woman, who spent a lot of time beautifying her skin, hair, and body. She was known for her perfectly delicate and fragrant skin and soft, silky hair. To preserve her beautiful appearance, she applied numerous baths, face masks, and put on make-up with then available pigments. No wonder so many salons today bear her name.
After visiting the perfumeries, enjoying those extraordinary scents, as well as the pleasant appearance and atmosphere inside them, we went on a famous cruise on the river Nile. Boats, called feluccas, that sail the river and farmers who cultivate the land along the river bank. The Nile cruising is a special experience because you have the opportunity to see ancient temples and monuments from the river. Those temples are lit and the scenes are really breathtaking at night. Egypt never sleeps and people are very energetic, and you can watch it all in peace and quiet on a ship, which is an ideal combination, cruise the longest river in the world, listen to the gurgling of water, drink wine and watch all those fascinating temples.
BEDOUIN VILLAGE
We set off at the crack of dawn to a Bedouin village. I heard so much about the Bedouins, I couldn’t even believe many facts, until I saw and felt it myself. The greatest contrast of the century in which we live are the inhabitants of the Bedouin village. Bedouins in Egypt mostly live on the Sinai Peninsula and in the suburbs of Cairo. The last few decades have been difficult for traditional Bedouin culture due to changes in the environment and the establishment of new cities on the Red Sea coast. Bedouins in Egypt face a number of challenges: the collapse of traditional values, unemployment and various problems around land holdings, etc. With urbanization and the emergence of new educational opportunities, Bedouins began to enter into marriages with members outside their communities, which is an unacceptable phenomenon.
The Sahara Desert houses seventy villages, of which only fifteen are happy to host tourists. Every village has its own boss who has a car and we are the only ones to leave the village and go for groceries. Bedouins mainly live from sheep, camels and goats. Some Bedouins are also hunters. Women in the middle of the desert at a very high temperature, next to the fire, bake pancakes without milk on a fire that is ignited dried camel dung, and they say that camel’s milk is very healing and good for cleansing the body. Villagers live up to 110-120 years. Any resident of a Bedouin village who dares to leave the same and go to the city is not welcome back. In this village, they speak a Bedouin language that is completely different from Arabic. The way in which the location for raising the village was chosen is to test the survival of the camel on that surface, if it survives longer than fifteen days, it means that a source of water is present. In this village, children are like adults, they manage a camel from the age of only four without fear and very skillfully. I was surprised their reaction when I gave them the sweets I had with me, most of them they had never seen or tasted. That happiness on their face, as well as the hug I received, were unchanging.
Riding a quad on desert dunes is another adrenaline challenge and a backward special experience, which you have to approach very equipped, heads wrapped in a scarf, glasses that you rent on the spot and with a helmet that you get sitting on a quad.
Egypt gives you as much as you are ready to embrace, a country for everyone’s taste and everyone’s needs. Cairo, they say, is refined and magical because it offers a unique pleasure of history, romance, and elegance. At one moment you will be charmed its noisy streets and city chaos, and at another, you stand in silence in front of one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, the pyramid. Simply all in one place. Well, it’s Cairo! More than the city and more than magical. It is true proof that there are places where architecture becomes art and imagination becomes reality.
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