Exploring Egypt the Compact Travels Way...by VINI MOTWANI... Director Compact Travels

Vini has been one of the Faculty Members for the IATA/UFTAA and IATA/FIATA qualifications offered by IHCTM for over 10 years and she is also Director of COMPACT TRAVELS and part of the research team in planning unique itineraries for various clients. Here she narrates her first hand experience of having seen Egypt as a family destination and she finds out that there is much more to Egypt besides history and the Pyramids….

Normally, it is my husband Subhash the founder of COMPACT TRAVELS who writes the travel diary. COMPACT TRAVELS is promoting Egypt for quite a while and I was keen to visit this destination to unfurl its mysteries and find out about the only surviving wonder of the ancient world -

The Pyramid of Cheops. Although Subhash had an opportunity to visit Egypt on his own earlier in September during the Cairo Festival, he couldn't make it due to prior commitments and instead decided that he would take the entire family.

Known for his impeccability in planning itineraries, he wanted all of us to have a first hand experience to give our feedback whether Egypt can indeed be promoted as a family destination, as generally you find honeymooners, adults, retired but active travellers as well as single travellers going to Egypt. You also have school students going to Egypt to see first hand the Egyptian History which is there in their curriculum. However, it is quite rare for families as they show a great reluctance to travel to Egypt since there are no amusement parks or Disneyworld to look forward to. Personally, I was quite fascinated to see the place and I also got convinced in the first phase of the trip itself that Egypt is one of the finest family destinations.

Through this 10 Nights/ 11 days tour that I took and the first hand experience which I will share in the forthcoming issues of Opportunities Today, you too will be convinced that Egypt is one of the finest destinations to visit even for families as I personally went there with my two children aged 7 and 3 ½ years only. Here is how we started our tour. We boarded the EGYPT AIR flight from Mumbai at 1315 hours to arrive into Cairo on Wednesday, 26th October 2005 at around 1800 hours for our 10 Nights/11 days tour of Egypt with a transit stop of 40 minutes in Sharjah. A lot of planning had gone into deciding what to see and what to leave out as Egypt has so much to offer. Egypt is a gateway to three continents strategically as it is located between Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Egypt stretches from the Red Sea on one end to the Mediterranean Sea on the other. So options are aplenty starting with Cairo, the Nile Cruise, Abu Simbel, Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada and Alexandria. We decided to leave out Abu Simbel and Sharm el Sheikh from the itinerary due to time constraints. However for an avid traveller, both these places should be included in the “must-see” list of your Egyptian Tour. After an 8 hour flight we arrived at Cairo and after traversing the modern Heliopolis area and ancient city of Cairo and passing the Nile river we arrived in Giza in 40 minutes

and checked in at Le Meridien Pyramids which overlooks the majestic Pyramids. From October until March is the best time to visit Egypt. On our arrival at the capital city, it was a pleasant 18ºC.

Seeing the Pyramids from the balcony of our hotel room, we were reenergized and we started our first outing the same evening by witnessing the Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids. The Pyramids is at a very close proximity from Le Meridien Pyramids. The hotel itself comprises of 563 rooms and suites furnished with Egyptians ornaments and artwork and as for the restaurants, you are spoiled for choice. There are as many as 6 restaurants which serves a wide range of cuisine from Tex-Mex, to Mediterranean and Continental, to authentic Egyptian cuisine as well.

The Sound and Light Show which lasts for one hour and costs 40 LE(Egyptian Pounds) per adult and 20 LE per child takes you back in time narrating the mysteries of the Pyramids and the Sphinx. The show depicts the story of building the pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinos as well as history of the great figures of ancient Egypt including Nefertiti and Tut Ank Amun.

Although we paid a fee of around 35 LE for a video camera, it would not be advisable to take a video unless you have a professional camera and not a handycam. After the show was over we dined at Peace II restaurant which is very close to Le Meridien Pyramids and is well known for its Egyptian cuisine especially the seafood. The following morning we visited the Egyptian Museum which is a must visit for any first time traveller to Cairo. We left our hotel and we had a very efficient guide who would cover the Egyptian Museum during the first part of the day and later bring us back to Giza to see the Pyramids and Sphinx on the same day. Cairo is the biggest city in Egypt and has a population of over 17 million, whereas Alexandria which was also in our itinerary is the second biggest city of Egypt and overlooks the Mediterranean coast and has a population of 7 million people.

We were heading to the Egyptian Museum which is located in downtown Cairo. En route to the Egyptian Museum, Randa, an Egyptologist who has studied and qualified as a tour guide after 4 years of study on Egyptian history, gave us a brief background of Egypt which was very interesting indeed. Egypt was earlier divided into Upper and Lower Egypt and many kings tried to unite the two regions.

However, eventually it was King Narmer who succeeded in uniting Upper and Lower Egypt during the first of the 31 dynasties. Cairo and the Nile Delta were parts of Lower Egypt whereas Luxor and Aswan belonged to Upper Egypt.

So the unification happened in 31 B.C. which was almost 5000 years ago and Memphis was chosen as the capital of Ancient Egypt. Memphis is one hour away from Giza by road. Another place which could be visited to unearth the ancient Egyptian history is Sakkara which is on the West Bank and known as the city of the dead where you can find the first ever Pyramid built known as the Step Pyramid of Zoser, the pharaoh who founded the 3rd dynasty. The Pyramid which is a funerary complex was built by the architect Imhotep whose name is found inscribed in hieroglyphic characters on the base of the statue representing Zoser.

At the entrance of the Egyptian museum you can find in front of the main entrance to the museum - two statues of either side of the gate, one holding the Papyrus flower and the other holding the Lotus flower which are supposed to be the emblems of Upper and Lower Egypt. On the bank of North Egypt used to flow the open flower also known as the Papyrus whereas down on the lake you would find the Lotus or closed flower. From these flowers, essence used to be extracted to make perfumes.

The Egyptians are well known to extract the essence, hence Egypt is famous for its perfumes as much as it is for its Papyrus paintings. After buying our entry ticket of LE 40 (approx Rs 320) per person and LE 20 per child, we entered the Egyptian Museum. Cameras are not permitted within the Egyptian Museum and you are advised to click the pictures in front of the Museum and then leave it in your vehicle before entering the museum.

The Egyptian Museum houses the largest number of artifacts. It was established in 1900 and recently it completed 100 years of its existence. It has art and artifacts dating back almost 5000 years. The exhibits are spread over 2 floors. There are over 100000 objects ranging from the Pre-historic to the Greco-Roman era. Besides this it also houses a big library.

It is practically impossible to see everything and one would be advised to go through the major displays- not to miss is the Tut Ank Amun chamber where you find the gold coffin of Tut Ank Amun which was excavated from the Valley of the Kings in Luxor in 1922. The coffin itself weighs 450 pounds and is made of Solid Gold.

It is probably the finest ever work of goldsmith that I've ever seen. Another must visit is the Mummy Room within the museum for which you have to pay a separate entrance fee of LE 70 per person. Mummy room has the most amazing display of restored mummies dating back centuries and in chronological order. Here you will come face to face with some of the great rulers of ancient Egypt including Ramses II, the great pharaoh of all time.

To find out more about some of the other highlights of the Egyptian Museum and our tour to Giza and the Pyramids, look out for the February 2005 issue of OPPORTUNITIES TODAY.

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