Page 45 - ParentsWorld March 2020 flipbuilder

rating the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt to escape Roman
persecution, and Ben Ezra Synagogue which was
originally a church, still stand after 2,000 years and attract
curious tourists. Even today Christians constitute 6 percent
of Egypt’s population of 99 million.
In the Islamic Quarter of the Great Citadel built by
salah El Din in 1176 is the Mohamed Ali Mosque, bet-
ter known as the Alabaster Mosque, emblem of the Cairo
Governate, built in 1830 by Mohamed Ali, an Albanian
sent to Egypt to free the country from Napoleon’s occupa-
tion. A Byzantine style structure, it’s reminiscent of the
Blue Mosque of Istanbul.
Heading south from Cairo towards Memphis, the Abu Simbel Temple
ancient capital of the country, one passes through contem-
porary rural Egypt. Although, undoubtedly a third world
nation, in sharp contrast with rural India, every village onwards). Mid-range: Concorde (Rs.5,250 onwards),
household is supplied with water and electricity, made President (Rs.5,100-6,375), Pharaoh Egypt (Rs.2,150-
available through harnessing the river Nile and Aswan 3,150), Budget: Delta Pyramids (Rs.1,350-3,000).
Dam. Moreover, a striking feature of modern Egypt is that
every child is educated, despite poverty and overpopula- abu SiMbEL
tion. Child labour is rampant but government policy en- The best way to explore the pharaonic splendour of luxor
sures that children are simultaneously educated in schools and Aswan in upper Egypt is to sail down the Nile. The
run by their employers. river is crowded with all manner of exotic luxury steamers,
the oldest being the Death on the Nile steamer. But there’s
MEMPhiS also a French boat with a waterfall in the lobby and an
This ancient capital of the pharaohs, had known centuries Italian cruiser with a 24-hour cappuccino bar offering 20
of great splendour. In the city centre the famous architect varieties of pizza. The embarkation point is either luxor
Imhotep Bel, built a great citadel. Today it’s an open-air or Aswan. Most people usually take a three-day cruise, but
museum displaying vast ruins, truncated columns, walls longer duration cruises are also available.
and statues which are mute testimony to the glory of We flew into Aswan at 4 a.m and headed for Simbel,
pharaonic Egypt. With the rise and growth of Alexandria, a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Aswan, undertaken
Memphis was progressively abandoned and fell to ruin. usually in convoy, because security at all important tourist
Sakkarah. A mere 22 km from Memphis is sakkarah. spots is tight. A visit to Abu simbel is worth loss of sleep.
Dominating its skyline is the oldest pyramid constructed by Ramses the Great carved this magnificent temple out of
the first great pharaoh of the old kingdom, Zoser, in 2,700 a mountain between 1274 and 1244 BCE to imprint his
BCE. The necropolis at sakkarah, which stretches eight persona on history and perpetuate his memory. Four colos-
km, is the largest in Egypt, in the middle of which is the sal statues of his likeness, seated at the entrance, welcome
grandiose funerary complex of Zoser. visitors to Abu simbel. Three millennia on, this awesome
Shopping in Cairo. The buzzing Khan-el-Khalili monument of self-celebration continues to attract thou-
Market, a 14th century labyrinthine souk, is pure theatre. sands of international tourists annually.
The crowds are dense and overfriendly shopkeepers liter- Two thousand years later the challenges confronting
ally pounce on visitors with their sales pitch and seem Ramses the Great’s engineers were posed to engineers of
to be particularly enamoured of Indians. The bazaar is the global community who had to save these great monu-
choc-a-bloc with alabaster artefacts, papyrus paintings, ments from the waters of the Nile, which rose following
perfumes, handblown glass perfume bottles, hookahs/ the construction of the Aswan Dam in 1970. With each
sheeshas, spices, carpets and gold jewellery, gold and statue 20 metres tall and faces measuring 4 metres from
silver cartouches on which visitors’ names are inscribed in ear to ear, they are symbols of the attributes of the mighty
hieroglyphics as a memento of an Egyptian holiday. Yet for Ramses.
visitors to this cradle of civilisation, there’s more on offer. The danger that this great heritage complex would be
The 21st century is very much in evidence in luxurious covered by the water of the artificial lake made Unesco set
hotels, busy casinos and lively nightclubs, making Cairo a up two commissions to salvage them. The removal of the
most intriguing vacation destination. temple from the original site with all statues and effigies
Accommodation. Top-end: Four seasons Cairo 1st was barely completed in time. By the end of the summer
Residence (Rs.21,000-313,600 per night), Mena House of 1965, the waters of the Nile slowly filled the now deso-
Oberoi Cairo (Rs.13,500-42,000), Grand Hyatt (Rs.10,500 late caverns where the temples once stood.

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