Departed from KLIA at an unearthly hour of 3.40am on Qatar Airways for Doha.From Doha our flight left at 8.00am and after three and a half hours,arrived at Alexandria at 10.30am.
Alexandria or Iskandariah to us, is the second largest city of Egypt with a population of about 4 million.It was founded by Alexander The Great in 332 BC and touted as the Pearl of the Mediterranean. We drove along the Corniche with its cafes furnished with wicker chairs facing the sea and people lazing around sipping tea, smoking shisha and watching the world passed by.One would be forgiven for thinking this to be a Mediterranean European city instead of an Egyptian one, with its beautiful colonial buildings with wrought iron balconies and wooden louvered windows. Alexandria reminded me of a bygone era, the city must have been magnificent and flourishing in its hey days. Now it seemed a city forgotten and desolate.
Our first stop was the Catacomb of Kom El Shoqafa. No cameras were allowed inside.From the outside it did not look very impressive, only a few remnants of relics and artifacts lying around. We took 99 steps down a spiral staircase into the Catacomb and were greeted with chambers built by the Romans in the second century.There were three levels, with several burial chambers and even a banquet hall. Bas-relief of Egyptian deities decorated the walls.The Catacomb was said to be have been discovered by a stumbling donkey.
Our next stop was what is claimed to be the Maqam (tomb) of Prophet Danial, one of the Prophets of Islam and the tomb of Loqman Al- Hakim,the Islamic scholar. Both were situated underground in the same mosque,Mosque Al- Nabi Danial and access was through a wooden spiral staircase. The place was rather run down and seemed to have been left to decay.
From there we made a short stop at the Roman Theatre. We did not enter the complex but only had a glimpse of it from outside the gate.
Lunch was at Athineos Restaurant along the Corniche over-looking the Mediterranean Sea.
After lunch we stopped at Fortress of Qaitbay built in 1480s by Sultan Qaitbay as a major military construction in protection of Egypt against the Ottomans. From there we were given an orientation tour of the city with glimpses of the university,city library and monument.
From there we proceeded to our hotel Aifu Resort for check-in.
Day 2 - 2 Dec 2012 (Sunday)
We left the hotel at 8.30am for Montazah Complex which is a 115 acres garden surrounded by high walls and an imposing main gate. Inside the complex there is a hotel and King Farouk's Palace overlooking the Mediterranean.
At 9.45am we left Alexandria by coach and drove southeast towards Cairo, passing citrus farms of apricot and oranges. We reached Giza , a district of Cairo and proceeded for lunch at Le Cuisine. After lunch our coach took us to the complex of Giza consisting of three stone pyramids and the Sphinx, the most famous symbol of Egypt and one of the seven wonders of the world.
We stopped at the largest pyramid built as a funerary monument for King Khufu (Kheops) some 3500 years ago.By now the sun was inclined to the west and the sky had a halo of desert dust giving a surreal atmosphere to the whole area. The pyramid stood majestic in the evening sun and we were awestruck by its sheer size and magnitude.Huge boulders weighing between 2 and 20 tonnes each seemed to have been glued to each other ,nary a minuscule space between them.The engineering feat of building the pyramid left us baffled and full of admiration of the ancient Egyptians.We then passed the second and smaller pyramid constructed by Khaefre (Khephren) and the third much smaller one built by Menkaure (Mycerinus) and stopped at a lookout that gave a commanding and panoramic view of all three pyramids. Around us the locals were plying their camels for a ride and street vendors were selling trinkets and souvenirs.
Our next stop was the Great Sphinx, the oldest and largest specimen of of its kind. Its impressive leonine body with the royal head is sculptured in a limestone outcrop and it represents King Khephren as guardian of his own monument.
As darkness fell we visited a perfume factory Al Amir Perfumes Palace where we were given sampling of the various essence like jasmine,lotus flower etc as a prelude to persuading us to buy, which we did. Next stop was a shop supposedly to be selling Egyptian cotton items but we didn't see anything exciting there.From there we proceeded to Giza train station for our overnight sleeping train to Luxor. The train left Giza at 8.00pm and dinner which was rather miserably tasteless, was on board.After we changed into our sleepwear,we settled down in the private double-decker cabin as the train chug chug into the night.
Day 3 - 3 Dec 2012 (Monday)
Breakfast was on board. The 680km journey was supposed to have taken 8 hours but we only reached Luxor at 9.20am. A coach was waiting to take us to our first destination in Luxor, The Valley of the Kings, the most famous concentration of Royal Tombs in Ancient Egypt.More than 25 kings and nobles of the 18th to 21st Dynasties were buried in the Valley. We had the opportunity of going into 3 of the tombs.Long passageways and steep stairs led down from narrow openings in the hills into the burial chambers underground containing stone sarcophagi. Walls and ceiling were decorated with bas-relief and hieroglyphic inscriptions.Unfortunately cameras were not allowed.
The next stop was an alabaster factory where the charming Egyptians failed to persuade us to buy anything despite their sales pitch.
Following that the next attraction was the Deir el-Bahari, the funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut (which our guide suggested we remember as "Hot Chicken Soup").A long vista led to steps up leading to the temple with a series of columns framing the building.
We then traveled to the bank of the River Nile and checked in into the cruise boat Solaris.The room was pleasantly spacious. After a buffet lunch we spent the time on deck enjoying the cool breeze.
That night we took the optional Light and Sound tour of Karnak temple. Using a display of lights and sound effects the story behind the temple was narrated. As though to add to the mystery of Karnak several dogs which were hanging around the area howled at intervals adding to the eerieness of the place.
Day 4 - 4 Dec 2012 ( Tuesday)
We left the cruise boat at 8.30am for Karnak Temple which is said to be the biggest temple in Egypt built some 4000 years ago.Now in daylight the temple could be fully appreciated in all its glory.We were greeted by ram-headed sphinxes which guard both sides of an avenue leading to the main entrance.We were impressed by the sheer size of the interior courts and 134 massive columns that took 12 of us holding outstretched hands to circle each one. Two obelisks stood erect and a fallen one dedicated to Queen Hatshepsut left us in awe.Our guide gave an account of how the obelisks were constructed and transported to the temple, a shining example of the ingenuity of the ancient Egyptians. Hieroglyphic inscriptions adorned the walls and colmns and our guide gave a short lesson how to read the birthname and coronation name of the Kings.There was also a sacred lake fed by water from the River Nile which was used for purification rites.
We then passed by Luxor Temple situated parallel to the River Nile and which was conceived as an annex to the Karnak Temple.Our next stop was the papyrus museum where we were given a brief demonstration of how paper was made from the papyrus.
Lunch was on the cruise boat after which the boat started sailing on the Nile River at 1.30pm. We sat on deck enjoying the breeze and watched the rural landscape passed by. Tea was served on deck as well.
Later at 6.30pm we were told to go on deck as the boat was approaching the river locks. In the darkness of the night we saw small boats approached the cruise and heard shouts coming from the boats. Suddenly bundles were thrown 5 levels up on the deck which turned out to be goods being sold by the traders in the boats. This followed aggressive bargaining and more bundles raining on us. Money put in plastic bags would then be thrown down to the traders.It was an interesting experience.The cruise went through the locks as we were having dinner.
Day 5 - 5 Dec 2012 ( Wednesday)
At 4.30pm after tea the boat stopped at Kom Ombo. We alighted and walked to the temple of Kom Ombo, a unique construction of two temples in one building.One half was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek while the other belonged to the falcon god Horus.One interesting feature of the temple was the Egyptian calendar and our guide explained the mechanics of it and how the calendar evolved to contain 365 days in a year.Another interesting item was the presence of an inscription showing a man holding what is believed to be a stethoscope. Outside the temple was a well which was a Nilometre, used to measure the water level of the Nile when it flooded, for purposes of deciding on tax to be imposed.We also visited the crocodile museum next to the temple which housed mummies of crocodiles from days bygone.
Day 6 - 6 Dec 2012 (Thursday)
At 8.00am we went to shore at Aswan and a coach was waiting to take us to the High Aswan Dam,passing the Old Aswan Dam.The Dam created a lake 500km long called Lake Nasser and the turbines produced electricity for the whole of Egypt.We then made a picture stop at the Friendship Monument which was built to commemorate the assistance given by the Russian for the building of the Dam.
We then went back to the Nile bank where we board a felluca (sailing boat) which took us to the Botanical Garden on an island in the Nile River.Along the way we passed Kubbet El Hawa ,the rocky outcrop containing tombs of local nobles.During the trip the crew hand played the drum and sang Nubian songs.After an hour at the Garden the felluca took us back to our cruise ship for lunch.
At 5.30pm we checked out of the cruise ship and a coach took us to Aswan train station 5 minutes away.We boarded the sleeping train which left Aswan at 7.00pm for Cairo.
Day 7 - 7 Dec 2012 ( Friday)
The train journey was supposed to be 12 hours but unfortunately due to a derailment of another train it took us seventeen and a half hours to reach Giza. We alighted at Giza at 12.30pm and checked into the Grand Pyramids Hotel which was quite a nice hotel.After a quick shower the coach took us to Soiree restaurant for lunch.
From there we made our way to the Citadel,the fortress built by Salahudin Al Ayubi (Saladin) ,the famous leader who led the war against the Crusaders in the 1100s. One of the attractions of the complex is the Mohamad Ali Pasha Mosque with its unmistakenly Turkish architecture.Made of alabaster with grey domes and half-domes it stood majestic against the blue sky. Inside, a courtyard is framed by numerous arches and smaller domes. In the centre of the courtyard stands an ablution area with ornate roof carvings. Inside the mosque the ceiling has elaborate designs and from it hang crystal chandeliers.Stained glass windows add to the beauty of the mosque.
Our next stop was the Ashfour crystal factory,said to be the biggest crystal factory in the world selling chandeliers,mementos and and jewellery. After feasting our eyes we went back to the hotel to feast our stomach.
Day 8 - 8 Dec 2012 ( Saturday)
Left the hotel at 8.30am. After an orientation tour of the city's landmarks we arrived at the Egyptian Museum which has the richest and most important collection of objects from Ancient Egypt in the world. We were told that it would take 3 months to browse at every exhibits. Our guide highlighted to us the more important exhibits.Some that caught our attention were the golden thrones, the golden tombs and the beautiful golden funerary mask of King Tutankhamon with embedded pieces of precious stones.We were also mesmerised by his collection of ornate and intricately-designed jewellery. We visited a chamber with mummies of the Pharaohs and nobles. Amongst them is the mummy of Ramses II, the Pharaoh that ruled during the time of Prophet Moses as narrated in the Bible and Qur'an.Unfortunately no cameras were allowed inside and the time was too short.
We left the museum for Maqam Imam Shafie, the tomb of the Islamic scholar who gives his name to one of the four legal schools (Mazhabs) of Islam. The sad thing is that the mosque seemed to have been neglected and is in dire need of repairs.Inside the mosque is a stone slab with a foot imprint of Prophet Muhamad (pbuh).
After lunch at a Chinese restaurant we headed for Amr Al Ass's mosque which was built in 642AD by Amr, a companion of The Prophet (pbuh) and a military commander noted for leading the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641 AD.
From there we proceeded to Azhar Mosque, Hussein Mosque and the Khan Al Khalili Bazaar for some souvenir hunting.
Day 9 - 9 Dec 2012 (Sun)
The morning was a free day for us. At 12.15pm we departed from the hotel for lunch at Le Cuisine restaurant and after that straight to Cairo Airport for our flight to Kuala Lumpur via Doha.
Egypt has certainly left a major imprint in our mind and more than ever we have deep admiration for the friendly Egyptians and their rich history.
