My article on Egypt’s pyramids has been published in Yahoo Lifestyle’s travel section, on 1st April, 2014. This article is an edited version of my blog post, which can be read here, along with links to more stories and tips from Egypt:
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 April 2014
Egypt: Pyramids
My article on Egypt’s pyramids has been published in Yahoo Lifestyle’s travel section, on 1st April, 2014. This article is an edited version of my blog post, which can be read here, along with links to more stories and tips from Egypt:
Sunday, 11 March 2012
In Search of the Pyramid of My Dreams
An October evening, my flight hovers over Cairo, preparing to land. It’s just 5 pm but the sun’s already set. I crane my neck trying to get a glimpse of the pyramids, but, without success. I was to see them weeks later, when I returned to Cairo at the end of my 3-week journey along the Nile; today, I fly on to South Egypt. I’d saved the best for last: Cairo’s most famous resident, the Sphinx, flanked by the Giza pyramids. Or, so I thought.
The Giza pyramids
The vast brown desert with miles & miles of nothing-ness.
The wind blows wisps of sand around, creating swooshing sounds.
A gentle storm brews & you hold on tight to your camel; you should be approaching the pyramids any minute now.
As you go over a dune, lo-behold! Amidst the swirling sand, you see silhouettes of the three pyramids. Drawing your veil tightly across your face, you race your camel towards these marvels & stop in your tracks as you come close.
You are tongue-tied. You let the enormity of the structures sink in.
There’s not a sound around, except for the swooshing sand; probably carrying messages from deep within these magnificent tombs.
You feel like you’ve been transported to 5000 years ago.
A vast, paved parking lot with miles & miles of vehicles.
Plastic wrappers & paper stubs flying around you.
Taxis honk as people dart across the narrow street & you hold on tight to your seat; you should be approaching the pyramids any minute now.
As you near a Pizza Hut, lo-behold! You can see the entrance & the mad rush of people walking in.
Drawing your bag closer to your chest, you jostle your way towards these marvels & stop in your tracks as you come close.
You are tongue-tied. You let the enormity of the structures sink in.
You also let these facts sink in: The pyramids are smack in the centre of bustling Cairo. There’re three buses obstructing your view of the pyramids. Somebody’s trying to sell you souvenirs & offer you camel rides. The area around the pyramid is fenced (of course, with good intent; to prevent vandalism). You struggle to see all the three pyramids together. There’s a lot of noise around, including a very loud one in my brain: Crash! Boom! Bang! That is the destruction of my fantasies & my rose-tinted glasses.
The paragraph about the desert was how I always imagined the pyramids to be. It was also what was shown on television & in movies, which I’d hungrily lapped up for years. Unfortunately, it does not exist. It takes a lot of concentration & effort on my part to shut all this out, to try & feel like I’ve been transported to 5000 years ago. I don’t succeed; I remain where I am.
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| The Great Pyramid - of Pharaoh Khufu |
Evolution of the pyramids
The Red pyramid, constructed at the now tried & tested angle of 43 degrees, was the first true pyramid to be successfully built. Sneferu was buried there. 104 metres tall, it is located at Dahshur, outside Cairo city. Very few people visit this beautiful & well-preserved pyramid, as it is overshadowed by the famous Giza pyramids. It works out to my advantage; a pyramid sans crowds, where you can climb down to the inner chamber without the snaking queues at Giza. With barely concealed excitement, I huff & puff my way up the extremely steep stone steps to the entrance, which is almost mid-way up the pyramid. Next, I bend over double & scrape my way downwards through a long, sloping, narrow passageway. And then, what I see knocks the wind out of me: I’m in the central chamber with a beautifully corbelled, 12 metres high ceiling. I also walk down to the next chamber, with an even higher ceiling. With barely any ventilation for about 30 minutes now, I am suddenly acutely conscious of the sulphurous smell. I work my way back up & out. Sunshine & a hot breeze greet me as I exit, but they’re a welcome change from the claustrophobia. I am jubilant; this feels like the pyramid of my dreams. |
| The Red Pyramid, with steps leading to its entrance |
The Giza pyramids are where all the practice bore fruit. The angle, the height, the proportion; everything is just perfect. And, the fact that they’re standing millennia later is a tribute to the architects’ skills. The great pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) is the tallest. Khufu, Sneferu’s son, built himself a wonder that was 146 metres high; almost 40 metres taller than his father’s Red pyramid. Over centuries, wind erosion is said to have reduced its height by almost 9 metres; it’s imposing, nonetheless. The two other smaller pyramids belong to Khafre (Chephren) & Menkaure.
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| The pyramid complex, seen from the main road |
Egyptian burial rituals involved burying ornaments & other valuables alongside the mummy. The massive pyramid was a dead give-away of the location of the valuables. Attracted by this wealth, thieves plundered & looted all tombs within pyramids. The next generation of pharaohs, wiser from seeing their forefathers’ tombs ransacked, started hiding their tombs underground. Thus were born the fabulously painted underground tombs at the Valley of the Kings in Luxor (Thebes), by then, the new capital of Egypt. King Tutankhamun’s treasures survived & awed us only because they were buried in his secret underground tomb. But, that’s another story. As for the pyramids, they were never built again. The pharaohs realised their folly; but if all follies led to such magnificence, would we mind them so much?
Revisiting Giza
The location of the Sphinx & the pyramids may have let me down, but, I don’t think I can leave Cairo without giving them a second chance. Perhaps, my description of the desert would have rung true millennia ago; the pharaohs could never have foreseen a city developing around the pyramids. The day before I leave Egypt, I’m back in the queue at Giza. On my earlier visit, I’d undertaken the difficult & extremely crowded trek into Khufu’s pyramid. This pyramid has a constant stream of visitors & to prevent more damage to the structure, visitors are advised not to spend too much time within. Today, I have only one agenda in mind. Refusing to give up until I find the pyramid of my dreams, I endure a long walk under the harsh sun, till I am well beyond the third pyramid. The view from here brings a smile back to my face. Most people, though, are too rushed to spend time & energy walking to this area. Now, un-hindered by noise or crowds, I can appreciate these structures at leisure. I pronounce that the pyramids deserve every bit of the attention they get. We, for all our modern tools & technology, still cannot ape the work done in that age; neither in precision nor in grandeur or scale.
Seated in the hot mid-day sun, I draw my scarf across my face; like a veil to shield me from the heat.
There’s neither a person in sight, nor a bus; all I can see is swathes of brown desert.
A gentle breeze blows, occasionally spraying me with the hot sand.
It’s silent, except for the swooshing sounds of the sand in the breeze.
A lone camel saunters past.
I sit on rocks, my bare toes drawing patterns in the sand, bustling Cairo far from my mind.
Slowly, the sand turns cooler & the pyramids start becoming silhouettes in the fading evening light.
This is as close as it can be, to my dream. I relish it.
Tips & facts:
The Sphinx is likely to have been modelled on Pharaoh Khafre. The nose was said to be cut off sometime before the 15th century. The Pharaoh’s beard too has fallen off the sculpture. The Sphinx is smaller than I’d imagined it to be. Most of the Sphinx’s facial features seem to have been remarkably well preserved until the early 19th century, based on sketches from the time. Currently, it’s been a struggle to preserve this monolith as it is undergoing rapid deterioration.
While at the pyramids, definitely visit the Solar Barque museum. It has a separate entry ticket but is absolutely worth it. Pharaoh Khufu’s Solar Barque (boat) is humungous & painstakingly restored. It is said to have been used to carry the body of the dead pharaoh across the Nile.
See the Sound & Light show at the pyramids. Though the lighting was a little over-the-top for my liking, I enjoyed being able to see the pyramids & the Sphinx at night; free from crowds, vehicles or touts. I enjoyed the narration & the atmosphere. The show is available in multiple languages; ensure you check about this before you go.
Curious to know more about Egypt, our itinerary & travel tips? Read on:
More stories from Egypt:
For my story published
in Jet Airways' in-flight magazine JetWings, read:
About Egypt, our Itinerary &
Hotel details:
Useful information & tips:
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Egypt: the realm of legends
Egypt is inseparable from pharaohs, monuments & history. And for good reason: it is awe-inducing. But, the country isn’t about only these; as most people unfortunately presume. If you wanted to, you could spend weeks in Egypt without stumbling over a pharaonic monument; even in the ‘usual suspects’ of Cairo-Luxor-Aswan. I explore both the famous & the little-known facets of these three cities. I then move away from the Nile to discover a different Egypt: snorkel in the Red sea, hike up a mountain with other worshipers, pluck dates off a tree in an oasis & sleep under the stars in a desert.
This is a link to my article on Egypt, that's been published in Jet Airways' in-flight magazine, JetWings, in the Nov 2011 edition: Monday, 15 August 2011
Along the Nile
Egypt: oft-visited, oft-advertised, travel agents’ favourite package tour. I’d seen hordes of families signing up for the 3n-4d or 6n-7d packages to Egypt & return; happy at having seen the pyramids. People seem to go for 4 to 7 days so we’d probably need 10-12 days; that’s what I figured. So, I began reading & planning. And the 12 days grew to 15, then to 18, then to 21, then to 25, then to 30 & would have probably grown further had I not stopped myself, alarmed. K threw a fit:”Are you crazy? Asking my boss for a month off is hara-kiri & I refuse to do it. Cut it down”. He didn’t understand why we needed to go for 30 days. And then I explained to him what my research had thrown up; enticed him with pictures. Soon, he was convinced but said that he could try for maybe 25 days. Over the next couple of weeks, we both negotiated with our respective bosses. Bargained hard. Tried to save every day possible. Finally, all 4 of us arrived at a consensus: it was to be 23 days. Well….I could live with that!
Fast-forward to 3 months later - My history teacher’s voice echoes in my head, as I day-dream: The Egyptian civilization, mummies, the porcelain beauty of Nefertiti, Cleopatra’s milk baths, King Tut’s riches, fine Egyptian cotton (supposedly rivaling silk), Papyrus leaves, Cuneiform script, Hieroglyphics, Abu Simbel, Karnak temple’s hypostyle hall, King Ramses, Queen Hatshepsut, the Nile, the Sphinx, the Giza pyramids. When I studied to be an architect, Egypt again had a lot to offer. Finally, it was time for me to see it all. 
An October evening, my flight hovers over Cairo, preparing to land. It’s just 5 pm but the sun’s already set. I crane my neck trying to get a glimpse of the pyramids, but, without success. I was to see them weeks later, when I returned to Cairo; journeying along the Nile, South to North. Today, I take a connecting flight to Aswan, where I reach at midnight, to begin my 3-week odyssey across Egypt.
It’s crazy to even attempt writing about each & every temple that we saw, every tomb that we visited, every museum that we wandered into, every statue that we admired, every carving that awed us, every god we tried to recognise & every hieroglyphic we pored over. Egypt has history seeping through every pore & copious amounts at that; even the most avid history buffs can get tombed-out & templed-out after just a week of monument hopping. But, that’s not all there is to the country.
Space out the history with some walks on the beach; a dive into the inviting aquamarine sea; some surprisingly accessible snorkeling; quiet walks along corniches (roads by the sea), watching the sun go down; spend hot afternoons savouring the cool breeze at sea, as you sail in a felucca (traditional wooden sailboats); go potty in souks, bargaining for that thing that you must have; eat delicious food : fresh, crunchy & exotic; walk the dunes in a desert & feel incredibly tiny; eat some of the yummiest dates you’ll ever taste, plucked straight from the tree; gape at the starry sky over the desert; trek all night to the top of Mt.Sinai for some glorious sunrise; take a hot-air balloon ride for a birds’-eye view of monuments; wander around past midnight, watching the markets & roads come alive with locals out for a stroll…. 
Let me also put in a word of caution: Travelling across Egypt requires you to be prepared. Disclaimer: No amount of preparation may prepare you for what you will experience. With this perplexing statement, read this for tips that I put together after my trip to Egypt.
Along the Nile
My first taste of Egypt was at Aswan, near the Sudanese border; usually just a transit point for visitors to Abu Simbel, that stupendous temple built by the megalomaniac Ramses II. I spent a few days here that left me wondering why people didn’t explore this town. Small, with a leisurely pace of life & a friendly Nubian population, Aswan is a great place to unwind. Here, the Nile is at her most beautiful. I spent hot afternoons drifting around in a traditional sailboat, a felucca, cooled by the river breeze; sometimes, I stopped at the botanical garden island, to seek shade amongst exotic trees.
Evenings, I joined locals strolling around the river-side promenade, the corniche; watching the sun set, munching on falafels. Sometimes, I spent time in a Nubian village across the Nile; sipping Hibiscus juice, Karkadai, seated in a typical roof-less house with a sand floor. Souq lovers, Khan-al-Khalili in Cairo may be your mecca but I think the lively souq in Aswan is the best. Throw in the excellent Nubian museum, a sound & light show at the isolated Philae temple, fresh local food by the Nile & I had to drag myself away from Aswan to proceed to Luxor.
From Aswan, we drove to Luxor in the convoy. Luxor is in central Egypt, by the Nile. It is on the popular tourist circuit & hence, crowded. Thebes, as Luxor was called centuries ago, was the prosperous capital of ancient Egypt. This explains why it is filled with stunning architecture. The Nile cuts across Luxor too. Ancient Egyptians believed that the east bank signifies life as the sun rises here while the west bank signifies death because that’s where the sun sets. While all the monuments & temples are on the east bank, the west is filled with a treasure trove of hidden underground tombs, all brilliantly painted. Mesmerising, to say the least. I spent a few days soaking all the monuments in. Equally distracting are the collection of artefacts at Luxor museum & the unique Mummification museum, which tells you all you wanted to know about the process.
Staying in the quieter west bank amongst sugarcane fields, I walked about, chatting up locals & occasionally stopping for a cuppa at tea-stalls. A ferry ride to the East bank & you can walk along the corniche or ride a caleche (horse-carriage) through the markets. If you’ve had enough of the water, Luxor allows you to take to the air! A hot-air balloon ride at sunrise gives you a birds’-eye view of all where you’ve been to while grounded. And, given the plethora of monuments, it makes for an interesting landscape. Sometimes, flying over the roof-less houses, we could literally peek into people’s lives. I wonder what they felt about that!
Sinai & the Red Sea
It was time to de-tomb & de-temple myself; a dose of Dahab was just what I needed. A small town by the Red sea, it is an extremely popular place for scuba diving & snorkeling, blessed with abundant corals & marine life. It's a shame I didn't have an under-water camera! When I wasn’t in water, I could be found relaxing on one of the lounge beds, drink in hand, staring across the waters into the land-mass of neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The Assalah beach was barely a pebble strip but with aquamarine water like this, who needs the sand? Further down, it did widen into a sandy beach but I refused to be parted from my perch. In the evening, it was time to dress & return to the same shacks; by then, they’d metamorphosised into lively eateries & bars, adorned with twinkling lights, music & candle-lit tables. If more activity is what you crave; the water-sports, desert safaris by jeep or camel, relaxing massages & shopping will satiate that.
If you can break away from this languorous life-style for a night; drive a couple of hours to Mt.Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. Some people undertake the climb as a pilgrimage and then visit St. Katherine’s monastery after they descend. About 1500 of us began climbing at 2 am & reached the summit just in time to catch sunrise. Along the dark, 5 km long trail, moonlight & torches are your only source of light. Camels guided by Bedouins can carry people who are unable to climb, for a part of the trail. The last 1.5 kms has to be climbed by foot. The total height that we climbed is 2900 metres. The climb in the freezing cold, under the starry sky, was quite an experience; as was the view over the vast expanse of the Eastern desert. As the sun rose over the peaks, there was a collective cheer. Snugly ensconced in a thick blanket, I was thankful for the vendors at the summit, who hire these out. A mug of hot chocolate in my hands would have been wishful thinking!
Wanting to fulfill a long-standing wish to stay in an oasis, my next stop was at Bahariya in the Western desert. The oasis was as tiny & green as I’d imagined. Life there seemed frozen in time. I watched Tamar, my guide, as he plucked a few dates off the tree & offered them to me. When I was about to wash the sand stuck to the dates, he coaxed me into eating them with the sand; he claimed it added to the taste. And he was right; they were the softest & tastiest dates I’d ever eaten! Tamar & Somali were to be my guides into the desert. Somali was so named by his parents because he’s dark skinned unlike the fair men & women in the desert. The pretty women in the oasis were all clad in colourful gowns called abeyyas, famed for local embroidery work adorning them. I bought one for myself at a women’s co-operative; a memento of my Egyptian sojourn. 
I set off to visit the famous Black desert. We drove around in a 4-wheel drive, which could manoeuvre the sand dunes; sometimes at heart-stopping acute angles. En-route, when Tamar dropped by his aunt’s to say hello, she insisted on rustling up a quick meal for us. After we’d lunched around the traditional communal plate, we drove towards the White desert. Famous for its sculptural white-rock formations, this desert plays on your imagination. I whiled away time naming all the rocks based on their shape: mushroom, whale, dove, lion-head & Alladin’s lamp. As the light dimmed that afternoon, we set up camp. Soon, we sat basking in the warmth of a roaring fire, taking turns playing the Zummara (a traditional Egyptian clarinet); with me producing noise compared to the mellifluous notes my guides generated from it. Since my tent collapsed (not related to how badly I played the instrument); I slept in the open, with the starry sky for a roof. Shivering under blankets with temperatures hovering a little above zero, I literally saw a million stars!
Cairo: dense, congested and as chaotic as the Kushari; a Cairene dish of rice, pasta, lentils, onions & gravy mixed together & sold by the bowl. And, as inviting! I reached Cairo at the end of my trip, to unwind & summarise all that the last 2 weeks had offered me. Cairo’s most famous resident is the Sphinx, flanked by the Giza pyramids. Once I’d seen all the monuments, I explored the rest of Cairo’s offerings. There’s the mammoth Egyptian Museum with un-believable treasures on display, which you can put into context once you’ve seen all the historical sites around Egypt. And then, there are the mummies; not looking like they’ve died aeons ago, but just sleeping peacefully.
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| The Red Pyramid |
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| A view of Cairo |
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| Ibn Tulun mosque |
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| Inside Mohammad Ali Basha mosque |
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| Lanterns at Sultan Al-Hassan mosque |
Egyptians, both young & old, are crazy about Amitabh Bachchan! They have a channel which screens Hindi movies 24 x 7! The family set-up in Egypt is very similar to India, which is why they say they can relate to our movies. Indian tourists are rare to find except in Cairo & the main tourist sites; so, we were chased everywhere we went. That was a very different feeling for us! People would run behind us calling out “Amitabh Bachchan” and would then shake our hands. We had some shopkeepers handing out things for free, just in exchange for a handshake. Our refusals to accept free goodies would be met by such doleful looks that we indulged them.
It's over-whelming to see monuments & artefacts from thousands of years ago. We, for all our modern tools & technology, still cannot ape the work done in that age; neither in precision nor in grandeur or scale. It makes you question: Were people 'backward' 5000 years ago or are we, now? For me, the thing that clinched it all was this: Where else in the world can you see monuments from so long ago as well as the bodies of the kings who had them built? With such an abundance of history staring you in the face, it’s little wonder that most people don’t see beyond it. But, if you do, Egypt rewards you.
Curious to know more about Egypt, our itinerary & travel tips? Read on:
More stories from Egypt:
For my story published in Jet Airways' in-flight magazine JetWings, read:
About Egypt, our Itinerary & Hotel details:
Useful information & tips:
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