Article and photos:Lam Linh
It took us about an hour to drive from the airport to the hotel. “That is if there is no traffic jam!”, the guide who picked us up warned us in advance. This problem seemed to be the biggest thing we always encountered during our time in Cairo, when the group had to wait for an hour at Tahir Freedom Square to get into the National Museum or to buy all kinds of things in the evening when there was a traffic jam near the Old Market at 11pm.
Cairo – Hot sand desert
Overwhelmed by the wonders I was about to see, I forgot the scorching heat outside, and stuck my camera lens out the car window. The city was bathed in a distinctive color – sand. The unplastered houses had their air conditioners running at full blast, along with countless advertising signs. The road ahead was packed with old cars. Countless fruit carts lined up right on the sidewalk. A guy on a bicycle weaved through the crowded traffic, one hand skillfully controlling the handlebars, the other holding a tray of bread, the bread we enjoyed at every meal in this Arab country.
Visitors enjoy wearing scarves to block the sun, climbing on colorful camels and admiring the famous Pyramids from above. One of the 118 Pyramids found, Khufu - the most intact Pyramid was built in 2600 BC, consisting of 2,300,000 huge stone slabs, weighing an average of 2.5 tons stacked on top of each other. The total weight of the Pyramid is 60,000,000 tons, equivalent to the height of a 40-story building. Although there are many hypotheses about how the ancient Egyptians built these great structures, each visitor here seems to have their own hypothesis. In the Pyramids, everything has been removed, to museums or private collections around the world, leaving only the Pyramids standing tall in the hot desert with wind, sand and sun.
One of the places that still preserves many antiquities is the Al Mathaf Al Masri Museum. In the 3-storey premises of the Museum, the most interesting room belongs to King Tutankhamun with a huge collection of extremely sophisticated gold and precious stone jewelry, an extremely delicately carved coffin and a 7kg golden head. Another equally fascinating room is the "Mummy" room, which displays 13 mummies found in the tombs of kings from more than 2000 BC. The Museum does not allow photography and you have to pay extra to enter the special rooms. The entrance fee is 100 pounds, students and reporters can get half price cards. The Museum opens at 9am and closes at 6pm every day.
On our way to the Nile for a riverside dinner, we stopped to visit the Muhammad Ali Mosque located in the famous Citadel. The mosque was built from 1830 to 1857. It is the largest mosque built in the first half of the 19th century under the direction of Muhammad Ali, in memory of his eldest son Tusun Pasha who died in 1816 and also symbolized Egypt's independence from the Ottoman Empire at that time.
In the Mosque, there were many tourists and worshippers gathered in groups on the bright red carpet. Together with the green of the dome, the yellow of the gold ceiling and the jade color of the Alabaster created the brilliant primary colors of the Mosque. Those who were not dressed modestly enough were given a blue cloak to cover their bodies. The young Egyptians were bold and cheerful, smiling when they saw tourists pointing their cameras at them.
Egyptian night, the sky was silvery bright at the far horizon.
Alexandria– Mediterranean Sea Eye
Alexandria welcomed us with warm sunshine and deep blue sea. As the second largest city in Egypt, 225km from Cairo, this 2000-year-old city is also the hometown of the most famous queen in ancient times – Cleopatra. Alexandria was founded by King Alexander the Great in 331 BC, the capital of the Lagide people.
Alexandria today with a coastline stretching over 30km is the most bustling and developed city in Egypt. The towering high-rise buildings grow close together, also curving along the long coastline, forming a perfect arc embracing the blue sea. An endless blue, it is difficult to distinguish between the sky and the sea.
Thousands of tourists are ready to immerse themselves in the clear blue water and countless exciting sea games such as paragliding, fishing, snorkeling, and jet skiing. Due to the Arab custom of modest dress, swimsuits are also designed to be as modest as possible so that Muslim women can still swim without being considered violating customs. In Egypt, tourists should avoid wearing clothes that are too sexy or too revealing when entering places that are sacred to Egyptians.
During our short trip to Alexandria, we only had time to visit two places. One is the only Roman amphitheater in Egypt, dating back to the 2nd century. The amphitheater has a diameter of about 42 meters. Outside the amphitheater are stone arches and walls, brick baths and the ruins of many houses from the Roman era. Although it has been destroyed over the years, the amphitheater still retains its charm and magnificent scenery. The layers of stones pushed against each other on the wall, each historical era stacked on top of each other, creating a special feature for the amphitheater.
The second place is Qaitbay fortress built on the old foundation of the famous Alexandria lighthouse. As one of the important protective ramparts not only of Egypt but also of the Mediterranean Strait since the 15th century, Qaitbay was built in a medieval style and was completely rebuilt in 2001-2002. Inside the fortress is a Naval Museum, displaying many artifacts of naval battles during the Roman and Napoleonic periods. Light shines into the fortress through cleverly arranged windows, creating magical color patches. At any angle, you can take beautiful pictures. The long corridors, clearly hearing the footsteps of people passing by, small spiral staircases take visitors to the 2nd and 3rd floors of the fortress.
Luxor – Flowers and Sun
Instead of buildings without a single plastered wall, the same color as the sand and the hot highways, the gentle Luxor welcomed us with two lanes of blooming flowers, from bougainvillea to pink roses whose names I did not know.
The beautiful Nile River divides Luxor into two parts. The East Bank is the "City of the Living", where Egyptians live with lush date palm gardens, while the West Bank is the "City of the Dead", where the Pharaohs sleep forever in tombs deep in the mountains and desert. In the sweltering heat of the desert, this land considered the hottest in Egypt is also where the most precious treasures of the land along the Nile are kept. Luxor was once the legendary capital of Thebes of ancient Egypt. The city has been recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage since 1979.
The most important destination in Luxor is Karnak Temple - the temple of the sun god Amun-Ree (Ree in Arabic means sun). Karnak Temple was built not by just one Pharaoh but by about 30 successive Pharaohs. The powerful kings built the magnificent pylons (entrance gates) with giant arches while the less powerful kings built smaller sections. The temple's entrance is two rows of massive ram-headed lions, although heavily damaged by time and war, still bears the special mark of a glorious period. The temple took me more than 2 hours because I was absorbed in admiring the sky-high stone pillars and the extremely sophisticated drawings on them.
Not far from Luxor Temple is the temple of the Sun God's wife. When we arrived at Luxor Temple, it was getting dark and Luxor was lit up. The golden light made the quiet statues in the temple even more magical. In the moonlight and starry night, the temple with its patterned pillars stood out against the seemingly never-ending sunlight of the arid desert. At 8:30 pm, we left Luxor and got on a high-horse carriage that drove around the city. A small tea party with delicious sweet dates was prepared by the hotel on the balcony so we could enjoy the cool breeze blowing from the Nile River while watching the brilliant night sky with thousands of twinkling stars.
Luxor is famous for its special heritage of the Pharaohs that still exists today such as Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens and the Memnon statues. The Valley of the Kings and Queens is located between the mountainsides and the treeless sandy desert. Although I was not allowed to take pictures and was only chosen to visit 3 out of more than 60 tombs that archaeologists have excavated in the Valley of the Kings, I was still so happy that I could not speak. Imagine walking among such great works, among names that are extremely famous and mysterious such as Pharaoh Tutankhamun, Pharaoh Ramses, Queen Titi, Queen Nefertari... The paintings still retain the colors and scenes of a glorious time gone by.
Leaving with nearly 20 large and small stone statues bearing the image of Egypt as gifts, I promised to return to this country of many priceless heritages one day soon, to explore Aswan, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and the places that I had read and known in books or in the story "In the desert and in the deep forest" since my childhood.
More information
- There are many airlines flying to Egypt, but they are all from countries in the ASEAN region such as Singapore and Thailand. The price is about 1000 USD round trip. Airlines currently operating flights include Egypt Air, Kuwait Air, Air Ethiopia, Qatar Airways, Thai Airways, etc.
- Time in Egypt is 5 hours slower than in Vietnam. Egyptians have meals quite far apart: breakfast can be 9-10am, lunch around 4-5pm and dinner 11-12pm.
- The fee for a tourist visa with an invitation letter is 16 USD. Without an invitation letter, you must go through a travel agency and the price is 70 USD. Egyptian Embassy address: 63 To Ngoc Van, Hanoi.
- The cost of going to Egypt is not expensive, if you spend wisely with the main currency being Egyptian Pound (LE), the exchange rate is about 1 USD = 5.7975 LE
- Driving in Egypt is terrible, with the speed and weaving. The first time you come, you will be shocked by the way taxi drivers drive.
- Bargain enthusiastically for everything from water bottles to souvenirs. People told me to bargain 1/5, but there were items that could be bargained up to 1/10.
- Hotels in Egypt are pretty good for $15 – $20. Internet is very expensive and slow.
- The weather in Egypt varies more than 20 degrees between day and night, you should bring warm clothes to wear in the evening. The temperature during the day is about 38, 39 degrees while at night it is 22, 23 degrees.
- Egypt is a Muslim country, so when you go out you should dress modestly with long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and sandals. When walking on the street at night, you should go in groups, never go alone.
- Gifts to bring home: Stone statues, reliefs, spa aromatherapy, perfumes, paintings and dates.
