Egypt – Hot, seductive, and enchanting.

Text and photos:Lam Linh

It took us about an hour to drive from the airport to the hotel. "That's assuming there's no traffic!" our guide warned us. This seemed to be the biggest problem we encountered during our time in Cairo, as the whole group had to wait for an hour at Tahir Square to get into the National Museum, or rush to buy things in the evening when traffic jams near the Old Market at 11 pm were unbearable.

Cairo – A scorching desert of sand

Overwhelmed by the wonders I was about to witness, I forgot about the scorching heat outside and pointed my camera out the car window. The city was bathed in a distinctive color – the color of sand. Unplastered houses with air conditioners running at full power and countless advertising signs. The road ahead was crammed with old cars. Countless fruit carts lined the sidewalks. A young man on a bicycle weaved through the busy traffic, one hand skillfully steering the handlebars, the other carrying a tray of bread, the kind we enjoyed at every meal in this Arabian land.

Visitors enjoy wrapping themselves in sun-protective scarves, riding on colorful, swaying camels, and admiring the famous pyramids from above. One of the 118 pyramids ever found, the Great Pyramid of Giza – the most intact – was built around 2600 BC and consists of 2,300,000 massive stone blocks, each 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. While there are many theories about how the ancient Egyptians built these magnificent structures, each visitor seems to offer their own hypothesis. Inside the pyramids, everything else has been moved to museums or private collections around the world, leaving only the pyramids standing majestically in the scorching desert, exposed to wind, sand, and sun.

One of the places that still preserves a wealth of ancient artifacts is the Al Mathaf Al Masri Museum. Within the museum's three-story grounds, the most interesting room belongs to King Tutankhamun, with its vast collection of exquisitely crafted gold and gemstone jewelry, an extremely finely carved sarcophagus, and a 7kg golden head. Another equally fascinating room is the "Mummy" room, which displays 13 mummies found in the tombs of kings dating back over 2000 BC. Photography is not permitted at the museum, and there is an additional fee to enter the special rooms. The entrance fee is 100 pounds, with a 50% discount for students and journalists with accreditation. The museum opens at 9:00 AM and closes at 6:00 PM daily.

On our way to the Nile for a riverside dinner, we stopped to visit the Muhammad Ali Mosque located within the magnificent Citadel. The mosque was built between 1830 and 1857. It is the largest mosque constructed 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 as a symbol of Egypt's independence from the Ottoman Empire at that time.

Inside the mosque, crowds of tourists and devotees gathered in groups on the vibrant red carpet. The green of the dome, the gold of the ceiling gilding, and the emerald hue of the alabaster stones created a dazzling array of colors for the mosque. Those not dressed modestly were given a blue robe to cover themselves. Young Egyptians, confident and cheerful, smiled as tourists pointed their cameras at them.

In Egyptian nights, the sky glows a silvery white at the distant horizon.

Alexandria– The Eye of the Mediterranean Sea

Alexandria welcomed us with warm sunshine and a deep blue sea. The second largest city in Egypt, located 225km from Cairo, this city, over 2000 years old, is also the birthplace of the most famous queen of antiquity – Cleopatra. Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria was the capital of the Lagide people.

Today, Alexandria, with its coastline stretching over 30km, is the most bustling and developed city in Egypt. Towering skyscrapers stand close together, curving along the long coastline to form a perfect arc embracing the blue sea. An endless expanse of blue, making it difficult to distinguish between the sky and the sea.

Thousands of tourists are ready to immerse themselves in the crystal-clear waters and enjoy a myriad of exciting water activities such as parasailing, fishing, snorkeling, and jet skiing. Due to the modest dress code of the Arabs, swimwear is designed to be as modest as possible so that Muslim women can swim without being considered to be violating customs. In Egypt, tourists should avoid wearing overly revealing or provocative clothing when entering sacred sites.

During our short trip to Alexandria, we only managed to visit two places. One was the only Roman amphitheater in Egypt, dating back to the 2nd century. The amphitheater had a grandstand diameter of approximately 42 meters. Outside the amphitheater were stone arches and walls, brick baths, and the ruins of many Roman buildings. Despite the damage over the years, the amphitheater still retained its charm and magnificent scenery. The overlapping layers of stone on the walls, representing different historical eras, created a unique feature for the amphitheater.
The second location is the Qaitbay Fortress, built on the former site of the famous Alexandria Lighthouse. One of the most important defensive strongholds not only of Egypt but also of the Mediterranean Sea since the 15th century, Qaitbay, built in the medieval style, was completely rebuilt in 2001-2002. Inside the fortress is a Naval Museum, displaying many artifacts from Roman and Napoleonic naval battles. Light streams into the fortress through cleverly placed windows, creating a magical array of colors. From any angle, you can capture stunning photographs. Long, winding corridors, where you can clearly hear footsteps, and small spiral staircases lead visitors to the second and third floors of the fortress.

Luxor – Flowers and sunshine

Instead of buildings with no plastered walls, a uniform color of sand, and highways scorching hot tires, Luxor gently welcomed us with two lanes of flowers in full bloom, from bougainvillea to pink roses whose names I didn't know.

The beautiful Nile River divides Luxor into two parts. The East Bank is the "City of the Living," where Egyptians live amidst lush date palm groves, while the West Bank is the "City of the Dead," where the Pharaohs rest in eternal peace in tombs nestled deep within the mountains and desert. In the scorching desert sun, this region, considered the hottest in Egypt, also holds some of the most precious treasures of the land along the Nile. Luxor was once the legendary capital of ancient Egypt, Thebes. The city has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979.

The most important destination in Luxor is the Karnak Temple – the temple of the sun god Amun-Ree (Ree in Arabic means sun). The Karnak Temple was built not by just one Pharaoh, but by about 30 successive Pharaohs. The powerful kings built the magnificent pylons (gateways) with their enormous columns and arches, while the less powerful kings built smaller sections. The temple's entrance features two rows of massive ram-headed lions, which, despite being heavily damaged by time and war, still bear the distinctive mark of a glorious era. The temple took me over two hours to explore, captivated by the towering stone columns and the incredibly intricate carvings on them.

Not far from Luxor Temple is the temple dedicated to the wife of the sun god. By the time we arrived, it was getting dark and Luxor was illuminated. The golden light made the solemn statues within the temple even more mystical. In the moonlit, starlit night, the temple, with its ornate columns, stood out against the seemingly never-ending sky of the arid desert. At 8:30 pm, we left Luxor, boarding a tall horse-drawn carriage for a scenic ride around the city. A small afternoon tea with delicious sweet dates was prepared on the hotel balcony so we could enjoy the cool breeze from the Nile while gazing at the brilliant night sky filled with countless twinkling stars.

Luxor is famous for its exceptional legacy of the Pharaohs that still exists today, such as the Karnak Temple, the Luxor Temple, the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, and the Memnon statues. The Valley of the Kings and Queens lies amidst mountain slopes and vast, treeless sandy deserts. Even though photography wasn't allowed and I was only chosen to visit three of the more than 60 tombs unearthed by archaeologists in the Valley of the Kings, I was still overwhelmed with joy. Imagine walking among such magnificent structures, surrounded by names so famous and mysterious: Pharaoh Tutankhamun, Pharaoh Ramses, Queen Titi, Queen Nefertari… Paintings with their colors perfectly preserved, depicting scenes from a glorious bygone era.

Leaving with nearly 20 large and small stone statues depicting incredibly Egyptian scenes as souvenirs, I promised to return to this country of priceless heritage one day soon, to explore Aswan, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, and other places I had read about and known from books or stories like "In the Desert and in the Jungle" since childhood.

Additional information

• Many airlines fly to Egypt, but they are mostly from ASEAN countries such as Singapore and Thailand. The price is around 1000 USD for a round trip. Airlines currently operating this route include Egypt Air, Kuwait Air, Air Ethiopia, Qatar Airways, Thai Airways, etc.
• Time in Egypt is 5 hours behind in Vietnam. Egyptians have relatively long meal times: breakfast might be around 9-10 am, lunch around 4-5 pm, and dinner at 11-12 am.
• The fee for a tourist visa is 16 USD if you have an invitation letter; without an invitation letter, you must go through a travel agency, and the price is 70 USD. The address of the Egyptian Embassy is: 63 To Ngoc Van Street, Hanoi.
• Traveling to Egypt isn't expensive if you spend wisely, using the Egyptian Pound (LE) as the main currency, with an exchange rate of approximately 1 USD = 5.7975 LE.
• Driving in Egypt is incredibly dangerous, with all the speed and reckless driving. First-time visitors will be terrified by the way taxi drivers drive.
• I enthusiastically bargained for everything from water bottles to souvenirs. People told me to bargain down to 1/5 of the original price, but for some items, I could bargain down to 1/10.
• Hotels in Egypt for $15-$20 are pretty good. Internet is very expensive and slow.
• The weather in Egypt has a temperature difference of more than 20 degrees Celsius between day and night, so you should bring a warm jacket to wear in the evening. Daytime temperatures are around 38-39 degrees Celsius, while nighttime temperatures are around 22-23 degrees Celsius.
• Egypt is a Muslim country, so when going out you should dress modestly with long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and sandals. When walking on the streets at night, you should go in a group, never alone.
• Souvenirs to take home: Stone statues, reliefs, spa aromatherapy, perfumes, paintings, and dates.

The Thanh