EGYPT
In the footsteps of Pharaohs in Egypt
Egyptomaniacs in the making meet gods, kings and friendly mortals face-to-face during a walking tour of the country's glorious past.
A felucca sailed in front of an orange sun, which was sinking behind a ridge on the far side of the Nile. Turning away from the river, I darted through a stream of cars and horse-drawn calashes, then stepped onto the broad plaza of the Temple of Luxor. The sky was fast going to cobalt as spotlights illuminated a double row of sphinxes, an obelisk and the great entrance gate flanked by monumental statues of Ramses II. A recording of the call to prayer blared from loudspeakers on a nearby minaret, drowning out all other sounds.
On every vacation there's a time when sights and sounds intersect to create a memory that becomes one of the standout moments of your life. That balmy evening in Luxor was the essence of my recent "trip of a lifetime" to Egypt.
If you go
THE BEST WAY TO CAIRO
From LAX, Delta offers direct service (stop, no change of planes) to Cairo, and
TOURS
Country Walkers, P.O. Box 180,
TO LEARN MORE
Tourist information can be found at www.egypt.travel
I wasn't enthusiastic, though, when my husband, Ralph, first suggested Egypt. I dreamed of seeing the pyramids, but the thought of planning a trip was daunting. But when Country Walkers, a
Friends and family were not as certain. "Egypt?" they said, after a pause. "Are you sure it's safe?"
It was after dark when we landed in Cairo, so I didn't see the pyramids until the next morning. I woke, raced to the balcony of our room at the Mena House Oberoi hotel and gazed out at an immense triangle, and another smaller one to the right. In the haze, they looked two-dimensional and, frankly, disappointing. It wasn't until I got a closer look that the massive, blocky structures became real to me. Lovely they are not. But as symbols of mankind's ability to conceive and execute a grandiose plan, the Pyramids of Giza are unmatched.
Most time-strapped visitors take a bus to the pyramids, but we were on a walking tour. Our group of 14, along with our guide, Egyptologist Inas Hassan, set out from the hotel, continuing uphill past the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Khafre to a panoramic viewpoint. A long downhill stroll past the Pyramid of Menkaure brought us face-to-face with the inscrutable Sphinx. My lifelong dream of seeing the pyramids was fulfilled in a morning's walk.
We walked an easy two or three miles that day and averaged five to six a day. Because of the flat terrain along the Nile, the walks were not strenuous, and any reasonably fit person should be able to do them.
That afternoon, we took a motor coach to the site of the Giza Pyramids' precursor, the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, completed in the 27th century BC. In the distance, we saw the Bent Pyramid, so called because the angle of slope changes halfway up, and the Red Pyramid. Amazingly, discoveries are still being made. In November, it was announced that a 4,300-year-old pyramid base had been unearthed at Saqqara, bringing to 118 the number of Egypt's pyramids.
The rest of our walks in Cairo were urban hikes. We trekked through the Citadel of Saladin and the Mosque of
We saw security police throughout the city and, like other groups, we were accompanied by a guard wherever we walked. The unsmiling guards dressed in suits and made little effort to conceal the automatic weapons under their jackets.
In my younger days, I wouldn't have considered traveling with a group. But now, I'm happy to let someone else figure out schedules, book hotels and arrange transportation. Country Walkers keeps its groups small, and I agree with its premise: Walking is a great way to see a country and get to know its people. Our fellow group members were veteran travelers. At mealtimes, we'd talk about the day's sights, then segue into our experiences in India, Bhutan, Corsica and Peru.
In visiting several Cairo restaurants, we found that Egyptian food isn't too different from other Middle Eastern cuisines. Lunches and dinners usually began with bread and starters, or mezes, made up ofshared dishes of hummus, baba ghanouj, tahini or tamiya, the Egyptian version of falafel. A bowl of tomato or lentil soup followed, then rice and perhaps lamb, fish, chicken kebabs or a vegetable tagine. Dessert might be rice pudding or Om Ali, a light bread pudding laced with nuts, raisins and coconut. The most typically Egyptian dish we had was koshari, a mixture of rice, pasta, lentils, fava beans and garbanzos, topped with tomato sauce and fried onions.
It was a relief to leave busy, noisy Cairo. We flew to Aswan, and, after touring the High Dam, we boarded a luxury yacht -- a dahabeah (da-ha-BEE-ya)."
The Afandina (meaning king or protector) was our home on the river for three days. A modern, steel-hulled vessel that harks back to the 19th century, it's a double-masted sailboat -- in theory, anyway. Because we had a tight schedule, we couldn't rely on the wind, and the crew unfurled the sail only once. The rest of the time we were nudged along by a companion tugboat. The eight small staterooms have picture windows and private bathrooms. There's also a wood-paneled dining room and a lounge/library with a computer and flat-screen television. The dahabeah provided unforgettable moments: eating lunch on the deck, having afternoon tea on the banks of the Nile or just sitting in the warm breeze at sunset, watching the palm-lined shore slide by.
The craft's small size allowed it to dock in places inaccessible to cruise ships. The first afternoon, we walked to Beida, a predominantly Nubian village with domed houses painted bright gold, burgundy or lavender. Decorated doorways led to sandy courtyards.
A local guide dressed in a crisp white galabia talked several families into letting us enter their homes, and I felt privileged to meet the gracious women and curious children.
Another morning, we walked to the village of Faris during rush hour. Boys on donkeys and men in carts or white pickup trucks waved as they passed. At the edge of town, two men sat outside fashioning crate-like baskets from palm fronds.
Our local guide went to the multistory school up the road and asked whether we could visit. We tromped upstairs in the new, clean building to visit a class of 15-year-olds. Six girls and 18 boys sat at two-student desks, looking attentive and obedient -- much more so than any sophomore class I ever taught. One boy recited a lesson for us in flawless English.
Many of our walks were to and around temples that line the Nile. Dating from the Ptolemaic Period (323-30 BC), they have similar elements: a high entrance gate or pylon, an interior courtyard, a hypostyle (many columns) hall and a small, dark "holy of holies" sanctuary that in ancient times could be entered only by the high priest. Covering every surface are depictions of kings, gods, goddesses and explanatory hieroglyphics.
At Edfu, we left the dahabeah and, after seeing the Temple of Edfu, boarded a motor coach to Luxor (ancient Thebes), where we checked into the Sofitel Winter Palace hotel. The hotel's location on the Corniche el Nile made for pleasant walks along the river. It was also near a dock for small outboard boats that ferried us to sites on the west bank. Again, an armed guard accompanied the group whenever we walked.
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