Vichchoobhai goes to Cairo
This is a travelogue on my trip to Egypt. This is my first travelogue. I have travelled a bit but never felt the need to write one. But do get a strong feeling now. Tell u why:
Egypt has been a dream destination for a holiday since as far back as i can remember. I spent many lazy hours in my childhood in delhi fantasising about king tutenkhamun and the indescribable ( so i read) treasures in his tomb and about the various mummified pharaohs.
This is the trip i rehearsed most before embarking on and so i was up to my nose with egyptian history even before reaching Cairo ! Dont want to lose all that info.
It all started with my friend Aucke having to travel to Cairo on work and he thoughtfully invited me offering board and lodge on his expense account. I grabbed the offer. We set out from Amsterdam to Milan by Alitalia and thence to Cairo. Alitalia is at the cutting edge of customer service ( they cut u into little pieces) with a decrepit plane with grumpy old airhostesses , much like our own Air India, but this did not dampen my enthusiasm.
We reacahed Cairo at the very convenient time of 1.30 am but there was an office car waiting with a suited and booted driver saying a cheery "Welcome to Cairo" and the trip had begun!
The first two days were not on expense account so we checked into a budget hotel called Longchamps.It was aso like hotels in delhi or mumbai so i felt at home. For $48 a day it was a good deal, a large room and a clean bathroom breakfast included in the fare.So far so good.
We went to sleep at 3 am. I was determined not to let sightseeing mania go to my head and told myself a hundred times to take it easy. Set the alarm at 8.30 am but didnt hear it going and got up at 9 am.
A brief history of Egypt will not be out of place here. Egypt produced arguably the most glorious civilisation witnessed 5000 years aago when the rest of the human race was still hunting with clubs and roaming around naked. Egyptians made bread,brewed beer and mixed paint.The river Nile was their lifeline. Upper Egypt extended from Aswan to the southern tip of modern Cairo while lower Egypt spread from the point where the Nile fanned into a fertile triangle some 200 kms before reaching the Mediterranean sea. The unificationof Upper and Lower Egypt was accomplished by a King called Narmer. He stands at the beginning of Egypt's ancient history which is divided into 30 dynasties from Narmer to Alexander the Great (greek!)
The old kingdom is considered by many historians as the high water mark of achievement.The great pyramids of Giza wre built by three Pharaohs from this period.
Most of the buildings in ancient Egypt including the royal palaces were built of perishable materials such as brick and wood while the tombs were made of stone to last for eternity. So, while the magnificent palaces perished, the tombs survived. This distinction gives one the erroneous impression that the Egyptians were preoccupied with death.
The pyramid is basically a tomb. It was the Egyptians' belief in eternal life that was the basis for the construction of these incredible mausoleums. The Pharaoh as the son of Gods was also their intermediary and his role was to conduct Gods' power to his people. He was therefore honoured in life and worshipped in death.
While pyramids were only for the pharaohs and sometimes for their immediate family members mummies were not the preserve of rulers only. Many wealthy people ordered for their bodies to be mummified and for their favourite objects/foods to be buried with them.
The pyramids were constructed by tens of thousands of workers as a highly organised workforce. The magnitude of the task can be gauged by the figures before us. The great pyramid of Khufu the oldest in Egypt and the largest - stood 146 metres high when completed in 2570 BC. About 2.3 million limestone blocks each weighing 2.5 tons were used!!!
There are some historians/egyptologists who believe that the millimetre precise cutting, carving and placement of these massive blocks at such heights was beyond egyptians and that the pyramids were probably constructed by ...angels, devils or Extra terrestrials. Easy to laugh off, but visit the pyramids to understand what may provoke such statements.
After this lenghty introduction, I continue my interesting travelogue tomorrow .. just wait.
Egypt has been a dream destination for a holiday since as far back as i can remember. I spent many lazy hours in my childhood in delhi fantasising about king tutenkhamun and the indescribable ( so i read) treasures in his tomb and about the various mummified pharaohs.
This is the trip i rehearsed most before embarking on and so i was up to my nose with egyptian history even before reaching Cairo ! Dont want to lose all that info.
It all started with my friend Aucke having to travel to Cairo on work and he thoughtfully invited me offering board and lodge on his expense account. I grabbed the offer. We set out from Amsterdam to Milan by Alitalia and thence to Cairo. Alitalia is at the cutting edge of customer service ( they cut u into little pieces) with a decrepit plane with grumpy old airhostesses , much like our own Air India, but this did not dampen my enthusiasm.
We reacahed Cairo at the very convenient time of 1.30 am but there was an office car waiting with a suited and booted driver saying a cheery "Welcome to Cairo" and the trip had begun!
The first two days were not on expense account so we checked into a budget hotel called Longchamps.It was aso like hotels in delhi or mumbai so i felt at home. For $48 a day it was a good deal, a large room and a clean bathroom breakfast included in the fare.So far so good.
We went to sleep at 3 am. I was determined not to let sightseeing mania go to my head and told myself a hundred times to take it easy. Set the alarm at 8.30 am but didnt hear it going and got up at 9 am.
A brief history of Egypt will not be out of place here. Egypt produced arguably the most glorious civilisation witnessed 5000 years aago when the rest of the human race was still hunting with clubs and roaming around naked. Egyptians made bread,brewed beer and mixed paint.The river Nile was their lifeline. Upper Egypt extended from Aswan to the southern tip of modern Cairo while lower Egypt spread from the point where the Nile fanned into a fertile triangle some 200 kms before reaching the Mediterranean sea. The unificationof Upper and Lower Egypt was accomplished by a King called Narmer. He stands at the beginning of Egypt's ancient history which is divided into 30 dynasties from Narmer to Alexander the Great (greek!)
The old kingdom is considered by many historians as the high water mark of achievement.The great pyramids of Giza wre built by three Pharaohs from this period.
Most of the buildings in ancient Egypt including the royal palaces were built of perishable materials such as brick and wood while the tombs were made of stone to last for eternity. So, while the magnificent palaces perished, the tombs survived. This distinction gives one the erroneous impression that the Egyptians were preoccupied with death.
The pyramid is basically a tomb. It was the Egyptians' belief in eternal life that was the basis for the construction of these incredible mausoleums. The Pharaoh as the son of Gods was also their intermediary and his role was to conduct Gods' power to his people. He was therefore honoured in life and worshipped in death.
While pyramids were only for the pharaohs and sometimes for their immediate family members mummies were not the preserve of rulers only. Many wealthy people ordered for their bodies to be mummified and for their favourite objects/foods to be buried with them.
The pyramids were constructed by tens of thousands of workers as a highly organised workforce. The magnitude of the task can be gauged by the figures before us. The great pyramid of Khufu the oldest in Egypt and the largest - stood 146 metres high when completed in 2570 BC. About 2.3 million limestone blocks each weighing 2.5 tons were used!!!
There are some historians/egyptologists who believe that the millimetre precise cutting, carving and placement of these massive blocks at such heights was beyond egyptians and that the pyramids were probably constructed by ...angels, devils or Extra terrestrials. Easy to laugh off, but visit the pyramids to understand what may provoke such statements.
After this lenghty introduction, I continue my interesting travelogue tomorrow .. just wait.
posted by vichchoobhai at 6:42 AM
2 Comments:
Something new starts today. Read part 2 and maybe part 3.
When one is not sure of the gender, one uses feminine. Thata is the unwritten rule. So, if u confirm u r a he i will change over.
Ha..that would make many men women.
and many feminists angry.
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