Egypt: Useful
information about country.
fiogf49gjkf0d Egypt is the oldest tourist destination on earth. Ancient Greeks and Romans started the trend, coming to goggle at the cyclopean scale of the Pyramids and the Colossi of Thebes. At the onset of colonial times, Napoleon and the British in turn looted Egypt's treasures to fill their national museums, sparking off a trickle of Grand Tourists that, by the 1860s, had grown into a flood of travellers, packaged for their Nile cruises and Egyptological lectures by the enterprising Thomas Cook.
Today, the attractions of the country are little different. The focus of most visits remains the great monuments of the Nile Valley, combined with a few days spent exploring the souks, mosques and
madrassas
of Islamic Cairo. However, possibilities for Egyptian travel also encompass snorkelling and diving along the Red Sea coasts, remote oases and camel trips into the mountains of Sinai, or visits to the Coptic monasteries of the Eastern Desert.
The land itself is a freak of nature, whose lifeblood is the River Nile. From the Sudanese border to the shores of the Mediterranean, the Nile Valley and its Delta are flanked by arid wastes, the latter as empty as the former are teeming with people. This stark duality between fertility and desolation is fundamental to Egypt's character and has shaped its development since prehistoric times, imparting continuity to diverse cultures and peoples over five millennia. It is a sense of permanence and timelessness that is buttressed by religion, which pervades every aspect of life. Although the pagan cults of ancient Egypt are as moribund as its legacy of mummies and temples, their ancient fertility rites and processions of boats still hold their place in the celebrations of Islam and Christianity.
The result is a multi-layered culture, which seems to accord equal respect to ancient and modern. The peasants (
fellaheen)
of the Nile and Bedouin tribes of the desert live much as their ancestors did a thousand years ago. Other communities include the Nubians of the far south, and the Coptic Christians, who trace their ancestry back to pharaonic times. What unites them is a love of their homeland, extended family ties, dignity, warmth and hospitality towards strangers. Though most visitors are drawn to Egypt by its monuments, the enduring memory is likely to be of its people and their way of life.
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fiogf49gjkf0d Egypt
fiogf49gjkf0d Regions and highlights
fiogf49gjkf0d History
fiogf49gjkf0d When to go
fiogf49gjkf0d Getting around
fiogf49gjkf0d Information and maps
fiogf49gjkf0d Attitudes and behaviour
fiogf49gjkf0d Public holidays and moulids
fiogf49gjkf0d Monuments and sites
fiogf49gjkf0d Directory
fiogf49gjkf0d Useful things to bring
fiogf49gjkf0d Metric weights and measures
fiogf49gjkf0d Islam
fiogf49gjkf0d Visas and red tape
fiogf49gjkf0d Health and insurance
fiogf49gjkf0d Costs and money
fiogf49gjkf0d Communications: Post, phones and the media
fiogf49gjkf0d Security police and consulates
fiogf49gjkf0d Working and studying in Egypt
fiogf49gjkf0d Women travellers
fiogf49gjkf0d Travellers with disabilities
fiogf49gjkf0d Eating and drinking
fiogf49gjkf0d Getting there
fiogf49gjkf0d Eqypt in statistics
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Egypt TOP CITIES :
Sharm El Sheikh Cairo Luxor South Sinai Alexandria Hurghada Dahab Ain Sokhna Ain Sokhna Suez Alamein Aswan Borg El Arab Dahab Sinai Dokki Ismailia Luxor Aswau Mara Matrouh October City Sharm El Shiekh Taba Taba Heights
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