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101 PLACES TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY IN EGYPT: 11–15

By | January 22, 2013 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure | Comments Off on 101 PLACES TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY IN EGYPT: 11–15

By Islam El Shazly

What do James Bond and Indiana Jones have in common? Well aside from the fact they’re both fictional, they both fought baddies in exotic locations in Egypt, like the Gayer-Anderson House, and Abu Simbel. Indiana Jones went a step further by finding the Ark of the Covenant in Tanis! Even Hercule Poirot visited the great temples of Abu Simbel in Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery.

Indiana Jones is also based to an extent on Giovanni Belzoni, the famed nineteenth century explorer who also carried a whip around. Read more…

WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK XV

By | January 16, 2013 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK XV

By Islam El Shazly

One of the main reasons for starting this series of Lantern Slides was—and still is—to educate myself and reader about Egyptian heritage, so us as Egyptians would not lose sight of what made up this country, and what can still make it again. So we don’t forget who we are and where we came from.

History was distorted tremendously after the 1952 Coup d’état in favour of the Free Officers Movement that led the coup. Charisma alone would not entrench them in power, they had to demonize the previous era in its entirety. Read more…

101 PLACES TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY IN EGYPT: 06–10

By | January 13, 2013 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure | Comments Off on 101 PLACES TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY IN EGYPT: 06–10

By Islam El Shazly

Here’s another set that represents another sampling of activities that can be done and places that can be seen in a country mostly associated with either Pharaonic heritage or the beaches of Sharm. There are a couple of sites dating back to Dynastic Egypt, as iconic as they get, a Roman era outpost, a popular hike, and a sport that has been steadily gaining popularity among Egyptian enthusiasts and foreign ones alike; sportfishing in Lake Nasser. Read more…

WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK XIV

By | January 9, 2013 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK XIV

By Islam El Shazly

There’s a lot to be said about progress, mankind has been to the moon, the internet, fast food, etc.. But what have we lost along the way?

In this modern age of speed, all nighters, and cities that never sleep, I believe we lost a very important thing; serenity. In the rush that followed the Industrial Revolution we wanted everything at once, as if time was running out and we had to do everything faster and faster Read more…

101 PLACES TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY IN EGYPT: 01–05

By | January 4, 2013 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure | Comments Off on 101 PLACES TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY IN EGYPT: 01–05

By Islam El Shazly

Egypt has hundreds of places to enjoy, not just for the globetrotter or the single adventurer, but for the entire family, young and old. There are, of course, the usual haunts that should be on everyone’s itinerary, but that should not deter from sampling everything else that Egypt has to offer.

There are mountains to climb, trails to hike, and caves to discover. It would be impossible to do all of them in one visit, but just sampling some of the wonders on offer might just bring you and yours back for more. Read more…

WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK XIII

By | January 2, 2013 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK XIII

By Islam El Shazly

There’s a long history behind the Suez Canal that goes back to Pharaonic times. Even millennia ago the same logistic nightmare existed: how to bring essential goods and trade from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea?

The only way to do it at the time was dig a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. Boats laden with goods would come in from the Mediterranean or Red Sea, travel through the canal and the Nile and get out the other side. The ancient Egyptians maintained one for a long time, then it was re-dug by Amro ibn Al-‘Aas, only to be eventually reclaimed by the desert. Read more…

WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK XII

By | December 26, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK XII

By Islam El Shazly

The photographers who visited Egypt in the late 19th century where explorers in their own right, they travelled the length and breadth of the country and spent hours upon hours chronicling with their cameras the sights and the lives of Egypt and the Egyptians. They left us a treasure trove of imagery, with subjects that have have almost completely disappeared from our lives.

Temples that have either sunk or moved, entire neighbourhoods that were levelled and rebuilt, ancient trees that were uprooted or disfigured, and lifestyles that all but vanished. Read more…

WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK XI

By | December 19, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK XI

By Islam El Shazly

One of the most delightful things about looking into a collection like the Egyptian Lantern Slides is the level of content one sees on the faces of the simple Egyptian people. While the nature of photography back in those days called for stern faces and rigid bodies for the sake of exposure, their smiles or a curious look would defiantly make their way onto their faces.

It was not the perfect world, but they were content and they were proud. Not the annoying pride that would normally ruin its owner, but proud Read more…

WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK X

By | December 12, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES WEEK X

By Islam El Shazly

Egypt is a land of contrasts, it is paradoxical and perplexing, and looking at the modern Egyptians, one has to wonder whether their – our, since I too am Egyptian – ancestors were like them! And if they were, how on earth did they manage to start and build a civilisation that would endure for close to 6,000 years?!

There are great differences between between the ones that came before and the ones who came after, but there are also great similarities, the most striking of similarities the simplicity of Egyptians, not simplicity in terms of higher brain functions, but rather simplicity of character. We are fairly uncomplicated. Read more…

COMFORT: THE TOP 12 MID-RANGE HOTELS IN EGYPT

By | December 7, 2012 | Egypt, Reviews, Travel + Leisure | Comments Off on COMFORT: THE TOP 12 MID-RANGE HOTELS IN EGYPT

By Islam El Shazly

There hundreds of hotels of different classes and classifications in Egypt, and that is not much of a wonder for a country heavily reliant on tourism. Hospitality comes with turf.

Picking the right hotel for a specific budget becomes paramount with such a large number of hotels, and choosing the right one is not always a straight forward affair, since the quality of service sometime fluctuates from one visit to the next, depending where you’re staying. Read more…