All posts tagged Featured

ON THE ROAD TO EL QUSEIR II

By | March 20, 2014 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure, Travel Chronicles | Comments Off on ON THE ROAD TO EL QUSEIR II

By El-Qamar
Photography by El-Qamar

In November, my cycling mate and I once again cycled to El Quseir. The trip was quiet, the tail wind helped us once more and we arrived at our goal, again, within just about four hours riding. You can read about our first trip right here.

A shower and a bit of relaxation were in order; the camp a very simple one.

I can’t imagine how divers can endure staying here for prolonged periods of time; the facilities are actually rather basic. The accommodation is made up of simple reed huts covered with palm leafs, and the washrooms are shared, but they do have running water. There also seemed to be a power cut when we were there!. There are huts on the beach as well, and I imagine they must be very romantic for couples in love, spending the night in one of them going to sleep to to the sound of the see… as long as mosquitoes can be kept at bay! The location itself is impressive, and the view of the mountains, the desert and the sea are gorgeous. Read more…

ON THE ROAD TO EL QUSEIR I

By | March 1, 2014 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure, Travel Chronicles | 2 Comments

By El-Qamar
Photography by El-Qamar

Cycling in Egypt has not really kicked in as a recreational activity, even with the rise in some professional cycling shops, it is still something in its infancy. Attempting in the wild and chaotic streets of Cairo and Giza is certainly a challenge best left to the boldest of the bold. But the further you get away from the centre it actually becomes better. Taking it to the next level and doing endurance and long distance cycling is certainly another story, and in on and by itself can be an exhilarating experience.

Recently I was lucky enough and got in touch with a Liechtensteinerin traveller, cyclist, and blogger, who spreads her time between Egypt and Liechtenstein, she will be sharing some of her earlier adventures in Egypt ever then next few guest posts, and hopefully some of her more recent ones when she gets the chance. You can find her bio and links to her German and English blogs right after the post.

Enjoy. Read more…

UNSEEN EGYPT: LANTERN SLIDES PLACES WEEK III

By | January 29, 2014 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Unseen Egypt | Comments Off on UNSEEN EGYPT: LANTERN SLIDES PLACES WEEK III

In the 19th century, with the rise of Egyptology due to the the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon Bonaparte. The subsequent publication of Description de l’Égypte between 1809 and 1829, a race of sorts took shape. It was a race to acquire Ancient Egyptian artefacts and antiquities by national and private collections; a viciously competitive endeavour that eminated from ruthless ambition on all sides involved, particularly among the British and the French. Read more…

UNSEEN EGYPT: LANTERN SLIDES PLACES WEEK II

By | January 14, 2014 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Unseen Egypt | Comments Off on UNSEEN EGYPT: LANTERN SLIDES PLACES WEEK II

Somewhere along the way, and a few thousand years, monuments such as Karnak fell into disrepair. Between the ever relentless sands of the desert reclaiming its territory, the Nile’s inundation, and the passage of time, they almost faded out of memory. Every now and then through the millenia, travellers and explorers would stumble upon an obelisk here, or statue there, and if they were persistant and lucky enough, maybe a pylon and gate into a mysterious past. Read more…

FIRE UP YOUR ENDURANCE PART II

By | January 7, 2014 | Survival | Comments Off on FIRE UP YOUR ENDURANCE PART II

It took what seemed like forever, but here it is, part 2 of Fire Up Your Endurance. This involoves the Category II exercises for another 9 weeks; they are significantly harder and they do push your body to its limits. If you persevere, however, the rewards are enormous.

As with part 1, I have edited some sections of the text so it is not heavily military-centric, the workouts themselves have been left as is for maximum benefit. The great thing about them, is that they can almost be done anywhere, which is particularly the point if you are travelling or on vacation… No excuses! Read more…

UNSEEN EGYPT: LANTERN SLIDES PLACES WEEK I

By | December 30, 2013 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, Travel + Leisure, Unseen Egypt | Comments Off on UNSEEN EGYPT: LANTERN SLIDES PLACES WEEK I

Lots of reasons prevented any writing in the second half of 2013, mainly the state of affairs in Egypt after the bloody coup of June 30th of that year. Everyone had high hopes for Egypt to emerge trimuphant after the rosey days that followed the Jan25 revolution. But it seems that the people didn’t really understand what freedom is, what it means, and most of all, what it takes to keep it. They failed, and Egypt was lost. Hopefuly the next time the people rise up, they will have learned from their mistakes. Read more…

FIRE UP YOUR ENDURANCE PART I

By | August 28, 2013 | Survival | 1 Comment

Back in 2004 a friend of mine forwarded a link to me for a progressive two category workout routine that he had found on the Navy SEALs’ website, unfortunately it’s no longer available on their site… I checked.

It’s all about building endurance; however, getting muscular, stronger, and faster, are great by-products of following the programme as close as possible, to the best of your abilities. Bear in mind that it was designed for those in their late teens to early twenties (the age most likely to apply and be accepted for SEAL training), anyone wanting to raise their levels of endurance and fitness to the maximum would definitely benefit from its intensity and variety. Read more…

I KNOW FIRST AID…

By | June 1, 2013 | Survival | Comments Off on I KNOW FIRST AID…

By Islam El Shazly
Photography by Islam El Shazly

How many times have you ever been in a situation where all of a sudden you or someone around you needed urgent emergency medical assistance but there was no one to help, because no one had a clue how to save or help that person? I know I’ve been there at least a couple of times! Read more…

101 PLACES TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY IN EGYPT: 26–30

By | April 24, 2013 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure | Comments Off on 101 PLACES TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY IN EGYPT: 26–30

By Islam El Shazly and Sue Ryan

This latest edition of 101 Places to Take your Family in Egypt has been a long time in the making. Halfway through working on the content our site was attacked by a massive BotNet that targeted websites running on WordPress, we were one of the unlucky ones, and the site was defaced. Alhamdulillah, the damage was repairable and we managed to get the site back online within a few days, but we were working behind the scenes to secure the website against any further future attacks, and insha’Allah we will do our best to prevent that insha’Allah.

Thank you for your patience… Read more…

SIWA: THE FIELD OF TREES

By | March 17, 2013 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure | 1 Comment

By Susan Ryan

Siwa Oasis is the most westerly of Egypt’s oasis, about 725 km from Cairo, with Libya  just 50 km away. It is worth the trek even if your children usually ask “are we there yet?” after an hour of travelling. Reaching Siwa takes between eight and 10 hours by bus or car from Cairo, but if you break the journey up with stops in Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh you will better appreciate the variety of landscapes you pass through. If you have four days or more for your Siwa trip, it is ideal to have a day in one of those coastal cities before your immersion in desert for the last four hours of travel. Read more…