By Islam El Shazly and Susan Ryan,
You would be hard pressed to find a tourist in Egypt who hasn’t been to the Pyramids or to Sharm El-Sheikh, but finding the odd tourist who is willing to get off the beaten path and separate from the crowds to discover where the road would take them or what they will find, that’s a totally different matter. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
This week we mark the finale of this series of Wednesday Nostalgia, hopefully we accomplished what we set out to do, which is reconnect the people in Egypt with their past and their heritage. Something that was lost to us for far too long, but now since the thick veil of 60 years of tyranny has been lifted, we are free to dig and find that which has been lost, and relish in the memory of our predecessors and build on it. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
Tradespeople, craftsmen, artisans, farmers, and people who are handy with their hands and with a tool are all but extinct in Egypt. Same as people who have pride in the work they do, they too are all but extinct. Over the generations, less and less youth became interested in the trades, or in learning a craft, they were misguided into thinking that anything other than being an employee in a company is beneath them. And the ones who end up working in a trade, end up just doing a job, they want it over and done with, so we get sloppy work and shoddy workmanship. Even the clothes they wear are usually unkempt and dirty. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly and Susan Ryan
Most tourists have a very limited time when vacationing, there’s the time wasted in the travelling itself, and the fact that most people barely get two or three weeks vacation at the most from their work. So they don’t have much of a choice when coming to Egypt, they’re usually stuck with the same uncreative itinerary as most everyone else, and that can lead to an unsatisfactory experience. Or so they are led to believe. Read more…
By Islam El Shazly
Less than 48 hours from now (Wednesday, January 23, 2013) Egypt will mark two years since the Jan25 2011 revolution, and looking at the state of affairs in Egypt it seems that it hasn’t really proceeded any further after the euphoria of the 18 days that toppled Mubarak and his horrid NDP and State Security forces (Amn Dawla).
Then again it all depends on one’s point of view and whether one is a glass-half-full-person or a glass-half-empty-person. Read more…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
