The Cairo Tower, near the Gezira Sports Club on an island in the Nile, affords a wonderful view of the city; it stands amidst the elegant
town - houses of a wealthy neighbourhood. By contrast there is the hustle and bustle of the Khan-el-Khalili Bazaar, where one can
get great bargains for antiques, traditional leather work, brassware and excellent inexpensive tailor-made clothing. It is set in an
area of narrow winding streets where the local inhabitants will always approach the traveller in the hope of doing a little business.
A trip around Old Cairo is an enchanting return to a former age, and there are many fine examples of Islamic art and architecture.
The Citadel and nearby Al Rif’ai and Sultan Hassan mosques should not be missed but numerous less well-known attractions
may be found around almost every corner (Cairo has over 1000 mosques). There is also a Coptic and Islamic Museum.

In Pharaonic times, the east bank of the Nile was for the living and the west was for the dead. Today’s west bank is the most
modern part of the city – site of the university, the wealthy suburb of Zamalek and the apartment blocks of Dokki – but where the
city stops, the Egypt of the fellahin (peasants) abruptly starts – date palms, canals, mud villages and lush green fields. To the
south, the transition is even more startling. An area of casinos and luxury hotels suddenly gives way to rolling sand dunes and,
towering above them, the magnificent pyramids of Giza. There are three, the largest being over 137m (450ft) high and containing
some three million huge blocks of stone. One can explore deep inside the pyramids by means of labyrinthine tunnels and staircases.
Adjacent is the massive Sphinx, much admired by Alexander, Caesar, Cleopatra and Napoleon. Camels and horses may be hired and
there is a golf course nearby. The night skyline is illuminated by a light show (an unusual but effective way to see the pyramids
and Sphinx). Helwan, a famous winter resort and health spa, is 30km (18 miles) from Cairo. At nearby Sakkara, the step pyramids
of Zoser are even older than those at Giza and there are fine wall reliefs, particularly in the Necropolis. Donkey rides can be taken
to Sakkara from Giza. 50km (30 miles) further south is Al Faiyoum, a salt-water lake visited by Herodotus in 450BC
-----  THE NORTHERN COAST
The second largest city in Egypt, Alexandria has an atmosphere that is more Mediterranean than Middle Eastern; its ambience
and cultural heritage distance it from the rest of the country although it is actually only 225 km from Cairo. Founded by Alexander
the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria became the capital of Graeco-Roman Egypt, its status as a beacon of culture symbolised by Pharos,
the legendary lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The setting for the stormy relationship between Cleopatra and
Mark Antony, Alexandria was also the center of learning in the ancient world. But ancient Alexandria declined, and when Napoleon
landed he found a sparsely populated fishing village. Alex is a city to explore at random, it's as important to enjoy the atmosphere
as it is to see the "sights". The city centre now stretches back from Midan Saad Zaghloul , on the seafront, where there is a statue
of the nationalist leader. This was formerly the site of the Caesareum, a magnificet begun by Cleopatra for her lover Antony and
subsequently completed by their enemy Octavian and dedicated to himself. Two famous obelisks ( one, known as "Cleopatra's Needle",
now the Embankment in London, the other in New York's Central Park) were once here but all traces of the temple have disappeared.
The days post-colnial architecture, like the pseudo-moorish Hotel Cecil, vies with more modern buildings. The older "European"
city center was inland of the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, near where the French Gardens used to be, now Midan Tahrir.
Strolling round here you can still see old street nameplates and find the jewellery and antique shops for which the area was known.

Alexandria is more modern than Cairo but is graced by numerous Hellenistic and Roman relics from the age when it was the cultural
capital of Europe. It remains a popular holiday resort for Egyptians.The northern beaches stretch from the Libyan border to the Nile
Delta and along the north of Sinai. West of Alexandria, the coast road takes one to the Mersa Matruh resort, which has a very fine
beach; from there it is possible to head inland to visit the Siwa Oasis (site of Amun’s oracle, visited by Herodotus and Alexander
the Great) on the Libyan border. There are other fine beaches at El Alamein (where World War II relics are on view), Baltim,
Gamasa, Sidi Kreir and Ras El Bar, where the temperatures are warm enough for bathing until November.
 Luxor----------- THE CITY OF TEMPLES
Luxor – Homer’s ‘Hundred-gated Thebes’ – is about 500km (300 miles) south of Cairo and contains a vast conglomeration of ancient monuments. The Temple of Luxor is  among the most beautiful temples in Egypt. It was known in the time of the New Kingdom as
Ipt-Rsyt which means the southern shrine to differentiate between this temple and Karnak which was the northern house of Amon.
The Luxor temple was built by Amenhotep III. The architect and overseer of the works of construction was the genius Amenhotep
son of Hapo. The temple ran close and parallel to the river Nile from north to south, and was constructed on the site of a small temple
of Amon, built by kings of the 12th dynasty.  At the time of Amenhotep III the temple was only 190 M. in length and 55 M in width.

The temple was consecrated to Amon in his fertility aspect Amon-Min. The Temples of Amon at Karnak contains colossal statues,
obelisks and halls (there is a son et lumière show) the Valley of the Queens and the Valley of the Kings, where 64 of the Pharaohs are
depicted in an enormous relief hewn from the rock. The other temples, tombs and monuments are equally awe-inspiring. Since
1988 visitors have had the opportunity to view these monuments from a hot-air balloon.
THE WINTER RESORT
Aswan, Egypt's sunniest southern city and ancient frontier town, has a distinctively African atmosphere. Small enough to
walk around & graced with the most beautiful setting on the Nile, the pace of life is slow and relaxing. Days can be spent strolling up
and down the broad Corniche watching the sailboats etch the sky with their tall masts or sitting in floating restaurants listening to Nubian
music and eating freshly-caught fish. Here the Nile is at its most beautiful, flowing through amber desert and granite rocks, round emerald islands covered in palm groves and tropical plants. Explore the souk, full of the scent and color of spices, perfumes, scarves and baskets;
view the spectacular sunsets while having tea on the terrace of the Old Cataract Hotel. Aswan has been a favorite winter resort since the beginning of the nineteenth century and it's still a perfect place to get away from it all. Aswan has a huge array of temples, monasteries, the Elephantin Island’s ancient Nilometre, and the Aswan High Dam, one of the three largest dams in the world. 2km south of Aswan is Philae,
a classical temple considered to be sufficiently important to be saved from the flooding caused by the opening of the Dam. Further to
the south is Abu Simbel – surviving largely thanks to a UNESCO-backed project in the 1960s – with the two magnificent temples of
Rameses II. 120km (75miles) north of Aswan is the temple of Edfu, one of the best preserved in Egypt. There are three weekly
sailings from Aswan down the Nile into the Sudan.
-- RAMSES II KINGDOM
Not only are the two temples at Abu Simbel among the most magnificent monuments in the world but their removal and reconstruction
was an historic event in itself. When the temples (280 km from Aswan) were threatened by submersion in Lake Nasser, due to the construction of the High Dam, the Egyptian Government secured the support of UNESCO and launched a world-wide appeal. During the salvage operation, which began in 1964 and continued until 1968, the two temples were dismantled and raised over 60m. up the sandstone cliff where they had
been built more than 3,000 years before. Here they were reassembled, in the same relationship to each other, and covered with an artificial mountain. Most of the joints in the stone have now been filled by antiquity experts, but inside the temples it is still possible to see where
the blocks were cut. You can also go inside the man-made dome and see an exhibition of photographs showing the different stages of
the massive removal project. The design of Abu Simbel is unique - rock-hewn "grotto" temples, although unusual in Egypt, are frequently
found in Nubia, but there is no other example of twin sanctuaries, in this case dedicated to Ramses himself and to his wife Nefertari, which combine to form a single ensemble. Unlike all the other Nubian temples Abu Simbel was never transformed into a church but was left alone, untouched by later religions, until it was recovered from the sand in 1817. The first, and largest of the temples, is dedicated to the
sun god Ra-Harakhte, while the second, which is smaller, and a few meters to the north, was dedicated by Ramses II to his
beautiful wife, Nefertari, to be worshipped together with other deities.

The Greater Abu Simbel Temple (Ramses II)
This is one of the many relics erected by the Pharaoh Ramses II, this is the grandest and most beautiful of temples. The facade is
33 meters high, and 38 meters broad, and guarded by for statues of Ramses II, each of which is 20 meters high. High on the facade,
there is a carved row of baboons, smiling at the sunrise. On the doorway of the temple, there is a beautiful inscription of the king's name: Ser-Ma'at-Ra and between the legs of the colossal statues on the facade, we can see smaller statues of Ramses II's family: his mother
"Mut-tuy", his wife "Nefertari" and his sons and daughters. There is also a number of dedications, important amongst which is
Ramses II's marriage to the daughter of the King of the Hittites. Beyond their entrance, there is the Great Hall of Pillars, with eight
pillars bearing the deified Ramses II in the shape of Osiris. The walls of this hall bear inscriptions recording the Battle of Kadesh
waged by RamseS II against the Hittites. Then we enter the smaller hall of the temple - the hall of the nobles, containing four square
pillars. Then we come to the Holiest of Holies, where we Amun-Ra find four statues of: Ra-Harakhte, Ptah, Amun-Ra and King
Ramses II. This temple is unique, since the sun shines directly on the Holiest of Holies two days a year: February 21, the
king's birthday, and October 22, the date of his coronation.

The Smaller Abu Simbel Temple (Nefertari)
Located north of the Greater Temple, this was carved in the rock by Ramses II and dedicated to the goddess of Love and
Beauty, Hathur and also to his favorite wife, Nefertari. The Facade is adorned by six statues, four to Ramses II and two to his
wife Nefertari. The entrance leads to a hall containing six pillars bearing the head of the goddess, Hathur. The eastern wall
bears inscriptions depicting Ramses II striking the enemy before Ra-Harakhte and Amun-Ra. Other wall scenes show Ramses II
and Nefertari offering sacrifices to the gods. Beyond this hall, there is another wall with similar scenes and paintings.Finally,
we reach the Holiest of Holies, where we find the statue of the goddess Hathur. This is, indeed, a most awesome sight to tthe
visitor; for here he finds the greatest artificial dome that bears the man-made mountain behind the Temples of Abu Simbal

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