Refreshingly the great education that Egypt’s ancient civilisation offers to students of history, archaeology, museology, architecture, art, engineering, medicine, etc is accessible at Indian prices In 400 BCE the greek historian Herodotus wrote of Egypt that “nowhere in the world are to be seen so many things of unspeakable greatness”. This observation is as true today as it was then. The legendary Nile, the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx, ancient Luxor, Karnak, Abu Simbel, Mt. Sinai, Egypt’s rich historic legacy stretches back 6,000 years. The land of the Pharaohs continues to attract fascinated tourists from around the world, especially when winter breezes start blowing across the desert sands beyond the Nile delta. In 2019, 13 million people visited this north African country, the site of one of the world’s oldest and greatest civilisations. The Indo-Egyptian connection is as ancient as it is durable. Post-independence this connection was strengthened when India, Egypt and Yugoslavia authored the non-aligned movement (NAM) of newly independent nations which pledged to remain equidistant from the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War decades (1945-85). Moreover, the India-Egyptian bond has been renewed in recent years by cable television which makes Indian serials and movies easily accessible to Egyptians who love them. Unsurprisingly, following liberalisation of the Indian economy and easy availability of foreign exchange, the number of Indian tourists visiting Egypt has risen from 60,000 in 2014 to 126,000 in 2018. Refreshingly the great education that Egypt’s ancient civilisation offers to students of history, archaeology, museology, architecture, art, engineering, medicine is accessible at Indian prices. Hotels, taxis and food are reasonably priced and Indian style bargaining is de rigueur. Excellent package tours are offered by travel agencies including SOTC and Cox & Kings. Currently ten-day package tours are priced at a reasonable Rs.100,000-110,000 including air fare and a three-day Nile Cruise. For those who avoid group package tours, flexible customised tours with transport and guide are available. Alternatively tourists can do their own thing, get the cheapest airline and hotel deals through the Internet and backpack their way through this friendly, pro-India country. Cairo Cairo (pop. 20 million) is Africa’s most populous city and the base point for all excursions into Egypt. An all-out assault on the senses, Cairo, the admin capital of Egypt, is very much like Mumbai’s “functioning anarchy” with snarled traffic and overcrowded streets, seething with people. But it also houses the treasures of Tutankhamen, the citadel and the Khan-El-Khalili bazaar. And from its excellent hotels, the Great Pyramids of Giza on the edge of the Sahara Desert are just an hour’s drive. Excursions ex Cairo Great Pyramid of Giza. One of the universally acknowledged wonders of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza made with two million stone blocks, stands 455 ft tall. The Sphinx, together with the Great Pyramids of the three Pharaohs — Cheops, Chephren and Micernius — are sited here. The smallest of them, Micernius, barely 66 metres tall, has three small satellite pyramids of…
