subject: Nile Cruises And The Great Pyramid Of Giza - A Monumental Structure [print this page] Egypt is one of Africa's richest countries in terms of history. Egypt's history goes before to the ancient times before the Bible. The biblical and cultural history of Egypt is as varied and interesting as the undiscovered tombs and cities lying underneath the desert sand in Upper and Lower Egypt.
Cairo is a city full of life. One aspect I instantly noticed when I set foot in Cairo is the traffic. Cairo is home to more than 16 million inhabitants of which an extra 2 million individuals commute into the city in the morning and leave at sunset. In spite of the city having huge multiple-lane spaghetti highways, the traffic is very heavy. As you approach the city centre, a highway of 3 lanes is tuned into five.
The pyramids at Giza can be evidently observed from most parts of the city on a clear day. The Great Pyramids of Giza is such an imposing and monumental structure. It is absolutely mind-boggling to imagine that the ancient man with minimal technology and workmanship could put up this kind of a huge structure. Obviously, how the pyramids were built is a question of superb global debate and may in no way be conclusively answered. Other theories also point to outer space aliens being the sole builders of pyramids in Egypt.
The great pyramid of Cheops, which is the largest of the pyramids in Giza stands at height of 140 metres. It is a spectacular view to arrive at the foot of the pyramid and just gaze at its sheer size. It is estimated that every block of stone weighs about 2.5 tons and over 2.3 million of these blocks were used to construct this pyramid.
The most interesting aspect of the pyramid is the admittance passage into its inner chambers. This really is a job many people including myself found challenging. Anybody who is 6 feet tall such as myself will definitely run a sweat when trying to steer the way up the internal chambers of the pyramid. The entrance is roughly 1 meter square. This does not end there; I then realize that this really is actually a stair case passage rising at an angle.
From the Pyramids, I visited the Valley of Temple where dead kings had been mummified. The mysterious Sphinx kept guard at the cemetery for more than 5000 years. Egypt won't be finished without having a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities housing the largest collection of Egyptian monuments in the world, 250,000 items. Here, you can also view the jewelry of the famous King Tut Ankh Amun, which dates back to 1352 B.C. A tour of the Citadel of Saladin is really a must. This was constructed in 1176. The Alabaster mosque of Mohamed Ali which was constructed on 1824 AD is also really worth seeing.
In the summer time, Cairo is mostly active throughout the night than during the day. This is because of the higher temperatures experienced during the day. Stores, restaurants, malls etc remain open most of the night.
Other areas to visit in Egypt are Luxor, Alexandria and Sharm El Sheikh. A 4 day luxury cruise along the River Nile is an awesome encounter.
