Egypt Travel Guide
9/17/2008 at 9:50 AM
Tags: Seven Wonders of the World, Museums, UNESCO (all tags)
Serious hidden treasures from Cleopatra's palace lie beneath the waters of the Mediterranean, off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. And a proposed underwater museum will showcase these sunken wonders if UNESCO determines that the project is feasible.
Cleopatra's palace was built on an island in one of the largest human-made bays on the planet. Earthquakes unfortunately submerged her opulent lair until the 1990s when archaeologist-divers found the thousands of precious objects.
The museum could be truly astounding, showing off 26 sphinxes, statues bearing gifts to the gods, Roman and Greek shipwrecks and pieces of the Pharos of Alexandria lighthouse--one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.
Related Stories:
· Underwater Museum Planned for Egypt's Alexandria [National Geographic]
· Egypt Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Seven Wonders of the World coverage [Jaunted]
by Dan Gould
7/29/2008 at 9:18 AM
Tags: Culture Travel, Summer Travel (all tags)
In a desert land, water calls for a party: Get your tickets now for Cairo's Wafaa Al-Nil Festival, which celebrates the annual flooding of the Nile which irrigates fields and ushers in the season of akhet, or flood.
The ancient Egyptians used to celebrate the flooding by sacrificing young girls to assure a rich harvest. Nowadays, relics may be dumped in the water in Coptic ceremonies, but no person will have to go in if she doesn't want to.
And nowadays the flood coincides with the Cairo International Song Festival, for which composers and arrangers come from all over weekend to display their "wares" and compete for cash prizes.
Related Stories:
· Movie Set Travel: Jumper [Jaunted]
· Egypt Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Ahmed Abbas]
by egw
4/16/2008 at 12:00 PM
Tags: Twitter, Dangerous Travel (all tags)
As if we need to hype Twitter any more than we already do, it's now the tool of choice for getting out of prison in Egypt.
Journalist and grad student James Karl Buck was detained by the Egyptian police along with his translator and friend Mohammed Salah Ahmed Maree. Buck sent out a one-word tweet and soon enough his network of followers contacted his university and the US Embassy. He was sprung a few hours later.
Maree is still being held incommunicado, and Buck has dedicated his personal website to getting him released. The sort-of fortunate tech-happy outcome aside, the saga is a good reminder of why the State Department recommends avoiding public demonstrations in Egypt.
Related Stories:
· Twitter Saves Man from Egyptian Justice [Techcrunch]
· State Department Info on Egypt [Official Site]
· James Buck [Twitter]
by pbb
2/20/2008 at 5:34 PM
Tags: Egypt, Pyramids, It's Summer Somewhere, It's-Summer-Somewhere (all tags)
Ever since French President Nicolas Sarkozy publicly frolicked on the beach with former super model (and the object of all men's affections in the early 1990s) Carla Bruni, we have been super jealous.
No, not of Carla Bruni but rather because it's "balmy weather" over in Egypt right now. During the day, temps are hitting 78 degrees.
The duo, now married, passed their time at the Sofitel Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor. And of course, they toured some of the ancient pyramids. We wonder if they toured the Mummification Museum?
Luxor depends on tourism to keep its economy afloat. And while it's been getting good tourism numbers, we read somewhere that more people actually visit the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas than the original Luxor. Sad but can you blame them? Drinking, dancing and gambling, versus ancient dead people? Hmm....
Anyways, we would be more than happy to help out Luxor by taking a trip over there. Now does Ryanair fly there?
Related Stories:
· Egypt's Pyramid Scheme [Jaunted]
· Ryanair Ready for Sarko-Bruni Honeymoon [Jaunted]
[Photo: Shelbyroot]
by juliana
2/15/2008 at 8:51 AM
Tags: Movie Set Travel, Restaurants, Monuments, Pyramids (all tags)
Think of this week's pick, "Jumper", is like a "Quantum Leap" for this generation--and for the big screen. Hayden Christensen plays a young man, David Rice, who has a genetic anomaly and can be transported anywhere, anytime and be stuck doing anything. Rachel Bilson is along for the ride.
Rice soon discovers that this gift has been around for centuries, and that he's involved in a war between "jumpers" and those who have sworn to kill him.
This one was shot all over the place because that's what you get with being constantly transported. We've chosen to focus on a cool spot: Cairo, Egypt.
Where To Stay: Mena House Oberoi Once a hunting lodge for Khedive Isma'il, the Egyptian ruler, Mena House is the place to stay in Cairo. If you can splurge on a suite, this is the spot to do it; the larger of the 523 rooms feature period furniture and insane views of the Pyramids themselves. Don't miss the stunning gardens and four on-site restaurants. The only drawback? It's about 45 minutes from downtown so plan to stick around for the evening.
Where To Eat (and Be Seen): La Bodega The hot spot in town, La Bodega ain't your corner deli. It's the hipster hangout with elegant high-ceilinged rooms and homemade specialties from the kitchen including gazpacho and glazed duck. If you can't swing dinner, at least spend some time at the bar.
What to See: Pyramids at Giza About 45 minutes by bus from Cairo, you do not miss the pyramids, one of the seven wonders of the world. Revel in their sheer size and age, but be careful with the locals, hawking everything--aggressively--from cold drinks to souvenirs to tours.
Related Stories:
· Pizza Hut Delivers to the Sphinx [Jaunted]
· Movie Set Travel coverage [Jaunted]
by sedona
8/13/2007 at 9:30 AM
Tags: Airport Security, Animals, Smuggling, Snakes, Security (all tags)
No matter how often we warn people that flying with crocodiles, chameleons or basically any animal is not really the best thing to do, there are always people out there who just won't take our advice.
Over the weekend, a young Saudi guy leaving Cairo was caught with snakes and crocs in his hand luggage, claiming he didn't know that transporting live reptiles was illegal. (Surely he'd wondered why normal people don't do it?) Along with a cobra that nearly slithered away, officers found no less than 250 baby crocodiles. That's a lotta reptile. We repeat again: leave your crocs in the river at home.
Related Stories:
· Reptiles Found in Saudi's Luggage [BBC]
· Travelin' With Crocs [Jaunted]
· Croatian Misunderstands Chameleons [Jaunted]
· Man Pulls Off Ultimate Feat: Sneaks Monkey onto Plane [Jaunted]
[Photo: Sapphiren]
by amandak
3/08/2007 at 2:00 PM
Tags: Blogs (all tags)
Dreaming at your desk about quitting for a round-the-world jaunt? Travel writer and comic book artist Marie Javins went around the world in 2001 without a single plane trip, relying instead on unmetered taxis, bike tours and the occasional walking stick. Her website for the trip,
Marie's World Tour, contains some of the greatest travel-related dependent clauses ever, like
"Ever since I had walked away from the Ethiopian truck accident..." from
her November 29 entry. And it's worth noting
her route, which included two nights in Almaty, Kazakhstan -- way before Borat was born. Marie's a trendsetter.
After a series of fantastic jaunts including a
trip to Antarctica, Marie has settled down for the moment in Cairo (after all that, you can't just move to Podunk!), where her blog
No Hurry in North Africa describes running into New Yorkers abroad and trying to plan her next adventure. Until she goes off and does it, you can relive her world tour online; its Africa leg is available
in book form.
[Photo:
Marie Javins]
Related Stories:·
No Hurry in North Africa [Official Site]
·
Marie's World Tour [Official Site]
by egw
1/05/2007 at 10:45 AM
Tags: Egypt, Historic Trips, Websites (all tags)
If you want to go to Egypt, say the people behind the new
All About Egypt website, you should know something about it before you go. We've already educated you about important stuff like
grabbing Pizza Hut near the pyramids or
getting 18 holes in during your Egyptian getaway, but All About Egypt thinks that a variety of information about visas, nightlife, history and pharaoh chronology is important too.
While this new website also seems to have enough links and advertising to tour operators to make it feel commercial, it still has a lofty aim for prospective travelers to Egypt--they say we should:
be aware and help raise consciousness of all the efforts conducted by egyptologists, scholars and the scientific community to preserve the universal legacy of ancient egyptian culture.
Phew. And we just wanted a nice place to
go snorkelling.
[Photo:
Goldmanoz]
Related Stories:·
Pizza Hut Delivers to the Sphinx [Jaunted]
·
Teeing Off With the Pharaohs [Jaunted]
·
The Very Blue Red Sea [Jaunted]
by amandak
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