With the family outside the Valley of the Kings
The trip to Egypt in 2009 had an almost magical feel to it. We were transported from modern metropolis Singapore to a five thousands year old civilisation which believed in hundreds of gods representing the Sun, Moon, Earth, Underworld, Next World, all living things. All of these beliefs never stood the test of time - 5000 years. Now the major religions are Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism though these are still at most 2000 odd years old.
The trip was coordinated by the established travel agent Commonwealth Travel Company, and our tour guide was a competent lady from Singapore, named Anna Chan. We did our first part of the 9 day tour living inside a cruise ship for 4 days travelling down the famed river Nile, the longest river in Africa. It has spawned thousands of colonies along its lenght and many TV series and motion pictures have filmed its glory.
The recent Arab Spring in 2011 has overthrown the long time president Hosni Mubarak, and now the country is in the throes of electing a competent Government though the signs of the country stabilising is not there. Many traders are moaning the loss of the lucrative Tourist trade when many millions of people would flock to Egypt to see the cradle of ancient civilisation and how the people in those days lived and died. A fascinating country to visit as well as a fascinating old world culture where the kings of those time, the Pharoahs, were more interested in the afterlife or death than in ruling their Kingdom. That is why you see the Pyramids of Giza, outside Cairo which are built for the then Kings of the superpower of the day, 5000 - 1000 years ago.
It almost defies belief, that primitive people had the modern technology to build such engineering marvels that have withstood the test of time. Many have speculated that there were alien 'friends' who helped in the design and fabircation, as the angle of the pyramids are set at 33 deg from the horizontal throughout, something which is near impossible, unless one has the latest field instruments - again something which is very difficult for the mind to conceive.
The people those days rode by donkey, as is reported in the Bible too. Till today, the donkey and the horse is still used as a means of transportation !
Good things never lose their application I guess.
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