Transcript Top Destinations Egypt’s most fascinating places.

Top Destinations
Egypt’s most fascinating places.
Alexandria
ALEXANDRIA turns its back on the rest of Egypt and faces the
Mediterranean, as if contemplating its glorious past; a hybrid city
characterized by Durrell as the "Capital of Memory". One of the great
cities of antiquity, Alex slumbered for 1300 years until it was revived by
Mohammed Ali and transformed by Europeans, who gave the city its
present shape and made it synonymous with cosmopolitanism and
decadence. This era came to an end in the 1950s with the mass flight
of non-Egyptians and a dose of revolutionary puritanism, but
Alexandria's beaches, restaurants and breezy climate still attract
hordes of Cairenes during the summer, while its jaded historical and
literary mystique remains appealing to foreigners. And when ElIskandariya (the city's Arabic name) palls, you can easily enough take
a bus to Mersa Matrouh and continue on to Siwa Oasis.
Aswan
Egypt's southernmost city (population 150,000) and ancient frontier
town has the loveliest setting on the Nile. At ASWAN the deserts
close in on the river, confining its sparkling blue between smooth
amber sand and rugged extrusions of granite bedrock. Lateen-sailed
feluccas glide past the ancient ruins and gargantuan rocks of
Elephantine Island, palms and tropical shrubs softening the islands
and embankments till intense blue skies fade into soft-focus dusks.
The city's ambience is palpably African; its Nubian inhabitants are
lither and darker than the Saiyidis, with different tastes and customs.
Although its own monuments are insignificant compared to Luxor's,
Aswan is the base for excursions to the temples of Philae and
Kabasha , near the great dams beyond the First Cataract, and the
Sun Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel , far to the south. It can also
serve for day-trips to Darow Camel Market, Kom Ombo, Edfu and
Esna - the main temples between here and Luxor. But the classic
approach is to travel upriver by felucca, experiencing the Nile's
moods and scenery as travellers have for millennia. However, Aswan
itself is so laid-back that one could easily spend a week here simply
hanging out, never mind going anywhere. The tourism scene is much
the same as in Luxor.
Cairo
CAIRO has been the largest city in Africa and the Middle East ever
since the Mongols wasted Imperial Baghdad in 1258. Acknowledged
as Umm Dunya or " Mother of the World " by medieval Arabs, and as
Great Cairo by nineteenth-century Europeans, it remains, in Jan
Morris's words, "one of the half-dozen supercapitals - capitals that are
bigger than themselves or their countries the focus of a whole culture,
an ideology or a historical moment". As Egypt has been a prize for
conquerors from Alexander the Great to Rommel, so Cairo has been a
fulcrum of power in the Arab world from the Crusades unto the present
day. The ulema of its thousand-year-old Al-Azhar Mosque (for
centuries the foremost centre of Islamic intellectual life) remains the
ultimate religious authority for millions of Sunni Muslims, from Jakarta
to Birmingham. Wherever Arabic is spoken, Cairo's cultural magnetism
is felt. Every strand of Egyptian society knits and unravels in this
febrile megalopolis.
Hurghada
In the course of two decades, HURGHADA has been transformed
from a humble fishing village of a few hundred souls into a booming
town of 50,000 people, drawn here from all over Egypt by the lure of
making money. This phenomenal growth is almost entirely due to
tourism , which accounts for 95 percent of the local economy. Yet
it's worth taking Hurghada's claims to be a seaside resort with a
handful of salt. Unlike Sinai, where soft sand and gorgeous reefs are
within easy reach and women can bathe unhassled, Hurghada's
public beaches are distant or uninviting, while the best marine life is
far offshore. If you're not into diving or discos, it's hard to find much
to like about Hurghada - though you have to admire its commercial
gusto; many of the townsfolk come from Luxor's west bank, where
tourism has been a way of life for generations.
Ismailiya
ISMAILIYA 's schizoid character is
defined by the rail line that cuts across
the city. South of the tracks lies the
European-style garden city built for
foreign employees of the Suez Canal
Company, extending to the verdant
banks of the Sweetwater Canal.
Following careful restoration, its leafy
boulevards and placid streets of colonial
villas look almost as they must have
done in the 1930s, with bilingual street
signs nourishing the illusion that the
British empire has just popped indoors
for cocktails.
Luxor
LUXOR has been a tourist mecca ever since Nile steamers began
calling in the nineteenth century to view the remains of Thebes,
ancient Egypt's New Kingdom capital, and its associated sites - the
concentration of relics in this area is overwhelming. The town itself
boasts Luxor Temple , a graceful ornament to its waterfront and
"downtown" quarter, while just to the north is Karnak Temple , a
stupendous complex built over 1300 years. Across the river are the
amazing tombs and mortuary temples of the Theban Necropolis ,
and as if this wasn't enough, Luxor also serves as a base for trips to
Esna, Edfu, Dendara and Abydos temples, up and down the Nile
Valley.
Mersa Matrouh
Although MERSA MATROUH has grown phenomenally and sees
itself as a sophisticated resort, it remains a hick town with donkey
carts outnumbering cars on the main street, which in summer is
clogged with groups of well-to-do Egyptian and Libyan
holidaymakers. All the local beaches have been ruined, leaving
only the magnificent cove at Agiiba and neighbouring Ubbayad
beach, both far from town. Whatever Egyptians might say, by no
stretch of the imagination does Matrouh fit the tourist board's
promise of a hedonist's playground. The only people likely to think
so are the Libyans who've started coming here since the border
was reopened; Egyptians go the other way, seeking work in Libya,
while Western visitors are generally more interested in reaching
Siwa Oasis.
The End