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***image1***From the mysteriously built Pyramids in Giza to the once sand-covered
temple of Abu Simbel, Egypt’s ancient treasures attract more than five
million tourists each year.
When my husband and I decided to travel to Egypt to see these ancient
treasures, many of our friends and family members thought we were crazy
and feared for our safety. After all, Egypt has had a rash of terrorist
activity to include a bombing in the Red Sea resort town of Dahab April
24 which killed 23 people. However, there have been terrorist
attacks in London and Barcelona as well. Are travelers supposed to stay
home and fear terrorism? We didn’t. But, we did take preventive steps
to include checking the State Department’s Web site www.state.gov each
day before we departed Germany, and we received an Office of Special
Investigations travel brief.
I was excited to see the ancient sites I had watched for years on the
Travel Channel or read about in National Geographic magazine.
From the minute we exited the airport in Cairo, it was unmistakeably
obvious that we were in a foreign land. The majority of Egyptian men
were wearing long, cotton robes, which are their traditional clothing.
In front of the terminal on a small patch of grass, a few Muslims were
facing east and praying to Allah. And of course, all the traffic signs
and billboards were written in Arabic, which has been used since the
4th Century A.D.
***image2***Within minutes of our shuttle ride to our hotel in Giza, we were
crossing the world-famous Nile River. It is the world’s longest river
as it stretches 4,184 miles from East Africa to the Mediterranean,
flowing south to north. Egypt’s 78 million people live on 7
percent of the land, which undoubtedly is located along the Nile River.
The other 93 percent of Egypt’s land is barren desert, with a large
percentage belonging to the Sahara Desert.
Over the next few days we toured the Pyramids, ancient temples, papyrus
factories, King Tut’s Tomb, decorated mosques, the Aswan Dam and
several other sites. All the tourist areas were secured by Egyptian
National Police who conducted car searches and monitored metal
detectors at all entrances, including hotels. We even had an armed
convoy when we ventured 280 kilometers into the Sahara Desert to visit
Abu Simbel, a 3,000-year-old temple that was discovered to be buried in
the sand in 1813.
I felt safe during the entire vacation as the Egyptian National Police
presence was obvious during every step of our trip. The
government realizes the importance of the tourist dollar and has taken
grand steps to try and stop terrorist activity inside the country, so
why not witness the past first hand with a trip to Egypt.
