Alexandria, Egypt

Alexandria is Egypt’s largest port and the 3rd largest in the Mediterranean and is 140 miles from Cairo. It is known for its temperate climate and sandy beaches. The city was named for Alexander the Great in 400 BC. The population is 5 million in Alexandria and 80 million in Egypt. Our tour director told us there is an increase of 1 million every 10 months which is presenting a problem. The population inhabit only 5% of the land with 95% desert uninhabited. The government has offered to give free land to the people who will build and farm the land. They have 3 years maximum to work the farm, but if it is not producing they must give it back. They receive about 15 inches of rain a year so they must irrigate from the Nile river.The Nile River is 4200 miles long and goes through 10 countries in Africa. A big problem is the lack of wheat, they are importing from other countries even the U.S. Dahlia, our tour director said the people stand in line for bread.

Our tour to Cairo was a three hour ride so our tour director had time to give us a great deal of information. Since we were going to the Museum of Antiquity and would see mummies she talked about the procedure used to mummify. The first step is to remove the intestines, lungs, liver and brains. They stick something up the nose to pull the brain out!! Then the body is buried in salt to absorb the moisture for 40 days which is also called the mourning period. After that the body is treated with oils and stuffed with herbs and spices, sawdust and lemon juice. They are then wrapped in linen cloths and put in a coffin. Kings may be placed in 4 coffins, one in side of the other.

Cairo has a population of 18 million, with another million who commute from the Delta every day and 1,000 new migrants every day. It is the 3rd largest city in the world.. One third of the households lack running water, one fourth have no sewers and there are one half million who reside in squatter cemeteries, the famous Cities of the Dead. The amount of green space per citizen fit in the palm of a child’s hand. Air pollution caused by traffic is equivalent to smoking 30 cigarettes a day. The traffic reminded us of some other cities we visited recently. Our tour director said traffic was the “survival of the fittest or the fastest”. The driver should not make eye contact or he loses. No one has the right away and they seem to think the white lines and few lights are for decoration. Sometimes we were stopped at an intersection for 15 minutes.

We asked our director about some large white cones we saw in the countryside and were told they were for breeding pigeons. Why do they breed pigeons? Because they eat them. When asked about their Muslim diet, we were told it is very similar to a Jewish diet, no pigs, horses or dogs.

Dahlia answered questions from us regarding the Muslim religion and explained it as many others had telling us about the 5 Pillars. When asked about 911 and the suicide bombers. She said, “all religions have some who manipulate and misuse what is written”. She said people get brainwashed and some are simple minded. The media shows the extremist, not the average Muslim The media showed dancing after 911, not those Muslims who were crying.

Our first stop was at the Museum of Antiquities, located in the heart of Cairo. This was very crowded and if this is an example of every day, we can see why tourism is an important part of the economy. This museum houses the world’s most important collection of Egyptian antiquities from 2700 BC to the 6th century AD with thousands of statues, jewels and artifacts f rom every period of ancient Egypt. We spent most of our time admiring the amazing treasures of King Tut including his funeral mask made of solid gold, still perfectly preserved. There were 12 rooms filled with treasures from King Tut’s tomb, which was discovered in 1922 virtually untouched. If one allows one minute per exhibit in this museum, it would take 9 months to view it all. Every treasure is an original. The only copy is the Rosetta Stone. The original is in a London museum.

After visiting one of the shops, we traveled on to one of the leading hotels in Cairo for lunch. Lunch was a culinary delight with a buffet of foods from different countries. The dessert table had around 50 different desserts fit for the Gods. The hotel was a former palace built in 1869 to house a French queen during the opening ceremonies for the Suez Canal.

Our tour bus then took us to visit the great pyramids of Giza, the largest of which is the only remaining one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. We were in awe as we stood beside these incredible Egyptian monuments and marveled at their size. The Pyramid of Cheops is said to have 2.3 million stone blocks, each one weighing 2.5 tons. The height of the two large pyramids is 450 feet tall. If you take l cubic foot stones of the Pyramid and arrange them in a line, they would stretch 2/3 around the world at the equator. What makes these statistics truly astonishing is that the pyramids of Giza were built around 2000 BC. The visit to the interior of one of the pyramids was hot, dusty and dark. The climb involved bending over at the waist and bending the knees for many, many steps down and then just as many steps up to finally reach the burial chamber.

We opted not to take a camel ride although the many guys were quite persistent. We then moved on to view the mysterious Sphinx. With the face of a man and the body of a lion, the Sphinx has puzzled travelers for centuries with its inscrutable expression. It is carved from natural rock and measures 190 feet long by 66 feet tall.

At the end of the tour, we relaxed for the drive back to Alexandria. The entire tour was 13 hours by motorcoach.



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