Egypt and Pharaohs... in Hurghada

Maybe July is not the best time of year to go to Egypt ... but I survived with 50 degrees of the Valley of the Kings and the bacteria of the post ...
Going to Egypt was one of my great desire for years ... the land of the Pharaohs, the pyramids, the prophecies of mysticism ... a land of fire of camel and coral reefs. Red Sea famous and thriving. A hotel with a breathtaking pace from the desert and sea, where a hot fight and emotions that you are taking the breath away.
Even as a child when I studied the history of the Egyptians, I was fascinated by their size and the day that I managed to go to Egypt I felt them to be true, such a step by the pharaohs and the pyramids. A big thank you to the tour operator as' efficient and a salute to 'Egyptologist best in the world: Hussain.
I visited Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Karnak and Hurghada, I saw how the papyrus factory and statues of alabaster, I swam in 3 different pools of salt water and I inspected every corner of the Desert Rose Resort, the ' Internal to the beach, the amusement arcade at the bowling, I photographed everything 'to me was possible and I know a different culture. There are few tourists in the week and long sleep under the umbrella in the pool.
There are things to remember ... Egypt is one of those things.
At least once in life you can not 'not go to pay homage to the great historical events: the Egyptians!
Elena

 

The start

Childbirth from Milan Malpensa Airport on the afternoon of torrid July with the Egyptian national airline, Egyptair ... .. hostess obviously Egyptian food and good ... .. the flight lasts more 'for 4 hours, starting late and come to Hurghada (towards the south-central Egypt, on thing is, Red Sea) in the evening.
Hurghada is an Egyptian city and popular tourist destination in the Red Sea. The town was founded at the beginning of the twentieth century, and until the eighties was several times larger investors from U.S., European and Arab states. Tourist resorts and first class hotel were built to encourage tourism in the area. Hurghada stretches for about 40 km along the coast, not to be ever over in the desert. The resort is a destination vacation packages offered by travel agencies, in particular Russian, Czech and German, but until a few years ago was a simple fishing village. Today it has almost 40,000 inhabitants and is divided into three main locations: Downtown (El dahar) is the oldest, most modern and Sekalla El korrimenti Road made the last time. Sakkala consists of some hotel category, there are a dahar the bazaar, the post office and bus station. The city is served from the International Airport of Hurghada, with traffic coming from Cairo and throughout Europe. Hurghada has become an international center for aquatic sports like windsurfing, sailing, deep-sea fishing, swimming and, above all, snorkelling and diving. The lush seabed is one of the most beautiful in the world, well known among divers, ideal for the activity due to milder temperatures and on its brightness.
Open the door to get off the plane the passengers and ... a strong wind of hot air we invest in the chest ... .. that is hot!
Emozionantissime curious and go down in my every cell .... Are in the land of pharaohs and tombs piu 'discussion of the world, are in Egypt!
With a minibus, after having passed the rigorous airport inspections, lead us to the wonderful village to 5 stars ... the Desert Rose Resort, unique and inimitable. We arrive and immediately give us something to Dine despite the eleven in the evening ... .. are friendly and nice, accompany us in the room and put me to explore my room.
Inviting, in shades of white, blue, blue, gold ... .... Cozy bed and heavy curtains at the window, the sun rises around 4 am ... ... time zone 1 hour more 'compared to Italy.
Spacious bathroom, all available, drapes and huge shower sponge, bath, comb, cream to polish the shoes, shampoo, towels and scented soft scrambled ....
In room air conditioning is very high, turn down to avoid headaches and illnesses arising from the excessive air conditioning that is the true NANNY 'is essential given the heat, but dry and windy ... then survives !
Room a lounge area with armchairs and coffee table, an envelope with some papers inside information, the map of the village, brochures, questionnaires, etc. ... satisfaction ...
The room is very luxurious in the village ... .. I have the full board and the next morning I have a meeting with the staff of the post for some information. I go to bed an hour are exaggerated so excited ... ..

First day like Pharaohs

The first real day all to live in Egypt ... ... continental breakfast in the large dining room with wooden tables colored waiters nice and large windows to the sun room. You breathe the odor of spices mixed with lunch mixed in .... .. ... Camel is a strange smell that the restaurant is typical. After breakfast I am going to go and pick up my beach towel they provide all the tourists are really obliging and the Egyptian people are kind and spirit, tourists are treated like pharaohs and the village at first glance is superb!
Do an inspection of the well-kept flower beds and green, the thousands of village roads that lead everywhere, the night lights on the side of streets are in the shape of a rose of the desert ... .. is a village 5 stars but I remain open-mouthed. The restaurant is enthroned with more 'salt and sphinxes front, games room and entertainment arena, 3 saltwater swimming pools and a myriad of sunbeds and umbrellas. Olympic size swimming pool, sandy beach and a bay for us throughout the village, on the beach there are umbrellas and sunbeds, the sun of Egypt is deadly ....
All in tone. Soft colors, wood, very white and very green.
Palms, a few tourists, tennis courts, fitness center, shopping side with shops and stores where to find the best souvenirs, postcards, gifts, foodstuffs, tobacco etc ... ..
Meeting with the assistant to the tour operator on the spot and I immediately decided to book a trip, I do not want to rot in a village with many beautiful things to see outside!
Excursion to Luxor and Valley of the Kings through the Nile and papyrus factory ... .. and a dinner in one of the best restaurants in Hurghada based on fish ... ...
The warnings of gentilissimo assistant ... are the usual attacks of colitis, attention to food, attention to the sun, drink a lot, if there is a need 'to contact him or the reception .... This is a magnificent reception room decorated in a typical Arab - Egyptian. Bright colors, heavy drapes, carpets and vases, furniture, elegant, dazzling lights and objects of gold decoration, wrought iron tables, a small bar at the side and notice boards with information varied. The bar has an elegant marble floor, no one speaks Italian, I am fumbling with the English .... TV and Arab music, scents of spices in the .... How beautiful Egypt!
Step two hours on the beach and seafront to photograph the natural beauty of the reef (famous) and the strong wind, I handle the rocks and on the beach .... The bay is artificial and the sea has small lilac jellyfish. Passing through a play area for children around the restaurant and between appetizers, first courses, pizzas, seconds meat and fish, vegetables, desserts and tease me in that delicious buffet Pharaonic. There is everything and the desserts are truly a gift from God (or cook) .... All looked delicious and conditioning that you draw!
In the afternoon the step between the pools, with a terrible sun, the calm and relaxing place. Before tonight I make a turn to the entrance of the village, laundry, and some houses Spartans are hidden in one side of the village and entry is really great ....
The dinner is very rich and the climate is good if it were not for the wind and fatigue .... In the arena shows are for young and old and I go to get involved with traditional dances, music and dancing with special effects, games for children and karaoke.

A trip downtown...

After a morning swim in the pool between sun and, after lunch I take the madness to leave the village and in the early afternoon (around 15:00) me to get into Hurghada to see what's out by the 'egg in washington " and apart from a top tourist area made up of huge, luxurious hotel, public spaces such restaurants and pizzerias, some stores and some taxis in the street ... .. collective arrival in a desert!
Only the sand from one side ... and on .... The zenith sun, arrival in a small town and live in a couple of shops and a piazza with a few surviving to protect from the sun involved in the famous smoking Shisha (the Narghile that their is a real cult), I enter a store (supermarket), dirty and disorganized, purchase some bottled soft drink, many items have expired and are now going to go wrong .... a stick of Marlboro (9 euros) and a postcard ... .. go out and back in the village. It is hot but I see the sun dell'eritema decolletage. In the village back in the room and then pass the final hours before the dinner by the pool and take photographs.
That trip outside the city has been helpful to see how life takes place outside the tourist village, as are the inhabitants of the place, and what there is in addition to luxury tourists.
That night we celebrated at dinner, we celebrate with cake tourists drawn with flags of states, a woman sitting on large cushions on the floor, the entrance of the restaurant, makes special buns stuffed with vegetables very good, out of cooking fish the fire, a large cauldron of cus cus, everyone in a festive mood and there are air allegra around.
After dinner I make a tour between the pools and the shops of the shopping area, there are two restaurants, one Mexican and one typical of the place, I wander into an area where I find super luxury jewelry and a piano bar, outdoor summer music and soft elegant people, I wander in the second reception, one of the suites and I catapulted the luxury of marble, the soft colors of the silks, curtains and ample space, a hanging chandelier and elegant vases, sofa round, and a pop top on the second floor a few doors numbered: suites ... elegant!
Outside a warm Executioner and illuminated swimming pools, reached the room before the game and billiards room, step to the bar, the one where you typically enjoy drinks strane, the Narghile smoking, you sit to the ground on large cushions and music that is typical of the belly dancers. And I will participate in the celebration. I decided to go to bed going under the porch guarded by sentinels kind, the next day you go to Luxor, I am thrilled.

Luxor & Co.

It's hard to explain the trip ... it's all printed in my mind, the joy, wonder, charm and ... happiness .. curiosity, admiration, fatigue and emotion.
We start early with a bus and carers who speak Italian, we are many and we arrive in the area where you take the armed escorts to go around. (After a few attacks on tourists, the Egyptian state was to guard the security measures with more than a tourist convoy and each must have a mandatory armed escort during the tours, visitors are subjected to checks at the airport accurate, and much more ... ..)
Taking stock we move to the valley of kings .... Hussain is our guide and our Egyptologist, omniscient, sympathetic to die, talkative and brilliant ... .. We come first to the giants of Memnone and behind the valley ... ... beautiful!
Before the giants I felt small, insignificant and terribly young ... .. photos and information were endless, I was petrified and I looked around constantly, many people, and the hills in the background and cream colored rocks of the valley of kings.
Again on the bus heard the explanations dell'egittologo that was like a river in full, interesting stories, history, art, mythology and legend .... Fascinating!
Finally arrived in the valley, famous and beautiful in its simplicity, the Valley of the Kings
Noon, a torrid heat, the air trembled to the warmth exhaled from the ground, a rocky and dusty hills that hide within them the famous royal tombs of pharaohs and important personalities. A road winding between the graves, warning notices, few tourists and about 50 degrees to the sun.
We enter the tomb of the pharaohs 2 to appreciate the secrets, the hieroglyphics, the preservation of funeral designs, explanations of Hussain were more 'robust on that feature and everything stored in the graves. The air inside was heavy and full of moisture, a walkway along the tomb and the chance to see things 4000/5000 years ago, the excitement was sky high.
Real treasures, tombs, colors, drawings, and stone sarcophagi, the atmosphere was tense for the real interest and emotion.
Under the name Valley of the Kings is usually indicates a geographical area of Egypt, located near the ancient Thebes, modern Luxor, where access is less than 3 km from the west bank of the Nile, of great archaeological importance. For a period of almost 500 years, from the XVIII to the XX dynasty, was chosen as the location of tombs of kings of ancient Egypt, those who from the eighteenth dynasty is named after Per-Aa, which is the "Great home ", by which the Pharaohs of our time. The valley is known in Arabic as el Biban-Moluk, or the valley of the "door of the kings' tombs and its - so far have been found 63 - are only buried the sovereigns of the country, while the royal consorts and principles was intended for another area very close: the so-called Valley of the Queens. I wanted to visit other graves, crypts and burial in the company of Hussain but many were not accessible to tourists, when we went away from the Valley as I felt filled with a huge cultural baggage, and I felt fortunate to leave an important and mystical. Hence 'crossed with tourist boats, up the Nile on the other side .... Then go to a nice lunch in a restaurant in the tourist area ....
After lunch on the banks of the great Nile God, we headed in the lavish and magnificent temple of Karnak, a temple near Luxor, beautiful and open, full of fascinating historical, where Hussain will illustrate 'the history and legends of each Single room, rock wall and entry. It was here, 'I could relive the times and the stories of ancient pharaohs and people of Egypt, between the walls of the temple and with great imagination. The Egyptian temples are the main attraction of el-Karnak to the point that, generally, the name "Karnak" is generally associated with the archaeological site more than the village.
It was a breathtaking tour in the heat of early afternoon and the number of tourists present. Leaving the temple, the avenue of rams was spectacular and we load them on wagons pulled by horses at a time of a small factory of papyrus in the slums of the city of Luxor, among the rubble and poverty, a basement full of papyrus drawings and paintings with images, writing, hieroglyphics, and much more .... I did the obligatory shopping!
The term refers to an Ark papyrus form of support for writing the same name obtained from the plant, the Cyperus papyrus, a reed marsh that grows to a height of 5 meters and is still very abundant in the Nile delta but also in Sicily , where there is plenty of water that, with the hot air temperature, facilitates the growth of plants. The first use of papyrus dating from the first dynasty of ancient Egypt, where was the symbol of Lower Egypt, but the material experienced a rapid spread throughout the Mediterranean Sea basin, in parts of continental Europe and in the medium East. The drawings were numerous, charming, bright colors and beautiful idioms appear on papyri of different sizes, prices in the gallery were very insignificant and could admire the work of the papyrus to obtain sheets on which to paint. Bookmarks, calendars, paintings .... All purchases made and distributed at a time of factory dell'alabastro, surrounded by countryside and rocky hills, masters and apprentices working in a sort of dusty quarry, a room dedicated to the sale of statues, necklaces and jewelry in alabaster. There he offered camels for me .... Blonde with green eyes ... apprezzai and scherzai with some sales staff and working with stone. Also bought some very unusual things that still keep on the shelf devoted to jewelry travel. By ecstatic trip, the information learned and the infinite riches of Egypt rose on the bus at a time of Hurghada. We arrived in the evening, very late and I was fully satisfied ...

Desert Rose

The next morning I slept until late as the day before I had exhausted and jumped breakfast. In the afternoon I again visited the beach and the reef in the sea. The day was flat, yet full of emotions of movement spent the day between swimming pools and room. Unfortunately I had some problems given by typical attacks of colitis, but I was well equipped with medicines and know how to move. In the evening I granted a light dinner and spent what remained of the evening in typical Egyptian village between Shisha flavored drinks and typical of the belly dancers.

The last real full day

It was the last real full day in the land of the pharaohs and Sollazzo spent in the sun and swimming pool. I made purchases of souvenirs for friends and family, up to six in the afternoon when I went to prepare for dinner in Hurghada, acquired as travel. Came to take us to 19:30 with a taxi and took us to the edge of town. Spent in the lively center of town where tourists, locals, local, music, lights and celebrations are mixed in the streets. We arrived at Felfela Restaurant, a luxury restaurant that is part of a chain, Egyptian cuisine, situated on a cliff scenery, outdoor terrace overlooking the sea and the entire coast at night is illuminated breathtaking, especially in the interior and cozy inside had large rooms with a great rustic wall into a waterfall, a channel carrying water ran all along the restaurant. The building had an outdoor wood, soft lighting and a balcony overlooking the sea. Fish meal and what is typical of the place, everything perfectly cooked by the chef. I made friends with other people who had attended the dinner, we were accompanied by a tour operator assistent4 we translated from English into this' which was said by waiters. Returned late, after midnight, was a pleasant evening and I could even see the center of Hurghada, we returned and I knew that he had surely ended my holiday in Egypt that I had strong emotions and great discoveries.

Going back home

At noon, the bus would have accompanied us at the airport, spent the morning to make the case and reconsider the posts dov'era been fantastic. I left the room and looked one last time in reception were to take a little 'late. The airport of Hurghada is tiny and cute, I met them, while waiting a couple of wealthy older gentlemen who returned to Milan after a "vacation" for 2 weeks in Egypt, Egyptian him, her Italian .... Partii sad and returned in Italy with all my memories and my emotions, souvenirs and pictures .... Now the story yet to anyone about my experience with emphasis, and I hope one day to return to Egypt to see what I could not see in 2004, the beautiful pyramids of Giza!