Egypt, Wanderlust
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One Week in Magical Egypt

Early this year I had the chance to choose between attending conferences in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia or Cairo, Egypt to present my papers. The Dhahran conference is the high profile one, a chance for networking, reunion and also a great opportunity for job hunting. My friends who will be attending have also planned to perform Umrah afterward. However, Egypt is calling, it was hard to say no. The opportunity to visit one of the oldest civilizations in the world was too appealing to pass up.

Egypt is magical, and it was started before the trip as well. I was so busy (as usual), and my overseas trip only approved two weeks before. Indonesian must apply an entry visa beforehand, and it is well known that applying Egypt visa from Malaysia is extremely difficult. My friend said it need at least a month! And to make it more complicated, we had a plan to visit Phuket during the CNY holiday, I would definitely need my passport for that trip. And I only back to Kuala Lumpur two days before my departure day to Cairo, on paper it is impossible to get the visa stamped before my trip. But I was so lucky even though the process is a bit funny, I have to write a dedicated blog post about this.

I submitted my visa application on Wednesday (8/2), travel to Phuket on Thursday (9/2), back to KL on Wednesday (14/2), submitted my passport for stamping on Thursday (15/2), received my passport with Egypt visa hence I could issue my flight ticket on Friday (16/2) and departed to Cairo on Saturday (17/2). It was magical, and all I can say is Alhamdulillah, Allah mudahkan.

The conference itself went well and the most exciting part actually post the conference when I had opportunity to explore Egypt with my friend and his family who currently live in Cairo. I only have few days since I felt bad to extend my stay beyond 1 week, it was definitely not long enough but I couldn’t be happier to know that I made a right decision to visit this country. We visited many of Egypt’s iconic heritage sites and cultural attractions within a very short time and until today I felt that I am a lucky girl.

Our journey began in Luxor, a city often dubbed the ‘world’s greatest open-air museum’, where the remnants of ancient Thebes come alive on the banks of the Nile. This enchanting city is home to some of the world’s most impressive temples, including the iconic Karnak and Luxor Temples. We were struck by the city’s cleanliness and beauty, and before we knew it, our 1.5-day stay had flown by.

Luxor hot air balloon

We had an opportunity to ride the hot air balloon over the valley, which was amazing and much cheaper compared to the Cappadocia hot air balloon. We visited many temples from Luxor, Karnak to the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut. We also went to Valley of the Kings and had a nice felucca ride in Nile River.

The next day, we went to Abu Simbel which was a long 6-hour journey from Luxor. Abu Simbel is located in Nubia near Egypt’s southern border and as quoted by many guidebooks, the Great Temple of Abu Simbel is among the most awe-inspiring monuments of Egypt. I couldn’t agree more, this temple is my favorite so far.

The Abu Simbel temple was cut into the living rock by King Ramesses II (the Great) of the Nineteenth Dynasty, around 1264 BC. The temple is most well-known for the four imposing seated colossal statues that dominate its facade. Another rock-cut temple to the north, known as the Small Temple, is dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Ramesses II’s Great Royal Wife, Queen Nefertari. On the facade of the Small Temple, her colossi are the same size as those of her husband, a very rare example of such display.

Abu Simbel small temple, dedicated to Queen Nefertari

The last city in our road trip is Aswan, a city that actually located between Abu Simbel and Luxor. We arrived Aswan around Maghrib time, and we spent our afternoon in the bazaar near the train station. The bazaar was so nice, and I had the best shawarma ever.

In Aswan, we stayed at hotel in Nubian Village which located along the banks of the Nile. It is very interesting and beautiful place. The Nubian villages are painted with bright colors and inhabited by Nubians – the African Egypt. They speak their own Nubian Languages and have specific traditions that are different from the rest of Egypt. Their origin goes back to Sudan when they traveled to south Egypt for farming around the Nile.

Unfortunately, I had no time to explore Aswan. It was early Saturday morning when I flew back to Cairo alone. My friend stayed a bit longer in Aswan and I had another adventure in Cairo accompanied by two Indonesian students who are studying in Al Azhar. I had a great time exploring Cairo city and for sure the great pyramid of Giza before I flew back to KL on Sunday.

One week in Egypt was a short trip and very packed, but I loved it so much. Egypt is lovable with their randomness and systematic chaos. A week isn’t long enough to really get to know this country, learn about the culture and history, and to try all of the beautiful dishes.

Alhamdulillah, thank you for the opportunity. Hope I can go back to Egypt with my family one day, diving in Blue Hole seems amazing :).

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