Are you going to Egypt?

Everyday, day or night, you switch on to CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera or Skynews and you'd be hit with news about the violence in Egypt. It used to be news about Syria. Both situations are just as bad, worrisome and saddening, like why are we killing each other?

Egypt, like China, has a rich history and civilization that date back centuries so it should be a very interesting place to visit from what we know. If you are thinking about going to Egypt, you may want to hold on to that plan for now.

With the escalating unrest, many countries are issuing travel warnings about going to Egypt including the seaside resorts along the Red Sea though one owner of a diving centre in Hurghada said:

"Most of the events are 600 kilometres away in Cairo and in Alexandria, but people just don't realise that," he told Reuters by telephone.

"Downtown Hurghada is absolutely quiet. All I saw today were some people and police sitting together protecting the church."

He said the media coverage of the deadly violence was partly to blame.

Let's see which countries are issuing travel advisories to their citizenry..

German tour operators Thomas Cook Germany and TUI Germany, part of Europe's largest tour operator TUI Travel, cancelled all trips to Egypt after the German foreign ministry advised against travelling to the beach resorts popular with European sun-seekers and divers.

Similar advice from Sweden's foreign ministry led Swedish tour operators to stop all trips to the resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh, 400 kms from Cairo on the Sinai Peninsula, and Hurghada on the Egyptian mainland.

Belgium followed suit, extending a travel warning to tourist resorts on Friday that led to travel agencies Neckermann and Jetair cancelling all trips to Egypt until August 31.

The United States on Thursday warned Americans against travelling to Egypt and urged U.S. citizens living in Egypt to leave the country.

Egypt attracted 14.7 million visitors in 2010 including 2.8 million Russians, 1.5 million Britons and 1.3 million Germans, according to OECD figures.

Three years ago the $13 billion (8 billion pounds) industry accounted for 11 percent of GDP, according to the World Tourism Organization.

Russia, the biggest source of tourists to Egypt, said its citizens should not travel to the country and its tourism agency advised against tour operators promoting Egyptian holidays.

Britain's foreign office has advised against travelling to Egypt except to Red Sea resorts, although a spokesman said this guidance was under constant review.

He said some tourists in resorts at Hurghada had been advised not to leave their hotel grounds after one man was killed in clashes there on Wednesday.

Millions of foreigners visit Egypt each year to laze on its beaches, tour ancient ruins and cruise along the Nile.

Travel advice issued by governments affects tourism as travel health and cancellation insurance will often not apply to locations deemed unsuitable for travel.
Source: The Star..Travel firms cancel holidays as violence grips Egypt



The two images above capture the views from the top of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. They are two of a number of illicit photos taken by tourists in March of this year who secretly climbed the wonder of the world at night.

A group of Russian tourists waited until official visiting hours were over at Egypt's famous Giza Necropolis, before scaling the enormous Great Pyramid as the sun began to set.

The Russians managed to escape the attention of security guards at the ancient site, allowing photographer Vitaliy Raskalov to snap pictures of the surrounding desert and the majestic Sphinx from the top of the 455ft structure.

Here's another view from the top of the Great Pyramid..

For more information and photographs, visit The view from the TOP of the Great Pyramid: Illicit photos taken by tourists who secretly climbed wonder of the world at night


Better yet, view a video by CNN from which the above photos have been taken, I think.


The Russian photographer has apologized for ignoring regulations prohibiting the public from climbing on the Pyramids at Giza, Egypt.

"No words can express the fascination I felt when seeing my childhood dream come alive. Probably this very feeling made us climb onto the top of the Pyramid and see the the panorama of the whole complex, the desert and Cairo itself.

"It took us around 20 minutes to get to the top. We were taken breathless by the view.

"What we saw from up there was the seventh wonder of the world. We tried to capture the beauty of the scenery in the photos, so that the others could also see this magnificent panorama."

He said they were not the first to scale the pyramids.

"The pyramid's peak was filled with different inscriptions in many languages, some of them being hundreds years old." More on CNN..Russian photographer apologizes for pyramid photos

Egypt ousts Morsy - New elections will be held

After days of protesting in Egypt, the people's uprising has done it.

Fireworks light the sky as opponents of Mohamed Morsy celebrate in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Wednesday, July 3. Tahrir Square is now the epicenter of two Egyptian upheavals.

Egypt's military deposed Morsy, the country's first democratically elected president, installing the head of the country's highest court as an interim leader, the country's top general announced Wednesday.

Gen. Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi said the military was fulfilling its "historic responsibility" to protect the country by ousting Mohamed Morsy, the Western-educated Islamist leader elected a year ago. The country's constitution has been suspended, new parliamentary elections will be held and Adly Mansour, the head of the country's Supreme Constitutional Court, will replace Morsy, El-Sisi said.

But across the Nile River, Morsy supporters in another plaza denounced his ouster as he urged them to remain peaceful.

More on CNN..Morsy out in Egypt coup

Google doodle honours Howard Carter

Google honours Howard Carter today with a doodle for his 138th birthday.

Who is Howard Carter? Howard Carter (9 May 1874 – 2 March 1939) was an English archaeologist and Egyptologist, noted as a primary discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamun.

On 4 November 1922, Carter's excavation group found the steps leading to Tutankhamun's tomb (subsequently designated KV62), by far the best preserved and most intact pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings. After several months of cataloging the contents of the antechamber, on 16 February 1923, Carter opened the sealed doorway, and found that it did indeed lead to a burial chamber, and he got his first glimpse of the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. More on Wikipedia..

Painted walls in the burial chamber KV62 (Tutankhamun's tomb)
Valley of the Kings, Egypt

The tomb directly facing the camera is that of Rameses VI. In front of it and to the right, half-hidden by the shoulder of the central mountain, is the tomb of Tutankhamun.


Source: Wikipedia

Football violence in Port Said, Egypt

More violence in the world.. and from a sporting event! Sad.

Egyptian soccer fans stampede after game

Source: The Star/REUTERS/Stringer

The image shows a soccer fan fleeing from a fire at Cairo stadium yesterday, February, 1, 2012, after violence broke out when home team fans rushed to the field celebrating the home team's unexpected victory against Al-Ahly, Egypt’s top team. 70 people have been reported dead with 1,000 injured. This happened in a Mediterranean port city, Port Said.

According to a health ministry official who told state TV, most of the deaths were caused by concussions, deep cuts to the heads and suffocation from the stampede.

This is the worst incident of soccer violence in Egypt and the deadliest worldwide since 1996 in which at least 78 people died and 180 others injured in a stampede at a stadium in Guatemala City before a World Cup qualifying match between Guatemala and Costa Rica.

Egypt Erupts in Jubilation - Hosni Mubarak steps down

Events like this sets not only the country back but the whole world back several years. Citizens will have to work at bringing the same standard of living back to where it was. Even tourist dollars will have to be coaxed back. According to the NY Times, "This was meant to be a banner year for Egyptian tourism. The ministry of tourism was anticipating more than 14 million visitors in 2011, a record. It was hardly unrealistic, considering that Egypt had 12.5 million visitors in 2009, and in the first nine months of 2010, despite the continuing global recession, had already seen 10.5 million visitors pass through the country."

Worldwide, economy takes a dip when something this unsettling takes place. Everyone is affected in such a situation, sort of like the elements (the sun and the rain). There is no escape for anyone. Share markets everywhere were affected and went south. Even the KLCI lost 33 points on Thursday and continued to slide on Friday. I foresee the trend will be reversed come Monday now that Tahrir Square is back to normal.

NY Times..Egypt Erupts in Jubilation as Mubarak Steps Down
- CAIRO — An 18-day-old revolt led by the young people of Egypt ousted President Hosni Mubarak on Friday, shattering three decades of political stasis here and upending the established order of the Arab world.

Shouts of “God is great” erupted from Tahrir Square at twilight as Mr. Mubarak’s vice president and longtime intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, announced that Mr. Mubarak had passed all authority to a council of military leaders.

BBC.. Egypt's Mubarak resigns as leader
- Vice-President Omar Suleiman made the announcement on state television

Hosni Mubarak has stepped down as president of Egypt, after weeks of protest in Cairo and other cities.

The news was greeted with a huge outburst of joy and celebration by thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square - the heart of the demonstrations.

Mr Mubarak ruled for 30 years, suppressing dissent and protest, and jailing opponents.

The Star.. A day Egypt will long remember
- CAIRO erupted in loud cheers which could be heard for kilometres around reflecting the joy of Egyptians that long time President Hosni Mubarak has finally stepped down after 18 days of massive demonstrations.

Hosni Mubarak

* Elevated from vice-president when Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981
* Supported Sadat's policy of peace with Israel
* Maintained emergency law for entire presidency
* Won three elections unopposed
* Fourth term secured in 2005 after allowing rivals to stand
* Economic development led many Egyptians to accept continued rule
* Survived 1995 assassination attempt in Ethiopia
* Faced Islamist threat within Egypt, including Luxor massacre of 1997 and Sinai bombings
* Regularly suppressed dissent, protests and political opponents


Sources:
- NY Times
- BBC
- The Star

Egypt is a popular tourist destination... but not now...

This image is on the frontpage of The Star today. At first glance, I thought the big patch of brown was a swarm of bees. They are actually Egyptian anti-government protesters gathering in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday as they mark the 16th day of protests against the 30-year-old regi me of President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt with her rich history and interesting attractions is a popular holiday destination but sadly tourists were seen leaving the country when the protest started. I read that close to a million tourists have left the country. There goes the tourist dollar, and lots of it too.

What do we normally associate Egypt with? The pyramids come to mind, don't they? The pyramids even made it into the Transformers movie, Revenge of the Fallen, which incidentally, is being shown on HBO this month. The Nile River cruise, according to my friends who have taken the cruise, is a must-do when visiting Egypt. Let's hope all this will come to an end soon and life can pick up where it stopped for their citizens.


Image source: The Star..Protesters believe military won’t shoot them

Egyptian parties

One of the mini-series on TV that I enjoyed is "Cleopatra". Though that story may have been spiced up, there is no denying that Eygpt does have an interestingly rich history and recently archaeologists found evidence that Egyptians held wild parties akin to our modern-day rock-an-roll type. And "We are talking about a festival in which people come together in a community to get drunk. Not high, not socially fun, but drunk — knee-walking, absolutely passed-out drunk."

Read article on "Sex and booze figured in Egyptian rites"...MSNBC


The above, a drawing based on an ancient Egyptian wall painting, shows a drinking festival in progress. The upper row of figures features revelers drinking wine, including one woman who has overindulged. The lower row shows a procession with musicians.