Egypt is fascinating. There are over 30 varieties of snakes here, the most famous being the Egyptian Cobra which is featured on the headdress of ancient pharoahs, writes M G Muthanna.

Egypt is truly the land of the dawn of civilisation. Therefore, no amount of armchair reading or intelligent study, can truly substitute a visit to see the wonders of this ancient and glorious civilisation. For an Indian especially, it is a wonderful country to visit. Like our's, it has an ancient civilisation, history and culture, though the place is nearly 2500 years older than us. Tourism, today, is a major and important industry here and is well-developed with an excellent infrastructure in place.

The ancient Egyptians, as far back as, 6000 years ago lived their lives and ordered their society far ahead of any other nation. It is a good idea to plan a visit to Egypt in the cooler months— from October to March. It is also advisable to do some preparatory reading before the visit. Beginning with Cairo, the capital, one can start with visiting the fine Egyptian museum which prepares one, for what to expect with its 1,20,000 antiquities in gold, precious stones and minerals.

The treasures of Tutankhamun, the young pharaoh who ruled for a short nine years from the year 1336 BC, were discovered as recently as 1922. These treasures shine out among the other relics in this fine museum. The gold and other treasures of Pharaoh Tutankhamum leave us wondering what vast treasures must have been buried along with the other pharaohs' who ruled Egypt for much longer periods.


A visit later to the Cairo Khan al-khalili market is recommended as you can find everything that is made in Egypt. Thereafter a Felucca sail boat ride down the river Nile can be a relaxing close to the day. The next day, one can go to the outskirts of Cairo to the Giza area with its great and remarkable Pyramids and of course the glorious Sphinx - all these are classified as ancient wonders of the world.

The next city to visit could be Luxor. The grandeur, size, and number of its monuments make it the greatest attraction after Cairo — the wondrous Temple of Karnak, the colossi of Memnon and the Valley of the Kings and also the museum are only a few of the many attractions here.

From Luxor, one should take a Cruise boat and go up the longest river in the world, the Nile upto Aswan. The Nile flows for nearly 6,700 km, originating in the famous Lake Victoria in Uganda and is the lifeblood of Egypt. Over 94 per cent of Egypt's population lives along the Nile.

On the very relaxing cruise, wonderful archaelogical sights are shown to you by trained Egyptologists, who are attached to the cruise boat. The ancient temples and monuments of Esna, Edufu, Kom ombo are historical and are of the Greco - Roman era. The cruise boat stops at these towns and you are taken by a road to these sights.

The final destination is the town of Aswan where there is a lot to see including the beautiful temple of Philae. The waters of the Aswan dam stretches for nearly 580 km and there are separate boat excursions to the various islands including those of the Pre-historic race - the Nubians.

You can also fish for the largest fresh water fish in the world “the Perch”, and site the large and rare Nile Crocodile. You will also see thousands of birds on the Cruise on the Nile- there are 430 species of birds in Egypt. During the cruise you will also pass by Egyptian village life and see farmers tilling their fields of sugarcane, cotton and wheat.

If you have more time you could travel to Sharam El - sheikh on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. The crystal clear waters are full of colourful and rare fish and corals and is very popular for deep sea diving and snorkelling.

While Egypt is 94 per cent desert, there are many animals who survive in this fragile ecosystem, there are three types of Gazelle, the Oryx, aardwolf, striped hyena and a desert Lynx known as Caracal. There are over 30 varieties of snakes, the most famous being the Egyptian Cobra - which is featured on the "headdress" of the ancient pharoahs.

From here, you can also visit Mount Sinai where Moses is believed to have received the ten commandments. Incidentally, Mt Sinai is really a hill station at a height of 2285 mts. The highest peak in Egypt is Gebel Katarina at 2642 mts. So Egypt is not a flat desert. From here you can also travel on to the ancient city of Alexandria and then visit the Suez canal. The options in Egypt are numerous and the history and monuments are simply dazzling and mind boggling in this ancient land and civilisation of the pharaohs.