Abu Simbel featured in the doodle of the day

 

The Google doodle today shows the moment that the sun shines on the faces of the statues, drawing the attention of the world to this intriguing phenomena and highlighting the treasures that Egypt has to offer to its visitors.

 

Twice a year, on 22 February and 22 October, the face of the statue of King Rameses II inside the temple in Abu Simbel is lit up by the sun and dates coincide with his date of birth and his coronation respectively.

 

The temple, located deep in Upper Egypt, was carved into rocks on the banks of the river Nile. After the completion of the Aswan dam the temple and its unique feature of solar alignment would have flooded as the waters were rising so an archeological rescue mission in the form of moving the complete temple to higher ground was performed.

 

Seeing the magical moment when the sun lights up the statues of Rameses II, Amun-Ra and Ra-Horakhty draws large groups of tourists to the temple twice per year. The fourth statue in the inner chamber depicts the god of the underworld, Ptah, and his face remains in darkness as the others light up.

 

The Google doodle today shows the moment that the sun shines on the faces of the statues, drawing the attention of the world to this intriguing phenomena and highlighting the treasures that Egypt has to offer to its visitors.

http://dailynewsegypt.com/2012/10/23/abu-simbel-featured-in-the-doodle-of-the-day/

In Egypt, after a 15-year hiatus to resume cruises on the Nile

CAIRO, April 2  

Egyptian government decided to resume, after a 15-year hiatus, cruise trip along the Nile from the capital - Cairo to Aswan in Upper Egypt in mid-May of this year, said on Monday, the Egyptian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Faiza Abu Nougat.

This decision was made to restore the flow of tourists into the country to the level preceding the revolutionary events of spring 2011, and confirm the safety of foreign visitors to Egypt - said Faiz Abu Nougat.

At the same time, she reported that at a special cabinet meeting on the development of tourism has been given special attention to the security situation, particularly in the provinces of El-Minya, Beni Sueyf, Sohag and Assiut, in which its cruise itineraries.

"Renewing the water travels up the Nile, Egypt, in fact, says the restoration of security in the country, thus enhancing their own reputation at the international level" - said Abu Nougat.

The Minister also spoke about the Government's intention to declare the city of Luxor in southern Egypt, "a historical monument in the open air." All necessary procedures are completed, added Abu Nougat, and this issue is on the last stage of consideration in the Cabinet of Egypt.

Besides the actual unique river cruises in Egypt, during which the tourists can visit dozens of temples and shrines pharaonic times, particularly in urban areas Edfu, Kom Ombo, Luxor, Abu Simbel, traveling up the Nile to bring significant revenues to the state budget. After the revolution of 2011 the flow of tourists into the country fell by almost a third, mainly because of concerns related to safety ratings. Egypt's revenues from tourism fell to 10 billion dollars per year, decreasing by about four billion.

EGYPT MUSEUMS

The most enduring images of Egypt are its pharaonic treasures and its history, such as the relics and artefacts that live in Cairo's Egyptian Museum. But with a written history stretching back to 3,100 BC, at the time of Greek, Roman, Coptic and Islamic empires, every age and culture demands a museum of its own.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo
Sitting in the shadows of Cairo's modern town hall, the elegant coral-pink and copper-domed Egyptian Museum strikes a gentle pose. The restrained neo-classical French exterior is little preparation for the awesome array of treasures and ancient wonders that wait silently behind it's arched windows.

Stepping through the entrance into the grand central atrium, monumental statues tower overhead from the imposing Colossus of Amenhotep III to King Djoser's life-size sculpture. The ground floor galleries take you on a trip through time, each room filled with the splendours of a great kingdom. King Narmer's 5,000 year old palette is an item of major artistic and historical importance.

Ancient Egypt's cultural wealth is also shown in many other artefacts that reveal the skill of ancient artisans.
But it's the upper floor that holds the greatest allure. The Tutankhamun Galleries house over 1,700 items including Tutankhamun's famous tomb, discovered in the Valley of the Kings in West-Thebes, opposite modern Luxor.
The Egyptian Museum is just simply unrivalled with over 136,000 items on display, not mentioning the hundreds of thousands in the basement. These items date back to the very origins of a united Egypt in 3,100 BC. The museum is renowned for holding the finest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world.
Opening hours: 09:00- 19:00
Fri 09:00- 11:00; 1:30- 19:00
Ticket Price(s):
Regular: 60 EGP
Student: 30 EGP
Mummies Room:
Regular: 100 EGP
Student: 60 EGP

The Coptic Museum
See the distinctive blend of cultures at the Coptic Museum inCairo where are displayed hundreds of Christian Egyptian documents, statues and artefacts in which you'll distinct Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman influence.
Take a breath of fresh air in a peaceful courtyard surrounded by green gardens when you need to relax.
The Coptic Museum is located within the Roman fortress town called Babylon in Old Cairo, step into the past and walk by the fusion of cultures inside and outside the museum in a place as old as history.

Opening hours: 09:00- 16:00
Ticket Price(s):
Regular: 50 EGP
Student: 25 EGP

Museum of Islamic Art
Displaying over 10,000 articles dating back to the Islamic era in Egypt, this is one place you don’t want to miss while in Cairo. Marvel at the giant carved wooden doors or the tiny, intricate copper sculptures.
With exhibitions from every Islamic period in Egypt, it covers the Fatimids, the Mamluks, the Abbassids, the Ummayads, the Ottomans, and the Ayyubbids dynasties.
Opening Hours: 09:00-16:00
Fri 9:00-11:30; 13:30-16:00

Ticket Price(s):
Regular: 40 EGP
Student: 20 EGP

 

Nubian Museum

The beautiful architecture of the Aswan Nubian Museum alone is worth seeing. But don't forget to take a walk inside this partly open-air museum where you'll find yourself wandering between a prehistoric cave with painted rock-art, ancient Egyptian statues, obelisks and columns and even a complete Nubian house.
Due to the quantities of material recovered from tombs,temples and settlements, UNESCO was encouraged in the 1980's to plan a new Nubian museum in Aswan where the objects could be stored and exhibited.
The total area of the museum and its surroundings is 50,000 square meters.
The Nubia museum contains artefacts masterpieces that were found on sites now submerged, during the UNESCO salvage campaign. The museum contains a variety of monumental objects from different parts in Egypt, collected in Nubia during the first half of the twentieth century. It displays in its permanent exhibition about 1500 artefacts showing, in chronological order, the material culture of Nubia, from Prehistory to present times.

Ticket Price(s):
Regular: 50 EGP
Student: 25 EGP

Opening Time: 9am - 1pm, 5 - 9pm

Pharaoh exchange

By Jeremy Gates

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/outdoors/travel/pharaoh_exchange_1_4048222
Published on Monday 12 December 2011 00:00

Luxor temple

 

Tour operators and travel agents selling holidays in Egypt are stressing that renewed protests in Tahrir Square, Cairo, should not deter travellers from visiting other areas.

While the Foreign & Commonwealth Office is advising travellers to avoid the square and nearby parts of Cairo, it has no travel warning for the rest of the country.

Yet the number of visitors to Egypt in the second quarter of 2011 showed a massive plunge: some 2.2 million against 3.5 million in the same period of 2010. And large discounts are beginning to appear on holidays there on either side of the festive season.

Olympic Holidays offers a seven-night all-inclusive Christmas package based on the four-star Pyramisa Isis Hotel, set in extensive gardens beside the Nile in Luxor, with flights from Manchester on December 21 and transfers. The package, originally priced at £1,000, has been slashed to £625.

First Choice has slashed the price of seven nights’ all-inclusive from December 18 at a four-star holiday village in Sharm el-Sheikh from £979 to £559, saving a massive £420.

Peter Kearns, managing director of Red Sea Holidays, which is adding El Gouna to its 2012 programme, says: “We have suspended Cairo excursions temporarily until the situation calms down, but in Red Sea resorts and Luxor, everything is business as usual.

“Our customers seem to understand how far away Cairo is from the Red Sea resorts; it is more than 300 miles from Luxor or Hurghada to Cairo, for example.

“The disturbances themselves are confined mainly to Cairo’s downtown area and Tahrir Square which, of course, should be avoided. But Cairo is a huge city and most tourist areas remain completely unaffected.”

“Far from deterring travel to Egypt, sales continue to come in.”

Red Sea Holidays has some great value mid-December packages: seven nights’ all-inclusive at the five-star Grand Hotel, Sharm el-Sheikh, starts at £459, including return flights ex-Manchester.

At rival operator Discover Egypt, Philip Breckner says: “We have not been using hotels in central Cairo for some time, and we house our clients in the outer areas of Giza and Heliopolis. Our tours are operating normally, though we take security advice on a daily basis.”

Longwood Holidays’ Alan Meadows says: “Confidence for Luxor has been returning in the last month, but with Cairo in the news like it is, bookings can be affected for other areas. But Egypt does bounce back quickly.”

Green Prophet’s Whirlwind Trip to the Siwa Oasis in Egypt

Tafline Laylin 

http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/11/greenprophet-siwa-oasis-egypt/

This was the plan: leave at 8pm Friday night from Turgoman station in Cairo. Arrive in Siwa at 5.30am and meet my friend Gwen from France at the Siwa Inn Hotel. Bestow copious hugs and kisses before finding Vivek, a Couchsurfing buddy who traveled from Alexandria. And then, after introducing my friends, relax in this beautiful oasis just 30 miles east of Libya before taking the Sunday overnight bus back to Cairo.

Here’s what really happened: the bus showed up with a broken belt, but I and a handful of other passengers, including a couple from Sicily, climbed on anyway. We were driven to a greasy junkyard, where we were given a bus that I was sure had not seen the light of day in months but that pacified a group of now grumpy Egyptian passengers. Finally, three hours behind schedule, bus #2 with the wheezy engine finally hit the road… and then broke down the following morning one hour shy of our destination!

Tafline’s whirlwind tour became even more of a whirlwind when the bus broke down not once, but twice, en route to the Siwa oasis near Libya!

Siwa is a colorful, sleepy town that lies in a depression roughly 30 feet below sea level. In the summer, fair-skinned people need not come by. But in November, the sun eases off during the day and the evenings are cool enough fo-r a camp fire.

The area is known for its dates, olives, olive oil, and a few other cottage industries. It is also renowned for its green building techniques (more on all of this to come). Because of its remote and tranquil location 350 miles away from the hustle and bustle of an increasingly-tense Cairo, it has become a popular destination. But this isn’t necessarily great for the locals, who are beginning to face serious water shortages. Although there are signs of destructive tourism operations, we received a rare look at the same soporific inner workings that have sustained this community for hundreds of years.

The population currently stands at roughly 23,000, comprised mostly of Berbers. While theyshare the same gentle, hospitable attitude of the Berbers that Karin and I met during our respective stays in Morocco, the Siwi language here is distinctly different.

Gwen and Yehia, a prominent local man whose 19 brothers and sisters (from two mothers, I should add) own a lot of agricultural property in and around Siwa, came to my rescue at the side of the highway at 9am on Saturday morning. Bus #3 showed up two minutes later, but we didn’t care. We left that bus in our dust!

It’s easy to lose track of time wondering among the dusty streets alongside donkeys and tuk tuks, watching young boys and men completing their daily chores, or else sipping sugary chai in the shade.

A short climb up the melted Shali fortress made of mud-brick and salt provides a wonderful sense of perspective. From the top, there are views of two small salt lakes, a valley full of leafy green palms used for pretty much everything, and the necropolis or mountain of the dead rises in a lumpy mound on the outskirts of town.

The planned group of three turned to six: the couple from Sicily joined our party, I called them Juicy and Crunchy, Vivek met Pierre from Quebec on his bus, Gwen spent the day meandering through town with us before leaving on Saturday night, and then there was me.. happy as can be away from the city again.

Stay tuned over the next few days for a peek at a group of woman in Siwa who make carpets under the army’s watchful management, the man who lost an eye to salt crafts, Siwa’s veteran green builder,and the man who makes olive oil that is good enough to drink…

Atletico de Madrid Egypt to disconnect

11.09.2011 | Ball Point

Atletico Madrid players have posted photos of his visit to the pyramids of Egypt. Have been invited by the Zamalek on the occasion of its centennial. 

The athletes are in Cairo after being invited by the Zamalek on the occasion of its centennial. The Egyptian capital equipment is one of the most powerful on the continent and has in its ranks with Mido, the former Celtic striker, Ajax, Olympique, Roma and Tottenham.

According to the newspaper As , the commitment to bring 300,000 euros mattress club coffers. In addition, the trip will be used to recover the moral after the heavy defeat at Getafe in the last game of the season. 

The players have risen to their official Twitter accounts pictures of his visit to the pyramids of Egypt this morning. Reyes, Juanfran, Mario Suárez, Adrián and Dominguez have been those who have been encouraged to teach the cultural moment they are living players.

Apple has taken the 16 available players from the first team and also included Javi Manquillo, the right side of Junior A, which effected the preseason under his command. In fact the friendly played for Atletico measured in summer starting at the Gymnastics Segovia. Manquillo, with just 17, has been called and for working sessions with the Spanish national team U-19.

'Welcome to the country of peaceful revolution'. Egypt aims to entice back tourists

By VALENTINA JOVANOVSKI

Countries involved in the Arab Spring have been plagued by images of rebellion, violence and upheaval. But now some of them are looking to bounce back as top tourist hotspots by launching new campaigns.Egypt and Tunisia, both relatively early members of the movement, have started promotional campaigns that emphasise their potential as safe and attractive holiday destinations.

"Welcome to the country of peaceful revolution’ is the slogan that Egypt has settled on after experiencing massive protests and demonstrations against former president Hosni Mubarak in early 2011, which led to his ousting.The campaigns have been included in a global trends report by market analyst Euromonitor International as part of the World Travel Market (WTM) opening today in London.

WTM chairman Fiona Jeffery said: ‘The speed at which the marketing campaigns have been launched demonstrates the importance the new democracies in Egypt and Tunisia have put on inbound tourism for their long-term economic future.
‘Tourism can help build up these countries’ new democracies and has the potential to do so across all the Arab Spring countries.’Another set of countries known as the SLIMMAs – otherwise referred to as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and Argentina – were named by the WTM 2011 Industry Report as potential up-and-coming holiday spots of the future.Investments in ‘infrastructure and natural beauty’ mean this group of countries may rival Brazil, Russia, India and China – or the BRICs – as top tourist destinations.
Indonesia was praised for its unspoilt islands, while Sri Lanka’s infrastructural upgrades may lead more tourists to explore the Asian country following the end of its civil war.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2058541/Arab-Spring-countries-aim-post-revolution-tourism-boost.html

Citizen Journalism Is Booming In Egypt and The Middle East, Despite Serious Risks

Mandy JenkinsSocial News Editor, Huffington Post

American? You are welcome here."


Mandy Jenkins

I must have heard that three dozen times during my visit to Cairo, Egypt last week. Every Egyptian I met made it a point to let me know I was safe in their country.
Egypt is, after all, in something of a PR crisis following a revolution this past spring and regular demon

strations ever since. For a country that relies so heavily on tourism, foreigners' continued fears are directly affecting many residents, from the guys hustling camel rides at Giza's pyramids to the restaurants and hotels that are usually bustling with Western tourists.
Many people told me, "Go home, tell Americans it is safe here." So there you go. I can at least vouch for myself and say I never felt in danger (except for when I took Cairo cabs - talk about a rush!).
My tour guide lamented the notably smaller number of tour buses lined up in front of the Sphinx and Great Pyramids. She told me the numbers had been down all year, but she was really hoping they'd pick up in the fall, usually a very busy season.

Though tourism may be down, another industry (if you'd want to call it that) is thriving all over post-revolution Arab World: Citizen journalism.
Many online news outlets have launched or grown after the dust has started to settle following the Arab Spring. MediaShift describes the citizen journalism landscape as three-tiered: Independent bloggers; joint initiatives from citizen journalists; and larger citizen journalism platforms such as Global Voices and Menassat.com.
Citizen journalism has a long history in Egypt , in particular. Since the early 2000s, bloggers and activists were chronicling complaints and demonstrations against then-President Hosni Mubarak outside the purview of the mainstream media.
While the news availability may be spreading, there are still dire consequences for citizen journalists (and professional journalists) for writing negative posts about the wrong parties.
In March, Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad was arrested for criticizing the Egyptian military's role in the revolution. He was sentenced to three years in prison for libel. Human Rights Watch called his arrest "the worst strike against free expression in Egypt" in more than three years.
On Monday, activist and blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah was arrested for speaking out against the military junta's role in violence that erupted at an Oct. 9 Coptic Christian protest in Cairo.
Despite the dangers of doing civic journalism in a time of such upheaval, I had an opportunity to work with some Arab journalists who are doing just that all over the Middle East. I was actually visiting Egypt as an instructor with the International Center for Journalists, helping to guide a selected group of journalists working on investigations of civic issues in their home communities.
Some in this group were documenting cases of staggering government corruption. As part of their coverage plans, each had to consider how to best protect themselves - and the citizens they'll be working with - from the imprisonment (or worse) that could result from such reporting. It was quite sobering for this American journalist to see what others are willing to risk for the truth.
While the consequences may not be as frightening, citizen and independent journalists in the U.S. also play a key role in exposing and reporting either ignored or unknown happenings in their communities.
This is what we're trying to help facilitate through OfftheBus, The Huffington Posts's citizen journalism program covering the 2012 election process. We're recruiting an army of volunteers to help make sure our elections are honest, fair and open.
For some, this means reporting stories we at the national level may be missing, as OfftheBus contributor Alex Brant-Zawadzki did when he was first to report on the raffle of a Glock pistol by a Republican organization in the home district of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who had been shot by the same kind of gun earlier this year. The story was eventually picked up by news outlets all over the U.S. Even those who wouldn't consider themselves reporters have a role to play in holding the nation's candidates and campaigns accountable. Our reporters can't be everywhere at once, so keep your eyes and ears open for suspicious tactics, messages and outreach efforts - and let us know what's going on.
One of the ICFJ program participants I met in Egypt, Ali Ghamloush, is leading a citizen journalism effort in Beirut, Lebanon. He co-founded AltCity, a social venture aimed at expanding access to tools, resources and spaces for independent publishers, activists and tech entrepreneurs.
Ali told me about a sort of newsroom-on-wheels that AltCity takes to more remote areas of Lebanon, giving basic training and computer access to citizens eager to tell their own stories.
His program got me thinking about how we at OfftheBus could be providing more resources to people right here in the U.S. who want to have a role in civic reporting. We might not have a bus to take to your town (but it'd be pretty cool if we did), but we do have the wide reach of The Huffington Post to help citizen journalists report, edit and publish their work for a potentially huge audience. Please, email us and let us know what more we can do to help you share your own stories.
Check out the ongoing work of OfftheBus citizen journalists on the 2012 elections and Occupy Wall Street. We'll soon have more citizen journalism projects available, so sign up for our email list so we can let you know when they're starting up. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to read the latest work from our volunteers.

Mandy Jenkins is Social News Editor for The Huffington Post and a citizen journalism coordinator for OfftheBus.