Lots of sand. A lot!. It is an ocean of sand. That is the first, inevitable impression people have of Egypt, the mythical African country. Today I will focus interesting aspects which you need to know before arriving in Egypt.

First tip: when you’re on foot and have to take a taxi, forget the taxi and the price agreed upon with the driver beforehand. And bargain price, try to download it to half of what the driver says and then go to reach a negotiated agreement. In Cairo it all bargains, but that is a separate issue, discussed later.

Later or sooner, the colors of all buildings tend to color sand. It rains in the city that only a few drops about six days a year, between October and March. Rather, the city is punished by sandstorms. The buildings, then, never washed with rain and sand wears down, covering them with brown. Nobody, or almost nobody bothers to wash or paint the walls.

Cairo is full of images Arabs, but on the streets also features the West, much of British culture, French, so Muslim and Christian. 80 percent of the Egyptian population is Muslim, 15 percent, Coptic Christians, and the remaining 5 percent is divided in other religions. Muslims, in turn, are divided into two groups: the Shiites, who follow the teachings of Muhammad, and the Sunnis, who form the majority and who follow another prophet, Ali.

These issues are no less religious. A person takes them very seriously and complies with all requirements. Contrary to the cliché that is dangerous to mess with paints tourist lost in an alley, for any neighborhood of Cairo sure you can walk all the time. The reason? Religious obedience drastically reduced violence and crime. The faithful do not commit crimes. Although eye, never missing a infidel.

View the Nile and to the story:

We’ve already said too much of Cairo without speaking of the pyramids. It is difficult sacarles eyes off this monumental work. You know you are there, mysterious, more than 4,500 years, and probably will never see in your life. He wants to retain that image on the retina forever. But there are many things in Egypt who say that nothing is forever. Thus, miles away, the pyramids are perfect, pure geometry, ideal. But when they do appear to wear, deterioration. And without leaving his greatness, which is transmitted otherwise.

To get there, in the Giza area, take from the center of the city of the Pyramids Avenue. You look hypnotized I can see the Giza district, and suddenly, behind the houses appear. That is, there are people living a few yards of them. Is not it strange? There are Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus. One wonders how many decades will pass before the city around them along with six other smaller pyramids, nameless, which completes the picture. They are not the only, of course: there are 123 pyramids in Egypt, spread over fifty square kilometers.

The Great Pyramid of Cheops had a height of 146 feet, the reduced erosion so far to 137. Yes impress other numbers that define it: the base is 230 feet square, is built of 2,700,000 stones, some of which weigh 20 tons, fitted on each other without any cement. About 100,000 workers took 30 years to build. It has eight tombs, one of them, sixty feet deep, and two holes that were entered. While in Egypt, Napoleon broke the nose of the Sphinx is in front of the three pyramids. And the British, meanwhile, cut his chin, which is in the British Museum.

Art and Culture of Egypt:

The art and culture are dreams of eternity that to some extent set out in the extraordinary Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There may be thousands of archaeological objects related to the ancient Egyptians believed that after death there was another life and needed for her body. For example, artistic beds for embalming. Rich or poor, with more or less care as possible for all the dead were embalmed and entrusted to the god Anubis, who ruled the universe. Then, they were buried with their everyday objects, food and beverages. Even mummies are displayed stuffed pet.

But undoubtedly the most spectacular pieces in the museum are rooms dedicated to the riches with which it was the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun was buried. For example, the beautiful golden mask, carved with delicate braided fake beard, which covered the face of his mummy. It weighs 11 kilos of solid gold. And his sarcophagus, also gold, 100 kilos. There are four boxes, one within another, thus better protecting the pharaoh’s body.

Egypt will always be a premier global destination!