Often, when people think about traveling to the Holy Land, they don’t realize that this could include the cultural and beautiful land of Egypt. Egypt vacations are quite popular with people who want to travel overseas and get a wide perspective of life in a foreign land. Christians are particularly interested in these tours because they can see where the places where the Israelis worked and slaved before escaping from the hand of the Pharaoh of Egypt.
There are about 75 million people in Egypt and 90% of the people are of from the lineage of Ham, Noah’s son. A small minority group of the Egyptians are the Nubians who live mostly in southern Egypt. Egypt is 90% Islamic, 10% Christian, which includes all Armenian and Catholic churches.
About 98% of the people in Egypt speak Egyptian-Arabic, a dialect of the Modern Standard Arabic. The more educated Egyptian people speak English and French. Egypt is a presidential republic. The head of state in Egypt is the president and he is elected by popular vote for a term of six years.
The climate in Egypt is a desert climate with moderate winters and hot, dry summers. The temperatures from morning to night can range considerably. Plan to bring layers of clothing when you take your tour to Egypt so you can add or take off clothes as the weather fluctuates. The mild winter will begin in November and the hot summer begins in May. Rainfall only comes to the northern part of the country and even there is very sporadic and light.
An Egypt tour company will offer various packages for those traveling to Egypt. If you are already in the area, you can schedule a one-day tour where you can visit St. Catherine’s Monastery and climb Mount Sinai. These tours begin early in the morning and include traveling through the Sinai desert with an Egyptian guide. While here, you will also visit the place where Moses saw the burning bush and received the Ten Commandments.
Some tours are longer, ranging from four to eight days or even longer. Foreign tourists generally arrive at the Cairo International Airport where they are greeted by the tour company representative. They are assisted through immigration and customs and then escorted to the hotel. Depending upon the length of the tour, there will be a variety of places to visit. In fact, each day will be full of tours to places you have only heard.
The Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza are two places amazing sights that have been standing for the last 5,000 years. The artifacts of the era of the Pharaohs can be seen at the Egyptian Museum. The treasures of King Tutankhamen’s tomb are there as well. A drive through Old Cairo will show you where early Judaism and Christianity thrived in Egypt. In Cairo, you will also visit the Saint Sergius Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue.
One exciting part of the trip is the visit to Aswan where you will board a train that has sleeping compartments for a couple of days of travel. By train, you will visit the Old Aswan Dam, the High Dam, the Philae Temple and the unfinished Obelisk. You will travel to Luxor by train and then visit the Valley of the Kings and the West Bank, as well as the Karnak temples.
You will be left with lifetime memories after taking a tour of Egypt. Each tour has a different agenda that may include a Nile cruise, an oriental dinner and even a costume party. Your tour representative will give you all of the details of your upcoming journey so you can be well prepared. The main objective is to enjoy yourself and have a wonderful, refreshing vacation to the Land of the Pharaohs.