Egyptian Experience - Day One

 

My Egyptian sojourn began at dawn as the Egypt Air flight from Mumbai landed in Cairo. The temperature was a chilly 9 degrees. Immigration was a breeze. 23 others were partaking of my adventure. A tall gilded statue of Serket – the ancient Egyptian goddess of protection – welcomed us with open arms in the baggage hall. Our guide, a qualified Egyptologist was waiting to receive us.

20 minutes later, we sat down to a traditional Egyptian breakfast of Ful Medames (stew of fava beans), Ta’ameya (Egyptian Falafel), fried aubergine slices, potato fingers, and hummus. These are staples of Egyptian cuisine.

Indo-Egypt Bonds

90 minutes later, we sat down on the steps of Baron Empain Palace and were treated to a scintillating presentation on the Indo-Egyptian connections by Bharat Gothoskar, the founder of Khaki Tours who had carefully curated our experience. Trading ties between India and Egypt hark back to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. One of the most significant cultural connections between India and Egypt is the Dawoodi Bohra community’s spiritual ties to Cairo. This connection originates from the 11th century, when the Fatimid Caliphate sent missionaries to Gujarat, where the Bohra community flourished. Many Bohris visit the shrine in Cairo and also contribute towards renovation and restoration projects. Our flights to and from Cairo had dozens of Bohris. Indian troops were deployed in Egypt during both WW-I and WW-II and the graves of the fallen soldiers remain in Egypt as a testament to their sacrifices. Muhammad Ali, a key leader of the Egyptian nationalist movement exchanged correspondence with Mahatma Gandhi as they shared a common vision to oust the British colonialists. Later, Nasser and Nehru were kingpins of the Non-Aligned Movement, an important concept during the Cold War years.

Baron Empain Palace

Edouard Empain was a Belgian engineer and entrepreneur, whose association with Egypt began in 1894, when he established the first tramway in Cairo. The palace of Baron Empain is an extraordinarily eclectic building that embodies the personality of a man whose vision and determination created the city of Heliopolis that emerged in the desert during the early 20^th C. The place blends the Beaux Arts architecture drawn on centuries of European tradition with astonishing Indian and Khmer (Angkor Wat) elements. The palace is built in RCC, a novelty in those times. Over time, the palace gathered many fantastic myths and legends, one even claiming that the tower of the palace rotates to offer a 360-degree view. Inside the palace, there are panels that narrate the story of how Heliopolis was constructed and the architects behind it. The spiral staircases inside the building fascinated me the most.

Egyptian Museum

Cairo has three world-class museums that we would see. The Egyptian Museum close to the historic Tahrir Square was the first, where we got an introduction to Egypt’s fascinating history and the line of Pharaohs. The museum provides a chronological overview of Egypt’s rulers, from the early dynasties to the Greco-Roman period, through statues, inscriptions, and funerary objects. It also helps visitors identify various ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses, each depicted with distinctive iconography. For example, Horus is shown as a falcon, Anubis as a jackal-headed deity, and Hathor with cow horns. These would prove useful to us later when we visited the various temples.

The highlight of the museum is undoubtedly the collection from the tomb of Tutankhamun, discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter. The boy-king’s dazzling gold mask and intricately decorated coffin in 114 kgs of gold are among the most famous artefacts in the world.

Established in 1902, the Egyptian Museum is one of the oldest archaeological museums in the Middle East and houses over 120,000 artefacts spanning thousands of years of Egyptian civilisation.

We spent close to 2.5 hours inside the museum for an immersive introduction to Egyptian civilisation.

Koshari

We had lunch at a restaurant on the banks of The Nile. The set menu introduced me to Koshari, the national dish of Egypt. It consists of layers of rice, lentils, pasta, and chickpeas, topped with a spicy tomato sauce and crispy fried onions. The dish is believed to have evolved in the 19th century, incorporating elements from Indian, Italian, and Middle Eastern cuisines. The lentils and rice resemble the Indian dish "khichdi," while the pasta nods to Italian influence. Over time, Koshari became a staple of Egyptian street food, enjoyed by people from all walks of life.

Evening walk along the Nile

The afternoon was free for us to explore the city. A siesta was in order after being on our feet for 9 hours. Our rooms overlooked the Nile. I prefer exploring any new city on foot and was particularly looking forward for an evening walk along the Nile. A fellow traveller and I ventured out as the Sun was going down. We quickly realised that Cairo is not a very pedestrian-friendly city. There were no traffic signals where we could cross arterial roads. Finally, we decided to copy the locals, and wove our way through the rushing traffic holding up our hands hopefully. Much to our disappointment, most of the Nile promenade was out of bounds for walkers due to massive reconstruction work. We crossed the Nile along the 6^th October Bridge (named to commemorate Egypt’s victory over Israel in the Yom Kippur War in 1973) and returned along the 15^th May Bridge (named to commemorate Anwar Sadat’s consolidation of power). It was by no means a very pleasant walk. Footpaths were non-existent or extremely narrow in stretches. The Cairo skyline was nothing much to write home about. But I did pause to admire this gorgeous building that reminded me of Mumbai’s Marine Drive.