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 Think of Egypt and images of the imposing Sphinx boarding among its three Great Pyramids immediately spring to mind. With a civilization spanning at least six millenniums, Egypt has been left with an enviable heritage of arguably the world's greatest collection of ancient monuments and relics of antiquity.
The mighty Pharaohs ruled the land in the mists of time, be followed by the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Turks and the British. Mordern Egypt is an amalgam of these legacies as well as the formidable imprints of Islam and the 20th century.
Most visitors like to take a cruise back in time along the River Nile to visit the cities which were once the hubs of pharaonic rule along: Aswan and Luxor and a dozen smaller sites in the vicinity which have breathtaking vistas of monumental temples and places. But Egypt is much more than time past. The 20th century is very much in evidence, in comfortable hotels, lively casinos and nightclubs and impressive entertainment programmes.
The sprawing Egypt bazaars are usually hard to beat for bargains and choice are a great experience just to browse through. Cairo a delightfully chaotic metropolis, with cars and lorries competing with donkey carts and wandering goats for a piece of the road.
Car horns, ghetto blasters and Muezzins calling to prayer are part the cacophony of the streets in the Egypitan capital. But scub diving in the Red Sea, lazing down the Nile or taking a camel caravan through the desert will be rewarding experiences, too.
Egyptian sprawls a million square kilometers over the northeastern corner of Africa through nine-tenths of the land area are barren desert. Virtually all the population has squeezed into just 3 percent of land area: the fertile Nile valley and delta. The Sinai region becomes quite mountainous (over 2,600 meters in height). But along the country's Mediterranean coasts, countless white sand beaches are found, developed as tourist resorts or still pristine and isolated. Most of the years, Egypt's climate is warm and dry but winter nights can hover just above the freezing point. Wondering around the upper Egypt (which means the southern part of the country) and luxury in summer (June- August) a bit hot and winter is ideal for these areas.
On the other hand, winter in Cairo can get fairly cool so spring and autumn athe best time to be there. Don't forget that haggling is the way of life in Egypt, and just about everything has to be bargained for. If you have been living in the Middle East, you'll already have a feel for bazaar haggling: don't offer a price that you are not prepared to pay, get a feel for what the genuine price ought to be before beginning, don't rush and enjoy this friendly recreation which could well include a cup of tea from the vendor. In the end, if you feel the price isn't right, you're not under any obligation to buy so you don't offend anyone.
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