Light of Alexandria

The modern city of Luxor located in Egypt, lays beautifully along side the Nile. The name Luxor is our modern version of a much older name. Through the centuries the city have had many names, but even thou the name has changed, its ancient meaning has stayed intact- namely meaning city of Light.

There are many temples in Egypt, but not one is alike. The Luxor temple is a rather odd name for the temple, if we go a couple of hundred of years back in time, it would be referred to as the Theban temple.

The beautiful city grew up around the temple, hereby making the temple the center point of this city.

The Luxor temple is actually several buildings (temples) that have been connected to one big temple, much like we find at Karnak. Luxor temple is dedicated to three ancient gods, where the foremost god is Amun.

As you stand at the temples entrances, you will defiantly be taken by the two great Ramesses II statues. The great pharaoh Ramesses II lived (1279-1212 B.C) and he as his father ruled for a very long time. He surpassed 11 of his sons, hereby making the 12.th son the next pharaoh, his son was around 60 years of age when he came to rule. Ramesses II had over a hundred sons, and on the walls of the Luxor temple, you can see many of these sons.

This was a festival temple, where people gathered to celebrate the passing of one year and the coming of a new year.

There are many things about this temple which are rarely spoken of one of these fascinating things is about the temples construction and its walls. In the most holy rooms, which are the chambers located at the back of the temple, you will find odd spots everywhere, but only in there.

These spots are from Bat’s, which fly around at night. There is something magical about these inner chambers, they are build in such a manner that the Bat’s inner radar system (which it uses, because the Bat is born blind), does not work and so they crash into the walls. The walls material does that the radar are reflected and spins off towards another wall (-pretty much like a bullet inside a bulletproof room).

Recourses;

A Magical Guide to Luxor temple ISBN: 87-991527-3-8

Now users of Egypt Yellow Pages online and mobile properties will be able to actually see the exact locations of the businesses they find in two convenient easy to distinguish views – street map or a satellite view.

“It is no easy process to geo-code a Yellow Pages database for an entire country,” commented Mohamed Salah, Egypt Yellow Pages Data Architect and leader of the geo-coding program. “In our business, businesses never cease opening, closing and relocating; we now have a dedicated team working full time on this project. It is a never ending process”, continued Salah.

Assisting in the effort to geo-code Egypt Yellow Pages business listings was Dot Map SAE, a leading GIS solutions provider based in Cairo, Egypt.

“The ability to map a location has become an integral part of the online and mobile experience,” stated Marc Lambert, Regional Managing Director for

<a href=”http://www.yellowpages.com.eg/” target=”blank”> Yellow Pages Egypt </a>

. “It is nearly impossible to purchase a smart mobile device these days without having some sort of mapping application preinstalled on the unit.”

“In the online and mobile world, mapping services from Microsoft and Google have in fact trained Yellow Pages users and advertisers on how to immediately benefit from mapping services on websites and mobile portals. Mapping services give our company the opportunity to connect buyers and sellers even more easily than before,” said Mr. Lambert with a smile. “That is what Yellow Pages is all about – connecting buyers with sellers.”

Based in Maadi, Cairo – Egypt Yellow Pages Ltd is the official publisher of Yellow Pages branded products in Egypt. Egypt Yellow Pages Ltd is the exclusive owner of the Yellow Pages™, and Walking Fingers & Design™, YellowPages.com.eg™ trademarks in Egypt and is supported by over 350 employees and 15 regional offices throughout Egypt. Yellow Pages distribution will surpass 325,000 print directories in 2008 as well as deliver many millions of page views on in YellowPages.com.eg electronic properties.

Steppes Travel asked:


“Egypt really needs to be seen to be believed. There are not many countries where one can enjoy such rich culture and history, plus beautiful scenery, wonderful diving and winter sun all in one holiday.”

Report by Kate Burnell, Country Director East.



Egypt came as a wonderful surprise to me – I had prepared myself to dislike various aspects of this country yet I now find myself struggling to narrow down my highlights!

I had heard many reports of the constant hassles and crowds and yes, there is no doubt that both of these exist in abundance but I guess that is inevitable in a country so rich in history yet with so many of its people so poor. This said neither of the above can diminish the amazing sites and temples and there are many ways to get away from the crowds.

Cruising down the Nile as Agatha Christie once did is on most peoples list of ‘things to do’ & I have to say that this is a wonderful way to experience Africas longest river and the amazing history that lies on her shores. The river is calmer and more beautiful than I expected and watching Nile life drift by with the people of the countryside fishing at dawn, kids & families playing and cooling off in the shallows and the wonderful variety of birdlife it really is extremely relaxing. This coupled with the excellent food and wonderful service of the staff onboard the Oberoi Philae, on which I sailed, makes for a special experience.

In stark contrast to the well trodden route of the Nile & her sites, I embarked on a long but worthwhile journey into the western desert and the oasis of Siwa. Just 65km’s from the border with Libya, Siwa is located on the edge of the sea of sand, a barren but extremely beautiful land which forms a natural barrier between Egypt & Libya & stretches some 600km’s from north to south. Siwa oasis itself is charming and is made up of palm lined, dusty streets where the main mode of transport is the donkey, salt lakes reflecting the surrounding mountains & over 280 thermal springs where the local boys & men bathe daily.

The people of this area are gentle and friendly and still abide by many ancient traditions as well as speaking their own language, derived from the Berber people. I enjoyed a wonderful evening by one of the many salt lakes with the great sand sea in the background, watching the sunset as flamingos flew low across the lake and we broke the fast (it was the month of Ramadan) with a Bedouin tea and dates picked freshly from the trees we were sitting under.

The accommodation here offers an Eco experience with buildings made from local materials, decorated with handmade artifacts from local craftsmen and often lit only by candles. One of my favourite meals of the trip (for all of £3) was enjoyed on a candle-lit roof terrace with the evenings call to prayer resounding all around me, interspersed with the occasional bray of a donkey!

I left Siwa wishing I had longer to spend there – time to camp out in the desert, swim in a desert lake, visit an almost unvisited village nearby and many other things…This will have to wait for my next trip as instead I embarked on a 7 hour journey across the desert to another Oasis – Bahariya…

I could go on as I have not mentioned my night of luxury on the red sea at the Oberoi Sahl Hasheesh or the picturesque city of Aswan but what I can say is that Egypt is a fascinating country with an absolutely incredible history that really needs to be seen to be believed. There are not many countries where one can enjoy such rich culture & history plus beautiful scenery, wonderful diving and wintersun all in one holiday!



Caffeinated Content

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