IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE PHARAOHS - EGYPT

Just like Istanbul, Egypt is spread over 2 continents. The tunnel under the Suez Canal connects the Sinai Peninsula on the Asian side with Africa on the other.

Cairo was chaos, and a typical example of bureaucratic stagnation. When we were stuck in traffic, I would think back to my incredible diving experience in the Red Sea and the thousands of colourful fish we encountered. We were all too happy to exchange city pollution for desert dust and follow in the footsteps of the pharaoh.



As I stood by the pyramids of Giza I couldn't help imagining how thousands of slaves had spent their miserable lives carrying the huge and heavy stones to build these masterpieces. Napoleon estimated that there would be enough stones in the 3 main pyramids alone to build a wall of 3 metres high, all around France. The mysterious Sphynx near the pyramid of Chephren, is 7 stories high and as long as an olympic swimming pool.



The river Nile has always been the lifeline of Egypt and the Sudan. For thousands of years it has flowed through this unforgiving desert, creating life and culture on its fertile banks. Discovering the many remainders of this high culture as we followed the Nile, almost felt like being in a time machine. It's not only the temples and the hieroglyphs that gave us a sense of the past, but also the farmers that were ploughing the land with oxen in exactly the same way it was done a thousand years ago.