CLINICAL MATTERS

In Paulo Coelho’s book The Alchemist, the main character goes on a spiritual journey from Andalusia in Spain to Morocco and finally to Egypt to find a great treasure. I won’t spoil the ending if you haven’t read it, but in an unexpected twist, he did find what he was looking for. This novel was one of the inspirations for planning our holiday trip this year to Egypt. Last year, we went to Morocco and we had such a wonderful time in that country that we wanted to go to a similar place with a rich and colorful history. I then remembered the novel, and it made sense to go to one of the most mysterious and iconic civilizations in the world. Egypt fit the bill in so many ways and so we planned our vacation and we were off.

One major development for Filipinos who wish to visit Egypt is that a visa on arrival is now available for those with a US, Schengen or Canadian visa. These should not yet have expired and should have been used at least once. This takes the hassle out of applying for a paper visa in the Philippines which can take a long time. For our land arrangements, we decided on going with a local tour company that offered a complete 10-day itinerary with transfers, hotels, tours, and food for a reasonable price. This took out the hassle of planning which can be quite complex in Egypt.

Our travels took us first to Cairo and nearby Giza where the best-known Egyptian pyramids are found. Our first up-close look at the pyramids was breathtaking. Our tour guide noted that after thousands of years, they still haven’t figured out exactly how the ancient Egyptians accomplished such a remarkable feat. This is perhaps why so many conspiracy theorists think that aliens had a hand in making them. Up close, the façades of the pyramids have mostly eroded, and the component blocks are visible. The three most famous pyramids are the tombs of three Pharaohs: Cheopsor Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid) which is the largest; Khafre, which still retains some of the limestone casing that smoothed out the façade; and Menkaure which is the smallest. Each pyramid has three small pyramids attached to it. The small pyramids housed the tombs of each Pharaoh’s queens so that there are actually nine pyramids in the Giza complex. Watching over these pyramids is the Sphinx, an enigmatic creature with the body of a lion and the face of a man. In Greek mythology, the Sphinx is depicted as the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle, but this is not what the Great Sphinx looks like. Evidence suggests that the face on it is that of Khafre and not that of a woman. After exploring Giza, we headed to Saqqara where the first step pyramid was successfully built. It didn’t taper smoothly like the Giza pyramids, but it was clearly part of the evolution of pyramid-building.  My kids, in their Gen-Z fashion, dubbed it the “beta” version.

We also went to Memphis where a colossal statue of Ramses II lay on the ground because it was too heavy to raise. Ramses II is arguably the best-known Pharaoh because he liked making so many statues of himself. We would encounter his statues repeatedly during our travels.

The next day, we saw two religious sides of Cairo. Our first stop was the Cairo Citadel which was built by no other than Saladin in medieval times. It is an imposing structure on top of a hill and has seen pitched battles from the Middle Ages to World War II. The complex houses the magnificent Muhammad Ali Mosque with its alabaster walls and impossibly high ceilings. Next, we moved on to Coptic Cairo where a number of Greek Orthodox churches are found, most notably St. George’s Church and the Hanging Church. Tradition holds that the Holy Family lived in this area for three months when they fled Bethlehem after Herod started killing innocent infants. A church has been built over the cave they stayed in and it is now a place of pilgrimage and worship. A sign outside the church traces the journey of the Holy Family from Jerusalem to Egypt and back. A close look at it shows that they would have probably seen the pyramids and many of the temples along the Nile River. Our guide wondered out loud whether Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus took time to see the sites, even as they were running for their lives. It is hard to imagine that they would have missed a bit of sightseeing, and I think this was a remarkable observation that helped me appreciate them as being human and not just an abstract concept from religion class.

We were scheduled to fly to Aswan the next day, but our tour company informed us that there were no flights to be had, so we ended up doing a 14-hour land trip to Aswan to catch our Nile cruise ship. We drove through the desert and passed by close to Nag Hammadi, where the Gnostic Gospels were written. The Gnostics were a heretical cult of early Christians who compiled some additional gospels that never made it to the Bible, including some that included narratives about Jesus’ childhood. The Nag Hammadi library was always a source of fascination to me because it highlighted the struggles of the early Christian church and how it ultimately evolved. Seeing this area of the desert made me appreciate the hardships that shaped the worldview of the people who lived here.

We arrived in Aswan after sunset. We had missed our day tour to the Temple of Isis in Philae, but to make up for it the tour company arranged the light and sound show which is a premium addition to the usual Philae tour. Seeing the temple at night is a completely different experience, and the lighting and narratives brought many of the ancient stories back to life. This was just a glimpse of what we were going to see as we cruised down the Nile, but already I was feeling giddy and grateful for the treasure of the chance to visit this enigmatic country.