All posts tagged Featured

LEO AFRICANUS (16th Century CE – 10th Century AH): MAN BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

By | April 26, 2012 | Explorers, History, Pax Islamica, Video | No comments
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By Islam El Shazly

Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad Al-Wazzan Al-Fasi, An elusive figure in history, just as he exploded onto the scene of Renaissance Europe, he vanished without a trace; his Cosmographia & Geographia de Affrica was Europe’s essential window into North and Sub-Saharan Africa for over 300 years.

“… I am now called the African, but I am not from Africa, nor from Europe, nor from Arabia. I am also called the Granadan, the Fassi, the Zayyati, but I come from no country, from no city, no tribe. I am the son of the road; my country is the caravan, my life the most unexpected of voyages.” Prologue, Leo the African, by Amin Maalouf. Read more…

THE TOP 10 HIDDEN WONDERS OF EGYPT

By | April 10, 2012 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel | No comments
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By Islam El Shazly

Most tourists stick to certain locales when travelling, mostly due to their tour operators planning a specific itinerary that does not allow the flexibility for casual sight-seeing, so they end up mostly visiting the usual suspects; the Giza Plateau, Luxor, and Aswan, they might even get a glimpse of Sharm Al-Sheikh. That’s why they are normally referred to as package tourists, they go through the paces, but never really touch most of what makes Egypt what it is; the diversity of its history and its unique natural environment. Read more…

TOP 10 FOODS IN EGYPT

By | March 3, 2012 | Egypt, Food and Bevereges, Travel | No comments
Ful_medames

By Islam El Shazly

The Egyptian cuisine is not very fancy; it is not as elaborate as French or Italian cuisine and not as heavy as some of the food in the Arabian Gulf, it also doesn’t rely on a massive amount of spices. It is very simple, and this simplicity is what makes it very tasty.

A lot of the food on the menu relies heavily on vegetables and legumes rather than meats, same as it has been for millennia, mainly because veggies are much cheaper than meat. However, you will find that a lot of items on the list below are very much of the meat variety, after all, a balanced diet of meat and vegetables does wonders for the body. Read more…

TRAVELLING IN ISLAM

By | February 11, 2012 | Pax Islamica, Travel | No comments
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By Islam El Shazly

There has been lots of talk recently in Egypt about tourism, now that the Islamists have come to power in the parliament. Are they going to ban tourism? What’s to become of the 5 million people employed in the industry? What about the alcohol and the gambling and the bikinis?

As with everything in life there are etiquettes to travel and tourism within Islam, these etiquettes are there not to govern or dictate the way we should enjoy ourselves, but rather to temper it. Away from home and being among strangers gives a false sense of freedom to people, and makes them do things that they would otherwise never think of doing in their homeland; non-smokers become smokers, non-drinkers might indulge in a beer or two, and even if they make a different country their own, they are likely to take on jobs that they would normally sneer at home, like driving a taxi. Read more…

FAYOUM – PROVISIONS OF THE TRAVELLER

By | January 4, 2012 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel, Travel Chronicles | No comments
Wadi Al Rayan Lake

 

By Mousha El-Haggar

Getting out of Cairo is always my favourite thing to do. I enjoy going to new places and experiencing new things that are outside of Cairo. This time around my trip was to Fayoum, a place I always wanted to go to but never had enough encouragement; people who live in the city are taken in by the city crowd and never want to leave their comfort zone. That; and many Egyptians don’t view travel within Egypt as a vacation, unless, of course, it’s to the beach! Recently, though, I had a friend who was planning a group trip to Fayoum and I decided it was time to go and experience it for myself. Read more…

TOURISM AND THE REVOLUTION

By | December 31, 2011 | Egypt, Politics, Travel | No comments
The White Desert, between Farafra and Bahariya oasis, western Egypt. By Michael Hoefner, Wikimedia Commons.

By Islam El Shazly

It has been a little over 11 months since the January 25, 2011, ignited to culminate into the ouster of one of the worst rulers in the Arab world in modern history, Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, right on the heels of his brother-in-arms Bin Ali from Tunisia.

A lot has changed since then, some to the better, and some to the worst. We’re not going to get into either of them; they both have long lists.

What we’re going to be talking about is something that has managed somehow to divide the people, mostly triggered by a media that still plays by the pre-Mubarak days of divide and conquer for the sake of the person who is in charge at the time, SCAF (Supreme Council of Armed Forces) at the moment. That something is “Tourism”. Read more…

AID TO ARTISANS – HANDMADE IN EGYPT

By | November 22, 2011 | Egypt, Retail and Shopping, Travel | No comments
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By Shereen Shirazy
Country Director at AID TO ARTISANS – Egypt


Aid to Artisans (ATA), an international non-profit organization, based in Connecticut, USA, is a recognized leader in economic development for the craft sector. By linking artisans to new markets and buyers to culturally meaningful and innovative products, ATA provides needed economic opportunities to artisans to build profitable craft businesses. Read more…

PRIMAL FITNESS

By | October 11, 2011 | Health and Fitness, Travel, Video | 1 Comment
physicallyfit

By Islam El Shazly
Exercise by Darryl Edwards -  Fitness Explorer Training

Travelling and keeping fit sometimes don’t go hand and in hand, especially if you are visiting a food-centric culture, like Egypt for example.

A lot of the activities when visiting Egypt involve eating, and chances are if you are part of a package group or on a Nile cruise that you will be getting three open buffet meals everyday for the duration of your trip. If you don’t keep up with exercising then you will be going back home with something more than gifts and souvenirs. Read more…

SURVIVAL – BEDOUIN STYLE

By | October 3, 2011 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel | No comments
A lone tree in the desert of Sinai.

By Islam El Shazly

Since the Napoleon’s ill-fated campaign against Egypt in the late 18th century and the world became enthralled with everything Pharaonic. Especially Europeans and Americans, they came by the boat load to see the tombs, temples, and palaces that were long forgotten or half-covered in sand, they came, saw, and recorded what they saw in vivid illustrations; the only record of what a lot of these ancient monuments looked like. Since then many of these monuments became lost again under the waters of Lake Nasser, or just simply collapsed for neglect. Read more…

SYRIA: BILAD AL-SHAM

By | August 24, 2011 | Politics | 1 Comment
Syria. the Revolution 15.03.2011. By, Yusuf Muhammad (scape14897), Flickr.

By Islam El Shazly

In 1260 CE the Mongol horde under Hulagu ravaged Syria, The Great Mosque and the Citadel of Aleppo were razed and most of the inhabitants were killed or sold into slavery.

In 1400 CE Timur, also known as Tamerlane or Timūr-e Lang, the Turco-Mongol conqueror, invaded Syria, sacked Aleppo then besieged and captured Damascus. The Umayyad Mosque was razed and most of the inhabitants were massacred, the rest were sold into slavery. The lucky ones were the artisans; they were spared and sent to Samarqand, the capital of the Timurid Empire. The unlucky ones had their heads piled up in a field outside the north-east corner of the walls, where a city square still bears the name burj al-ru’us, literally “the tower of heads”. Read more…

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