The Last Anchorite | Egypt

An anchorite is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely ascetic and prayer-oriented life. In other words, a religious hermit with a "fixed address'.

This 19 minutes-long documentary features the story of Father Anthony El Lazarus, a Coptic monk who lives in seclusion in the Red Sea mountains, in a 4th-century monastery about 200 miles southeast of Cairo, Egypt. He's former university lecturer in literature and philosophy, and spent 40 years as an atheist.

This is an ancient tradition since early Christians flocked to the Egyptian deserts where Copts had already embraced the idea of a solitary, devout Christian life. It's accepted that he early Christians were inspired by the eremitic (reclusive) traditions of the Hebrews.

The Coptic Church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark who brought Christianity to Egypt during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero in the first century. He was one of the four evangelists and wrote the oldest canonical gospel. Christianity was the religion of the vast majority of Egyptians from 400–800 A.D. and of the majority after the Muslim conquest until the mid-10th century and remains the faith of a significant minority population. 

With wonderful cinematic skills, filmmaker Remigiusz Sowa captures the essence of the reclusive monastic life led by Father Anthony and those like him in the isolated monastery in the Red Sea Mountains.

A Day Trip To Cairo. Shukraan.

I tried associating my trip to Cairo more as a gateway to Europe. But soon realized that it was special in its own right. (Travel to Europe is some thing I'll write in the due course.) For now, first things first. Kahira.

Beautiful Sahara desert leading to grand pyramids and people that were really really lively. Cairo with its charm can stay with you forever. With early January chill making its way to clear blue skies and warmth of its ever hospitable people, we stepped to see the wonder world.

Day 1- Pre Noon

Bright Smiles and 'Shukraan' showered liberally everywhere. For something special, Egyptians are a happy lot. Karnak Tours, the official tour agency of Egypt Tourism approached us for a guided tour to the city at the time of check out on the airport. By what we had heard about Cairo, we accepted then and there. We were travelling to Rome from Mumbai, and with a complete day at our disposition and a beautiful city to explore, there was not an iota of a second thought. Karnak offered us the tour and the facility to drop us back to our hotel. The arrangement couldn't had been better.

Pyramids and a tour to local souk was included int he tour, that was also shared by two Nigerian nationals.(And they added to the journey in their own way by their restlessness) A comfortable Nissan above a great highway that ran beneath, we reached the desert miracle Pyramids in almost no time. River Nile passed by our side but we didn't have time by our side to soak in its beauty.

Excellent road connecting the airport and Giza complex

Sabr, our travel guide joined us half way in city of Cairo. Tall, a no non-sense man, he definitely 'belonged' to that place. After the routine security check before the pyramids, we headed to the 'wonder'. Along the dunes, there was a sight of sudden rise, the spectacular pyramids stood before us with its open arms with a message through its grandeur that in all ways it indeed was a 'Miracle'.

Day 1 - Post Noon 

Exlporing the Pyramids was a great experience. The Local Camel riders come close to you in their traditional wear with encouraging words 'free photo'. And there you go, you'll end up paying them post that. Same old story folks. Same Trap. Some Egyptian pounds. So Beware.

Majestic, they were, but they were certainly in need of better upkeep. We witnessed Picnic by locals on the stones of one of the wonders. Yes. It is an unfortunate realization to witness the appalling difference in the upkeep of monuments between the developed and developing nations. And Egypt stands as no exception.

The Pyramids

Several Pyramids

Of the several pyramids that resides in the 'complex' of Giza, the ones that stand out for their size and architecture are the Pyramid of Menkaure, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Pyramid of Khufu .The guide told us that a few of the Pyramids were originally in a smooth surface, which later subject to theft became in step-like surface. (Later found on the web that there were multiple theories for the step like structure though).

The select vehicles are allowed only up to a point and when on the road in the Giza complex, the distance from the monument is quite healthy. The dunes, the clear sun and the pyramids made a unravelled combination. Sabr, our travel guide was informative and gave us all adequate time to be on our own too.

Horse-riding: A great way to conserve ecosystem around Pyramids

The tomb inside the Pyramids can for sure be given a miss. It's not worth it.(The money for the ticket and time you invest)

Sphinx

 

We then headed towards 'The Great Sphinx of Giza', which is quite close to the pyramids complex. Its amazing architecture can take your breath away. Local artifacts, including duplicates of look alikes of authentic papyrus paintings, are sold by locals outside sphinx. You should (if you can :)) bargain and in turn can get a great deal too. Inexpensive mementos can also be seen around , but I preferred and suggest you not to buy them, primarily because of the quality.

We then headed to one of the shopping places to pick authentic perfumes made out of flowers and natural sources. The products were way too expensive and as souvenirs are a definitely not recommended. Although the shopkeepers in the beginning said that, there would not be any bargaining, they kept on slashing prices big time on their own! We decided to give it a miss. And Yes, I should add that this place reminded me of the Palika Bazaar in Delhi.

Tired, we were, as our tour operator dropped us to our hotel, (arranged by Egypt Air as the transit period was more than 8 hours with a night before our next flight). The hotel was ok, but the food there more than made up the deficit. Multiple cuisines and some really good food. My wife and I are strict vegetarians and yet could find a LOT to eat. The salads, breads, yoghurts and desserts among others...!! Hmmmmmm ... can't forget that meal in my lifetime!!!

We thought of taking a walk post our meal, but then almost  immediately decided against it, as soon as we stepped out of hotel. It was really really cold.

Night had fell, but the feeling of witnessing few of greatest architecture marvels was yet to sink in. To say much about the two architectures would be an understatement. 

This could perhaps sum up the glory of the Pyramids and Sphinx.

What a beauty !

Day 2 - Pre Noon

Chilled Morning greeted us for our delicious breakfast. The food was great, as usual, as we chose the continental part, and headed for our bus that took us to the airport. One could feel the freshness in the morning air as date palms led our way while sunshine smiling above us brightly en route to Al Kahira International airport.

Date Palms dotting fresh morning and brilliant sunshine

The Check-out in the transit Visa portion is swift and efficient.

Duty Free on the Airport

A big NO. All the products sold on the airport's duty free section are far more expensive than the ones in the main city. If you are looking for gifts or price is a no issue, then you could buy certain crystal based artifacts. Offers on chocolates/liquor may also turn out to be a good idea. There isn't much of a variety either on the choice of products that are available for shopping.

Shop What?

• Crystal Artifacts
• Papyrus paintings

 (Both the products to be shopped in the city as you also find some bargaining.)

• Natural Perfumes (Search a lot to find the right price, we couldn't.)

Bottom Line

Civilizations converge to make more firm identities. People are lost to discover themselves. Cairo redefines that more than any other city. A primitive civilization of its own, with a strong influence of African, Arabic and even European culture has made Egyptian identity even more unique. Geographically epitomized by the confluence of the resilience of the Sahara Desert and the beautiful and virile river, Nile.

Karnak offers some really good and 'value for money' tours and the offers and facilities by Egypt Air are also excellent, especially if you are flying to southern Europe.

Yes Kahira is a lively place, made so by its inhabitants. I so wish there was more time by our side in Cairo.

Travel Facts: 

• Stayed : 1 and 1/2 days.
• Travelled with my better half and the journey could be easily divided in three phases. 
• Travelled in Egypt Air in January 2013.

Mosa’ab El Shamy | Egypt's Mawlid |TIME LightBox

Photo © Mosa’ab El Shamy- Courtesy Time LightBox

"Mawlid" is the Arabic word for birthday, and in the context of this feature, is a religious birthday. The most celebrated in the Muslim world is the birthday of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. However, there are many others religious birthdays that are observed in some countries, such as Egypt.

Although the majority of Muslim scholars favor the observance of Muhammad's birthday, the more orthodox do not. In some countries, such as Egypt and Sudan, Mawlid is used as a generic term for the celebration of birthdays of local Sufi saints as well. Around 3,000 Mawlid celebrations are held each year and attended by tens of thousands of people.

The largest Mawlid in Egypt attracts up to three million people, and honors Ahmad al-Badawi, a local 13th-century Sufi saint. It is easy to forget that Egypt was once the seat of the Fatimid Caliphate, a Shia Islamic caliphate, which left exquisite examples of Islamic architecture such as the Al Azhar University, the Al Hakim mosque and the El Hussein mosque (Masjid El Imam Hussein).

The largest Mawlid is that of Ahmad Al-Badawi, the founder of the Badawiyyah Sufi order, a Moroccan Sufi who fought the Crusaders in the 13th century.

Exploring The Mawlids of Egypt is the work of Egyptian photographer Mosa’ab El Shamy, a Cairo-based independent photographer who covers daily news stories, as well as in-depth cultural and social documentary projects. In 2013, TIME picked one of Mosa'ab's photographs among its best 10 photos of the year. He won an Award of Excellence from Pictures of the Year International competition and then selected by PDN among its 30 Emerging Photographers in 2014, as well as one of the Guardian’s Top 10 Youth in Digital Media.  

He also won the Egypt International Photography Contest and Arab Union of Photographers competition and was shortlisted for numerous awards including the Terry O’Neil award, Hasselblad and Professional Photographer of The Year.

Bernat Armangue | The Copts of Egypt

Photo © Bernat Armangue-All Rights Reserved

Amongst all the angst and hubris of the events in Egypt during the past few years, attention should be given to its largest minority group; the Copts, the native Christians of Egypt.

Wikipedia tells us that "Christianity was the religion of the vast majority of Egyptians from 400–800 A.D. and the majority after the Muslim conquest until the mid-10th century and remains the faith of a significant minority population."

"Significant" is the word used by the online encyclopedia, since it's almost impossible to get an accurate number from Egyptian governmental sources.  I also read in The Guardian that no one in Egypt can agree on how many people live in Cairo, let alone the precise ratio of Muslims to Christians. But senior government clerics are quite sure of one thing: there are exactly 866 atheists in Egypt – roughly 0.00001% of the population. Ridiculous, and somewhat reminiscent of Ahmadinejad's assertion that there were no gays in Iran...and the same flaky arithmetic applies to the Copts.

Bernat Armangue's 15 photographs in his Copts In The New Egypt provide us with a sliver of a glimpse in the daily lives of Egyptian Copts. In the current religious climate, no one can tell the Copts' future in their own land, and whether this will lead to increased emigration to other countries such as the USA, Canada and Australia.

Bernat is a Spanish photographer born in Barcelona. He freelanced for various Spanish newspapers, and has been working with The Associated Press since 2005. He covered the Middle East (mostly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), and recently moved to Delhi to cover South Asia.