Travel: Traveling through Egypt

The Star, za

Hidden from the hubbub of the streets we were witness to mesmerising Sufi whirling - a show of drumming, chanting and dancing in a hypnotic twirling meditation. The ritual had the audience entranced as the drummers beat a constant rhythm to which colourfully costumed men revolved on the spot continually in a smooth and controlled display of discipline and athleticism, their robes projecting into brilliantly patterned disks. The crowd went wild.

There's a lot to see in Egypt and most of it is well worth seeing. Lately, scuba diving in the Red Sea at Sharm el Sheikh is fast becoming the thing to do, aided by convenient direct flights from London on various "budget" airlines. But my fascination with Egypt has always been in the pyramids and the Nile. And I wasn't disappointed.

Driving to Giza, just over the river from Cairo, one can make out the pyramids from a distance, despite the air pollution. They're enormous. How this was constructed by humans alone is almost mind-boggling, but we were assured that, at that time, the Nile banks came close to the base of the structures, and 100 000 men would work on each pyramid. Heavy going nonetheless.

The age of all the tombs and temples we saw during the week was astonishing.