Sustainable Architecture for the Poor

Hassan Fathy received international awards for his architecture for the poor; he inspired a generation of architects and urban planners in search of sustainable development rooted in culture, tradition, and nature. Yet, ironically, back in New Gourna, the people he had hoped to help are not as appreciative.

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Photo Essay: Sailing on the Nile

Walking along the bank of Nile in Luxor or Aswan, you would be asked a hundredth time a day if you want to ride a felucca, the traditional wooden single-mast sailing boat, which is still commonly used in upper Egypt and Sudan. Powered by the wind, feluccas glide graciously in a zig-zagging way across the [...]

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The Quest for Fair Price

At times, I take pictures of empty shops and houses in Egypt, to avoid the hassle of being asked for money for photo shoot. “Too much cheating here, worse than India!” this is a line often repeated by backpackers we met while traveling in Egypt. In the first two weeks of our stay in the [...]

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The Land of Exodus

on the way up to Mt. Sinai, please show me sign how high more do I need to climb? The wilderness of Sinai, according to biblical story, was where the Israelites from Egypt, led by Moses, wandered for 40 years before they reached the promised land flowing with milk and honey. That was how I [...]

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Boarding A “Refugee” Boat

(note: the above video contains gory images, it is shared by a group of Syrians I met on board the ferry) They hardly look like refugees, they are not disheveled, they seem too cheery and they are in chatty mood, “I from Hama (Syria), he, my brother; this man, from Homs (Syria), our home, da [...]

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Counting Ships in Suez

There’s nothing to do in Port Tawfiq, Suez, except watching cargo ships sailing by, but this seemingly dull way to kill time is rather entertaining and addictive, so much so that my sister and I sat through an afternoon and then the whole of next morning doing just that. Upon leaving Cairo on our way [...]

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Christmas on Jan 7

Christmas is coming in 5 days; no, I didn’t get it wrong, I know we usually celebrate Christmas before the New Year, but to the Coptic Christian community in Egypt, it falls on Jan 7 according to the ancient Egyptian civil year calculation, which is similar to the older Julian Calender, as opposed to the [...]

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New Year in Sinai

A brand new year starts on a sunny day, at least in Dahab, Egypt, a desert cum beachfront town in the Sinai Peninsular facing the Aqaba Gulf, on a good day like this, one could see the coast of Saudi Arabia on the other bank. Dahab has a strange-mixed feel – foreigners munch on falafel [...]

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