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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 October 1999 Issue No. 451 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 October 1999 Issue No. 451
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters 1001 ways to see in 2000
By Jill KamilIn Egypt, 1 January 2000 will be marked by the crowning of the Great Pyramid of Khufu with a nine-metre golden pyramideon, thus restoring it to its original height of 137 metres. Meanwhile, at the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, visitors will be able to spend the last day of the old century white-water rafting and bungee jumping near the falls which, at any one moment, sees 550,000 cubic metres of water plummeting into the Zambezi Gorge. Further afield, in Nepal, intrepid tourists will be spending New Year's Eve in a tented camp at high altitude, before flying past Mount Everest on their way back to Kathmandu the next morning.
While Egypt stages its mega-millennium bash on the Giza Plateau, with wrap-around sound from futuristic French pop musician Jean-Michel Jarre who will be performing a 12-hour "multimedia opera" from sunset on 31 December through to dawn, New Mexico will be in the middle of a three-day music festival, "Rock the Millennium". Further north, in the California desert, a million people are expected to gather for what it is claimed will be the "largest drumming, chanting New Age event in history."
For the tourist with more time on their hands, Egypt boasts a two-week tour following in the footsteps of the Holy Family during their flight into Egypt -- visiting, among other places, the cave where Jesus, Mary and Joseph are believed to have hidden from King Herod. If that is not your cup of tea, then the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania may have what you're looking for. Ngorongoro is the largest intact crater in the world, and home to one of Africa's most impressive game reserves. It will also be the scene of a New Year's Eve camp party that is set to run for two weeks.
How many people will be tempted to take up Egypt's offer of New Year's Eve in Aswan, as part of the "Oasis and Pharaohs" package? How many will choose to spend the turning of the millennium in a spirit of "free love and peace" -- by which I mean "a 12-hour psychedelic trance concert" featuring 20 bands, that will be held in Cape Town? Will Khajuraho in India, with its intricate erotic temple-carvings, prove the most desirable place to prepare body, heart and mind for the 21st century? Or will the major attraction turn out to be a seven-minute ride on a "hypershuttle", speeding through the natural elements before being thrust into the very centre of the earth's core, which will apparently be available at the recently-constructed Dome in Greenwich, England?
With every country in the world planning to pull off the record-breaker, to provide the "biggest", the "best" and "most original" (or perhaps just the most over-promoted?) event, one can sympathise with the many who would rather escape from the crowds, and who are seeking peace and quiet, rather than fun and hype. Yet even they are being targeted by the travel industry, which is bringing them such gems as the "tranquillity of watching the sun rise from a small boat on India's river Ganges", relaxing in Zanzibar, the Arabic-influenced island off the East African coast, or isolating oneself on Easter Island, the world's most remote inhabited island.
Drawig by George Bahgoury
Meanwhile, for Muslims everywhere, the millennium celebrations will fall during the holy month of Ramadan. Appropriately then, the Islamic state of Libya is offering "one of the quietest New Year's Eves on the planet", in Ghadames. In Iran, a hangover-free New Year's Day is guaranteed on an expedition to Shiraz and the ruins of Persepolis (the old Persian capital destroyed by Alexander the Great), while the abstemious (and still awake) will also be the toast of the state of Maryland in the US, which is laying on a "non-alcoholic celebration of the lively arts".
It is unlikely that Istanbul's planned three-day "VIP 2000 Party" will go ahead following last month's tragic earthquake, but it seems that revellers with substantial budgets are not universally averse to danger. Large crowds, presumably confident in their survival skills, are expected to converge for the last hours of 1999 on the slopes of a volcano in the Pacific Islands. Meanwhile, those who prefer to be crushed by uncontrollable crowds will mingle with brahmins and dalits lining the banks of the Ganges to watch Hindu priests offering the water of the sacred river to the rising sun. In Banos, Ecuador's premier seaside resort, the less courageous can content themselves with dancing under the waterfall, or risk a swim in one of the open air spas.
Samode Palace near Jaipur will host a party with a firework display; Khimsar Fort at the edge of the great Thar desert will be the place for elephant polo and a mock rajput wedding; while the Bandiagra Escarpment in Mali promises "an antidote to millennium fever with unspoilt beauty and the customs of its inhabitants."
In an attempt to cash in on the anticipated global travel rush that is forecast to last through the whole of next year, countless exotic offers have been concocted to tempt those who will be staying at home at midnight on 1 January, waiting to "do their millennium thing" later when things have calmed down. Itineraries, dates, prices and full details are already in circulation for departures through October 2000, featuring destinations as various as Central and South America, the Arctic and Antarctica, not to mention the Middle East and the Orient.
But before then, there will be excursions to Dubai ("Old Arabia"), the royal cities of Rajasthan and the Kingdom of Siam. The Red Arrow Express promises to spirit passengers through China without the tiring changes and endless border formalities suffered by travellers in previous generations. The scenic beauty of Costa Rica and a tour of classical Mexico will find their takers, as will a Millennium Ball in Pretoria's Opera House in South Africa and a party in the shadow of the Taj Mahal in Agra.
Egypt has not fallen behind. The Western press is packed with adverts for cruises on the Nile and Lake Nasser, visits to the Pyramids, and tours of Thebes, Karnak, Aswan and Abu Simbel. Yet amongst all these alluring publicity campaigns, where are the desert safaris in the Sinai, the excursions to the Red Sea coral reefs or the oases of the Western Desert? The timeless Nile is well publicised, as are the wonders of Pharaonic Egypt. Different hotels around the country are promoting their own individual celebrations. But are we not being a little tardy about promoting our Islamic monuments, especially now that so many have been restored? And what about Alexandria, Siwa and the canal cities?
Among many notable tours proposed, one stands out for its completeness. On a 14-night trip proposed by Voyages Jules Verne, you can enjoy a seven-day cruise on the Nile in Upper Egypt visiting the most important monuments, a flight to Sharm Al-Sheikh to take in the sites of southern Sinai, including Saint Catherine's Monastery, and then a hydrofoil journey to Aqaba in Jordan and onward drive to Petra for a two-night stay, before returning to Cairo to see the Pyramids of Giza and the Egyptian Museum. Which only leaves one question: if we start with so much beauty and so much splendour, how can the next 1999 years possibly live up to their first few days?
