It was absolutely fascinating to discover that Yoga existed in ancient Egypt. The Egyptian system of Yoga called Kemetic Yoga, is based on the practices of physical movements combined with controlled deep breathing and meditation; which was apparently developed by interpreting the hieroglyphic texts of Kemet (ancient Egypt) and the images of Yogic postures on the walls of the temples and artifacts found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb. I was intrigued with the many similarities between words in Sanskrit and the ancient Egyptian language as well as symbols that relates to Yoga. For example, the word Hatha, which designates the general system of Yoga relating to the moon and sun, is similar to the ancient Egyptian word ‘Hathor’, which was originally pronounced ‘Het Heru’ by the ancient Egyptians. Hathor or Het Heru is the goddess of the moon and sun. Isn’t that cool?

During the attempt to decipher some of the symbols, postures and hieroglyphs that I had photographed, these were some of the ‘WOW’ facts that I discovered:

• The Sun Disk at the top of the head of Gods or Goddesses represents the Crown Chakra.
• The two serpents on each side of the Sun Disk represent the two primary nadis (energy channels), which are the ida and the pingala.
  The hieroglyphic inscriptions make reference to eternity and the achievement of immortality.
• The person/deity pictured in the posture is called Heh or Shu and is associated with life energy – the breath and the life force found in the air (prana).
• There were many unique poses that the Egyptians claim belongs to only ancient Egypt and not seen before e.g. the pose of Maat, Selkhet, and Ausar.

All we had to do was just kick back and cruise from Aswan to Luxor for 3 days, enjoying the cool breeze on the sun deck and soaking up the beautiful scenery along the Nile river banks. The Nile River is the longest river in the world. Many of the spectacular ancient monuments and archeological sites are strategically located along the river banks; some of the temples we visited were the Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Temple of Edfu, and Philae Temple.

The city of Cairo is home to 25 million people. This is approximately 25% of Egypt’s population and about 80% of Malaysia’s. That’s huge! This explains why Khan el-Khalili, the largest bazaar of the Middle East located in Cairo, is filled with all the souvenirs you can possibly buy in Egypt. It’s a true paradise for bargain hunters! There is more to Khan el-Khalili than the bazaar. I was impressed with the beautiful medieval Mamluk architecture that houses the bazaar. Not to mention the winding alleys filled with cafes where we chanced upon an over 200 year old El Fishawy Café, the oldest one in Cairo.

Most tourists visit Egypt to travel back in time while exploring the ancient temples. We visited so many temples and my favourites being the Temple of Horus, Philae Temple of Isis, Temple of Kom Ombo, Karnak Temple, and the Temple of Hatshepsut. The Karnak Temple is the world’s second largest religious site after Angkor Wat. In ancient times there was a 2km road lined by Sphinxes that connected the Karnak Temple to the Luxor Temple. This temple is home to 134 gigantic colonnades, filled with relics and hieroglyphs, arranged in 16 rows occupying a space of 50,000 sq ft. It takes approximately 9 adults, holding hands fully extended to encircle one of the pillars. An absolutely remarkable sight to behold!