Egypt (Summer 1969)

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During the summer 1969, I took a boat from Marseilles to Alexandria in Egypt. From there I traveled mostly along the Nile River down to Juba (now the capital of South Sudan). At that time southern Sudan was already in turmoil and I had to fly from Juba to Entebbe in Uganda. I then travelled across Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, before flying back from Nairobi to Paris. This page contains photos from Egypt. For photos of Sudan click here. I haven′t posted any photos from Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, as they are few and in very poor condition. In 1969 Gamal Abdel Nasser was still the President of Egypt. He died one year later in September 1970.

Cairo:

View over Cairo from the Citadel, with a minaret of Sultan Hassan mosque visible on the left.

Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pashi situated in the Citadel and its ablution fountain in the center of its courtyard.

In both photos: Sultan Hassan mosque-madrassa (left) and Al Rifa′i mosque (right).

Al-Azhar mosque/university: exterior and courtyard.

In the streets of Cairo.

My hotel (Bel Air) in Cairo. The hotel was on the 3rd floor. The second floor was occupied by a Palestinian organization.

Along the Nile near Cairo.

Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Menkaure (left) and Khafre (right) on the plateau of Giza.

Other views of the Sphinx and the pyramids.

Luxor:

Street and market scenes in Luxor.

Along the Nile.

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Luxor temple.

Karnak temple.

Me visiting the Valley of the Kings and other sites (Madinat Habu temple and Colossi of Memnon) on the left bank of the Nile (opposite to the town of Luxor).

Column and wall carvings in Madinat Habu temple.

Colossi of Memnon (18m in height). Note how both the camel under the tree in the middle of the photo and the man dressed in white lying on the ground on the left side of the colossus on the right look small.

View from the train in south Egypt, on my way to Sudan.

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