Egypt: Where the Pyramids Are Ancient, the Traffic Is Lawless, and the Red Sea Is an Underwater Paradise

Welcome to Egypt, a country where history doesn't just sit quietly in a museum—it looms over modern fast-food joints, while the Red Sea offers some of the best diving on planet Earth.

It’s a land where navigating land-based ancient wonders feels like competing in a reality TV show. Standing in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza is an unforgettable bucket-list moment—right up until a guy riding a camel named "Michael Jackson" smoothly convinces you that getting off the camel costs three times as much as getting on. Add in Cairo's lawless traffic, where crossing the street is a high-stakes leap of faith, and you’ll definitely need a cool-down.

Luckily, you can swap the dusty tomb-raiding for a dive tank and drop into the Red Sea, where the water is warm, the visibility is infinite, and the coral walls drop into deep blue abysses. Out at Ras Mohammed or the Brother Islands, you’ll float past ancient-looking sea turtles, giant Napoleon wrasse fish, and inquisitive oceanic whitetip sharks. You can even dive through history itself on the SS Thistlegorm, a sunken WWII cargo ship packed with motorbikes and trucks permanently frozen on the seafloor like a damp, underwater museum.

Between fueling up on massive plates of Koshary, sailing the Nile on a felucca, and high-fiving wild dolphins underwater, Egypt is the ultimate mix of ancient chaos and aquatic bliss. Just learn to embrace the hustle, watch your dive gauge, and never try to hug a moray eel!

October, 2011