The tourist’s Egypt has five regions. The first is the Mediterranean Coast bounded by Alexandria, Egypt’s summer capital; Marsa Matrouh, home to inviting beaches; and the delightful Siwa Oasis, a pilgrimage to the west.

The second region, die Nile Valiey, is the most popular and, in terms of distance and sights, the most tremendous. The contrasts are fascinating-one side of the Nile Valley railroad is marked by groves of date palms, fig, banana, and mango trees, the other only by vast stretches of sand. Along the Nile, Egypt is divided into two regions: Upper Egypt in the South and Lower Egypt in the North-these names arc so designated with respect to the direction of the flowing of the Nile River (upstream and downstream).

Lower Egypt includes the Delta and Cairo, while Upper Egypt includes Luxor and Aswan and extends all the way to Abu Simbel.The third and fourth regions are the eastern Red Sea Coast, and the Sinai Peninsula, returned to Egypt from Israel as part of the Camp David Accords. Snorkeling, hiking, windsurfing, and spectacular scenery at Hurghada and the Aqaba Coast are welcome diversions for museum-sated minds.
The last region, and the least explored, is the Western Desert Oases, with the paradisiac waterholes of Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, Kharga, and Bans.