Pilates in Egypt
Visiting Egypt was an amazing experience. Our cruise down the Nile took us into the depths of ancient Egypt starting from the Great Pyramids of Giza guarded by the magnificent sphinx near Cairo, to Aswan, a distance of 400 miles down the River Nile.
The majestic sphinx with the body of a lion and head of a king was hewn out of a single block of stone. For the Egyptians this symbolised the union of the physical and spiritual power of the Pharoah. It measures 57 metres long and 20 metres high. Gazing at it nearby, made me think of the sphinx pose as in Yoga and Pilates so I thought it would be an opportune moment to pose!
The great Pyramid of Giza built around 4,600 years ago is regarded as one of the Ancient Wonders of the World. The Egyptians strongly believed in the afterlife and the Pharoah at the end of his his earthly life would continue on his journey to becoming a God himself and would face all manner of perils and dangers along the way so he had to be well equipped with The Book of the Dead together with his treasures, possessions , food and all manner of spices and ointments which were buried alongside him in his tomb .
For me, the opportunity to go inside the biggest Pyramid was not to be missed but it is not for the faint hearted. Inside it is very hot and claustrophobic and you have to bend down double if you’re tall to access the narrow winding shafts to reach the central chamber in the heart of the pyramid. Here you reach the great granite sarcophagus, the Tomb of Khufu. Inside the actual tomb it’s quite austere with no carvings or writings and possibly a bit spooky. It takes over 400 steps and is 70 metres of a climb to complete this feat but well worth it. Apparently it would take about 20 years to build .There are 2 smaller pyramids in close proximity.
However the very first and oldest Pyramid is based at Saqqara and is known as the Step Pyramid, built around 4,700 years ago for King Zoser who reigned for 18 years. This was planned and engineered by his architect Imhotep and constructed from limestone. It has a height of 60 metres and its base measures 121 x 100 metres. It is built by constructing 6 rectanglar structures one on top of the other and the burial chamber was built in a pit under the ground.
After viewing the sights around Cairo we began a cruise up the River Nile often stopping off at sights during the day and mooring up somewhere each night. The distances along the Nile were long, and on a few days we sailed without stopping all day.
These sailing days provided an excellent opportunity for me to offer a couple of impromptu Pilates classes to the passengers on board!
The take up was high so I ran two classes with 12 keen participants some who were complete beginners and some who were more experienced and some who were regular Pilates goers and familiar with the practice. So the classes were geared towards teaching a mixed ability group but as many felt they were feeling a bit stiff and inflexible I decided to make mobility and stretching a priority. The ships crew found us a space were we could put down make shift mats (we used thick towels) and cushions for head support. I ensured all had sufficient water for hydration and ran the classes in the early morning due to the increasingly hot temperatures during the day. Sunscreen was a must!
One of the very interesting sights we stopped at on the way to El Minya was a visit to the prestigeous tombs belonging to the higher echelons of society built into the caves situated at Beni Hassan. Even all those thousands of years ago Egyptians emphasised and believed in the importance of exercise for health and well being and this was apparent in some of the wall paintings. Here is one example showing the ancient Egyptians wrestling and practicing what looks like judo! The other art work reflects the hobbies of the officials like archery and fishing.
No visit to Egypt on this trip would be complete without a visit to the Valley of the Kings. One particular highlight or ‘must see’ is the famous tomb of the Pharoah Tutankhumun who died at 19 years and only reigned for 10 years. His tomb was discovered and excavated by Howard Carter in November 1922 who found the tomb intact and unplundered. Many of his artefacts , an abundance of jewellery, furniture and ornaments can be found in the Cairo Museum.
Sailing further down south towards Luxor (ancient city of Thebes) we visited lots of interesting and well preserved ancient temples including Dendara and Komombo and the Philae Temple dedicated to Isis, goddess of love, fertility and rebirth. The famous hypostyle halls, enormous pillars and pylons feature prominently as typical features in many of these temples.
Heading towards our final destinations we visited the famous hydro electric dam at Aswan. We gained some insight into the ancient Nubian culture preserved in the Nubian Museum before cooling off in the refreshing botanical gardens on Kitchener Island.
To end, as a Pilates enthusiast, I couldnt resist doing some exercises myself in the spare moments! There was a lovely cooling plunge pool on the deck and this gave me the chance for some stretches by the pool. Do you recognise this balanced stretch?
