Sand color is the symbolic color of the Middle East.

Egypt spans two continents, Asia and Africa, bordering Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, the Red Sea to the east and bordering Palestine and Israel, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. Most of its territory is located in northeastern Africa.

Only the Sinai Peninsula east of the Suez Canal is located in southwest Asia. Although it has a coastline of about 2,900 kilometers, it is also a typical desert country - 95% of the land area is desert. It is truly a model of the fusion of water and fire.

In 600 or 700 BC, the Persians invaded Egypt and said that from then on they were not allowed to speak Egyptian and could only speak Persian. In 332 BC, Alexander completely incorporated the entire Mediterranean region, including Asia Minor and North Africa, into his territory, so Egypt became a fertile land for Greece. The Greeks said that from now on there would be no Egyptian and they could only speak Greek.

As Rome gradually became a Mediterranean power, Egypt was occupied by the Romans, so the ancient Roman language became the official language of Egypt; later the Arabs invaded Egypt again, so the Egyptians changed to speaking Arabic again - each occupation was accompanied by fierce cultural collisions and confrontations.

People believe that advanced civilizations will always defeat backward civilizations in the end. However, no matter who it is, if they are defeated again and again and fail on the battlefield for a long time, even the strongest soft power will gradually disappear. Egyptian, which can only be used as an unofficial language, slowly died.

Only a few temple priests were left who still insisted on speaking one of the dialects - Coptic, and when they also faded from the stage of history, this once giant finally collapsed.

The dust was raised all over the sky, blurring everyone's eyes. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo were sad to find that the most magnificent and splendid civilization in human history had lost its voice.

The first stop of Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo’s trip to Egypt is the capital Cairo.

One Thousand and One Nights says: "Those who have not seen Cairo have not seen the world. Her land is gold, her Nile is a miracle, her women are like black-eyed saints in heaven, her houses are palaces, and her air is as soft as aloe and sweet and pleasant. How can Cairo not be like this? Because she is the mother of the world."

Pyramids, mummies, death spells, and countless treasures. Egypt is a stage play with luxurious scenery that stretches along the Nile River, playing out the life, aging, sickness, and death of a thousand years. So, according to "One Thousand and One Nights", when they walked into Cairo, Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo saw the world.

I woke up at two in the middle of the night and tossed and turned in bed. I was still not used to the jet lag. I sleepily waited until the time I should have woken up naturally, ate the hotel's hearty buffet breakfast, and went out for a stroll.

Since I was a child, history books have been constantly talking about the four ancient civilizations, just like an old lady with bound feet constantly talking about her former glory. In this way, the pyramids on the banks of the Nile River were deeply engraved in my mind. When I arrived in Cairo, I went straight to the pyramids without saying a word, and I wanted to see the largest one.

Only after leaving the house did Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo really feel that they were in a foreign land. A strong Muslim atmosphere. On the first day, we were not familiar with the situation, so we took a taxi to the Giza Pyramids. It was only 30 Egyptian pounds, which was not expensive. There are also many buses near the northwest of Liberation Square that go directly to the north gate of the Giza Pyramids scenic area.

Chinese drivers are already very good at driving, but Egyptian taxis are even crazier. As soon as we got off the car at the north gate of the Sharia Al-Haram scenic area on Pyramid Road, we were stopped by enthusiastic Egyptians, who said that tourists must ride camels or mules to enter the scenic area. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo were born and raised in China, and they were young and old, so they didn't believe this.

I sent away a few guys pretending to sell tickets and went straight to the ticket office. The ticket price of Giza Pyramids has risen to 60 Egyptian pounds. Compared with the sky-high ticket prices in China, it is still quite cost-effective.

The weather was bad, and the ground was covered with yellow dust. The high towers were crying for the bones. The Pyramid of Cheops in Giza was looming in the dust, making it even more mysterious. I bought a ticket and entered the gate. The security check at the gate was quite strict. After all, a group of short-sighted terrorists had blown up the Pyramid in 1993.

The security inspectors here also habitually ask Asian tourists if they have any Fengyoujing. Fortunately, Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo were prepared and gave them small gifts. The security inspectors were overjoyed. They were very happy. They thanked them repeatedly and almost gave Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo submachine guns.

Just approaching the pyramid, Yunluo was stopped by vendors before he could even think of expressing his feelings. They were all veterans who had seen countless people in the battlefield. As soon as they met, they asked: "Brother, where are you from?" "From the Tang Dynasty in the East." "Ah, Yunluo from China likes it. My friend, this headscarf is for you." As they said that, they took out a headscarf from their shoulders and stuffed it into Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo. Brother knew that he was owed a favor by others.

The hawker then turned to attack the friendly Xiao Qiang, who was overwhelmed by the fiery friendship between China and Egypt. Although he knew that it was a trick of the Middle Eastern people, he was still afraid of hurting the feelings of the Egyptian people, so he stuffed a bottle of magical Chinese wind oil into the hawker and let the matter go.

Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo approached the huge pyramid, looking around, stopping and taking pictures. The Pyramid of Khufu is 146.5 meters high, and it is a little bald due to the years. It is now 136.5 meters high. The tower is built with 2.3 million stones of varying sizes ranging from 1.5 tons to 160 tons. It took 100,000 blue-collar workers 30 years to complete and is one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World".

The Great Pyramid of Khufu was the tallest building in the world for more than 4,000 years before the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris in 1889. Let Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo think about the era more than 4,000 years ago, when our ancestors Yao, Shun and Yu were still giving way to each other, but the ancient Egyptians had already begun to centralize power.

Before they knew how to use wheels, they began to use the Nile River to transport stones to build scaffolds and towers. The creator of this legend was Comrade Khufu, the second generation pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian Kingdom. When talking about Khufu, we cannot fail to mention his father Sneferu. This old man founded the Fourth Dynasty and pushed the royal power to its peak, with power and money in his hands.

He began to worry about gains and losses and racked his brains to live another 500 years. He frantically built pyramids in an attempt to connect the heaven and earth. The old man was creative and changed the step pyramids of the previous dynasty. He built the Pyramid of Meidum near Al-Fayou Moasis in the Fayoum Oasis. The huge weight of the Pyramid of Meidum eventually caused it to collapse.

Sneferu soon continued his efforts at Dahshur, a dozen kilometers south of Saqqara, and began to pile up stones at an angle of 54 degrees. Halfway through, he found that it would be too high and unstable if he continued, so he corrected the angle to 43 degrees. Finally, he built the Bent Pyramid, which is 105 meters high.

The old man was not happy with the straight curve, so he built another pyramid two or three kilometers away while he was still breathing. He conservatively adopted a 43-degree angle and finally successfully built the 105-meter-high red pyramid. The perfectionist finally decided on this construction method.

Like father, like son, and his son Khufu was even better than his father, building himself such a big thing. The amazing thing is that there is no mummy of his here, not even his aunt.

Two centuries ago, tourists could climb to the top of the tower at will, sit on the spire, enjoy the cool breeze, drink Turkish coffee brought by servants, and point out the bustling Cairo below. Yunluo yearns for the rivers and lakes of the steam engine era. Now Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo can only stop at the height of the entrance to the tomb.

In the early 8th century, the ruler of the Abbasid dynasty, Caliph al-Mamun, coveted the treasures in the tomb, burned and chiseled a hole, but returned empty-handed. It was only opened to the public in the 1980s. A limited number of pieces are sold daily. The tomb passage is narrow, so tourists have to bow down and finally enter the funeral chamber of Khufu, which is empty and has nothing.

Another downward legend is that the passage leading to the Queen's tomb is not open. The bright tomb is still claustrophobic with millions of huge stones overhead. Despite the powerful exhaust equipment, the air is still polluted. Thinking of the legendary curse of the vicious pharaoh, Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo left in a hurry without wanting to stay.

After leaving the tomb and wandering around the pyramid, an old Egyptian grandfather came straight to Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo. "Two sirs, please" he pulled Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo to his camel, without saying what he was asking Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo for. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo knew there was a tiger in the mountain but acted crazy and stupid and went to the tiger mountain.

What could an old man do to two old men, Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo, in broad daylight? The old man quickly produced two headscarves from behind and wrapped them around Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo's heads, then lowered the camels, one for each of them, and carried Yunluo on. He skillfully picked a suitable angle from a distance to take a photo of Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo.

Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo also cooperated and smiled foolishly all the way. They posed like the rock-paper-scissors of the 90s. After all the trouble, they said to the old man, "Grandpa, it's getting late, let's go home." "Okay, pay first. A total of 60 US dollars." The old man's conscience was broken, "Isn't it free?" Let's play dumb to the end.

"Photos are free, camel riding is charged", "Okay, five dollars in total, get off first and pay later". "No, sixty dollars, pay first and then get off", arguing about who came first. After arguing for a long time, Yunluo was put down first. Yunluo said, "This buddy is going home with you, you can take care of him, let's go first" The old man smiled at Yunluo and laughed devilishly.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Xiaoqiang flipped over and landed steadily on the ground from the camel. Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo, who have been rock climbing, ice climbing, skiing and mountaineering for so many years, can't be too low-key. Let him see the Chinese Kung Fu of Lingbo Weibu. The old man was stunned when he saw it. Yunluo gave him five US dollars to comfort him, "Egypt likes it very much!"

The old camel standing by was loyal to his master, baring his teeth and foaming at the mouth at Nalan Shiqi and Yun Luo.

The two deep pits to the east of Khufu are the Solar Boat Pits. To the south, the Solar Boat Museum was built on the original site. It was designed by an Italian in 1982. Its modernist art style is incompatible with the surrounding environment and is a big eyesore, which seriously discouraged Nalan Shiqi and Yun Luo from going in.

To the south of Khufu is the pyramid of his youngest son Khafre, which is 136 cm high. He is not bald yet and looks much more handsome than Khufu. Further south is the small pyramid of his grandson Menkaure Mycerinus. The era of the Great Pyramids gradually declined from then on.

Yunluo couldn't help but let go of her literary and artistic feelings. She grabbed a handful of thousand-year-old sand at the foot of the Menkaure Pyramid, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and put it in her arms, hoping that this place would also carry the soul of ancient Egypt. Walking south along the scenic road, she couldn't reach the place where she could take a family portrait of three generations of grandparents and grandchildren.

The Sphinx is located near the east gate of the scenic area. It is 22 meters high and 57 meters long. One of the ears of the statue is 2 meters high. The entire statue, except for the lion's claws, is carved from a piece of natural rock. The Sphinx has been lying there for more than 4,000 years, faithfully guarding the Great Pyramid.

The place was crowded with tourists from all over the world, and there were also groups of children who came to take history classes, who greeted Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo enthusiastically. This Sphinx, which was said to be based on Khafra, was not as big as imagined, and was severely corroded. The noseless Sphinx looked forward.

The focus fell on the void in the distance, and Egyptian nationalists indiscriminately blamed this on Napoleon, completely ignoring the tourism benefits that "Egyptology" promoted by the scholars he brought with him brought to the Egyptian people.

Standing in the wilderness and looking back at the pyramids, under the golden sunset, the golden desert, and the ancient pyramids, they look like they are made of pure gold. From afar, the sky and the ground are all yellow and golden, a dazzling color, what a broad and majestic picture!

The charming golden color simply melts you into a magical realm, fills you with a heroic feeling, arouses endless reverie, and makes you involuntarily produce a nostalgic melodrama, making you feel as if you are in the prosperous past of ancient Egypt, giving rise to all kinds of wonderful illusions and associations.

When he woke up from a trance, everything had disappeared. Only the pyramids were still standing in the sunset. What appeared before Yunluo was a real but equally confusing world.

At the east gate of the scenic area is a village called nazletas-samaan. Most people in this village make a living by renting horses and camels. The management here does not seem to be very strict, and you can enter everywhere for free. You can rent an Arabian horse here and experience the feeling of Lawrence of Arabia riding a horse and waving a whip.

After a day of walking, Nalan Shiqi and Yunluo were exhausted. They didn't want to run around like the tour group, so they took a taxi back home. They bought a beef shawarma for dinner at a small shop near the hotel. It was a bit like a sandwich. (To be continued...)