Friday March 29th, 2024
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This Couple is Traveling Across Egypt over 60 Days and Writing a Book About It

Dalia El Debaiky and Omar Attia are documenting their 60-day trip around Egypt to show some of the country's most under-appreciated treasures while simultaneously writing a bilingual trilogy on the journey.

Staff Writer

Let’s be real. Despite the fact that Egypt has a ton of touristic attractions to visit, we ultimately find ourselves in the same bubble of Sahel party animals, Dahab hippies, and Gouna gounies, but one couple has taken it upon themselves to show us the most vibrant attractions Egypt has to offer in the span of 60 days. Dalia El Debaiky and Omar Attia are featuring gorgeous photographs of their journey as well as informative stories on their Instagram account, and eventually in a book to be released soon. 

When asked what inspired them to embark on this journey, Omar Attia shared, "Ironically enough I’ve lived my whole life in Kuwait, but my dad was always keen on teaching us the importance of being loyal to one’s country. 'Wherever you go, whether for studies or work, Egypt is your home country,' he would say. My dad made sure we came to Egypt every summer and to experience some of Egypt’s most beautiful attractions."

Attia also added, "I’ve always loved photography but I hadn’t done anything professional with it until Hesham Za'zoo', the Ex-Minister of Tourism, asked us to feature in the #ThisIsEgypt campaign, but after this plan didn’t go through, I still felt like I had this passion for photography that needed to be fulfilled. And the third reason we were inspired to begin this journey is my relationship with Dalia’s. We were never confined to typical dinner dates and a movie. Whether that was through taking feloukas along the Nile, visiting old Cairo, or going up to the Cairo Tower; we wanted to explore our relationship by touring Egypt”. 

The couple also mentioned that the series would eventually become a bilingual trilogy. Attia explains, “The first part will be out by the end of this year and will cover attractions in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria and the entire Mediterranean coast. The sequel will cover the Delta, Fayoum, as well as the Western desert. And the last of the trilogy will cover Upper Egypt as well as the whole of the Red Sea”. 

Except the couple isn’t solely planning on publishing a trilogy, they also aim to reform the educational system of Egypt by promoting the subject of tourism in school curriculums. Attia explains that “Egypt has 1/3 of the world’s monuments. Countries like Malaysia and Thailand have included tourism as a subject in schools to teach students the importance of tourism and how it contributes to GDP. We should be doing the same and this is what we aim to promote. We have big dreams”. 

For more on this inspiring journey check out the couple's Instagram.