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Cairo
View from Mosque with obscure name towards the Minaret of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun After my previous disappointing side trip to Alexandria, we returned to Cairo for the final farewell to my Budget Expeditions group who were heading onto Aswan and Luxor. I am to follow suit with my Gecko's Tour, but before then, I've got 3 days to mill around Cairo and it's 22 million people.
Transferring from my hotel in Mohindiseen to Bab-el-Luq Downtown wasn't too bad. I got the concierge to write my new hotel in Arabic, and organised a taxi. Too easy. The new hotel however is located on the top floor of a city mall building on the corner of Sharia (road) Nabor & Sharia Mohammed Mahmoud. The lift up was interesting, as it was your typically old style lift with a cupboard door on the outside and ...... and that's it. There's no inner door, so as the lift went up, you saw the floors pass by in front of you. Interesting......
However, opening the door on the 12th floor, a unexpected sight beheld my eyes. A clean, tastefully decorated hotel. Simple, run by Nabir, an Egyptian man and his wife Rosanna who's French. The patrons at this hotel are typically French, so making idle conversation
Cairo
View onto courtyard at Mosque of Ibn Tulun was difficult. I managed to swing the only single room in the place with aircon and private bathroom. So far, it's the best place i've been to for all it's simplicity, friendliness and cleanliness. Not 5-star by any means, but a lot better than the 3 star crap i've been staying at.
Anyhow, accomodation set, I set off to explore the surrounds which was basically downtown. My meals over the next few days basically consisted on takeout Egyptian food from chain places like Felfela (where you can get a medium schwerma, or kebab, for around 4.50 egyptian pounds, which equates to about AU$1). Tasty too. I also had the odd coffee (real espresso) at Cilantro, a small coffee place outside the American University in Cairo. The area is also in the heart of downtown, so you have all your cashed up Cairenes, dressed like in any other western country. Hence, there are many pretty young things wearing skimpy outfits - unlike anywhere else in this typically conservative country. Certainly not complaining about the view though.... hehehe.
So after a chilling out day, another one of my patented walks was on the cards, planning to cover around 8-10km and
Cairo
Column shot at Mosque of Ibn Tulun some major sites of the city, as well as take in daily Cairene life. Heading south from downtown, I headed towards the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. Whilst trying to find my way in, I accidentally enter a different mosque, the name of which i'll fill in later because it's too hard to spell without my guidebook. As with Rome and spending hour after hour of climbing duomo's, i find myself climbing minarets today, which are just as tiring.
When I actually find my way into the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, I find the outer courtyard has an imbuement of Zen, with some moderately tailored squares of smooth pebbles arranged neatly. I climb the minaret for an outstanding view of the mosque, the city, and the Citadel nearby. Atop the minaret was a great place to take in all the sights, and especially the sounds of the bustling street below. I spent a good half hour here just people watching. Anyhow, i found the rest of Ibn Tulun interesting as well. The well to cleanse yourself, which lies in the centre of a great courtyard, is not perfectly centred, with the dome lying to one side of the structure below.
Cairo
View of the Mosque at the Citadel from street Curious, i thought, and i don't know if this was intentional or not.
Next door to the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, there's the Gayer-Anderson Museum. Mr Gayer was a british soldier stationed in Egypt, and lavishly decorated the rooms of his estate in various styles from Persian to Turkish, to Chinese, to Elizabethan. Each room has it's own theme, filled with artifacts, and made for a truly interesting viewing.
I then, walked onto and past the Citadel, gazing at the massive structure built by Mohammed Ali (not the boxer) and it's Turkish inspired mosque. According to the Lonely Planet Guide (and once again thanks to Anna and Tamsin - it's been indispensable), there's nothing much to see there, so i didn't pay the exorbitant entrance fee. Heading back north, i walked through the dusty surburbia of Darb-El-Ahmar, getting towards the heart of Islamic Cairo. Walking through one of the streets, it felt like walking around Kyoto, around every corner is another mosque - each with it's own style and significance, all of which I had completely no idea about.
Turning right at the twin minarets that outline a street heading towards Khan El Khalili, the major bazaar
Cairo
The twin minarets of Bab Al-Ziewa (i think) in Cairo, and also the most touristy. I was met by legions of tourists and their buses, all clambering over each other to try and not get ripped off amongst the crowded stalls, each selling their wares from t-shirts, to fake pyramids, to "papyrus" to perfume, copperware, semi-precious stones, the list goes on. You've got egyptians plying their trade in all languages as well, so it's grinding trying to avoid getting pulled into one shop after another. As a tactic, I started saying that I was Vietnamese and was met with a curious and brief silence as they didn't know how to greet me. Saved me a lot of effort.
Tired of the chaotic enterprise going on, I settled back at Fishawi's Coffeehouse, reputed to have been open continuously for 200 years, and a favourite of Mahfouz, the great author. I struck up a conversation with a Russian guy who has been living in Cairo for 15 years, and was showing his cousin, and some friends around. I moved over to his table and we joked around a bit, and before i knew it, he had paid for my coke, tea and sheesha AND tipped the waiter!!
The
Cairo
The crowds of Khan El-Khalili next day, I decided to hire a taxi to take me to Saqqara and Dahshur, south of Cairo to do some pyramid hopping, that didn't involve the crowds (and touts) of the Giza Plateau. Words can't describe the awesome power emanating from these other-wordly structures. The complexity and accuracy of the construction, the religious beliefs that underpin the design, ar all mind-blowing. Dahshur especially is a place to escape from everyone else, as there are very few people visiting it. You are allowed to take it all in in peace, and can contemplate the marvels that lie before you. If you enter only one pyramid in Egypt, let it be the Red Pyramid in Dahshur. Just be prepared for the 125 steep steps up, followed by a sloping tunnel some 60m long, where you have to stoop to walk down.
Saqqara, likewise, is a great place to visit. More popular than Dahshur, but less than Giza, it has a number of sites to visit. The mostabas (tombs built by the wealthy - sort of like a single floor mausoleum with a tomb underground) have walls lined with the illustrations of daily life for the entombed. They are remarkably accessible,
Dahshur
The Red Pyramid and different with each tomb. The most intricate and well preserved of them is the Mostaba of Ti. The Step Pyramid, from which Saqqara originally developed it's notoriety was a disappointment. You cannot enter the pyramid at all, and beside the sedab (a room with no doors with a replica of a statue of King Djoser inside), was uninteresting. I have to say, most of the actual pyramids around Saqqara more or less resemble rubble.
I've had to summarise a lot over the last couple days, and really, it has been encounters with the children in the street, con artists, taxi drivers, and regular Cairenes that define my Cairo experience. Meet anyone else who travels to Cairo as a tourist and you instantly have stories to share. It's not really in the sight seeing, but in the everyday battle against the crowds, and the people and weather and the dirt, that captures this city. A pulsing heart of civilisation, steeped in centuries of culture, trapped within economic depravity but has an undercurrent of genuine hospitality (if you can find it beneath the cynacism that accompanies the concept of baksheesh). You either love it or you hate it, but it's
Dahshur
The Bent Pyramid unforgettable nevertheless.
ps. Tomorrow I meet my fellow travellers for the Gecko's tour. Photos are coming, however, the closest internet cafe to the hotel at the moment doesn't have USB access.
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nairda
Adrian Low
Free time
Hey dave.. nice to read ur blog, u seem to have lotsa time at night to write.. and surprisingly good internet access from where u are! :) I think I am having more difficulty finding time to read ur blog... keep up the good work and safe travels. adrian