The overpowering maze of Islamic Cairo

The next day I set off to explore “Islamic Cairo”, and area of maze-like twisting streets and dozens of ancient monuments – mostly mosques and madrassas (Islamic schools).

I started my walk on the main street, Al Muizz Li Din Allah, which is lined with pretty minarets. Occasionally I ducked into side streets to find them teaming with local life – tiny cafes and restaurants, bakeries, grocers.

A typical scene in one of the side streets in Islamic Cairo

There are hundreds of historic buildings in the area, so I had to be selective as to which ones to visit. First I chose the Madrassa and Mausoleum of Qalaun, dating from 1279.

I continued south, through the gold and silver market. I had chosen a Friday to visit (the first day of the Arab weekend), so this shopping area was slightly less busy than usual- which was just as well, since I still found the area very busy.

Gold- and Silver-smiths Market in Islamic Cairo

To recharge my batteries, I found a rooftop café with a great view of the minarets of the area.

Finally space to breathe in Islamic Cairo!

Partially refreshed, I continued further south to Bab Zuweila, one of the ancient gates of the city and dating from the 11^th century.

I climbed all the up to the top of one of the minarets, for a spectacular view of the chaotic sprawl below. It was prayer time in the mosques and the different imams’ sermons were relayed to worshipers in the street by deafening loud speakers. The jumble of sound added to the visual sense of disorder and chaos.

I continued south, next through another market.

The streets became increasingly narrow and anarchic. I was continually dodging other pedestrians, cyclists and small vans. As before, there were many interesting historic buildings to admire, but the effort of moving forward, combined with the continual noise and the strange smells made my progress increasingly stressful. I was relieved when my narrow road arrived at a big open area, where I got a view of the Citadel, a walled city within Cairo. In front of the citadel was the huge Mosque of Sultan Hassan, built from 1356 to 1563. After my claustrophobic and slow passage through the old town, it was a relief to sit in the huge, quiet courtyard located in the centre of the mosque.

A moment of peace inside the Sultan Hassan mosque

I could have continued my walk on into the Citadel, and have visited yet more mosques, but I was tired. I headed back to my houseboat to recharge my batteries after an exhausting day. My guidebook advised to visit Islamic Cairo in several small chunks – they were right, but I did not have enough time to allow this.

In the evening, I had a pleasant problem. I was due to leave the next day, but had changed too much money into Egyptian pounds. It was hard to change money back into dollars, so I needed to spend what I left. For my last night I found the most expensive restaurant serving Egyptian food – and booked a table. The food was very good, but the live entertainment – which I had not been expecting – was even better. First there were two very good Egyptian singers, a man followed by a woman. Then there was a traditional Egyptian band with dancers.

Finally there was a belly dancer. This form of dance was invented in Cairo, and is still popular here. The performer didn’t seem to dance much with her belly, instead she shook various other parts of her body vigorously. It was a complete contrast to the heavily covered women I had seen in Islamic Cairo.

The performance attracted a crowd of mostly local people, who seemed to be enjoying themselves enormously. It was interesting to see how much fun people could have without needing to drink alcohol. I stayed until nearly midnight (the manager proudly told me that they were open until 1.30am) and slept soundly back in my houseboat.

Next Post: Dashur and Saqqara – the Zoser, Bent and Red Pyramids

Previous Post: Cairo, the city that never sleeps

20th February 2023 2

Cairo – the city that never sleeps: Manial Palace, Cairo Tower and Egyptian Museum

From El Gouna I started the long way home by taking the 7-hr bus ride back to Cairo. When I arrived, I lost the data connection on my mobile and had a frustrating time trying and failing to order an Uber whilst surrounded by persistent taxi drivers. I didn’t want to take a taxi off the street since my accommodation was located in a very unusual, hard to explain, place – but one that was listed on Uber. After restarting my phone a few times, I finally managed to get a connection and soon arrived at……..a houseboat on the River Nile, which was to be my base for the next few days.

My home in Cairo – a houseboat on the Nile

Equipped with a new sim card that I had bought the previous evening, the next day I set off to explore Cairo. Mostly I used Uber to get around, which removed all the hassle of negotiating a price and explaining where I wanted to go – most taxi drivers didn’t speak English. Uber’s “Comfort” category even offered the possibility (but not guarantee) of a seat belt in the rear seats. My first destination was Cairo Tower, an attraction popular with locals which offered views over the city – including, once the morning haze had cleared, the pyramids at Giza.

Another Cairo Tower view, with the Giza pyramids in the distance

From there I visited the Manial Palace, built between 1899 and 1929 by Prince Mohammed Ali Tewfik, a member of the Egyptian royal family in the period when Egypt was an monarchy under British “protectorate”. His palace comprised several different buildings in large, pretty gardens – the prince was a keen collector of rare plants.

Most interested was the Residential Palace in which the prince lived, which was richly decorated in a variety of styles – Ottaman, Moorish, Persian and even European.

The entrance to the Residential Palace at Manial

Also interesting was the Throne Palace, which was built to impress.

Manial Palace was spectacular but for some strange reason, the gardens and many of the most interesting rooms were roped off, meaning you could only look at them from a distance.

It was approaching noon, and one of the guardians insisted I share his lunch with him – falafel and eggplant in a piece of bread. Such small acts of kindness are common in Egypt; the previous night someone had spent twenty minutes helping me buy a new sim card. Unfortunately, many offers of help later turn into a request for baksheesh or pressure to buy something, but I was getting better at guessing which proposals were genuine and could be accepted without later being hassled.

Next, I headed off to visit the nearby Monastirli Palace to find that it had been long since closed. However, there was a curious attraction nearby – a nilometer for measuring the depth of the Nile. There were many such instruments along the Nile in Egypt (see my Aswan post); this was built in 861 AD.

From there I headed back to my houseboat to enjoy some of the afternoon sun. Having such a relaxing place to retire to for a break was a real pleasure. Cairo is a bit like an Arab New York – sprawling, full of interesting places to visit, but also busy, dirty and crowded. Visiting takes a lot out of you.

Recharging my batteries on my houseboat in the early afternoon by the Nile in Cairo

Having recharged my batteries, I made a second visit to the chaotic collections of the Egyptian museum, one of the highlights of my first two days in Egypt.

More treasures of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Yet more Egyptian Museum priceless relics….but no explanation or labelling anywhere

It was late afternoon, and my guidebook recommended a walk around the Garden City, an area of pretty but crumbling mansions from Egypt’s colonial period. Sure enough, it was a very pleasant part of the city, and I took lots of photos.

Old wooden building in the Garden City, Cairo

I discovered that walking in Cairo requires bravery. There are few pedestrian crossings or underpasses, and to cross the street you need to stride forward confidently into the dense traffic, holding out your arm to the oncoming traffic (pleading? praying?). Since I am small and easily overlooked, I didn’t dare try this on my own, but waited until someone local ventured forth. I would then cross with them, making sure that they were between me and the onrushing cars.

I survived my walk, and after another couple of hours chilling in my houseboat, headed out for dinner in the upmarket area of Zamalek. Cairo was an exciting city, but the continual bustle and noise makes it a tiring place. Back in my comfortable houseboat, I settled down to sleep, using a pair of earplugs to keep out the sounds of traffic (all night), partygoers in passing cruise boats (until 2am) the mosque’s call to prayers (5am), and the shouting of rowing coaches to early morning rowers on the Nile (from 7am). Cairo is a 24-hour city.

Next Post: Islamic Cairo

Previous Post: Chilling on the Red Sea – El Gouna

19th February 2023 3

From Coptic Cairo to Aswan and the Nile

During the night I found out that the “Blue Nile” riverboat moored nearby (see previous post) was a nightclub which played very loud music into the early hours of the morning. The songs were clearly audible in my hotel; the volume inside the boat must have been deafening. The nightclub, combined with the honking of car horns, the screaming of police sirens and the early morning call to prayers from the nearby mosque all meant that I slept badly. Like New York, Cairo is a city that never sleeps.

In the afternoon I was due to fly to my next destination, Aswan. I would come back to Cairo for a few days at the end of my trip, but today I had to choose which of the city’s attractions to see in a sleep-deprived morning. I opted for Coptic Cairo. The Copts are a minority Christian group and their church – the Coptic Orthodox Church – is one of the oldest branches of Christianity, which legends say was brought to Egypt by St Mark in AD 42. Under the Romans, Christianity eventually became the official religion of the whole empire, and for a while was the main religion of Egypt. The Coptic Church split from the main Christian church in 322 following a disagreement about the exact divine nature of Christ. After the Arab conquest of Egypt in 642, Islam gradually displaced Christianity to leave the Copts as a small minority.

Coptic Cairo is a small enclave of old Cairo which houses many churches, but also the Coptic Museum, a synagogue and a mosque. To get in, you need to pass through a bag check and every hundred metres in the main street, armed police were stationed. Egypt has had a long history of bloody terrorist attacks, and security for any area that draws crowds is always tight.

Once through the security check, it was like entering a different world. The anarchic traffic of Cairo was replaced by one empty central street (cars are not allowed in) and a wonderful calm. I started my visit at the Hanging Church, so called because it was built on top of the gate of an old fortress. The church was originally built around 690AD, though a new façade with two bell towers was added in the 19^th Century. It is probably the most famous of Coptic Cairo’s churches.

Next, I found the Greek Orthodox Church of St George

And then the Coptic Museum, which I strolled around for about an hour. It had collections of Coptic art, icons and fabrics; the old building it was housed in was as interesting as the collections themselves.

Finally, leading off from the only road, I found a little maze of side alleys, leading to yet more churches and a synagogue. When I arrived, Coptic Cairo had been quiet, but now there were many visitors – some Egyptians on a weekend outing, and some foreign tour groups, which mostly seemed to be Russians.

It was time to move on, and I grabbed an Uber back to my hotel to pick up my bags and then another one to the airport. It was Friday, the first day of the Arab weekend, so everything went very smoothly with no traffic jams. At the airport I was treated to one of the toughest security checks I had ever had – shoes, belt and watch all had to be removed and scanned, and then I was thoroughly “frisked” for concealed weapons in my fur.

The flight flew over endless yellow desert sand, interspersed with a few mountains. Occasionally I caught a glimpse of the blue ribbon of the river Nile lined with bright green vegetation on both banks. I arrived on time in Aswan, a town on the Nile that was the historic boundary between the ancient Egypt of the Pharaohs and the rival Nubian state. The latter enjoyed brief periods of independence but spent most of its history occupied by, or subjugated by, its more powerful southern neighbour. Today, Aswan is also known for the famous Aswan dam.

My guest house was on Elephantine Island, a place only accessible by boat. It has several ancient ruins, one ugly modern hotel, and many small townhouses. Some of these were painted with distinctive Nubian bright patterns of coloured geometric shapes. My guest house was on the other side of the island, and its owner picked me in his motor launch to take me there. It was the first of many times I got to experience the pleasure of sailing on the Nile.

…..and arriving (my guest house is on the left)

I arrived just in time to have a welcome drink on the roof terrace. The view was beautiful, and the owner pointed out local landmarks like the Mausoleum of the last Aga Khan (head of the Ismaili Muslim sect) and the Monastery of St Simeon. After the chaos of Cairo, it was wonderfully peaceful……if rather chilly after sunset. I was glad of my fur!

I decided to explore the island and see if I could reach the hotel, which had a panoramic terrace and bar in its ugly modern tower. I walked through a maze of twisting and turning small streets with no names…amazed to find that Google Maps could navigate through the area. When I had nearly reached the hotel, someone told me that it was surrounded by a wall and only accessible by special ferry from the main city. Instead I found a restaurant at the river’s edge, and enjoyed a beer watching the lights of Aswan city in the distance and listening to the boats chugging past.

I had dinner back in my guest house, and enjoyed freshly caught Nile perch……..

…… before wrapping myself up in warm blankets in bed.

Next Post: A day on the Nile

Previous Post: A Bear in Cairo

8th February 2023 2

ABC – A Bear in Cairo

The Bear is Back!

This trip is to Africa, to Egypt. I want to get away from the cold in the UK and get a little bit of sun. My first stop, almost inevitably, is Cairo. My flight arrived on time and I breezed through the formalities of getting my visa on arrival and a sim card for my phone. I was soon sitting in a taxi, expecting to be stuck for hours in Cairo’s famous traffic jams – but instead I reached my hotel in only forty minutes.

The next morning, I set off for Cairo’s most famous attraction – the pyramids at Giza, a suburb of the city. Getting there was fun. First, I took Cairo’s metro. This was built recently, with the first line opening in 1987, but already looks rather tired and run down. However, it works well and soon I was at Giza metro station, where several polite Egyptians helped me find the minibus that went to the pyramids. On arrival I joined a queue of people jostling to buy entrance tickets, and then filed in together with many other visitors – mostly Egyptian.

The pyramids and Sphinx from near the entrance to the Giza site

From the entrance to the Giza pyramids was a walk of about 500m up a hill. Every few steps I was proposed a horse or camel ride, and having to dodge other visitors, avoid horse droppings or carts rushing past made the climb something of an ordeal.

I finally got to the base of the Khufu Pyramid, the largest pyramid (although its neighbour, the Khafre Pyramid looks taller because it was built on higher ground). As expected, the “Great Pyramid” was an awesome sight.

Makes you feel small (especially small teddy bears)

It is hard to believe that over 4,500 years ago, human beings had the ability to build something so massive – 2.3 huge blocks of stone, weighing 6 million tonnes in total. It remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for 3,800 years.

I had invested in a ticket to visit the inside – a narrow, low path through the rock climbed steeply into the heart of the pyramid. It was a hot and humid inside and I had to squeeze past people coming the other way – not a place for people with claustrophobia.

Finally, I reached an unremarkable chamber where the king’s equally unremarkable sarcophagus stood. I am sure that this will not be the highlight of my trip, but at least I can say I did it.

The rather disappointing burial chamber of Pharaoh Khufu

From the Great Pyramid I walked around to the Khafre Pyramid and then into the desert to a panoramic view point as camels and horse-drawn carriages sped past me on either side. Again, the walking was hard going – this time from walking through dirty sand littered with camel droppings and discarded plastic bottles. I was rewarded with a wonderful view of the three pyramids, without the crowds this time.

The definitive photo of the pyramids at Giza

Finally a view without Giza’s usual crowds

I headed back to main entrance, passing the famous “Sphinx” on the way – which in real life looks a lot smaller than in photos.

To get back to the centre of the city, I tried Uber and found that it is by far the best way to get around Cairo. Cars arrive quickly, the “comfort” category ones even have rear seatbelts (a rarity in Egypt), and even after a generous tip, the rides are so cheap that you feel very sorry for the drivers. Forty minutes and $5 later I was back in the centre of Cairo in front of the impressive exterior of the Egyptian Museum.

Inside, on a first impression the place had an abandoned feeling, like the home of an elder relative who hoarded their possessions throughout their life. Sometimes items were described in Arabic, English and French, sometimes in Arabic and English, sometimes in Arabic only, sometimes not at all…….and once in Braille only. A huge new museum to house Egypt’s archaeological treasures is scheduled to open sometime (its opening has already been postponed by several years), so this might explain the apparent neglect of the current museum.

The Entrance Hall of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo

However, once I started exploring, I loved the place. I wandered around dimly lit corridors, stumbling upon treasure after treasure. Being able to hunt out exceptional items for myself, became part of the fun.

In most of the rooms there were few visitors, but the presence of a crowd announced the museum’s highlight – the contents of Tutankhamen’s grave (photos not allowed sadly!). Here the display and lighting were perfect, and despite the queue, the items on show dazzled me – not just the famous death mask, but also his jewellery and two coffins. After this memorable sight, I continued to wander around the museum, enjoying lesser-known exhibits like the mummies of the Pharoah’s pets and farm animals (cats, dogs, cows and even one mummified crocodile. At closing time, I sneaked back to the Tutankhamen display for a second look, and enjoyed having the room almost to myself.

Mummified pets in their coffins, Egyptian Museum Cairo

I headed back to my hotel and enjoyed the view of the Nile with a non-alcoholic cocktail from the roof terrace.

The view from my hotel, Cairo – note the “Blue Nile” boat which will feature in my next post

I then headed off to Cairo’s downtown in search of beer – which is not widely available. Outside of high-end hotels, alcohol is served mainly in rather seedy bars. I chose the most respectable looking one and was given a cold beer as soon as I had sat down – beer being the only thing on the menu. The local brew Stella turned out to be perfectly drinkable.

The local beer Stella in one of the more respectable Cairo bars selling alcohol

Dinner was “kushari” – a vegetarian dish made with chickpeas, lentils and pasta in a spicy tomato sauce, prepared by the waiter in front of me with a splash of showmanship. I asked for the bill and was just about to pay what I thought was a very reasonable 227 Egyptian Pounds (7€) when the waiter apologised and said he had made a mistake. I was astonished when the bill for my large meal for two (bears have big appetites!) came back as 127EGP or 4€.

Back at my hotel, I settled down for a quiet night. I had seen one of the wonders of the world – the pyramids and the Sphinx. But I had a nagging feeling that I had simply ticked off an item from Egypt’s (or the world’s) “must see” list rather than actually enjoying the experience. The Egyptian museum, on the other hand, was an unexpected gem of a place, and Cairo’s downtown was chaotic fun.

Next Post: From Coptic Cairo to Aswan

6th February 2023 3