Trifter

I recently went to the Egyptian capital Cairo for a short holiday. It was a discovery trip for me as I always been excited to know about this city. I saw a lot of good and bad things, funny and sad things as Egypt is a city of many different types of people of a great variety of cultural backgrounds.

The City

Cairo is the capital of Egypt with a total population of nearly 60 million people and it is the thirteenth largest city in the world.  It’s a city of ancient and modern civilizations and through it runs the River Nile. On one side of the Nile in Cairo I saw a modern city with high architectural buildings, while on the other side I saw the old city with very old, small houses and many poor workers, people on their little wooden boats in the river following my camera with their tired eyes. Cairo is very busy city, but people are friendly and helpful; the smile is always on their faces no matter what life pressures they have.

Arriving

My departure was at Cairo International Airport 1. And soon as I got out there were a lot of taxis waiting outside at the pick-up point. Sometimes negotiating on prices and fares can work as it is very popular in Egypt between sellers and buyers, so I had to do the same with the taxi driver and got a cheap fare of forty-five Egyptian pounds (which was only around £5!) for a 45-minutes journey to the Al- Mohandeseen (‘Engineeers’) area where my hotel was.

Hotel

It was the busy season and as most of the hotels were fully booked, I stayed at the Pharaoh Egypt Hotel, a 3 star hotel in the heart Al-Mohandeseen, which is a very popular and lively part of Cairo. I think it is the best area where tourists can stay, as shops, restaurants, banks, internet cafes and money change shops are all around. I remember that I got 110 Egyptian pounds in exchange for 10 English pounds, so this means there is a great opportunity for tourists to put shopping at the top of their list of priorities.

Next morning I decided to try the Egyptian traditional breakfast of fool and falafel in the hotel’s restaurant on the top floor. It’s made from check peas, green vegetables and onions. These are minced, then lemon and hot olive oil is added on the top and you have to eat it with their hand-made bread. It is a really heavy, but healthy breakfast. It is also cheap, as it cost me around £1.80 with a full plate of mixed salad and a mug of the famous Egyptian heavy black ‘Koshary’ tea, which is a favourite drink in Egypt.

Khan El Khalili Bazaar

My trip wouldn’t have been complete without visiting one of the oldest and most famous markets in Cairo, the Khan (which means little shop) El Khali market with its very narrow streets. Tourists come from all over the world and it is a place of attraction, enjoyment and discovery. People go there to see cultural objects and they do a lot of shopping as it’s very cheap. I was amazed when I asked a shop owner how old the market was and he told me it was built in 1382. It is such a lively and entertaining place to visit and its shops and restaurants are open nearly all night! There are a lot of small shops with different things to buy like jewellery, reproductions of pharonic objects, leather products, hand-made rugs, traditional food and drinks, pure oriental perfumes and finally copper and brass antiques, which I personally like.

Al Fishawi

Tourists should also visit the famous shisha (water-pipe) café called Al Fishawi, which used to be a meeting place for Egyptian artists and I have been told that it’s still frequented by the Nobel Award-winning Naguib Mahfouz, the most well-known Egyptian author. In Al Fishawi  people enjoy hot and cold traditional drinks as well as smoking shisha. It is such a fantastic atmosphere with old Egyptian famous songs playing inside and outside.

 Abu Shakra Food

Abu Shakra is one of the best-known restaurants and it serves a mix of Egyptian and other dishes. It is around 10 minutes walk from the hotel in Al Mohandeseen. It is a very busy place and sometimes guests need to wait in a waiting room until they are called. They are open until 1.00 am every day. It is one of the best places in the area to eat a nice food in. It is clean and the staffs are very welcoming and friendly and the food presentation is excellent. It is famous for all kinds of grilled meat and chicken and the most popular dish is fried whole pigeon stuffed with Egyptian rice and steamed vegetables. The prices are also really reasonable as for £10 you can have a proper meal with a number of courses.  

Panorama

One of the fabulous natural places which deserve to be seen is the Nile itself. The name means river valley in Greek. It’s the longest river in Africa and flows through Egypt and Sudan, and around 80% of the Nile’s water comes from Lake Tana in Ethiopia. On the both sides of the river there are high modern 5-star hotels with restaurants and cafés which face the Nile and give amazing views. Around the Nile are many of the liveliest places in Cairo and they can be visited at any time of the day. Egyptians are very attached to their Nile; for them it is their life.

On the Nile you will find much to entertain you, from the photographers who take photos of tourists for a couple of Egyptian pounds to the simple women who sell grilled sweet corns and nuts and to the young kids who try to sell you a pack of tissues or a bottle of water. I really enjoyed my time on the Nile. There are many boats to collect people and take them for a short tour along the river, and I have to say that Egyptians have a clever and friendly way of attracting tourists with their warm and welcoming ways.

My trip to Cairo was one of most wonderful experiences of my life. I fell in love with this city.