Escape in Downtown Cairo

Cairo is a very busy city but I never really felt trapped like when I was living in Paris. Of course it also has its bad aspects : the traffic is horrible, it is dusty, polluted and noise disturbance will drive you crazy sometimes. When you are working, you deal with that everyday and to me, it was fine. You get use to it.

However, people are always under pressure and need to let stress escape. That is why every single time you have free time, it's good to have a break and explore new parts of Cairo and further when you have more than two days. Check my articles about Sinai or Nuweiba.

I lived for two years in Zamalek, an affluent district of Cairo that is basically a huge island on the Nile river. It is an upscale area with lots of restaurants, embassies, private schools and hotels. Many foreigners live in this part of Cairo as well as rich Egyptians. I was living nice far from "Midan Oum Kalthoum" from the name of probably the greatest Arabic Singer in history.

Oum Kalthoum in Zamalek

The first break I had during my stay in Cairo, I got sick. All my new co-workers went on a trip to Sinai if I remember well... Instead, I stayed at a friend's place with something that was probably my first food poisoning. She took care of me and babysat the poor dude left alone in Zamalek.

Most of my first trips were around Cairo. I just had week ends so I went to different neighborhoods. First time, I was walking alone around Mar Girgis and a guy came and talked to me. He was nice, saying he was a student in Cairo University and he was studying to be an official guide. He offered me some explanations and we visited Coptic Cairo together. We went to St Georges church, walked around and went outside to drink tea and went to the Mokattam Mountain. There, he introduced me to his uncle that sells shoes. Inside his shop, they both wanted me to get a new pair of Italian shoes... not really my style so they did not insist. On the wall, there was a photoshop picture of the owner, very trendy in his early 40's ! haha. We talked a bit and then he asked me for a bit of money... ouch... Me, the little naive frenchy... SCAMMED ! Well it was not really a scam. That was probably part of the whole thing. He never told me his services were free and I thought he wanted to be nice to me. At the end, that was ok because he helped me. He gave me his number and I sent him messages from time to time, but not to visit Cairo, just to chat. From that experience, I learnt that common practice : BAKSHISH.

Mar Girgis : Coptic Cairo

So the next week ends, I went by myself around downtown or with group of "real friends". I went to Islamic Cairo from Attaba Square to the Khan el Khalili. Attaba is a huge location full of street vendors that sell mostly clothes and textiles. But walking around the streets, one can find also electronic stuffs, fruits and veggies, musical instruments in Mohamed Ali street... A little bit after, I was in one of the biggest souk of the region, Khan al Khalili. The bazaar district is one of the major attractions for tourists and Egyptians alike. When you arrive there, you can hear people speaking different language and that was the first time for me to hear that since I arrived. Not many Egyptians speaks foreign languages and when you walk in the streets, you better know some arabic to deal with them. However, in Khan el Khalili, it's easier to buy goodies if you don't speak arabic. The first time I went there, I was not able to communicate in arabic so I bought several things but not sure it was a very good bargain. In Khan el Khalili, you will get crafted lights, alabaster ashtrays and all kinds of things made out of that stone, shisha... a bazaar. I went to Khan el Khalili quite often during those three years. After I started learning arabic, it was a nice place to practice. I was always going there with my Al Ahly t-shirt and that helped me a lot to break the ice with the vendors and get good deals :D That neighborhood is also home of a place that offers Whirling Dervishes shows. It is always impressive to see them turning like that as a remembrance of God. They keep whirling for more than 30min, stop their dance, watch the public and greet the public without falling ! Have you ever tried that game when you were kid with a broom. You look on the floor holding the stick and start turning for 10-15 complete turns. Then you stop and have to go straight to a friend... What happens is obvious... Haha. Those guys just walk like nothing happened. It's very impressive. If you have time, get a tea and smoke a shisha before the show. In the back, there is an area where coffee shops offer such things

Khan El Khalili and around

The trips that I did after - I don't really remember in which order - were also locations around downtown ("wust el balad") or not too far from the city. Of course I went to see the pyramids of Gizah. Very impressing by their size. I went inside the Queen pyramid but not inside Kheops, at least not at the first time. I took pictures of the Sphinx too. Those are the kind of places you'll visit often too because when your family and friends visit you, they wanna see them for sure. I think I went there at least 4 times. But to me, the best ones are not the most famous. I really anjoyed going to Sakkara where you'll be able to see the Step Pyramid of King Joser. The site is more impressive than Gizah which is very close from the city. The site of Sakkara is basically a desert with numerous pyramids and mastabas (rectangular flat-roofed tombs). You can see older pyramids that in Gizah (Ouserkaf, Pepi I & II...). From there, walking around you could see from far the Red Pyramid of Dahshur and the Bent Pyramid. I never got close to them unfortunately.

Different Pyramids around Cairo with some friends

Cairo is known for having around 1000 minarets, the towers that call for the pray in Mosque. When you visit high places such as The Citadel you can see a lot of them and when the sky is clear, one can see the great Pyramids too. The Citadel of Cairo, also known as Salah El din Citadel is a Islamic fortification located on the Mokattam Hill not very far from Downtown Cairo. Built by Salah El Din (Saladin), the fortification were made to protect it from crusaders. You might hear people calling it Muhammad Ali Citadel because it contains the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. It's a beautiful Ottoman mosque that really looks like the ones you can see in Istanbul. Here also, I paid several visits with family and friends. It's a great location to give a taste of Cairo. Once you finished visiting the Citadel, head down to the two great mosque : Ibn Touloun and Sultan Hassan. Both of them are very close from each other and quite impressive. That was for my parents the first thing they did when visiting me. We were walking on the small and narrow streets arund them and my mom asked me : "Is it dangerous ?". Haha. I brought them in a very different part of Cairo and it was of course, like everywhere at that time, very very safe. We were just walking on mud road with donkeys and kids playing around. That part of Cairo is very popular and I liked walking there.

The Citadel

After, there are lots of places you can get lost and discover something new. Just take a subway to downtown Sayyeda Zeinab, Mohamed Naguib, Sadat (Tahrir) or Attaba and walk to find something interesting and try street food

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