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| Khun el-Khalili Market - Islamic Cairo, Egypt |
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| Pat with Headdress at Al-Azhar Mosque - Isamic Cairo, Egypt |
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| Bringing Bread to Market - Isamic Cairo, Egypt |
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| Water Pipes in Khun el-Khalili Market - Islamic Cairo, Egypt |
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| Fatta Lunch - Cairo, Egypt |
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| Men Praying in Street - Cairo, Egypt |
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| Cairo Tower & Nile City Boat at Night - Nile River, Cairo, Egypt |
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| Pat at Fishawy's Coffee House - Islamic Cairo, Egypt |
Cairo, Egypt (Capital) (4/21-23/2010) - Cairo is a city of contrasts and transitions.
Men walk the Cairo streets in modern western clothes yet women wear tradition clothing with their heads covered. Within blocks of modern buildings and streets, donkey carts can be found on potholed streets.
People everywhere in Cairo are very warm and sociable yet sometimes it is difficult to tell when offering their hand for assistance they may expect some money in it after helping you.
Cairo has become a political and economic hub for North Africa and the Arab World yet its infrastructure is neglected, dated, and stretched way too far and pollution is a major issue.
Cairo was established a 'mere' 1,000 years ago (hey, the nearby Giza pyramids are almost 5,000 years old) in North Africa on the Nile River. With almost 20 million people, Cairo is by far the largest metropolitan area in Egypt, third largest in Africa, and 11th in the world.
Cairo was established a 'mere' 1,000 years ago (hey, the nearby Giza pyramids are almost 5,000 years old) in North Africa on the Nile River. With almost 20 million people, Cairo is by far the largest metropolitan area in Egypt, third largest in Africa, and 11th in the world.
We stayed in Cairo for only two days visiting Islamic and downtown Cairo as well as the Egyptian Museum. With medieval narrow streets lined with Islamic architecture and crowded with vendors in a shopping area dating back to 1382, Khun el-Khalili and Islamic Cairo gave us a rush of all our senses experiencing the full culture shock of the traditional Muslim world (see photos). Even Pat had to wear a headdress (see photo) when visiting a mosque.
In Khan el-Khalili, one of the world's great bazaars, you are awashed with the smells of spices, incense, and other smells.
We were treated to a personal tour of the 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar Mosque that has served for ten centuries to today as Egypt’s main center of Islamic study (see photos).
We received a major coffee rush from thick Turkish coffee from the famous Fishawy’s coffeehouse open round the clock since 1772, had a traditional Egyptian lunch (fatta – a dish of rice and lamb - see photo), and an elegant dining experience at the Intercontinental Hotel (see photo) after wandering along Cairo's Nile River.
In Khan el-Khalili, one of the world's great bazaars, you are awashed with the smells of spices, incense, and other smells.
We were treated to a personal tour of the 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar Mosque that has served for ten centuries to today as Egypt’s main center of Islamic study (see photos).
We received a major coffee rush from thick Turkish coffee from the famous Fishawy’s coffeehouse open round the clock since 1772, had a traditional Egyptian lunch (fatta – a dish of rice and lamb - see photo), and an elegant dining experience at the Intercontinental Hotel (see photo) after wandering along Cairo's Nile River.
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| Pat at Dome of Sultan Al-Nassir ModammedIbn Qalawun - Islamic Cario |
The Egyptian Museum has 136,000 pharaonic artifacts on display, with many more hundreds of thousands in its basement storerooms. Just a few of these would be prized processions in most museums around the world. Here they were sitting at the end of a hallway with no label.
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| Elegant Intercontinental Hotel - Cairo, Egypt |
Wayne was amazed by the 3,000–4,000 year old technology and craftsmanship demonstrated by this amazing collection. We also visited Cario's 12th-century Citadel of Saladin where Egypt’s rulers lived for 700 years.
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| Map of Egypt |
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| Men Praying in the Street - Cairo, Egypt |
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| Islamic Cairo |
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Wonderful post on the history and culture of Cairo! I had a female friend visit Cairo and many parts of Egypt. She loved it but also felt a little threatened by the men at times? Did you get any sense of that at all?
ReplyDeleteThe oldest continuously operating elevator seems a bit scary. Hotels in the States should take note -- hire that Elevator company!
Taught ancient history for years and specialised in Ancient Egypt, so anything to do with this is interesting. Cairo would be a sensory over load in the best way
ReplyDeleteIf we had a "Bucket List" Egypt and its capital city, Cairo, would be right at the top! I've long been fascinated by this country's ancient history and civilization. I can imagine spending many days roaming the streets, looking at the architecture as well as trying some of the unique dishes. Thanks for this very interesting post!
ReplyDeleteYou really packed in a lot of experiences over your two days. I recently met a woman from Cairo at a blogging conference, and we now have a renewed interest in visiting Egypt.
ReplyDeleteCairo is such a big city. I, too, visited the fabulous Khan el-Khalili bazaar. What an exotic delight. But I didn't make it to Fishawy’s coffeehouse. Hard to believe it's been
ReplyDeleteopen round the clock since 1772!
Nice post. I also love traveling. I never visited Egypt but after reading this post. I wish to go there. Thanks for sharing such a nice information about Egypt.
ReplyDelete