For all the endless shove and sprawl, Cairo is one of the most straightforward
cities you can visit. The pace is frenetic, but the place is honest:
in-your-face rather than watch-your-back. And without doubt you will
encounter repeatedly the Islamic tradition of hospitality to strangers -
something no adverse news can obliterate.
Acclimatised, you mingle unnoticed. One of millions - about 16 million, in the
second most crowded capital in the world. Vertically it is 20th century,
with its Hiltons and Samsung billboards flung against the sky, but in tone
it is biblical: shades of baked earth as far the eye can see.
Between the mad whirl of Downtown and the leafy, Deco-lined boulevards of the
martini-sipping areas, the city confounds European notions of municipal
order. With no apparent regulation, it's traffic that rules. So green means
go, red go faster. The bazaars of the Islamic Quarter are a mesmerising
scrum - cross-currents twisting into a flow you have no option but to
follow.
For a clearer perspective, try viewing the city from above - from the rickety revolving
restaurant of the '60s Cairo Tower. As it jerks and lurches, you see
willow-masted feluccas adrift in the Nile, lava-slow traffic on LA-look freeways,
and Cairenese at play in the palmy municipal pools below. The Arabic citadel
commands the sky one way as you graze and gaze; the other, the Pyramids
float on a smoked horizon - a legend in your own lunchtime.
South from Cairo in a cab, the city slowly gives way to broad landscapes of wheat
and date palms as the Highway of Said nears the sand-blown Step Pyramid of
Saqqara, where palm groves meet desert. The oldest stone structure in the world
is daubed with graffiti which, translated, reads: 'We are the travellers who
came to see the monuments of our ancestors'. Unremarkable? Astonishing - it
is more than 3,000 years old, inscribed by 'holiday-makers' of the 19th
dynasty. Tourism is nothing new round these parts - but don't wait to go.
YOUR FIRST VISIT
- See the Pyramids of Giza (entry £3.90). The tombs of the fourth-dynasty kings
(Cheops, Chefren, Menkaure) have stood inscrutably, for 4,500 years, on
their now-suburban-Cairo limestone plateau. They exhilarate like nothing
on earth with their antiquity, precision and bulk (Napoleon, invading
in 1798, reckoned their stones could encircle France with a
three-metre-tall, 30cm-thick wall). No slaves, just jobless farmers out
of season, built them over decades, glad to join a 'national project'.
The tombs have been raided more than once. A 'mummy' found in Menkaure's
tomb in 1968 was dispatched fervently for scanning in Britain. The ship
foundered off Spain and the relic, recovered, continued its journey,
only to be diagnosed an 'intruder', interred in the fourth-century AD.
- The world's largest single-slab sculpture, the lion-pawed Sphinx (entry free)
divides expert opinion. Far older than the Pyramids? Yes, say some
geologists, pointing to rain erosion on enclosure walls (the precipitous
period hereabouts was 9,000 years ago). No, say those who claim it was
whittled within those walls 4,500 years later. 'Sphinx' means Shesep
Ankh ('living image') in hieroglyphics. It is said to be a likeness of
Menkaure (above). You decide.
- Taxi south to Memphis (entry £6.40), capital of united Upper and Lower Egypt
5,100 years ago. Here, study the prone statue of Ramses II (left), under
sand for 1,700 years until unearthed in the 1940s. It is colossal at
13.5m (minus feet - sheared off when he toppled). Yet details astound:
biceps, triceps, pecs, calves, pierced ears, and a clutched papyrus
scroll.
- Visit the remote Step Pyramid of Saqqara (entry £6.40), further south. It was
built by proto-architect Imhotep for third-dynasty King Djoser. At 4,680
years, it really is the oldest stone structure in the world. Yet the
facade of the funeral complex looks as sleekly contemporary as London's
Tate Modern.
- Admire wine jars with honest-to-goodness 'best before' dates on them in the
Tutankhamun gallery (entry £2.45) of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities
(entry £3.90). King Tut's throne, almost 24-carat solid gold, looks
machine-made. His boomerangs (yes) are framed. His sandals in leather
and gold are arrayed with gloves, pants, even a linen condom. His
jewellery might have been Cartier-designed. And the brows on his death
mask are lapis lazuli, intricately applied.
FOR SECOND-TIMERS
- Wander the Citadel of Salah al-Din (entry £3.45) which rises exotically over
eastern Cairo on an outcrop, sprouting minarets and crenellations.
Dramatic architecture includes the vast marble mosque, Mohamed Ali
(1830-1848), pictured below. It bristles with pencil spires, a
theatrical courtyard ablution fountain, and a galaxy of glass lanterns
in the soaring interior so, shoes discarded, you can admire all.
- Sift through the trinkets of Islamic Cairo's bazaars - an insane whirlpool of
commerce. The alleys teem with vendors beseeching you to buy their
wares. Try Khan El Khalili Bazaar (12 Khan El Khalili; 00 202 590 5366)
for gold.
- See the Coptic quarter of Cairo (Coptic: Egyptian Christianity, introduced by
Saint Mark at the end of the first century AD). Here is the only round
church in Egypt, the Church of St George (entry free) - its dome held
loftily on a circle of columns with gilded scrolled capitals. And see
the Hanging Church (entry free), so-called for its construction 15m over
a far older fortress (visible through glass floor panes). Built of
timber circa the fourth century AD, it is alive with painted patterns
and pews inlaid with motifs in bone.
- Idle away an afternoon in Al-Azhar Park (entry 50p) - a former Cairo dump.
With marble promenades and hillside paths, it's another (green) world
from the chaos.
ASK THE CONCIERGE:
Adel Hamza, Four Seasons Nile Plaza:
- For a tranquil view of the city, hire a felucca - traditional Egyptian
sailboats which depart from opposite the hotel: the Nile at sunset is
very romantic. An hour costs around £15 if you haggle.
- The Pyramids are beautiful under a full moon: see them on horseback, which
costs £12.30 an hour through SR Horse and Camel Stable. Call the Four
Seasons Hotel for more info (00 202 573 1212).
- Rather than shop for books and souvenirs in the Museum of Egyptian
Antiquities, browse the bookstore Lehnert & Landrock (00 202 575
8006), opposite the museum entrance. It sells the same stock for far
less.
- Getting around can be confusing for newcomers with no Arabic - particularly at
night. But don't dismiss local taxis as rip-offs. Ask your hotel to
establish a rate with the driver before you set out and you can get a
whole evening's chauffeuring - say, four hours - for about £10.
WHERE TO STAY
No expense spared
Four Seasons Nile Plaza, 1089 Corniche El Nil (00 202 791
7000, www.fourseasons.com) Luxury works overtime in this massive new
multi-storey rising above the Nile: balconied rooms and capacious
bathrooms; five international restaurants; art and designer blooms
throughout. Doubles from £190, room only.
Mena House Oberoi, Pyramids Road (00 202 376 6644,
www.oberoihotels.com) The appeal of this ornate, if faded, 19th-century
former hunting lodge is its proximity to the Pyramids: awesome viewing
from rooms in the Palace Wing (which are pricier but by far the best).
Pyramid View doubles from £147, room only.
Middle of the road
Grand Hyatt Cairo, Corniche El Nil (00 202 365 1234,
www.cairo.grand.hyatt.com) It's a 714-room high rise, and standard rooms
can be compact. But the Nilefront location and facilities, including a
pool and revolving restaurant, spell good value. Doubles from £103, B&B.
Nile Hilton, 1113 Corniche El Nil (00 202 578 0444,
www.hilton.com) The '80s gilt and rattan look won't elicit wows. Still,
you can't fault its location, by the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities.
Doubles from £45, room only.
On the cheap
Cosmopolitan Hotel, 1 Ibn Taalab Street (00 202 392 3663)
Here, as elsewhere in Cairo, bargain basement means cobwebby colonialism
and cranky air-con. But beds are crisply white-clad, furniture
baronial. Backpackers will be at home. Doubles from £33, B&B.
Windsor Hotel, 19 Alfi Bey Street (00 202 591 5810,
www.windsorcairo.com) This is a quirky landmark, hilariously decrepit,
with granny's attic furnishings, hunting-lodge wall hangings and
kippered airline posters. The bar is a fusty ex-pat delight. Doubles
from £31, B&B.
WHERE TO EAT
No expense spared
Khan El Khalili, 5 Sekket El Badistan (00 202 590 3788) Don't
clothes-shop until after you've eaten here, in the thick of the bazaars:
the Om Ali (bread pudding with coconut, milk, raisins and mixed nuts)
is a waistline-wrecker. Mains from £9.
Spice at Four Seasons (see above) The dim sum lunch on
Fridays is a cool, calm retreat from the whirr of the city, in pale
designer environs. From £11.
Middle of the road
Le Tabasco, 8 Amman Square (00 202 336 5583) In modish
Mohandessin, this golden oldie still draws a thirtysomething crowd -
here to scoff bistro dishes in
laid-back subterranean light, then carouse until the early hours. Mains from
£7.
White, 25 Hassan Asem Street Cairo goes minimalist at this
candlelit white industrial space in the fashionable district of Zamalek.
The menu lists pasta, curries and satays, and it's busy after midnight,
with R&B on Thursdays. Mains from £6.
On the cheap
Abou El Sid, 156 26th July Street (00 202 735 9640) Ottoman
excess is recalled in louche souk lanterns, Louis XIV chairs and
bubbling shisha pipes for reclining guests. Weekends: come after
midnight, earlier for stuffed pigeon. Mains from £4.
La Bodega, 157 26th July Street (00 202 736 2183) In parts
evocative of a Victorian pub, with horseshoe bar and dangling glasses,
here you'll find a smoky sea of vodka martinis and slender Cairo girls
on high stools. Fish mains from £4.
BARS AND NIGHTLIFE
Cafe Riche, 17 Talaat Harb Street (00 202 392 9793) It's
touristy, but it's a classic: a 1908 literary cafe which has fed
generations of artists and politicians, some of them (Saddam Hussein)
notorious.
Sangria, opposite Conrad Hotel, Corniche El Nil (00 202 579
6512) A tree-canopied, Nile's-edge terrace and easy sofas create a novel
backdrop for Barry White and Deep Dish sounds till 5.30am.
Absolute (as Sangria) Come for more of the above, one floor
below, with Arab pop in the mix.
Club 35, 35 El Giza Street beside Four Seasons Hotel at the
First Residence (00 202 573 8500) As sharp as any transatlantic design
bar/restaurant, C35 is compact but fashionably good-looking, with skinny
chrome bar stools, ethnic-trippy music and chocolate-tone timber
underfoot.
Rithmo, at Semiramis InterContinental (00 202 795 7171) Get
the right night (Tuesdays, late) and you're in a lively,
leather-upholstered lounge bar: ladies of the night, Cuban sounds and
kicky Aztec Punch.
Sequoia, Sharia Abou El Feda (00 202 735 0014) Sprawl with a G&T
on a white sofa at this late alfresco Nileside haunt, inhaling apple
and mint smoke on the air.
SHOPPING
Karnak Bazaar, 16 Pyramids Road Superior souvenirs include
chairs, amulets, cartouches and coffins, from cheap to steep.
Mobaco, at Semiramis InterContinental (as before) and
branches Shop here for cool clothes in quality Egyptian cotton.
Nagada, 8 Dar el Shefa Street (00 202 792 3249) You'll find
striking ceramics among the simple textiles and fashions near the Four
Seasons at Nile Plaza.
GETTING THERE
British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) flies from Heathrow from £386,
with Dublin add-ons from 98; Egyptair (020 7734 2343,
www.egyptair.com.eg) from £325. Trailfinders (0845 058 5858,
www.trailfinders.co.uk) has flights from Heathrow, via Frankfurt, from
£321; KLM from Manchester from £298; and Glasgow from £329 (both via
Amsterdam).
TOUR OPERATORS
Abercrombie & Kent (0845 070 0612, www.abercrombiekent.co.uk) has two
nights at Mena House Oberoi, then two at Four Seasons at Nile Plaza from
£829pp, B&B, with Heathrow flights; regional add-ons from
Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast from £115. Scott
Dunn (020 8682 5010, www.scottdunn.com) has five nights at Mena House in
a Pyramid View room from £995pp, B&B, including flights;
regional add-ons from £75.
