Into the chaos that is Cairo

  Cairo, Egypt
Friday, February 3, 2006

I've got the feeling that Egypt is going to be one of those countries with so many things to see and experience that it is going to very difficult to limit the number of entries I write about it. So my apologies if this ends up being on almost a daily basis - hopefully we can both keep up!

Cairo is obviously a lot more than the Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum, so here's a taste of the other sights that make up this seething mass of humanity. 16 million people live here, so it was an eye opener to get out of the relatively tame downtown area and see how some of the less fortunate live in places like the Islamic and Coptic centres of town (to the East and South of city centre respectively).



The north wall is as good a place as any to start this foray. It's the most complete section of the old defensive wall still standing and retains an imposing gated entryway below its towering, crenellated walls. A motley selection of traffic passes through into the 'Islamic Centre' of town (a few more minarets than usual being the difference between other parts of the city) and there seems to be some haphazard attempts to clean and upgrade the surrounds, so anyone visiting a year or two later might be mistaken in thinking it is a little newer than its 11th century heritage.



Just inside the big old doors of the gateway stands a large but at the time serene mosque called Mosque al-Hakim. Very pleasant indeed but the guy on the door tries to hold your shoes hostage unless you make a substantial donation. Who says religion isn't about money eh? Oh well, I got my shoes back which was the important thing.



Because I needed them in the great bazaar, the Khan al-Khilili, a patchwork of alleys and shop-fronts running for about a 1km to the south. There is a lot to see in here but just finding your way around is the greatest challenge, so I missed things like the Tentmaker's alley, which in hindsight would have been much more interesting than the onion and garlic market I did find. Oh well, in the next life maybe...



The main highlight of the bazaar for me however was another mosque (name far too long to reproduce) I visited and actually got to climb to the top of (for a small fee of course). It was worth every piastre (penny) to see the city from one of these minarets as the ultra wide lens picture below shows, although the breeze up there is pretty intense and you do wonder if the aging building materials will support your weight as you climb the extremely narrow circular staircase.



After that exhilarating experience and a few more twists and turns, I was spat out of the bazaar at its southern end. My next stop on the city tour was The Citadel.



Founded by the legendary Saladin in the 12th century AD, The Citadel sits atop this high point of the city and includes Mohammed Ali mosque along with a couple of smaller mosques and some miscellaneous palaces (ho hum huh?). However Ali's mosque is the place to be, with its absolutely spectacular internal decoration being (in my opinion) the main attraction.

Many locals and visitors come here to marvel at its finish as well as to pray, and it has a lively atmosphere which is pretty refreshing compared to the various sombre temples, churches and other mosques I've visited in recent times. The new friends I made there were immensely pleased with the photo I took of them...



From there it was over to the Coptic Christian end of town - once known as Babylon - and an area that predates the introduction of Islam in the city. It remains Christianity's base in Egypt although it is looking pretty decrepit these days. Still, there's some interesting architecture, building features and carvings if you can navigate the maze of winding alleys and continuous repair-work being done in the area. Some time later I emerged unscathed...



Just down the road was another visually pleasing mosque that I thought I'd stick my head into. This is more a working mosque than al-Hakim above and has some beautiful features and finishings that were very photogenic. The funeral procession that barreled in, prayed over the coffin and then barreled out again was also a sight to behold, but a photo or two seemed inappropriate at the time. I took my leave and headed home.



After all that, I've still only had a small taste of this bizarre and chaotic city. Before closing this entry out however I should note two things. First is the traffic - I've been to a lot of places with crazy traffic but this has to be the craziest. Traffic merges here and there creating the most godforsaken snarls I've ever seen. Horns blare and pedestrians walk everywhere dodging oncoming traffic like the little frog in that 80s arcade game Frogger. Traffic lights are often out and even if they were working, they'd probably be ignored anyway. Whoever has his nose in front has right of way. There are a lot of people limping around town and I suspect it's because they've been clipped by passing cars. However you do get used to it and it often makes you laugh (not the clipping bit). It's certainly a sight to behold!

The other is the security - almost on every corner you will see police armed with Kalishnakovs intent on keeping the peace. Often at major tourist attractions you will see undercover police with machine pistols holstered under their suit jacket. Checkpoints, sniffer dogs and uniforms hiding behind rocket proof blast shields are a common sight. I assume this is in response to the terrorist attacks against tourists in the 1990s and due to sheer numbers, you can't help feeling quite secure. They are also quite friendly, many of them saying hello as you walk by. Nice touch and good PR.

In the end though I am looking forward to moving on, this place is just too hectic. But I'll probably end up back here before the month is out and enjoy it for a short time more. As one reader (thanks Christina) commented in a recent note, 'Cairo wears you down, but you can't help loving it anyway', which sums up Cairo perfectly.

Adios til next time,
TT

Technotrekker Travel Technologies - Diary Software

I haven't done one of these in a while, but the Diary software I'm using deserves high praise for the way it is handling my ever-growing collection of entries (just passed 100 now - thanks for the congratulations Ant man).

iDailyDiary by Splinterware Software Solutions (see www.splinterware.com) is a great little free trial product which is easy to use and has some handy advanced features. It's a WYSIWYG editor that you can insert text, pictures and hyperlinks into, much like a word document, with a great calendar interface that makes hopping through the days and months a breeze. If you purchase you can also insert video and a range of other file formats directly into it. Multiple entries per day is nice touch and if maintaining your on website, exporting pages in html and various other formats is pretty straightforward.

If you're looking for journal software, it comes highly recommended!