Egypt Day Three : Old Cairo

We start the day early and catch a taxi to old Cairo- riding taxis in Cairo is an art in itself and we are told early on to not ask the price and just hand over the right amount at the end of the trip, all the while acting as if we know what we're doing. This ofcourse is a little difficult when you don't know what you're doing! Thus we land at our destination, and hand over an amount that seems to please the driver and we walk away with absolutely no sense of by how much we over payed. (note: Cairo taxis have meters, but none of them work).

We have arrived at the Citadel, home to Egypt's leaders for some 700 years, which contains 3 mosques, two museums (Police & Miltary) and a terrace that provides good views over the sprawling city that is Cairo. Work began on the Citadel in 1176, to fortify it against the Crusaders but through time who ever was in power at the time added their own addition to the Citadel (including the British who used it during WWII as barracks). The most impressive structure within the complex is the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, which dominates the skyline of Cairo when and if you can see beyond the thick smog. The tomb of Ali lies outside the Mosque and is an interesting interpretation of classic Turkish style. The terrace outside the Mosque provides a really good idea of how huge Cairo is (20 million inhabitants, or 1/3 of Egypt's population) and it stretches in every direction until the eye can see. Cairo air, especially in the old part of the city, is unbreathable. I've lived in my share of polluted cities, but I've never encountered anything like the smog filled streets of Cairo. This is especially noticeable when looking at the city from the Citadel, as well as the Pyramids- there is a permanent gray haze over the city.

After the Citadel, we taxi it to the Al Azhar area to visit the famed Khan el Khalili bazaar. We are dropped off in the middle of the bazaar on a Saterday (holiday) and are met with crowds and crowds of women covered head to toe in black, school boys pushing through the crowds and vendors angling for your attention. We were half afraid to look at the merchandise they were attemtpting to sell due to their agressive tactics. It's amusing in the start to be called the name of different Bollywood actresses (Hindi movies are popular inEgpyt), but got really annoying quickly. We tired fast of the atmosphere at the Khan and really were hard pressed to see the charm of it. It seemed little more than frenzied alleyways with potholed streets and over-aggressive salesmen. We were looking for the famed El Feshawi Cafe with no luck, and luck would have it that the one alleyway we ducked into would contain this exact cafe.

Walking through it's door provided a very much needed respite. El Feshawi is most known for its famous patron- the Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz, who visited the cafe daily for his mint tea and sheisha pipe. Legend has it that the doors of cafe have remained open continously for the past 200 years, as it is open 24 hours. The interiors are jam packed with brassware, bright yellow walls and charming photos from across the years. The waiters are prompt but non-pushy and we wanted to stay forever. After drinking fresh mango juice, some mint tea, and sharing amazingly delicious falafels, we try to head out. I don't think of either of us as intrepid travelers- after all having lived in countries like Nepal and Thailand, we are used to the lively chaos of the East. Cairo, particularly old Cairo, is almost unbearable. The heat coupled with constant haggling, and the crowds made me dizzy. Knowing we'd only covered a miniscule portion of Khan, but unable to return to it, and yet desperate to discover a more pleasant side to it, we decided to do a "Naguib Mahfouz walk" through Old Cairo. I've long been a fan of Mahfouz's work and was eager to see the actual Midaq Alley. We made it through the first few landmarks on the map, including the house where he was born, but then somehow got lost. The map wasn't making sense no more, but Mr. R and I continued through the maze like streets taking in the daily life of the people around us. Mahfouz was largely inspired by these neighborhoods and I was eager to take it in.

Walking through several neighborhoods, completely devoid of tourists and where we were left alone, we saw the poverty of a neighborhood that was completely different from the area we were staying in. Overwhelmed and dirty, we hailed a taxi and headed back for our hotel, all the time covering our faces with handkerchiefs, unable to breathe in the smog that was Cairo.

At the hotel we hurriedly got ready for the wedding of our friends. The wedding was held in a lovely Coptic church in Maadi, a leafy suburb with beautiful houses and manicured lawns- we were a world away from where we'd been that afternoon. After a beautifully international ceremony, we headed to the Mena House Hotel by the Pyramids for the reception. We had a wonderful time taking in the colorful entertainment (the bride and groom were serenaded for an hour by traditional singers, complete with bagpipes... an exuberant bellydancer... a elegant Sufi band...), the delicious food and toasting the happy couple. This was a reception full of opulence, glamour and lots of fun. After dancing for hours, we headed to the hotel at 2am completely worn out.