Visiting Cairo

Cairo is the city I had been yearning to go. I learnt about its greatness from school texts since I was young. Its ancients civilization, pyramids, biblical stories, phroahs' rule, al azhar,salahuddin al ayobi, the fitimid empire,tomb raiders,  syed qutb, etc, put Cairo as the top priority among must go  places.

Upon arrival at Cairo international airport, I know instantly that I was in  a third world country.The airport clearance was tedious and time consuming , the traffic was busy and chaotic and I was accosted by a numbers of people who offered assistance for tips in American dollars.The run down taxi drove me to downtown city center, and dropped me and my wife at the roadside along a busy street,on which our hotel was situated. After struggling with our luggage we were relieved to check into a double bed room with a balcony which was not a bad accommodation for the price we paid. As our room was right in the middle of the downtown, we could see the milling crowd below. It was already 10 pm at night and the street was alive with people, and we felt  that could be a good time to feel the city's atmosphere.

The city street was crowded city folks doing shopping, chit-chatting on the sidewalk,shopping, drinking coffee, or just walking about, enjoying the chill air. The architecture of the downtown was European and the people dressed themselves well, and that make me feel I am walking about in some western city downtown.The people were courteous and were conscious of visitors, so I got friendly hellos and polite nods as we walked. A few would stop to ask where we came from, and once I said from Malaysia, they showed their interest wanting to acquaint more with us.From the brief conversation with people on the street, I know them to be well read, well informed and willing to help out.

Cairo streets were bustling with people whose main preoccupation was to earn a living.Taxi drivers , petty traders, commission agents, touts and street peddlers were everywhere selling things like perfumes, train tickets, hotel accommodation, breads , etc.Despite the hectic appearance, the people were relaxed and were willing to engage in  conversation which centered around how difficult life was in the city. The cafes serving Turkish coffee were crowded with people sitting down over cups of coffee for hours .If not in the cafe, they would be on the sidewalk, chatting and sitting down oblivious of the busy life on the street, and resigned to life as it comes.                                                                                                      


There were too many  places of interest to see in and around Cairo and it was impossible to give full account on this blog.The Cairo Eygptian Museum was the greatest museum for eyghtology with impressive collection of 5000 years of civilisation. It will take a person a couple of days to go through the huge collections of 5000 years of human civilisation. One day was not enough to cover the whole museum as the collection was too immense. The bust of Tatunkamum casted in gold was the top display admired for the beauty of ancient craftmenship..Then there were mummies of great kings, artifacts in stones and metal explaining the ancient history of Eygpt back into time making Louvre and Rome look very recent.

The Old Cairo at Maydan Hussein and the Al Azhar reminded visitors of old day Cairo.The citadels witnessed Cairo great history as governed by Mamluk, the Fatimid, Kamal Pasha , Salahuddin and other great conquerors. Then there were the pyramid at Gaza, the Sphinx, the Nile river, Heliopolis,Zamlud, etc.

Maydan Tahrir, where massive demonstration that brought down Mubarak took place ,was focal point of the city where all roads,underground train  and traffic converge , making this place into meeting points of people.I spend quite a lot of time here just walking about and looking at people.

 Unlike many third world city, Cairo was well served by an efficient and cheap underground network of trains.For just one Eygptian pound the underground could take you to so many places.From the numerous metro train public transport, even though rickety,  can take to many places including the central station from where the train would go to Aswan and Alexandria.