“Jesus, Sharif!” I yell from the backseat to my driver, pointing frantically to the pedestrian stepping blindly into the street. “Relax, Mr. David,” Sharif stoically responds, to the mass of confusion that is unfolding in our path, “everything is under control.” I have my doubts as the jet-black Mercedes misses the pedestrian by a matter of inches negotiating at top speed the teeming street – where roaming sheep intermingle freely with pedestrians and automobiles. I noted that same tone in Sharif‘s voice the previous day upon my arrival, upon showing the driver my hotel on a map. After studying it momentarily, he handed it to me saying, “Egyptians, Mr. David, do not use maps.”
Welcome to Cairo, a dynamic mosaic of third world splendor abiding in a forgotten past made eerily present. Boundless in mystery, Cairo bridges ancient with modern, agrarian with urban, Arab with Western.Day one, my head heavy with jet lag, I sit on my hotel balcony in the placid, predawn air enchanted by the first call to prayer. Reverberating its’ majestic command, the Selah is the most fundamental of the five pillars of Islam. As the sun rises, I see Cairo for the first time, the city undressing itself in complex prose. On this first day we surpass time and space, traversing between the East and West banks of the Nile and between the living and the dead … a wondrous foray into an ancient civilization now surrendered to the advances of imperialism.
The Step Pyramid at Sakkara built by Djoser (3rd dynasty, c. 2686-2181 B.C.) is my first taste of government dereliction as armed guards impassively watch tourists climb a disintegrating structure to pose for pictures. At Giza, a few miles further south, the city beckons me to the last of the Seven Wonders of the World drably enclosed by a ring of canker and blight. Here three pyramids strike an ominous pose, casting aside human entanglement and resounding an ovation to finality … a festival of death ushering in a glorious passage to the living.
The hypnotic structures descend in size from the first, the Great, built by Khufu and completed in 2560 B.C., to the second built by Khufu’s son Khafre and finally, the third, built by Khufu’s grandson Menkauer. Each aligns precisely from one to the next, a symmetrical composition, the distance uniform from one to the other. It’s a stunning sight, an architectural marvel and almost spiritual in its’ presentation.
Later at dinner at Abou Al Sid, a hip western-style restaurant noted for authentic Egyptian cuisine, I dine on tiny pork sausages stuffed with rice and minced peppers and kushari, a national vegetarian dish, washed down with a cold bottle of Stella Local, the local beer. Richly textured, Al Sid’s décor is steeped in Egyptian antiquity yet the place is infused with traces of cool, from the Warhol prints behind the bar to the Arabian house music pulsating the dull buzz of languages and accents. Hazy with hookah smoke, it captures the charm of your grandma’s house, only sexier, with mismatched tables, chairs and lighting fixtures of all shapes and sizes arranged in an authentic way. The restaurant’s role as a nexus for world travelers in Cairo is evident immediately – patrons are comprised almost exclusively of Americans, Australians, Europeans and Asians.
Day two begins hot, the heat tempered only by a slight breeze. I eagerly anticipate Old Cairo, our first stop on the southern edge of town. This is home to the city’s minority of Jews and Christians, approximately 20% of Cairo’s population. The most alluring attraction here is St. Sergius Church, by some accounts the oldest Christian church in the world dating back to the first century. In sync with the Egyptian approach to presenting antiquities, the Church remains untouched and preserved in its original form. Dark and windowless save for a few narrow slits along the ceiling, the church’s creaking floors laid with threadbare carpets seem ready to give way at any moment. Deep cracks in the plaster trace the soot covered walls, simply adorned with assorted fading iconography. Splintered pews sit scattered about in a chaotic semblance, accentuating the church’s air of decay.
The Church is widely believed to have been the hiding place of the Holy Family for nearly 15 months, from Roman persecutors giving chase from Palestine. It is said that they arrived on June 1, in the first few years A.D., though the exact year is unknown. Today the Church is solemnly revered by Christians as thousands from all over the world descend annually on June 1 to celebrate the Holy Family’s arrival. Standing in the center, just below the altar but perched above the worshipping masses, Egypt reveals to me its prescient power – something more complex than a desert of pharaohs and temples – for it stakes its claim as the birthplace of civilization.
After St. Sergius, we visit the City of the Dead, a necropolis within a metropolis. The massive cemetery going for miles in the west end of Islamic Cairo is modern Egypt’s answer to the wondrous catacombs. Built in the late 1800s and early 1900s prior to Cairo’s population explosion when land in the city was abundant, the City is a jumble of solitary entombments, cordoned by winding rings of cinderblock. The deceased interred are primarily common folk of some means. One tomb contains the family of Mohammed Ali (not the boxer), viceroy of Egypt from 1769 to 1849, an Albanian Muslim, appointed by the Ottomans. The Ali Tomb is the only site in the City that is protected by the Ministry of Antiquities.
The real story behind the City though is the living inhabitants. In the 1940s into the 50s, people from the countryside began pouring into the city to escape rural poverty. When they arrived there was little work and even less housing. Broke and unskilled, they took up residence by constructing makeshift roofs over the open air tombs. In some instances, additions were constructed atop the roofs forming layers of refuge. So this self-fashioned “dead city”, defiant in its dishevelment and ignorance of the conventions of the modern world, lives among the ruins exhibiting its own unique survival instinct — a solitary existence stemming from nothing, shrugging off its despair with a blessed indifference.
Carved out by long, narrow alleyways, our eager, resident guide leads us through the meandering passageways with a child’s excitement. As we snake our route carefully, Cairo reveals yet another side of itself to me, gregarious and giving yet hopelessly reticent and camera shy. My impressions are fueled by the little wide-eyed girl chasing me down and following close to my side for the duration of the tour. Ditto the group of teenage boys noting my interest in their work, who explain how they construct armchairs in their families’ garages and stuff them with Egyptian cotton and cover with silk. It is also the pair of teenage girls in headdress waving at me from their second story window and finally the group of elderly women fully clad in traditional black, smiling and bowing at my presence. These images dance in my mind now, all a vivid panorama of a special beauty and charm that is timeless.
My day of discoveries ends at the Ali Tomb, the crown jewel, sprawling with alabaster caskets aligned in a uniform ensemble. Dimly lit by a capricious assortment of lighting devices, the walls are of pure copper several inches thick and the vaulted ceilings are festooned with colorful Arabic engravings. After a bribe to the guards, my tour winds to the roof where the City embraces me, its clutching a crumbling mosaic of desperation. As I succumb, she seduces me further with her people – a child riding a bike, an old man heavy with life breathing in his hookah, a mangy dog laying as if dead soaking in the sun. Up here I fall in love with the living in the City of the Dead. As we depart, a graffiti-strewn wall at the entrance beckons me back – Arabic words with an arrow pointing inward. I am struck by this seemingly out-of-place yet universal communication means and ask Mohamed what it says. “Welcome to hell” he replies
My final day begins at the Citadel perched high over Islamic Cairo to the west. Built in the 10th century AD atop Cairo‘s expansive limestone mountains, the Citadel was constructed with vast underground prisons and helped to repel no less than 11 crusades preserving Arab rule. Imposing and grand, it appears as it sounds – majestic – with the Al Abaster mosque, Cairo’s largest and most architecturally imposing in the center. Fast forward two centuries to the present when rumors swirl about President Mubarak housing political prisoners there, an important reminder of the Egyptian government’s haunting omnipresence. Afterward, we visit a carpet making school on the west side of the Nile, the simple, unpaved block fronting fields of sugarcane. I sip strong Turkish coffee as my guide shows me the production room. Uniform rows of barefoot children clad in oversized shorts and t-shirts sit spinning at looms more than twice the size of their operators. As I watch, my heart melts as my guide explains that only tiny fingers can create the carpets produced in the school and most children retire by the age of 15, by then their hands hardened with scars. My guide tells me that the children only work 4 hours a day, five days a week, and spend the rest of the day at school. Somehow I am not convinced.
My last stop, the souk.
Spanning countless city blocks, my guide tells me that several years ago merchants simply began setting up roadside stands. Success spawned competition growing the market immensely and now mountains of junk close blocks of the city’s business district, home to international banks and corporations. Amidst these towering replicas of the modern world, the market teems – a wondrous cause celebre for the entrepreneurial spirit. Cheap articles of third world wonder predominantly from China litter the cluttered tables; some hang temptingly from store fronts while still others stream from the windows their gleaming colors like banners flying in the breeze. From the urban: shoes, clothing, toys, cell phones, televisions and DVDs to the agrarian: sheep, goats, chickens and rabbits the contrasts are extreme. Merchants armed with bullhorns accost the passing shoppers and prices rise and fall unchecked in real time. Hail free enterprise.
Later that afternoon standing near the market‘s entrance, the sun setting and the evening prayer call ringing loudly, my guide and I watch as the market closes its invisible doors. Eating sweet potatoes smoked on a makeshift, street-side grill, Mohamed turns to me with a gratified smile and says, “this is the real Egypt.” He hands a leftover portion of his snack along with pocket change to the local children, their faces smiling. Just then I remember something I read in the materials assembled prior to my trip. The ancient Egyptians believed that the mind, the body’s intellect, rested in the heart. Perhaps an anatomical miscalculation, but this is a nevertheless symbolic observation by the inhabitants of the birthplace of civilization.
Where to Stay:
Country Code for Egypt is (20)
Four Seasons: Has commanding views of both the Nile and the Citadel. Four Seasons elegance and service always included; 35 Sharia al-Giza; 02-5731-212; www.fourseasons.com
Grand Hyatt Cairo: Luxury landmark hotel situated on Roda Island. Located on the River Nile, the hotel enjoys a perfect location in the centre of the business and commercial district of Cairo; Midan Tahrir; 02-5780-666; www.cairo.grand.hyatt.com
Cairo Marriot Hotel: Located in the heart of Cairo, around a 19th century palace, on an island in the Nile River in downtown Cairo. Steps away from the Giza Pyramids; Zamalek; 02-7394-632; www.cairomarriot.com
Sofitel Cairo Maadi Towers: Overlooks the majestic Nile River, with panoramic views of the great Giza pyramids; 25 Corniche el –Nil; 02-5260-601; www.sofitel.com
Where to Eat:
El Gahsh: Famous for its fuul and tamiya, El Gahsh is a local favorite located on the outskirts of Islamic Cairo; Maraseena Street.
Abou El Sid: Located in the Zamalek neighborhood, El Sid boasts an upscale menu, upscale decor and an upscale clientele. One of the pricier options, but a favorite among tourists seeking authentic Egyptian cuisine, followed by a hookah experience; 157 26th of July Street; 02-735-9640.
Sequoia: Situated along the Nile River on the northern edge of the Zamalek neighborhood, this restaurant offers outdoor tented seating and live DJs after midnight; Sharia Abu Feda; 02-735-0014.
Citadel View: Located in Al-Azhar Park, the Citadel View offers views of Cairo’s largest greenspace. Bargain seekers and drinkers beware, entrees are expensive and alcohol is not served; Salah Salem Street; 02-510-9150.
The Greek Club: Run by the Hellenic expat community, the Greek Club offers Greek cuisine from its downtown location; Sharia Qasr el-Nil; 02-575-0822.
What to See:
Coptic Cairo Compound: Sharia Mar Girgis; 02-363-9742. Home to the city’s minority population of Christians and Jews, the most alluring attraction in Old Cairo is the St. Sergius Church, the oldest Christian church in Egypt.
The Citadel: Sharia Salah Salem. Built in the 10th century AD by Saladin, the Citadel was used to repel no less than 11 crusades. In the middle 1800s, Mohammed Ali built the Al Abaster Mosque – Cairo’s largest mosque – in the center of the Citadel complex. Visit the Citadel for remarkable views of Cairo.
The Giza Plateau: Sharia al-Ahram, Giza; 02-383-8823. The famed site west of Cairo, home to the Giza Pyramids and the Sphynx. Arrive early to beat the teeming crowds, and be prepared for the aggressive peddlers.
Northern Cemetery (City of the Dead): East of Sharia Salah Salem. An enormous cemetery spanning countless city blocks near Islamic Cairo, overrun in the 1940s and 1950s by Egyptians from the countryside who came to the city to escape rural poverty. The most famous tomb is the City of the Dead is the tomb belonging to the family of Mohammed Ali.