My landlady is such a sweetheart compared to the other landlords & ladies we have been dealing with for the guest houses.
She is really scrubbing the entire house clean & has done all the other changes that we requested. Then on her own she is retiling a part of the roof (from the terrace) which might affect 2 of the rooms on the floor we will be living in. (We have taken the penthouse duplex) She agreed to everything we wanted & she brought the rent down to suit our budget. Plus she has now gone and bought fire extinguishers for the house on her own.
After a quick visit to the house I went to pick up some flowers for someone who was sick. Bouquets here cost onwards of 20 LE. Some really pretty flowers & boquet arrangements are available here. Although you dont really get rose buds but fully bloomed flowers. I'm assuming this is because the flowers have to be shipped in from some other continent. But they do wrap them up beautifully & set them in some beautiful fancy jars which no one could throw out ever, since you can keep reusing them to display flowers in your home.
They also have a fantastic selection of dried flower arrangements in all colors which are pretty reasonable too. Flower shops are easily available & not too much bargaining is necessary. Unlike Bombay where u can get the price down to half the originally quoted one. Didnt click pictures since I hadnt carried the camera. But will definitely display pictures at a later date. Also will upload more pics on my blogs once I get my broadband connection since uploading on a dial up is a royal pain.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Birds in Cairo
Well, whatever I have seen in the last coupla days, one never has to worry about bird shit when parking. There are hardly any birds around. Compared to the scores of pigeons who think the entire city of Bombay is a shit pot.
I initially thought that there were no birds in Cairo at all. But on a visit to the Pharaonic village we spied some brilliantly colored birds & some unusual crows (shades of gray rather than black)
Also see Hany Zorkanys documenting of a whole dramatic story of a bird by photos.
I initially thought that there were no birds in Cairo at all. But on a visit to the Pharaonic village we spied some brilliantly colored birds & some unusual crows (shades of gray rather than black)
Hooded crow "Corvus corone"
So the city does have birds, especially around water bodies. Plan to do a detailed brid watching some time. Until then, I'm trying to familiarise myself with some birds on the web. Slender-billed Gull
"Larus genei"
"Larus genei" Slender-billed Gull"Larus genei"
"Larus genei" Cattle Egret"Bubulcus ibis"
"Bubulcus ibis"Also see Hany Zorkanys documenting of a whole dramatic story of a bird by photos.
Yahoo! News Story - Fierce debate over veils in Egypt
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD,
Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 31, 1:52 PM ET
from Yahoo News
CAIRO, Egypt - The origin of the debate could not be more intimate: what a woman chooses to wear before she leaves home. But the increasing popularity of the full Muslim face veil has set off an emotional dispute in the Arab world over whether the covering is required by Islam for modesty or a dangerous sign of political extremism.
The debate is most intense in Egypt, the world's largest Arab country, where one university two weeks ago banned women who wear the face veil, or niqab, from living in a hostel, and government-backed newspapers have launched a campaign against it.
"The niqab vogue: an imported innovation, used by the political extremists," read a recent banner on the pro-government Al Mussawar Weekly. "Our new battle is against the niqab," added Mohammed Fatouh, a specialist on Islamic issues in another government-owned weekly, Rose el-Youssef.
Salama Ahmed Salama, a columnist in Egypt's biggest government daily, Al-Ahram, was more blunt: "It expresses an extremist attitude ... Wearing the niqab is as outrageous as wearing a bathing suit or pajamas to the office."
On any given street in the capital, the face of one woman will be fully covered, with only her eyes peering through; nearby another woman will cover her hair, leaving her face bare, and still another will have her face and hair free of any covering.
The dispute highlights the growing wave of conservative Islamic practice across the Arab world — and among Muslims living in the West — and the intense struggle between secular governments and Islamic opposition groups. Head scarves fell out of favor among some urban Arab women in the 1920s and 1930s but began reappearing in the 1970s and 1980s. The evolution has been steady with more women covering their hair each year and more also wearing body cloaks.
But the biggest dispute has been over the niqab — a full facial veil that leaves only a slit for the eyes that re-emerged in Egypt in the late 1980s and has since grown in popularity, both in the Arab world and among Arab Muslims in the West.
Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in early October that he asks women who visit his office to remove the veil so he can see their faces, and called it a disturbing sign of the divisions in British society. Aishah Azmi, a 24-year-old Muslim teaching assistant in northern England, was then suspended from her job for refusing to remove a black veil that left only her eyes visible.
In Egypt, the issue has simmered for years and caught new fire after Straw's comments.
The president of Helwan University on the outskirts of Cairo banned students who wear the niqab from living at the university's hostel, citing security reasons — and leading to small protests by students.
The female head of the Islamic department of the women's college at Al-Azhar University, Soad Saleh, was recently sued by a radical cleric and received death threats after she said she was "disgusted by women in niqab."
In the West, traditional Muslim dress is seen as a refusal by Muslim immigrants to assimilate and accept Europe's secular values. Two years ago, France banned head scarves and other religious symbols from public places, enraging many Muslim immigrants. Australia's top Islamic cleric also recently sparked outrage when he said that women who do not dress modestly invite rape.
In the Arab world, the dispute centers on fears of growing Islamic extremism and concerns by secular governments, like Egypt's, that they will lose ground to Islamic opposition groups.
Complicating the issue, there is no uniform religious opinion across the Muslim world about whether a head scarf — much less a face veil — is required. Some view various forms of head scarves and niqabs as signs of cultural or Islamic pride. Others, however, view face veils as indications of Islamic extremist political opposition.
But some who wear the face veil contend they do so for purely personal religious reasons.
"Believe me, we are normal human beings. But they deal with us like terrorists who are going to blow up everything," said Ashgan, a woman wearing the veil at Helwan University, who would give only her first name during an interview with The Associated Press because she did not want to appear immodest.
She began wearing the niqab three years ago, and takes it off her face just before she enters the hostel's gate, she said.
The top theological authority of Al-Azhar University, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, said he accepted the Helwan University decision to keep women wearing niqabs from the hostel as long as Helwan officials do not require women to also remove their head scarves.
Clerics who believe women should be veiled refer to a verse in the Quran to back up their beliefs: "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks all over their bodies."
Many Islamic scholars do say that covering the hair is a religious duty, but others disagree and say the verse has other interpretations. As for the face veil, the majority of Islamic scholars say it is not required but is merely a custom that dates back to tribal, nomadic societies living in the Arabian desert before Islam began.
In Saudi Arabia, most women wear a face veil along with a head scarf and full black cloak — or face harassment by religious police.
Many Egyptian women took off their head scarves in the 1920s. But Egypt became more religious in the 1970s and women began wearing scarves again, even though the government does not encourage it.
Egypt keeps newscasters who wear head scarves off its TV stations; the president's wife, Suzanne Mubarak, and most female officials wear neither head scarf nor face veil.
But the streets are full of veiled women. There are no accurate statistics on Egypt's 75 million people, about 10 percent of whom are Christian Copts who do not wear veils. But between 70-80 percent of all Egyptian Muslim women are believed to wear a head scarf, according to most estimates.
Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 31, 1:52 PM ET
from Yahoo News
CAIRO, Egypt - The origin of the debate could not be more intimate: what a woman chooses to wear before she leaves home. But the increasing popularity of the full Muslim face veil has set off an emotional dispute in the Arab world over whether the covering is required by Islam for modesty or a dangerous sign of political extremism.
The debate is most intense in Egypt, the world's largest Arab country, where one university two weeks ago banned women who wear the face veil, or niqab, from living in a hostel, and government-backed newspapers have launched a campaign against it.
"The niqab vogue: an imported innovation, used by the political extremists," read a recent banner on the pro-government Al Mussawar Weekly. "Our new battle is against the niqab," added Mohammed Fatouh, a specialist on Islamic issues in another government-owned weekly, Rose el-Youssef.
Salama Ahmed Salama, a columnist in Egypt's biggest government daily, Al-Ahram, was more blunt: "It expresses an extremist attitude ... Wearing the niqab is as outrageous as wearing a bathing suit or pajamas to the office."
On any given street in the capital, the face of one woman will be fully covered, with only her eyes peering through; nearby another woman will cover her hair, leaving her face bare, and still another will have her face and hair free of any covering.
The dispute highlights the growing wave of conservative Islamic practice across the Arab world — and among Muslims living in the West — and the intense struggle between secular governments and Islamic opposition groups. Head scarves fell out of favor among some urban Arab women in the 1920s and 1930s but began reappearing in the 1970s and 1980s. The evolution has been steady with more women covering their hair each year and more also wearing body cloaks.
But the biggest dispute has been over the niqab — a full facial veil that leaves only a slit for the eyes that re-emerged in Egypt in the late 1980s and has since grown in popularity, both in the Arab world and among Arab Muslims in the West.
Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in early October that he asks women who visit his office to remove the veil so he can see their faces, and called it a disturbing sign of the divisions in British society. Aishah Azmi, a 24-year-old Muslim teaching assistant in northern England, was then suspended from her job for refusing to remove a black veil that left only her eyes visible.
In Egypt, the issue has simmered for years and caught new fire after Straw's comments.
The president of Helwan University on the outskirts of Cairo banned students who wear the niqab from living at the university's hostel, citing security reasons — and leading to small protests by students.
The female head of the Islamic department of the women's college at Al-Azhar University, Soad Saleh, was recently sued by a radical cleric and received death threats after she said she was "disgusted by women in niqab."
In the West, traditional Muslim dress is seen as a refusal by Muslim immigrants to assimilate and accept Europe's secular values. Two years ago, France banned head scarves and other religious symbols from public places, enraging many Muslim immigrants. Australia's top Islamic cleric also recently sparked outrage when he said that women who do not dress modestly invite rape.
In the Arab world, the dispute centers on fears of growing Islamic extremism and concerns by secular governments, like Egypt's, that they will lose ground to Islamic opposition groups.
Complicating the issue, there is no uniform religious opinion across the Muslim world about whether a head scarf — much less a face veil — is required. Some view various forms of head scarves and niqabs as signs of cultural or Islamic pride. Others, however, view face veils as indications of Islamic extremist political opposition.
But some who wear the face veil contend they do so for purely personal religious reasons.
"Believe me, we are normal human beings. But they deal with us like terrorists who are going to blow up everything," said Ashgan, a woman wearing the veil at Helwan University, who would give only her first name during an interview with The Associated Press because she did not want to appear immodest.
She began wearing the niqab three years ago, and takes it off her face just before she enters the hostel's gate, she said.
The top theological authority of Al-Azhar University, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, said he accepted the Helwan University decision to keep women wearing niqabs from the hostel as long as Helwan officials do not require women to also remove their head scarves.
Clerics who believe women should be veiled refer to a verse in the Quran to back up their beliefs: "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks all over their bodies."
Many Islamic scholars do say that covering the hair is a religious duty, but others disagree and say the verse has other interpretations. As for the face veil, the majority of Islamic scholars say it is not required but is merely a custom that dates back to tribal, nomadic societies living in the Arabian desert before Islam began.
In Saudi Arabia, most women wear a face veil along with a head scarf and full black cloak — or face harassment by religious police.
Many Egyptian women took off their head scarves in the 1920s. But Egypt became more religious in the 1970s and women began wearing scarves again, even though the government does not encourage it.
Egypt keeps newscasters who wear head scarves off its TV stations; the president's wife, Suzanne Mubarak, and most female officials wear neither head scarf nor face veil.
But the streets are full of veiled women. There are no accurate statistics on Egypt's 75 million people, about 10 percent of whom are Christian Copts who do not wear veils. But between 70-80 percent of all Egyptian Muslim women are believed to wear a head scarf, according to most estimates.
Wasted a Whole Day
& I do mean "Wasted". Not drunk "wasted" not lazing around "Wasted" But an Absolute Waste of an Entire Day !
Had to go to the passport office in the morning to get our visas extended. Since Marico has not yet been formed in Egypt, husband cant get an e-visa (employment visa) so we are on tourist/business visas, (kinda like the american B1/B2) which we need to get extended.
so off we went with this consultant in the morning to the passport office which turned out to be more crowded than the one in Bombay India. 45 different counters in a straight line, with barely enough place for 6 people to stand in each line before the line hit the wall & most counters except the Palestinian one had over 10 people per line. So it was quite chaotic.
It was also interesting to see people from different countries speking different languages all g]focused on a single goal "getting the attention of the person across the counter" Kinda like a plebian UN session :)
But given the pressing crowds & the pressing matter of our own visa, I couldnt dawdle & "people watch"
Unfortunately inspite of husbands effort of dressing in blazer & stuff, passport officer asked us to get another letter on a letterhead & appear again the day after tomorrow (baad bukra : bukra is tomorrow & baad bukra means day after tomorrow)
Another guy from the company & his family got their extensions done in ten minutes just yesterday with the same papers that we carried ourselves. My guess : the "consultant" who accompanied us as translator did not have a clue & was quite confused. Guess we drew the short straw on this one.
After that we saw another 15 houses on our house hunt. But all were a complete WAFWOT (David Dcosta to be credited for this term. ask him for the exact translation - basic translation : complete waste of time) We had told all estate agents that we were almost certain to be closing a house tomorrow, so all of them wanted "one last chance sir" We hoped the pressure would bring out the best houses with the lowest prices to snatch the deal. Unfortunately none of the houses they showed us today could compare to the one that we have almost finalised so the entire exercise was a complete WAFWOT.
Only silver lining today was I embarked on another food adventure. Walked up to a place called Abou Yoosef. Their menu was in Arabic. Everyone there only spoke arabic. I pointed to 2 items on the menu & patiently awaited opening my mystery suprise package. One turned out to be a chicken fillet sandwich roll. The other was some local dish.
Now the problem is I have no clue about the name. I do not remember which item I pointed to, so its going to take some time to figure out what we ate.
But let me try & give u a description. (no picture : we were too ravenous after the house hunt that we did not bother with wasting time on taking pictures) the dish is a mix of 4 types of pasta
1. a very short tubular pasta 2mm length
2. a circular spoke pasta 2mm diameter
3. short spaghetti
4. vermicilli
and some arborio rice. All boiled seperately with just salt & then mixed in almost equal quantities. The dish is then topped with some boiled whole masoor dhal & deep fried browned onions. & a sprinkling of chickpeas (chole)
A tomato based gravy was served on the side to be mixed into the dish. I was wearing a salwar kameez & bindi, so he realisd i was indian. pointed to my bindi & handed me a second packet which turned out to be a spicy chilli mix which we added to the tomato gravy before pouring it into the carbs.
The dish was really yummy & I doubt my description has done it justice. Also its a wonderful vegetarian option for veggies who come to this country & are forced to live on French fries. Next mission is to somehow describe this to a local who can tell me its name.
Had to go to the passport office in the morning to get our visas extended. Since Marico has not yet been formed in Egypt, husband cant get an e-visa (employment visa) so we are on tourist/business visas, (kinda like the american B1/B2) which we need to get extended.
so off we went with this consultant in the morning to the passport office which turned out to be more crowded than the one in Bombay India. 45 different counters in a straight line, with barely enough place for 6 people to stand in each line before the line hit the wall & most counters except the Palestinian one had over 10 people per line. So it was quite chaotic.
It was also interesting to see people from different countries speking different languages all g]focused on a single goal "getting the attention of the person across the counter" Kinda like a plebian UN session :)
But given the pressing crowds & the pressing matter of our own visa, I couldnt dawdle & "people watch"
Unfortunately inspite of husbands effort of dressing in blazer & stuff, passport officer asked us to get another letter on a letterhead & appear again the day after tomorrow (baad bukra : bukra is tomorrow & baad bukra means day after tomorrow)
Another guy from the company & his family got their extensions done in ten minutes just yesterday with the same papers that we carried ourselves. My guess : the "consultant" who accompanied us as translator did not have a clue & was quite confused. Guess we drew the short straw on this one.
After that we saw another 15 houses on our house hunt. But all were a complete WAFWOT (David Dcosta to be credited for this term. ask him for the exact translation - basic translation : complete waste of time) We had told all estate agents that we were almost certain to be closing a house tomorrow, so all of them wanted "one last chance sir" We hoped the pressure would bring out the best houses with the lowest prices to snatch the deal. Unfortunately none of the houses they showed us today could compare to the one that we have almost finalised so the entire exercise was a complete WAFWOT.
Only silver lining today was I embarked on another food adventure. Walked up to a place called Abou Yoosef. Their menu was in Arabic. Everyone there only spoke arabic. I pointed to 2 items on the menu & patiently awaited opening my mystery suprise package. One turned out to be a chicken fillet sandwich roll. The other was some local dish.
Now the problem is I have no clue about the name. I do not remember which item I pointed to, so its going to take some time to figure out what we ate.
But let me try & give u a description. (no picture : we were too ravenous after the house hunt that we did not bother with wasting time on taking pictures) the dish is a mix of 4 types of pasta
1. a very short tubular pasta 2mm length
2. a circular spoke pasta 2mm diameter
3. short spaghetti
4. vermicilli
and some arborio rice. All boiled seperately with just salt & then mixed in almost equal quantities. The dish is then topped with some boiled whole masoor dhal & deep fried browned onions. & a sprinkling of chickpeas (chole)
A tomato based gravy was served on the side to be mixed into the dish. I was wearing a salwar kameez & bindi, so he realisd i was indian. pointed to my bindi & handed me a second packet which turned out to be a spicy chilli mix which we added to the tomato gravy before pouring it into the carbs.
The dish was really yummy & I doubt my description has done it justice. Also its a wonderful vegetarian option for veggies who come to this country & are forced to live on French fries. Next mission is to somehow describe this to a local who can tell me its name.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Me, dad and the mummies
The Sunday Times
April 02, 2006
Madeleine Wickers was a guest of Scott Dunn DON’T be tempted to go super-cheap in July and August. Your kids will fry. DO book the best boat you can afford on the Nile. Some have poor comfort and dubious hygiene. DON’T skip Cairo. Some packages fly straight to Luxor, but that leaves out the pyramids and the Egyptian Museum, both of which kids love. DO consider a week on the Red Sea at the end. The ancient sites can be hot and heaving: the prospect of a beach break will pep the kids up when history overload beckons.
April 02, 2006
Me, dad and the mummies
Grown-ups love ’em, but tombs and pyramids for kids? Cool, says Madeleine Wickers (13)
Cairo is huge, everything is written in squiggles, and there are mosques everywhere with neon lights. We arrived late in the evening, went straight to the suburb of Giza, the home of the pyramids, and checked in at Mena House, which has been a hotel since 1869. It has brownish photos of Winston Churchill and the American president Roosevelt making wartime plans on the back of a napkin.There were roses on our beds and chocolate-covered strawberries on the table. A man brought a tray of juices and cool flannels. I was exhausted, but I had just enough energy to take a look at the Great Pyramid, which was right outside our balcony.
Next day, our guide, Salwa — very nice — took us over to the pyramids. They were ENORMOUS! If you built a wall from all the stones, 10ft high and 10ft wide, it would stretch round the whole of France. Me and dad climbed up one — a bit. We also saw the Sphinx: its face has been worn away by the wind.
Next, we drove to the Egyptian Museum. Everyone in Egypt drives like a maniac, and I clung onto my seat for dear life while trying not to be travel sick. This was the worst part of the holiday: the travelling.
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We saw Tutankhamun’s tomb, his sarcophagus made from solid gold, and the actual death mask he wore. He was only 18 when he died, and Salwa said he was probably the poorest of all the pharaohs. There were mummified children, fish, crocodiles, cats and dogs, plus 3,400-year-old socks. Really weird.
If we had spent one minute looking at each piece in the museum, we would have been there for nine months. We had lunch instead, then went to see Mohammed Ali’s mosque, which was more like a castle. Just outside, there was a little shop where they dressed me up in a Cleopatra outfit and took my photo. Very embarrassing.
On our third day, we flew to the Nile, where we boarded our boat, the Philae, then went exploring. First stop, Yorkshire Bob — which was the name of a tiny jewellery shop. Dad asked the owner if he’d ever been to Yorkshire. “Never,” he said. “I heard it’s cold and freezing wet.” I doubt whether he’s called Bob, either.
I bought six cartouches — pendants with names spelt in hieroglyphics — for my friends. On the back of each, there is an ankh, a symbol for life, and a scarab beetle, symbolising luck.
We went for a fab ride by horse and carriage. Every driver makes the same joke — “This is Egyptian Ferrari” — and asks for a tip (“baksheesh”), for the horse. It was amazing to ride past the ancient temple of Karnak, built in 250BC, on one side, and a McDonald’s on the other. The temple is ginormous. It could swallow two or three cathedrals.
We also went to the Museum of Mummification, where there were lots of bodies in bandages, plus a mummified monkey and a goose, which both looked gross. We saw a spatula used to remove the brains from skulls. Ugh!
On the way back to the boat, a man across the street yelled to dad, “You have beautiful daughter!” — which was sweet, but really embarrassing.
Next morning, we went by coach to the Valley of the Kings. It was eerie inside the tombs, even though the pharaohs’ bodies are no longer there. The ancient Egyptians believed that the sun was born each morning in the east, then died each night in the west. That’s why they built their temples on the east bank of the Nile, the tombs on the west. I felt tired, and the guide seemed to go on and on.
WE WENT cruising down the Nile next. There were only five children on the boat, including me, and although there was a pool, it was tiny. I liked sitting on the deck, sipping hibiscus juice, looking at the riverbanks.
We bought one each, put the money into plastic bags and chucked them down again. My dad also wore one of the galabayas, and I put on lots of eye liner, very Egyptian-style. Everyone clapped when we came down to dinner in our costumes. The food was FAB, and there was Arabic dancing.
Back in Cairo, we met Salwa again, in a bazaar called Khan el-Khalili. She gave me three presents — a scarab-beetle necklace, an ankh and a little jewellery box. It was so nice of her. The bazaar was amazing, like an ancient Brent Cross, and really crowded. We saw Ian Hislop from Have I Got News For You sitting in a cafe where some people were smoking tobacco through things that looked like hose pipes. Not him, though.
Dad's view
EGYPT CAN work brilliantly for older children, but you’ll need to follow a few do’s and don’ts:
How to do it: Scott Dunn (020 8682 5070, www.scottdunn.com) has a seven-night itinerary similar to ours from £1,660pp (£1,445 per child under 12), including all flights and most meals. UK regional connections start at £69pp. Or try Thomas Cook (0870 111 1111, www.thomascook.com), Discover Egypt (020 7407 2111, www.discoveregypt.co.uk ) or Explore (0870 333 4001, www.explore.co.uk ).
The guide to Sharm el Sheikh
Times Online
October 04, 2006
While the cheap beach package crowd can't be avoided and are helping to rebuild Sharm's tourism market, they are mostly confined to one area of the coast, and have thus far avoided giving Sharm a downmarket feel.
October 04, 2006
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While the cheap beach package crowd can't be avoided and are helping to rebuild Sharm's tourism market, they are mostly confined to one area of the coast, and have thus far avoided giving Sharm a downmarket feel.
Back at the San Marino, located adjacent to the Diar Nama Hotel, the café's owner, Hassam Zaky Mohme, or Sam, chuckles lightly as first-timers puzzle over the menu, whispering, "Shisha? Is that one of those water pipes?" But he is happy to have customers again. "Business was not so good after the bombs but it's getting better."
From what I observed it's getting a lot better. I went back to the San Marino three times and on my last visit I had to wait for a table. Still, I could tell tourism wasn't at the same level it was when I first visited Sharm in February 2005.
Located on the Southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Sharm El Sheikh's expansive coral reef and crystal clear water have earned it the reputation as one of the best scuba diving spots in the world. Over the past 10 years, people have flocked from Cairo and Alexandria to build elaborate resorts and casinos, and set-up "Sea Food" restaurants and shops selling "Genuine Egyptian Perfume", spices, and other tourist trinkets.
Off the beach, the city resembles a Hollywood set, with unfinished buildings and roads lurking behind the shadows of grand resorts that line the seaside. Sharm seems to be waiting patiently for the world to notice it, and inject enough into the economy to help it realise its full potential.
During the day, quintessential seaside activities abound. The men shuffle off to play cards or balls, while the women flock to their water aerobics classes. Although there are signs everywhere that scream, "No topless!" many women, namely the Italians, ignore this rule. Another observation about the Italians is that they have taken a page from the Germans, sneaking down to the beach at first light to lay their towel on the best seats.
Those unlucky enough to be spotted sitting idly on the beach will be quickly recruited by the "animation" staff, whose job is to encourage guests to get up on a large stage in the centre of the beach and perform YMCA. At the Marriott, this pleasure occurred everyday at 1 pm. Although I never danced on stage, by the third day I had developed a Pavlovian response to the song, complete with a rumbling belly and strong desire to break open the first Sakara Gold (the local lager) of the day. Admittedly, I kind of miss it.
Where to stay
In terms of value for money, service, food, rooms, amenities, cleanliness and proximity to Naama Bay, the five-star Marriott and Hilton Beach Resorts are the top choices. Those in search of something more exclusive should book at the Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons or Conrad, all of which are about a 10-minute drive to Naama Bay and offer complimentary shuttle service. Of the three, the palatial Ritz Carlton is my favourite, but a word of warning: the rocky beach is more like Brighton than the Red Sea.
Eating out
For food, Naama Bay has a plethora of restaurants which are priced at a fraction of the hotels, but are a better choice for dinner. Marriott has a great outdoor pizza restaurant, Parmizzano's, which is good for lunch or dinner. For a late lunch and a good happy hour pad over to the Hilton, located five minutes walk from the Marriott.
The Hilton also has an outdoor shisha bar and restaurant, grilling up lamb koftas and the catch of the day. Sunset cocktails are best had on the terrace of the Sofitel, which sits atop the main resort strip and overlooks the sea. For dinner, the buffet at Jolie Ville is a must-even if you're not a buffet fan. If you can afford it, head over to the Ritz Carlton's Lebanese restaurant for a full feast (£100 with wine), and good belly dancing show, otherwise just go there to check out the bar.Nightlife
At night, downtown Naama Bay is a buzz of activity, with tourists crowding into row upon row of restaurants and bars. The Camel Bar is a favourite with the Brits, and its rooftop turns into a lively club at the weekend. The Alf Leila Wa Leila, located a few kilometres from Naama Bay, holds the best shows in Sharm, despite the fact that its prized performer is a male belly dancer named Tito. For late night partying, head to the Hard Rock Café.
What to doIn Sharm, as in Cairo, bartering is the currency of choice. Unlike Cairo, however, where the vendors practically assault you as you walk by, Naama Bay is far more relaxed, and the sales pitch far more subtle. Trying to guess the nationality of passer-bys is the favoured approach. "English? Italiano?" vendors persist in an effort to lure you into their shops.
For a town whose tourism market has barely reached adolescence, Sharm has a mature, western approach to tourism, which recognises that service sells. Old Sharm is worth seeing once, but it is still in the early development stage, and the vendors are far more aggressive than in Naama Bay.
Unfortunately, vendors such as Wella Ramadan, a former economics student from Cairo, feel people take advantage of the negative impact terrorism has had on Sharm's tourist trade. "They know we are struggling so will accept lower prices than we would normally," he tells me.
As I watched people haggle to death the simplest of purchases ("Three [Egyptian] pounds for water! I'll give you one!"), I realised he had a point. Perhaps this is why, much to my husband's dismay, I didn't bother to bargain down the price of my shisha pipe, which cost me the equivalent of £20, including charcoal and what I estimate is a five year's supply of apple-flavoured tobacco. Now if only I could remember how to assemble it.
My Secret Cairo
My Secret Cairo
The Times
October 28, 2006
YOU’VE gone on a two-week guided tour of Egypt, and now you’re in Cairo. This morning, you went to the Egyptian Museum and peered at Tutankhamun’s funerary mask in a densely sweating crowd. This afternoon, you’re in a coach coming back from the Pyramids. Your fellow tourists are full of complaints about the lewd liberties taken by the camel-drivers, you’re laden down with tawdry purchases, and the coach is stuck in traffic on one of the flyovers that cut through central Cairo. You look out, and in the middle of the expanse of biscuit-dry roofs is an extraordinary thing: a delicate stone pinnacle, carved into elaborate, fantastic forms. A little farther away, another and another; a dome rippling with lace-like arabesques.
The Times
October 28, 2006
There’s much more to the city than Pyramids and relics. Philip Hensher praises its hidden beauty
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The coach moves on and the disloyal thought occurs to you: why aren’t we looking at that? But you’re flying to Luxor tomorrow and there won’t be time.
It’s a great oddity. Millions of tourists go to Cairo, and almost all of them take the same route, visiting only the ancient relics at Giza and in the Egyptian Museum. But Cairo was not a city of the ancient Egyptians. The city was founded by the Copts as Babylon — one theory holds that its name has nothing to do with the biblical city, but rather Bab il-On, the Gate of On. After the Arab conquest in 641, it became perhaps the greatest Islamic city in the world.
Its mosques and monuments are preserved as far back as the flood-recording Nilometer of 861 and the mosque of Ibn Tulun, built in 879. There are architectural treasures from almost every historical period since then, including a supreme run of Mamluk architecture, the dynasty which ruled between 1250 and 1517. It’s a cornucopia that compares with treasures from the Roman Baroque, or the Florentine Renaissance.
To plunge into Islamic Cairo ankle-deep — perhaps literally so, since the streets round here are not that well-kept — start with your back to Khan al-Khalili, and cross the road. You might recognise the two towering buildings, exuberantly striped and ornamented, from a famous painting by the Victorian artist David Roberts. These are the Ghouriya, a complex of religious buildings built by the last-but-one of the Mamluk sultans, al-Ghouri. They combine several purposes — a madrassa, or religious school with a mosque, is on the right. On the left, there is a mausoleum and a sabil-kuttab, or a combination of public fountain and elementary school.
The beautiful mosque of al-Ghouri is a good starting point. Its thick walls and complex entrance remove you from the raucous world of the street; an ingenious system of air circulation keeps the building cool and fresh. Inside, the light is rich and velvety; there are high windows of bright stained glass, greens against reds, and everywhere a transfixing mastery of ornament. The calligraphic verses from the Koran merge almost seamlessly into geometrical patterns and plant forms; the whole effect is restrained and organic.Most of Cairo’s mosques are still in use and it’s important to approach them in a polite spirit, removing your shoes and asking permission to take photographs. In almost every case, the non-Muslim will be welcomed, though perhaps with a little bemusement, and sometimes with excessive deference. Most mosques, for some reason, are strewn with supine men, giving a very good impersonation of being asleep. The custodian of Barsbay’s mosque, after welcoming me in, officiously dashed about waking all of them up, telling them to sit up and make a good impression.
These beautiful buildings are effectively buried in the mud and chaos of Cairo’s urban life. Walking away from the Ghouriya, you find yourself in the middle of what seems to be the women’s underwear bazaar: stalls of vast bras and knickers in washload-destroying shades of red and pink and peach.
There are boys with vats of karkaday (hibiscus tea) on barrows, sacks of guavas, cotton bales, an ice-merchant carrying a glistening 6ft plank of ice on his shoulder; and suddenly you see the extraordinary vision of the Sabil of Tusun Pasha, with its Rococo styling and bulging walls, very like a miniature Paris Opera.
The Egyptian Government doesn’t seem to have its Islamic heritage high on its “to do” list. Some of the most fabulous stretches of Islamic Cairo, notably the street from al-Azhar to Bab al-Futuh, take place along streets that are like bomb sites.
Occasionally, a piece of exemplary restoration has taken place. There are two splendid medieval palaces that shouldn’t be missed: a merchant’s house, called Beit al-Sihami and, just by the Ibn Tulun mosque, the GayerAnderson museum, also known as the Beit al-Kritliya. Lucky old Major Gayer-Anderson had a well in his garden which turns out to be the underground entrance to the palace of the Sultan of the Bats, the evil genius of The Thousand and One Nights, where the Sultan’s seven daughters still lie asleep on golden beds. That’s what I call a water-feature.
In both houses, you can see the seductive rhythms of medieval domestic life; the rooms melt from interior to exterior, the purpose of each not firmly defined as the household would move around in search of coolness.
There are public and private spaces; the private areas, lived in by women, have mashrabiyyas, or wooden lattice-work screens, overlooking the public areas or the street — readers of Naguib Mahfouz’s Palace Walk will remember the erotic potential of these veiled openings, as the heroines peep out and even let their faces be seen by young men.
The mixed and fluid uses of buildings is very marked in Cairo. One of the loveliest of the sabil-kuttabs, Qaytbay’s, is no longer used as a neighbourhood fountain, but has gone on serving its function as a centre of learning — there is an excellent library on the upper floors in which you are made very welcome. Visiting one of the most ingenious and beautiful of all mosques, Qijmas al-Ishaqi, it is enchanting to overhear the noisy chanting of children from the attached kuttab.
The oddest mixture, however, is in the so-called City of the Dead, or the two great cemeteries. Though they were built as cemeteries, Egyptians always lived among the dead, and now they are thriving urban centres with frequent tombs interspersed. Here, in the Northern Cemetery, is an awe-inspiring sequence of late Mamluk mosques.
In a just world, the ornamental fantasy of the Qaytbay funerary complex, its dazzling lace-draped dome above all, would be as celebrated as the greatest of Venetian churches. In reality, you will have it all to yourself.
But you may be just as beguiled by the friendly, if slightly surprised, greetings from the inhabitants of this oddest of urban developments, as you walk along the streets afterwards.
Need to know
Philip Hensher travelled with Bales Worldwide (0870 7559851, www.balesworldwide.com), which offers five nights at the Nile Hilton hotel, Cairo, on a B&B basis, from £630pp, based on two sharing. The price includes flights with Egypt Air from Heathrow and transfers. Half-day sightseeing tour of Islamic Cairo with private guide costs £42pp (based on two sharing).
Reading: Islamic Monuments in Cairo, by Caroline Williams (American University in Cairo Press, £14.95). The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz (Everyman’s Library, £20).
Eating:
Traditional and elegant: Abou El Sid, off 26th July Street, Zamalek(00 20 2 735 9640).
Chic and international: L’Aubergine, 5 El Sayed al-Bakry Street, Zamalek (738 0080).
Drinking: For chic, Nile-side settings try La Bodega, 157, 26th July Street, Zamalek (735 0543); Sangria, Casino El Shagara, Corniche El Nile, Maspero (579 6511), and La Sequoia, Aboul Feda Street, Zamalek (735 0014).
Go green: Half the £299 you pay for a ten-day Eco Egypt tour goes to a children’s home in Cairo. Departures on February 14 and September 5 with On the Go Egypt (020-7371 1113, www.egyptonthego.com).
Thursday, October 26, 2006
The Lebanese Roastery
Strolled into this really interesting shop on our evening walk today called the Lebanese Roastery. Only after coming home & "googling it" did I realise how large a chain it was.
The entry was filled with a variety of the Lebanese nougat sweets. As we went further inside there were whole spices available, a little further the display changed to a variety of nuts & even further inside was the roasted coffee section.
The nuts were around 70-90LE per kg & came in many flavored options.
The server there - Mahmood - was extremely polite & helpful. He even offerred us a complimentary coffee of our choice. I had tried Arabic coffee a couple of days agao. (an extremely mild decoction that is had sugarless with small bites of dates taken in between) so I decided to try the Turkish coffee. Big mistake. It was too strong for me since I am definitely not a "black coffee" person. Turkish coffee is a very strong decoction of coffee. Much much much stronger than an espresso. So I had to discreetly hide the almost untouched cup of coffee.
We picked up a half kg of assorted nuts convincing ourselves that we had avoided the less healthier option - SWEETS. Having rationalised our purchase, we headed on as happy as can be.
Had a lovely dinner at Andrea later this evening. Read my Review Here
The entry was filled with a variety of the Lebanese nougat sweets. As we went further inside there were whole spices available, a little further the display changed to a variety of nuts & even further inside was the roasted coffee section.
The nuts were around 70-90LE per kg & came in many flavored options.
The server there - Mahmood - was extremely polite & helpful. He even offerred us a complimentary coffee of our choice. I had tried Arabic coffee a couple of days agao. (an extremely mild decoction that is had sugarless with small bites of dates taken in between) so I decided to try the Turkish coffee. Big mistake. It was too strong for me since I am definitely not a "black coffee" person. Turkish coffee is a very strong decoction of coffee. Much much much stronger than an espresso. So I had to discreetly hide the almost untouched cup of coffee.
We picked up a half kg of assorted nuts convincing ourselves that we had avoided the less healthier option - SWEETS. Having rationalised our purchase, we headed on as happy as can be.
Had a lovely dinner at Andrea later this evening. Read my Review Here
Monday, October 23, 2006
Late Posting
Hey, I don't have regular net access right now. So although I am writing daily, I can't get it online immediately. I have to wait till I reach the company guest house to use their dial up connection.
So I'll post a coupla days worth in a matter of a few hours (sigh, dial ups are so painful) but with original timestamp of when I wrote the piece.
Will upload the pictures after a couple of days when I get a better connection than this dial up. Do drop me comments
So I'll post a coupla days worth in a matter of a few hours (sigh, dial ups are so painful) but with original timestamp of when I wrote the piece.
Will upload the pictures after a couple of days when I get a better connection than this dial up. Do drop me comments
Phone Cards in Egypt
Got a temporary pre-paid mobile connection as its really important for me to be contactable & in contact.
Someone from the office helped us arrange this, so I'm not too sure about the formalities for acquiring one. I do know that thee is some address proof & the like required for post paid connections. More on that once I convert. Supposedly I can convert to post paid without having to change my cell number which sounds great.
On pre paid the rates are quite high. Need to analyse whether it makes better economic sense to be on international roaming or pre paid for ISD calls.
Had to recharge the phone because the initial amount ran out quite quickly, what with Diwali & all.
So when to the local supermarket chain "Metro Market" & asked for 1 - 500LE card, 1 - 200 LE card & 1 - 100LE card. (3 of our cells had run out at the same time, that was quite hilarious too. 3 local cell phones & we had to all 3 call local numbers on international roaming cells from India because we all 3 ran out of currency at the same time) He only had 100LE cards so I asked for 6 of these (thinking I would add the balance sometime later)
Now with a 100LE recharge, you only get about 93LE value of talk time. When the bill got printed (difficult to converse with store clerks in English in some areas) I found I had been charge 115LE for each 100LE recharge card. I thought the supermarket was gypping me, but on further clarification I found that this is the standard practice.
The printed value on the recharge card is 100LE, the selling price is 115LE & the actual value of talk time available is 93LE. So be aware.
Will need to check how much the 200 LE & 500LE cards cost at retail
Someone from the office helped us arrange this, so I'm not too sure about the formalities for acquiring one. I do know that thee is some address proof & the like required for post paid connections. More on that once I convert. Supposedly I can convert to post paid without having to change my cell number which sounds great.
On pre paid the rates are quite high. Need to analyse whether it makes better economic sense to be on international roaming or pre paid for ISD calls.
Had to recharge the phone because the initial amount ran out quite quickly, what with Diwali & all.
So when to the local supermarket chain "Metro Market" & asked for 1 - 500LE card, 1 - 200 LE card & 1 - 100LE card. (3 of our cells had run out at the same time, that was quite hilarious too. 3 local cell phones & we had to all 3 call local numbers on international roaming cells from India because we all 3 ran out of currency at the same time) He only had 100LE cards so I asked for 6 of these (thinking I would add the balance sometime later)
Now with a 100LE recharge, you only get about 93LE value of talk time. When the bill got printed (difficult to converse with store clerks in English in some areas) I found I had been charge 115LE for each 100LE recharge card. I thought the supermarket was gypping me, but on further clarification I found that this is the standard practice.
The printed value on the recharge card is 100LE, the selling price is 115LE & the actual value of talk time available is 93LE. So be aware.
Will need to check how much the 200 LE & 500LE cards cost at retail
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