Egypte / Egypt 2002

July 1, 2002 – Cairo

After a late wake up (9:30), I take a quick breakfast with the Korean and I go outside to go to Khan Al Khalili. Finally, walking in the streets is the best solution to fully discover a place, even if, sometimes, I really would like to take a taxi!! From Midan Tahrir, I walk in Sharia Mohammed Mamoud in the direction of Abdeen palace. I walk around the place and then I am on Bor Saïd street going north.

Mohammed Ali mosque (10 piastres banknote)

Finally, on Sharia Shal Azhar, I see the Al Azhar mosque and I visit it for free. The mosque was built at the end of 10^th century but I don’t see it as a great piece of work. Maybe it is because it has been enlarged a lot of time. These enlargements are responsible of the new location of the mihrab, right in the middle of the prayer room and not as usual against a wall.

When I go out of the mosque, I turn left to see what is behind this huge mosque. Maybe I will find the Northern Cemetery, where the city's homeless squat the mausoleums. I am really in another world, everyone is looking at me, wondering what I can do here. I go back on Sharia Shal Azhar and I pass by the hospital and the huge university of Al Azhar. This university is one of the most important universities in the Arabic world, it is a Sunnite propaganda center and it has a great political power in Egypt and around.

After this break off the beaten track, I resume my visit of Islamic Cairo by going in Sharia El Gamalya where I drink tea (the famous Chaï) next to Gamad El Din mosque on the terrace (that’s to say on the sidewalk!!).

I visit this neighborhood based on the itinerary proposed by my French guidebook (mainly Sharia El Gamaya and Bab el Nasr then on the left with towards Bab el Futuh and after Sharia El Muizz Li Din Allah to go back to Khan Al Khalili). On my way, I visit the wikala of Bazara (5/10 EGP + camera ticket 5 EGP). It is in fact one of the numerous caravanserais of Cairo that were used as hotels but also as warehouses. They are all build on the same model: a square surrounded by buildings with on the second floor the hotel rooms and on the first floor the warehouse to stock goods. This caravanserai was restored and you can wander inside just to feel the huge place. Without someone to guide you, you can be lost here!! Unfortunately, this caravanserai is empty so it is hard to imagine people living here. To end this visit I must say that my guide is very limited in English as I am in Arabic so l tell him all the new words that I learned during these first days.

I go on north to reach Bab El Nasr, a door from roman inspiration. From there, I would like to see the glass blowers. To get there you need to turn left to Bal El Futuh and then cross the street Sharia El Galal. Then, you take the street that goes up a little bit, parallel to El Galal street and you take the first alley on the left it is at the end. On the way you can ask for the fabric or Masna Hassan El Daour. At the end you will admire the difficult work of these glass blowers, working in a very hot room with a huge fire in front of them. I am here during the prayer so I wait til they resume their work. The guys are happy to see me. Their work is so spectacular that I could spend hours just watching them making small objects of many colors. After this visit I am invited to see the shop where I bought some of the pieces that I saw being made.

Glass blowers

After this visit, I go under Bab El Futuh and I walk towards Khan al Khalili, enjoying my journey in Islamic Cairo.. After Suleiman Silahdar mosque, I turn on the right in a renovated alley to see the beautiful restored complex of houses. I visit Beit Souhaymi (10/20 EGP) which was built in 1648. When you enter this house you arrive in the square, a really beautiful one with palm trees and grass. For the moment they are working here but you can seize the magic of this little square and admire the walls. The inside is totally different from the one I saw this morning (wikala of Bazara) because, here, there are furniture, carpets, cushions and it gives life to the place. The mucharabiehs are well restored. They were used by the women to see what was happening outside without being seen from this outside. Another square at the rear has a well for the water.

Inside Beit Souhaymi

I move on in this district to get closer to Khan Al Khalili and the souqs. In the street, I buy a wonderful cake but I quickly cross the street to go in the other souqs, the one for the locals and not for the tourists. It is very interesting to be here with all the locals and only 1 or 2 travelers from time to time. I want to go to the Citadel through Bab Zuweila. I am the only foreigner but everyone seems to be happy just by seeing me, with an exchange of smile. A few hundred meters from the citadel, I see a mosque under restoration so I don’t even think to go inside, it is a mess but one guy just invites me to come in to see the view from the minaret and if I am lucky, I will see the pyramids. And yes, how amazing it was, I saw the pyramids, the 2 big ones emerging from the horizon but the picture was a little over exposed so it is hard to see something but it is in my mind. The view from the top is so beautiful that the stairs worth it and even in the dark because I forgot my flashlight at the hotel. I give a tip to the man just to give me the opportunity to see the view and the pyramids.

From a minaret, beautiful view on Cairo

I buy a Menatel card to phone home using the green and yellow phone boxes. Very easy to use with the English menu.

Of course I arrive near the citadel but on the wrong side so I have to walk all around to reach the main entrance and with this walk I arrived a few minutes before the closing so I decide to come back tomorrow. I am very angry because if I woke up earlier I will not have done such things in a hurry. Too bad, but it is also part of traveling, so I go back to Midan Salah Ad Din to visit Al Hassan mosque (10 EGP). The mosque is really huge and I am the only one inside, not even a Muslim praying there. The entrance impressed me but also the square with these big walls. There are alcoves or iwan to represent the 4 main trends in Sunnite Islam.

Inside Al Hassan mosque

When I exit the mosque, I just walk around in the small garden around the 2 mosques because near Al Hassan mosque, there is Ar Rifai mosque in which there are the tombs of King Farouk and Iran last Shah.

I walk out this sacred place very slowly just looking around to be immerged in the district with all these monuments around me. With this kind of afternoon’s light, I seat to take a picture of Mohammed Ali mosque and the clock tower. I am seated when I see an Egyptian coming to me with a big smile and something in his hands. He has my films that I left inside the mosque when I changed the film inside my camera. Big Shukran !! There were all pictures I took during these 2 days in Cairo!!

Mohammed Ali mosque and the clock tower

I want to visit the Ibn Tulun mosque but it is written that there will be no more visit today for me because I arrive at the gate 5 minutes before the mosque closes so I will come back tomorrow. I try to go to Coptic Cairo to take the boat on the Nile to go back to Midan Tahrir. But once again it is too late, no more boat is leaving so I have to take the subway to come back to Sadate station under Midan Tahrir.

At the hotel, I take a delicious shower because I ate a lot of dust today. It is 7pm and it is almost 10 hours that I wander in the streets of Cairo and I am very tired. I go back to Felfela restaurant on Talaat Harb and I remember the experience I had yesterday so I take a small Koshary today.

In front of the television, I talk with an Irish guy and Wan of course. But at 11pm I am so tired that I go to bed, we will be only two tonight.

Main expenses of the day :

Night at New Sun Hotel : 15 EGP in a dormitory

Al Hassan mosque entrance : 10 EGP

Beit Souhaymi entrance : 10 EGP (student fare) otherwise 20 EGP

Menatel phonecard : 10 EGP (1 min to call France 4.80 EGP)

Drinks (water, soft drinks, tea…) : 15 EGP