Unique Places in Egypt

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On our way back from Sakkarah / Memphis to Cairo we drove past various carpets shops and factories... untill we asked our guide to have the mini bus stopped and let us visit one of the factories..... We were wellcomed with open arms by the director of the factory for whom it seemed to be an extra honor to have his factory visited by foreigners and he invited us in the production room and told us to feel at ease. Camila was very interested and lent a hand or two weaving a bit here and there.

Observe that the guy on picture # 3 is a blind weaver....

Picture # 5 shows the whole production staff and picture # 4 one very nice example of their craft.....

Of course the director tried to sell us some carpets but this time we hadn't planned any extra expenses so , even though the carpets were really nice , we had to decline. Nevertheless the director was not disappointed , he farewelled us equally warmhearted and all in all it was a very nice and different experience.

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Life is hard in the desert. The monastery, standing inside a fortress, evidences that nature is not the only menace to the monks.

Inside, the space is well organized, with signs of the precious water. Survival is helped by a narrow cultivated valley, outside, just by the monastery. One single doubt: how do they water it?

This is a residential area; if you are a tourist, you might not get here. But if you love Egypt, this is a really nice newer area -- what about moving to Egypt? My friend moved here and I could see living here! The downside is that the housing is somewhat like the U.S. planned neighborhoods; so each person builds their own house, but there is not too much green space in between houses, in fact, far less than we have here. The upside is due to the same reason - it is planned as a neighborhood, and neighborhood councils are trying to discourage fast traffic inside - i.e. it is a lot quieter, and has a nice breeze in the night hours.

You can drive into the city, or down the highway to the new AUC campus. This is an entire area of Cairo that has grown up over the last 10 years or so.

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This is the one of the oldest mosques in Cairo and sources like Encyclopaedia Britannica state 'arguably the oldest mosque in Egypt in its original form'. It was constructed from mud bricks and was completed in 879 AD. It is also the third largest mosque in the world.

It is famous for its minaret. Only one other minaret in the world (Iraq) has an external spiral staircase. It is worth the climb of 168 steps (Yes - I counted!) - the views from the lower balcony are spectacular - only the imam can go to the top.

The courtyard is surrounded by beautifully arched arcades with intricate detail on top of the outer walls. Inside are examples of stucco wall panels and window grilles. The wood carving on the minbar is particularly fine.

Some people love the risks and hard conditions of the desert. Egypt is a good place for them: desert is everywhere, and the risks of "bad encounters" shouldn't be minimized.

Well, I must confess that we prefer the richness of history in comfort. We had desert in the way to Hurghada, we had desert in Sinai, and we had enough desert in Ghiza, even without going far. And without any kind of risks, except being invited to buy some "true" fakes of the usual stuff. Good!

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In the vicinity of the Khan El Khalili bazaar is a house built by a Turkish merchant in 1648. His descendants became sheiks. It has been beautifully resored after being badly damaged by fire, an earthquake in the 1960's and squatters. There are some 200 rooms - family and guest quarters built around a garden. The guest rooms on the ground floor had a marble fountain in the courtyard. The rooms feature hand painted designs on the walls with scriptures from the Koran. The family quarters (and women's rooms) show more Turkish design with hand painted tiles and stained glass above intricately carved wooden window screens. The larger rooms had magnificent domed ceilings - nature's air conditioning.

I can't find the directions but any reputable guide in Cairo will know it.

A few people in the past have suggested visiting the Northern Cemetery just beyond Coptic Cairo ( around the old Islamic Cairo area ) as an " off the beaten path " trip, due to the fact that you can see the reality of the very poor and downtrodden in Cairo and outside of Cairo who have come to the area to live in cemeteries. Many of the poor live in, on, around the actual gravestones of the cemetery. This may be fascinating to see and possibly wonderful to take pictures of, if you ever plan to work for National Geographic or Time one day.

HOWEVER...it is a very dangerous place. In fact, my boyfriend and I accidentally got lost in the OUTSKIRTS of the Northern Cemetery and although we didn't enter the area, we felt the wary stares of locals as we stuck out like sore thumbs. Plus, the area looks like it has been hit by bombs. When we told the hotel manager what happened that day, he was like, " Oh wow..that is a very dangerous area. I do not wish for you to ever go back to that area ". He got me intrigued so I offered to pay him money to find me a tour guide / taxi cab driver to the Northern Cemetery. He flatly refused and said, " I want you to be safe so I will never arrange this trip for you ". If a local Cairene is flatly refusing money from you because you want to go to the City of the Dead, the it must be quite a dangerous place. Another hotel staff told us the story of him being mugged in the area. He got away by basically telling a lie and stating that he came from an even rougher neighbourhood. He also said to the thief that his uncle is a cop and that if he gets hurt, people will come after the thief in no time. Thief bought the lie and ran off with only a belt. ( very lucky for that one hotel staff! )

To be quite honest, I don't think the Northern Cemetery ( or City of the Dead ) should be idealised, romanticised in any kind of way....for adventurous, independent travelers might just meet the type of trouble that they surely would not want.

Walking along the Nile for a few miles gives you a good impression of every day Egypt and you will pass lot's of sights aswell.
Give yourself the extra time to do this and you will be rewarded with great scenery and friendly locals.