With the pyramids as an eye-popping
backdrop, Egypt’s ultra-busy capital
sprawls across a site that’s been populated
for thousands of years. Grand Cairo is
actually two cities, split in half by the
Nile river. The modern metropolis of
‘Downtown’ Cairo occupies the east bank,
while old Giza sits pretty on the west, full
of churches, mosques and bazaars.
MEET AND EAT
In Cairo, people love to eat out.
Corner cafés are full of men
sipping tea, smoking hookahs
(water pipes) and chatting about
politics, while kids run around
munching charred corn cobs
and falafels from street
stalls. A staggering 353
new restaurants opened
up in Cairo during 2014 –
almost one a day. To show
that they’re full, Egyptians
often place their right hands
across their tummies.
Tuts and Curses
Cairo’s Egyptian Museum houses mummies and all
sorts of dazzling artefacts from the Valley of the Kings,
an ancient burial site further upstream along the Nile.
It is also the current resting place of Tutankhamun’s
famous golden death mask. He is the best known of
ancient Egypt’s pharaohs, because of the excitement
caused by the discovery of his treasure trove of a
tomb in 1922. The so-called ‘Curse of the Pharaohs’
claims doom will descend on anyone who disturbs the
burial chambers of the kings. There's little evidence
for this, but museum workers did get into hot water in
2014, after allegedly dropping King Tut’s death mask,
breaking his beard off and gluing it back on wrong…
Some Strings Attached
For over 50 years the Cairo Puppet Theatre has staged free shows
for local kids most Thursday and Friday nights in Downtown Cairo.
The performances are conducted by skilled master puppeteers.
The entertainers speak in Arabic, but the shows are so vibrant and
colourful anyone can enjoy them.
Road Runners
In Egypt, the weekend starts on a
Friday. Recently on Friday mornings
Cairo’s usually car-clogged streets
have been invaded by a new breed
– runners. Despite the lack of green
spaces and the city’s hectic roads,
running has become very popular in
recent years. Some participants in a
recent marathon were so worried about
traffic however, they competed wearing
American football style padding!
Super Souk
A busy bazaar now bustles
on the site that once housed
the Saffron Tomb – a burial
place for the Fatimid caliphs
(the founding fathers of
Cairo). The stalls of the Khan
el-Khalili sell everything
from souvenirs to jewellery
and chandeliers.
LIFE GIVER
The Nile once nourished one of the planet’s oldest civilisations in ancient Egypt and
now flows through 11 modern countries. Cairo is the last and most famous city on its
entire 6,671km (4,145mi) length. A little further north, the river braids into a broad
delta and then drains into the Mediterranean. In ancient times, hippos and
Nile crocodiles lived on Cairo’s riverbanks, but they’re long gone. The
Nile monitor still remains however – a cold-blooded, dragon-
like lizard that grows up to 2m (6.6ft) from tip to tail.