Anyone been to Cairo?

[Major Nikon]

I'm thinking about going there this year. My preference is to stay in a hotel on the Nile. I'm looking for someone with some inside knowledge.

[jberryhill]

1. Stayed at two places there

It depends on your type of travel, and of course budget.

If you want an utterly secure palatial oasis away from any contact with street life, there is a place called City Stars, which is hell and gone from anything interesting, attached to a shopping mall, and pretty much like being in a bubble.

I was on business there, and had to get the hell out after a couple of days, since I didn't go halfway across the world to be in that bubble.

Any of the large hotels around the Nile are fine.

I kind of liked the Sheraton, since it is on the quieter side of the Nile and within convenient walking distance of an colorful market area. But it is also adjacent to the bridge that is itself something of a social center. If you are the type who is used to venturing out in places where you have to exercise a reasonable degree of situational awareness, it's fine. The restaurant and casino are open to the public, so it's not hermetically sealed off from a varied crowd. Exercise reasonable cautions leaving and returning to your room and beware of some of the, um, commercial activities going on around the casino.

When you venture out, feel free to end that lively discussion with the friendly guy who was quite the conversationalist, when it comes to "let me show you my new art gallery" or whatever, and especially if it becomes a little too pointed. He pegged you when you walked out the front door. On the other hand, if you don't mind paying too much for mass produced papyri paintings as the price for kicking back with a cup of tea and a demonstration of ultimate salesmanship, that kind of thing can be amusing too.

Car horns. The car horns in Cairo are connected to the engine. If the car is running, the horn is blowing. If that's a problem, get a high floor. Then again, it's folks in high floors who find out about building codes, and their importance, if a fire starts.

[Major Nikon]

2. Sounds like the joys of Eastern culture

I can spot the scam artists from a mile away. All seem to have gone to the same "how to rip off Americans" school. Some of their scams are quite inventive, but they lack imagination so the same ones are used over and over.

All those things don't bother me too much. You still meet interesting people and you still see interesting things. You just have to put up with the bad to get to the good.

I've heard different stories about the Nile hotels. Some say they are good, some say they are very noisy as the boats make as much or more noise than the cars. I'm not sure how much of that is true. A quite place would be nice, but I know enough to bring earplugs.

[jberryhill]

3. If anything interesting happens, you'll have a good view

Most of the remote segments you see when things happen are from the Hilton, just across the river.

If you're heading there now, it sounds like you know how be aware of your environment.

People always stay stuff like, "oh you're going there? They just had a riot/bombing/whatever."

The thing is, riots happen in one place at one time. People gather for riots. That's what they are there to do. It's actually kind of hard to stumble into one, or fail to get out of one coming your way.

If the headline for any City is "Worst Riot Ever In City" on Monday, and your arrival is Thursday, you'd be lucky to see any broken glass, even IF the riot was in the part of the City you are visiting.

Cairo is freaking huge. Miles and miles of humanity. There's a tick-box list of the usual things to see. You'll go right by the Sadat memorial on the way in from the airport. A permanent bleacher with his statue as he was standing in his last conscious moment is across the street from a memorial tower. Food for a lot of thought.

If I were going back to Egypt, though, I doubt I'd spend much time there though. I've heard nice things about Alexandria and Luxor. People rave about Sharm al Sheik, but I just don't see the point. There are better beach resorts without going that far.

Vacation? Business? Just taking a look around ?

[Major Nikon]

4. My wife has always wanted to go

We'll be going later on in the year, possibly as late as October. I haven't figured out too many details yet. It's still very much in the planning stages.

Both of us have been all over the world, including the 3rd world. She is very much into Egyptian history and art. She absolutely loves the Egyptian exhibits in the Louvre and wants to see more. Both of us would like to see the pyramids, but we both know it will probably be a bit of a letdown. Still we can say we did it. I'd like to see the Bazaar in Cairo and a few other things in the city. I'd also like to see Petra so we may go there as well during the same trip.

[jberryhill]

5. The pyramids, surprisingly are not a let down

Although part of what made an impression on me was being there the first week of November 2008. We voted by absentee ballot prior to our trip.



The hotel bars absolutely cleaned up staying open late with expats and visitors watching CNN all night.

If I was into ancient Egyptian stuff, and had time to do it right, I'd still budget less time for Cairo - pyramids, check; museum, check, and take a river cruise to Luxor.

Egypt is the Nile. Watching it roll by from the river would connect you to what the ancient Egyptians were connected to.