In any ranking of world wonders, Egypt’s Pyramids must come at or very near the top for most tourists.
Yet with the political and security uncertainties of recent years, many travelers who might otherwise consider a visit simply do not. And that’s too bad. For while friendly faces might not necessarily be what one might expect, any visitors to the Pyramids and nearby Cairo may well be astonished by the warm hospitality and courtesy they’ll encounter at hotels, restaurants, and in the streets. Ask a Cairene about the location of a shop or restaurant — and like as not he’ll personally escort you to your destination!
But be warned that Cairo’s charms are better uncovered in its back streets rather than along its great avenues. The city itself is something huge, traffic clogged, architecturally blighted and not obviously photogenic. It’s within the shade of its smaller lanes and alleyways that a more human scale combines with everyday life to provide those lasting vacation photographs.
Kids on their way to school in the morning; pensioners taking the sunlight in front of small neighborhood cafes; sweets vendors offering their wares to anyone with a sudden inclination to enjoy a treat; mothers on shopping missions shepherding their children past the maze of shop fronts offering life’s every necessity; the city’s feline population furtively yet boldly scouting for that next snack. Maybe even those old reruns of Omar Sharif films that turn up on your hotel television screen add meaningfully to the visual buffet.
You’ll wonder at the verbal finesse of the tourist shop merchants, who seem to have mastered across the centuries the perfect arguments against any hesitance you might have in parting with your tourist dollars. Sometimes this displays itself in the most shameless mistruths — as when my wife and I were told by a scent shop owner that the Cairo Museum we were en route to was “closed for lunch” but that, luckily, his shop remained open. And never mind that it was already mid-afternoon, way past the lunch hour! We ended up buying a trifle from him as a salute to his audacity.
Watching your tourist minibus driver skillfully navigate the Cairo traffic is a surprise attraction in itself. Especially when it comes to threading clogged side streets and maneuvering into the most impossible of parking places. Clearly, absolutely nothing is deemed impossible by the best of them.
Beyond the Pyramids and the Nile therefore, Cairo often prefers to deliver its memories in small and unexpected bits. This has been Nick Yates with more travel advice. Be sure to check out the Egyptian Travel Advisories before you pack up.