| Cairo | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Country |  Egypt |
|---|---|
| Area | 528 km² |
| Population | 9 293 612 hab. () |
| Density | 17 601,54 inhab./km² |
| Spindle | UTC 02:00 |
| Location | |
 30 ° 3 ′ 22 ″ N 31 ° 14 ′ 22 ″ E | |
| Official site | |
Cairo is the capital ofEgypt.
Understand
Cairo, the capital of Egypt but also the intellectual and cultural capital of the Arab world is built on the banks of the Nile at the southern tip of the delta. This megalopolis has, it is said, 15 million inhabitants in the morning and 18 million in the evening. due to the daily influx of workers and merchants from the delta and the Nile valley.
Cairo is not a city of antiquity, the first traces of occupation date from Roman times, then became a rich city in the Muslim world with the creation of the city of Fustat in the 7th century. Later in 929 the Fatimids founded the city of Al-Qahira - from the Arabic word Al-Qahir, the planet Mars - named Cairo in French.
The city continues to expand, first built on the east bank of the Nile today it has happily crossed the river to the west to come up against the desert by including the district of Giza about ten kilometers from the downtown, it is also based in the east on desert hills which themselves are beginning to build. Like many cities, its development has been rather anarchic, so in recent years the State has been working to create new cities, mainly in the desert in the North-East.
Cairo is made up of many districts as different as each other, Islamic Cairo, its alleys and innumerable minarets, the old Coptic quarter, the oldest district of Cairo, modern Cairo, current city center with European urban planning , Héliopolis, a new town at the start of the 20th century, Agouza and Zamalek on an island and on the west bank of the Nile, trendy neighborhoods par excellence. In short Cairo is an immense patchwork of atmospheres and urbanism.
To go
By plane
By train
By car
Car rental
Car rental can be found in major cities, from world-famous rental agencies. it is necessary to have an international driving license. Be careful, you have to negotiate on the model and condition of the car that the agency provides. The standards of rental vehicles are very different from Europe. Rental prices are significantly more expensive than in Europe, but we are falling back on gasoline which is very cheap - EGP 1 - per liter.
Circulate
One of the best ways to visit Cairo is to use the inexpensive taxi. Prefer black and white taxis which are the official taxis, there are many of them, their general condition is far from European standards and driving is "at risk" but we arrive safely. Avoid taking taxis parked at proximity to tourist sites (old Cairo for example), they wait for tourists and include this waiting time in their price, walk a few meters and hail a taxi driving in the street, you will benefit from a much better price. The price of the trip is negotiated before getting in the taxi and depends on the destination. The price of a trip in town varies between 5 and 10 pounds (reference April 2006). You can get several in a taxi, (we traveled 5 to each trip).
We encountered two problems, being taken to destinations other than the one we wanted to go to, the taxi driver's main concern is to take charge of his customers, he then manages to understand the destination. Be careful, a driver was illiterate and despite an address written in Arabic, it took a long time to arrive safely.
To see
Modern cairo
The modern city center is built mainly of 20th century “European” buildings. The animation is very lively and the traffic absolutely chaotic, it is a real spectacle to stand on Midan Tahrir and to contemplate the traffic like a magma in perpetual movement in a continuous sound of horns!
While strolling in this district one will find a lot of restaurants for all budgets as well as a large number of cafes where one traditionally smokes shisha. Do not hesitate to go there to drink a coffee or smoke a shisha, it is probably in these cafes that you will be able to feel a part of the soul of Cairo.
If you are a little curious, you can see, past a porch, here and there some architectural gems from the turn of the century, unfortunately often in poor condition.
The Giza plateau
The Museum of Antiquities
Right in the city center - before being transferred in 2009 to the Giza plateau - the museum brings together more than 120,000 objects retracing most of the periods of ancient Egypt.
Modern museography is almost non-existent, the rooms immediately make one think of the ethnography museum of a Tintin album and for good reason, most of these have not changed since the creation of the museum in 1902. Old showcases in wood and glass without direct lighting, summary labeling, often absent, sometimes in Arabic and sometimes in English, takes you back a century before even accompanying you into antiquity!
The ensemble is so vast that it is practically impossible to see everything in one visit. Here is a small necessarily subjective summary of things not to be missed:
- The rooms dedicated to Tutankhamun (1st floor). This pharaoh did not leave any great traces in history, on the other hand he is the only pharaoh whose untouched tomb has been found to date, which makes it a unique collection. The series of nesting sarcophagi, the furniture and statuary found in the rooms of the tomb and of course the funeral mask form a unique treasure.
- The room royal mummies (1st floor room 56). 11 mummies of pharaohs and queens from the 17th to the 21st dynasty are exhibited in a modern room but paying extra for the entrance to the museum. Among others, we can see the very expressive mummy of Seqenre, those of Seti I, of Thutmosis II and Thutmosis IV, of Ramses III and those of the famous Ramses II.
- The room dedicated to Akhenaten (ground floor room 3). The heretical pharaoh as he is nicknamed because he established the unique cult of the sun god Aton to the detriment of the other gods. At his death the clergy hastened to restore traditional cults and set about destroying the cartridges and representations of Akhenaten. There are nevertheless superb statues of the pharaoh and his wife Nefertiti as well as their daughters in a style which contrasts radically with the statuary of yesteryear.
- The rooms mummified animals (1st floor rooms 53 and 54). There is a whole set of mummified animals, cats, dogs, birds (some with a deity mask!) As well as a huge Nile crocodile.
The museum is open daily from 9 h To 16 h 45 (except Friday when the museum closes from 12 h To 14 h and of 11 h 30 To 13 h 30 in winter).
Heliopolis
The first “new city”, Heliopolis was built at the start of the 20th century, around ten kilometers from the center of Cairo. Today urbanization has caught up with it and it is included in the Cairote conurbation. The city was wanted as an oasis in the desert, calm and green. The architecture there is often majestic, made up of small palaces of all styles, Arabic, Khmer, modern.
Do
Cairo dervish show
A dervish show is offered free of charge in Islamic Cairo (wakéla el Gouri). The performance takes place twice a week, in the early evening. As a reminder, the whirling dervishes come from a Turkish Sufi movement. This show is inspired by it without being a traditional Sufi show. You will find more information on the dervish show in cairo here.
To buy
Eat
Have a drink / Go out
Housing
A wide range of Hotels exists in Cairo, from the palace to the modest boui-boui. For acceptable comfort in the city center, count around EGP 70 to 80 per night. October 2006. We can negotiate a discount for a sufficiently long stay. Since the collapse of the currency, hotel prices have increased slightly.
It is also possible to stay in certain hotels at even more advantageous rates but away from the city center.
For example, there are quite decent hotel rooms at EGP 25 per night on the Tahrir side (right next to Giza) which is a very pleasant area of Cairo with wide avenues and some vegetation.
Cheap
The Dahab Hotel near midan Talat Harb in the city center is undoubtedly the best value for money. In addition it is very well located. Backpacker atmosphere guaranteed.
Security
Driving
Vigilance is essential when it comes to driving a vehicle in Egypt: in cities it is recommended to pay close attention to small private buses that stop and leave without warning as well as people likely to get off. , on the roads the traffic is less intense and the driving is easier, however many Egyptian drivers do not turn on their codes at nightfall! night driving is therefore not recommended. As always, driving at reduced speed reduces the risk, this is more true here than elsewhere.
Manage the day-to-day
Diplomatic representations
Malawi 3 El Ismalia Street, Off Michael Bakhoum Street, Dokki, P.O. Box 118, El Mohandessin, 
202 748 0929, fax : 202 335 3948, e-mail : [email protected]
