About me:Greetings my name is Jane and Im now the wrong side of 40!
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Member since:23.02.2001
Reviews:47
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Review rated by 22 Ciao members on average: very helpful
Cairo is without doubt the most foreign place I have ever been and definitely stimulates all of the senses!
As a dromomaniac (the compulsive urge to travel!)I am always seeking unique and slightly unerveing travel experiences and Cairo did not dissapoint.
I made the five hour journey by road from Port Said along side the the Suez Canal accompanied by o.k cowboy gun weilding armed guards.....em you don't get this when you go to Frinton -on-sea?
The Egyptian landscape was simply spectacular and still etched in my mind. Camels and oxen and children on horses,mud houses and women with babies strapped to their backs as they work the land. Like something out of "Jesus of Nazerath" unchanged by time.
Nothing could have prepared me for the sights,sounds,tastes and feel of Cairo! It seems like the whole population of Egypt is condensed into this bubbling cauldron of a city. Cows ,Camels,Chikens and children weave there way into the huge volume of traffic. The rule of the road in Cairo is basically that there arn't any rules! Nobody obeys traffic lights or road signs and and they drive on whatever side of the road they feel like! The noise, fumes and intense heat are surreal.
The Cairo Pyramids have to be seen and touched of course and are on the outskirts of the city only a very short drive away. They are breathtaking but beware the crazy camels,their mad keepers will try to make you mount a camel then charge you a fortune before letting you get off.
Very close to the Pyramids is the Sphinx which is also a must see. The sphinx is looking a bit battered and tattered but then it has been around for a year or two. The whaling calls to prayer can clearly be heard which is very moving.
The fabulous Egyptian museum with tutankamun's tackle and mummies galore is unique and of interest even to those who don't relish a history lesson on their hols.
Cairo is not for the faint hearted and the terroist threat is real as we know but don't let that deter you (the number 6 bus could eat you up just as easily!)
If you want to experience a feeling of real foreign travel and see sites you will not find anywhere else then Cairo is ideal and is refreshingly inexpensive.
24.06.2006 09:48
Sounds like such a fascinating city, can't wait to see it for myself in af ew months! Great review, thanks.
24.07.2002 01:58
A great op that puts into words many of my feelings about the city.
19.07.2001 13:32
I'm going there in 2 months - can't wait!