A Visitor's Guide to Cairo

Brian Broadus's first tip: Hire Brian Broadus as guide

Brian can be reached at:

brian.broadus@gmail.com or brian.broadus@broadusllc.com or ring Brian at (1 +) 434 882 0867

In the Arab Republic, tourism is a commodity trade focused on pharaonic sites. Egyptian hospitality workers are professional, patriotic, competent, and pleasant. Egyptian guides will steer one through pharaonic history, the Antiquities Museum, and to pharaonic sites. Conventional tours avoid ordinary Egyptians and the family life around which the pharaonic and modern nations were built. Guides will know little about Egypt after AD672, the Gregorian year (Islam, like Judaism, follows a lunar calendar) that begins the Islamization and Arabization of Egypt, and will not mention the colonial and Revolutionary eras. Most of the guides have not visited much of medieval Cairo. Even though they were born, grew up, and went to university there, their ancestry is rural (as is that of most of today's Cairenes) and they identify more closely with the Delta.

So, book a pleasing standard tour for the pharaonic monuments. but take a flight to Egypt five to seven days early and reserve these days for seeing historic Cairo alongside Brian. One will have approved and amended Brian's planned Cairo itinerary long before one gets to Egypt. Brian will share a US flight with anyone (he recommends Delta from JFK-New York) or greet a group or individual at the airport in New Cairo. He'll arrange for a tour to stay in a Cairo hotel that meets Western standards of comfort, and reserve lecture space at the American Research Center in Egypt in Garden City for talks by Brian and other experts. Brian and a native, bilingual Egyptian assistant will meet the tour every morning at the hotel for a private van trip to a drop-off spot from which the tour will begin walking. Walking is essential, since most of the old streets are permanently jammed with traffic, which includes donkey carts. At the end of the walk, the van will be waiting to return the tour to the hotel or take it to the drop-off point for the next walk. Every walk will show amazing things such as great buildings and commanding views, but also something that will amaze and surprise and that Brian can't predict. That's Cairo.

If one goes with Brian to see more obscure, restored monuments, what will one actually see?

a) total neglect, because keeping up these magnificent structures was intended to be done through private endowment, but those endowments have failed, or

b) restoration to the point of erasure of historic fabric (by the earlier conservation work) since that was the worldwide preservation ethic of the 19th century, or

c) responsible and ethical conservation of the architectural and decorative brilliance of decades or centuries prior, generally sustained by preservation work performed in the past decade, and

d) universally, a stark demonstration that the street level is rising. It's risen by about 1.5 meters since the end of the 15th century and marks a curious consequence of human occupation, and

e) a true urban ecology, since the influence of topography, soil and water conditions, and climate is evident when pointed out, and

f) true native culture, since the monuments either lie inside some of the most densely populated quarters on the planet or are, in fact, in continued use as religious institutions, and

g) Islam in action, which is a vigorous faith, as opposed to that of the pharaohs, which died with that empire but from which some social and religious customs persist. You will not be proselytized, however. That's not how Islam works.

Questions frequently asked about any trip to urban Egypt:

1 )What one thing characterizes Egypt to you?

Beauty. Egyptians have hard lives. Ancient glory and recent, Revolutionary, promise weigh down on each Egyptian as modern disappointment. Egyptians are very proud and quite able to laugh at tough times. Criticism of the government and life is widespread, but tolerated because it is impotent. Egyptian ability to repair anything is genius itself. Hand over a broken appliance or automobile to an Egyptian mechanic and it will be serviceable again soon.

Brian said to a friend one day, while the two of us were walking down Shaarih Talaat Harb, in response to her question about the differences between America and Egypt, that, "America has beautiful places. Egypt has a beautiful people." Brian has since then been frequently frustrated and disillusioned by Egyptians, but retains this opinion.

2) Are there good city maps of Cairo?

No, and Brian can't tell you why Parisian cartography is vastly superior and Cairene mapping nonexistent. Paris is older by centuries, but that simply is no excuse. Guidebooks emphasizing particular districts are helpful. And, no map or website advises you of upcoming infrastructure repairs. (In Paris, one checks a website for what closures will be happening where and when.) What was a street last week has become a meter-deep work pit. No, there will not be safety railings around the hole and pedestrians will pass single file, at best. Liability protections and a commitment to public safety lag here. Scouting immediately ahead of the tour is the only way to be sure. Brian will do that kind of research for his clients.

3) Does Egypt have laws as do Western nations?

Very much so. Egyptians are civilized and dignified. Laws are selectively enforced, however. So, it's occasionally hard to tell the difference between Cairo and chaos.

4) Is there a global positioning device that I can carry?

Such a machine is technically illegal in the Arab Republic: one risks confiscation. An Egyptian will substitute for the lack of this kind of receiver by asking each person whom he meets directions to a destination. Each person will have an opinion. No person will say that he or she doesn't know. Eventually, he gets a consensus answer on how to make the trip. Egyptians of this habit will include one's taxi driver. He will do this even if the fare repeatedly gives him the very directions required, and in Arabic. Shouting will not make a difference.

5) How will I get around when not touring with Brian?

Taxis are ubiquitous, fruit of a 1980s government policy designed to reduce unemployment. There are perhaps 80,000 taxis in Cairo. Most of the taxis are (one will surely, surely notice) rather old, many of Eastern European make. Be confident that these white-and-black ones do not have working meters: negotiate the fare. It should not be much, never more than five American dollars, if that. Do not be afraid to threaten to get out of the car if one thinks that one is paying too much. The yellow cabs are new and have working meters, but are few. An innovation is the white taxi, which is a car leased from the government by the driver. These are a good choice: some have meters, others are negotiated, but they will be more comfortable than the white-and-black variety and perhaps of late enough model to be fitted with air bags, something for which a passenger must be grateful.

The Metro, which has two lines, is modeled on the Paris metro system and uses precisely the same rolling stock and ticketing system. At one guinea per trip, it's a great bargain. Public buses and minibuses are not comfortable. Public buses do not technically "stop" at a bus stop. Minivan drivers are aggressive and reckless by nature.

6) What about longer-distance communications?

A mobile phone is a good investment and one pays in advance by the minute. Reliable Internet access is available by universal serial bus Vodafone 3G Connector for a notebook. A hotel may offer wireless, but making an illegal tap into a digital subscriber line is an Egyptian hobby and data transfer speeds tend to be low unless one is buying time from a vendor such as Mobinil or Vodafone. (Cairo University rather shockingly does not offer wireless access to its students. In fact, Brian did not see a single student-borne notebook computer there.) Any Radio Shack or Vodafone store can add minutes to a connector or mobile, and prepay cards are available everywhere and the shopkeeper will do the adding. Be sure to write down the phone number of the 3G connector (or put it into one's mobile phone directory) for easy card-free credit purchase at a store. There is no voicemail service because there is no central recording and billing exchange. Egyptians use texts instead. To telephone the United States or another foreign country, the cheaper option is a Central Telephone Bureau, although these have irregular hours and seem to be run using computers of the i386 era that are prone to breakdown.

7) What about toilet rooms?

One of the benefits of having Brian as a guide is, sadly, he knows where the tolerable toilet rooms in the medieval quarters hide. And, these are of good quality! If one is elsewhere, find an institution that caters to Westerners. There one can expect to see near-Western levels of cleanliness. This set includes Western fast-food franchises. All mosques offer ablution areas, which include toilet rooms, since Muslims are often called to wash before prayer. In a great mosque, such as al-Azhar, these areas are modern and well-kept. In lesser mosques, they are not. Oh, my, how they are not kept up. A good bet, particularly for a woman, is to ask if there is a private lavatory-and-toilet in the mosque. Remember, women Muslims must have a separate ablution area so that a woman can expose the hair and forearms during washing. It's a disgrace that such areas are not uniformly kept clean and welcoming for the sisters.

In very few toilet rooms, perhaps those in very Western hotels, will one find toilet tissue. The Cairene wastewater treatment system will not take paper well, and the Muslim custom is to wash (there will often be a nozzle for this purpose that is installed in the water closet). Pack diaper wipes. There will be a trash can nearby for these and other, larger items.

8) What about tipping? ("baksheesh" or "ba'sheesh")

It is ubiquitous and, yes, Brian never gets used to it, since it takes the form of unsubtle begging. The guardian at the al-Ghawri complex does a spirited tour and deserves good money. In some cases, the payment is justified because the guardian agrees to look the other way while one takes photos. Religious authorities don't accept tips. The English-speaking librarian at al-Azhar will help you find whatever you need in terms of architectural reference. A shaykh will happily educate you on religious law. If one gets bad service, don't hand out money. One should never reward rudeness. However, government jobs don't pay much in either salary or prestige so state employees depend on gratuity to survive. It's true for Egyptian clients as well as foreigners: the government pays one to show up, but the client pays for one to do his job.

9) I don't speak Arabic. Can I get around independently?

Brian speaks good Egyptian Arabic, but he wouldn't be afraid not to. Egypt was once a French, then a British, client state. The Turks left behind no language traits, since the Ottoman Empire ruled in name only. (In fact, Ottoman Turkish is written with an Arabic script.) Most companies dealing with tourists have English-competent or French-competent staff. Taxi drivers are a breed unto themselves. Just be sure of the address to which you want to go (have someone at the hotel write it down in Arabic). Provided the taxi driver listens to one (see above) everything will be fine.

10) What about the pharaonic sites? Those are truly spectacular, right?

Yes and no. With a proper pharaonic guide, these are terrifically informative and integrate pharaonic civilization into the Mediterranean world. But, Egypt has confronted UNESCO and other non-governmental preservation organizations, ones that have given Egypt money in return for protective easements, about proper treatment of them. Like, say, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, these places are threatened by popularity and mass merchandising. Recent "restorations" at Luxor have drawn worldwide condemnation, but the Egyptians approve of them because these renovations make the sites more tourist-friendly in a theme-park sort of way. Saqqara and Dashur are the best sites near Cairo. The former is so large that the visitor can be isolated, and the latter still sufficiently distant to be lonely. Brian cannot emphasize enough that having a private or small-group tour with a good pharaonic-era specialist (Brian is not one such) as the only way to see the monuments. Even the Antiquities Museum should be seen in this fashion. These things take time and, usually, question-and-answer. A dialogue with the guide is key, and this means one with capacious knowledge. He or she should carry visual aids such as maps and speculative illustrations.

11) Which Egyptian football (soccer) team should I pull for?

Al-Ahly is the far and away favorite because the squad wins. Saying that one is a Zamalk fan is always a good way to break the ice with a stranger. Brian is Zamalkawy, and is thus the target of all manner of jest from airport security servicemen.

12) Arabic looks hard. Is Japanese harder?

First, why ask? Well, because both languages are hard for Westerners and require considerable sacrifice to learn. However, Japan strives to be home to a purely homogeneous people - the descendants of ethnic Koreans transported to Japan as laborers in the 1940s still have trouble finding acceptance. What Brian is trying to say, very nicely, is that Japan can have a racist, supremacist streak so vile that it permeates the culture. Arabic, other than the Qur'aanic type, which was painstakingly codified in the ninth century, varies wildly in vocabulary and pronunciation according to geographic area. Colloquial Arabic is thus far more difficult than Japanese, which is nationalized. Arabic characters change written shape based on word position. Computers handle this property easily. But, it is not one that appears in Japanese. Which tongue is more worth learning? Arabic. If a Japanese speaker is perfect in his language, but he is not ethnically Japanese, then his path into Japanese society is strictly limited. Arabs do not have this narrow nationality burden in part because Islam, the dominant religion, abhors racism and because Baghdad, Cairo, Aleppo, and Damascus have been trading capitals and subject to repeated conquest. Egyptian Colloquial Arabic is a popular method of spoken communication throughout the Arab world because Egyptian cinema is the world's third oldest. Arabs from the Gulf to Morocco default to Egyptian as a spoken language and know many strictly Egyptian words. These Arabs may joke about your use of Egyptian, but they will understand you.

13) What's the Antiquities Museum like?

The Museum is a true must-see. Only select rooms are air-conditioned. Carry drinking water. Most visitors are part of tour groups. You should insist that your guide arrange for your group to enter the building at about 11:00am, a time that will insure that other groups will be soon leaving for lunch. More than one visit is warranted and Brian can make a second one part of your plan and get a licensed museum guide to conduct it. The star attraction is the Tutankhamen Collection. The Golden Room (air conditioned) can resemble a mosh pit. There are Ptolemaic artifacts in the building, too, which include remarkable solid gold jewelry. And the Tanis Collection of pharaonic objects is as good as that for Tut, only made of silver and not gold. As everywhere in Egypt, a penlight flashlight will be helpful (here because the museum staff can be sluggish about replacing dark light bulbs and in order to see inside a sarcophagus).

14) What about schedules?

While Brian keeps appointments precisely and won't work with anyone who is not punctual, in Egypt being late is accepted. Generally, while there are many obstacles that can cause delay, this is a personal responsibility problem. Prompt Egyptians are reliably prompt. However, mobile phones mean that one can advise a host that one will be tardy. Dropping in on someone in an office to simply "say 'Hello!'" as is standard in America is not done in Egypt. The visit is fine, but one must sit down and have tea. Budget hours accordingly.

15) Is Egypt safe?

Drink bottled or purified water. (Bottled water is sold everywhere and most mosques offer filtered, refrigerated water that is acceptable to a Western stomach.) Avoid uncooked vegetables in dodgy restaurants. Watch for con men. Women should keep an eye on a purse. Strong social controls and ubiquitous crowds discourage street crime. Western women can be subject to harassing statements from Egyptian men (as are Arabic women). A Western woman probably won't understand these catcalls, and it's perhaps better that she doesn't. Touching is entirely forbidden. Carry a penlight flashlight everywhere. You will be surprised at the number of times that you will use it.. Forget about terrorism. The Arab Republic is a police state, a fact which protects you but means that you must obey a policeman if he tells you not to photograph something (usually a government building). Don't argue. Egyptian automobile drivers are the biggest threat because they often do not pay attention to the road ahead. European Cairo has sidewalks, but in the medieval quarter shops fill the public way with goods, an appropriation that characterizes an ancient understanding of what is public and what is private. There you are competing for street space with merchandise as well as (slow-moving) vehicles. In other spots, such as the Qarafa, there are no cars at all. And, there are now some very polished parts of the Fatimid city which have broad cobbled streets from which vehicles are banned (and that have single-occupancy pay toilets exactly like those in Paris).. Always be looking around for cars. Cross roads in groups and stare straight ahead. It's an art form.

16) But, I'm Jewish!

Who cares? Ten percent of Egypt is Christian. Most of those Christians are Copt. Orthodox, Armenian, and Roman Catholic adepts also live in Egypt. Until 1948, there was a Sephardi minority of enormous influence in Cairo and Alexandria. The chronicle of Jews in Cairo pieces together Cairo's early history. Egypt is highly dependent on tourism and a Jew should expect good treatment And, there are monuments and sites in Cairo that are of exceptional Judaic importance, fruit of the thousands of years of cooperation between Islamic and Judaic scholars in Granada that shifted to Cairo as the Spanish Christians shrank Moorish Spain.

17) What should I wear?

Foreigners visit Saudi Arabia because they must. They visit Egypt because they can. However, you will want to ease into your surroundings. Don't expose the legs. A man can wear a short-sleeved shirt (indeed, that's the style in Cairo) or a long-sleeved shirt. Don't tuck it into the pants. A woman should wear long sleeves. Wear shoes that are easy to slip on and off, since street footwear is forbidden in a mosque. Sandals and river sandals are fine, but the streets can be muddy. A woman should wear a neck scarf that can be used as a hegab when entering a holy place. Air pollution in Cairo so dense that sunscreen is unnecessary.

18) Cairo has air pollution?

Yes. On some days, one will be able to feel the air on one's skin. It's mostly the by-product of so many automobiles. The prevailing wind is from the north, so in October there is the added smoke from chaff burn-off in the Nile delta. In the spring, the khamaseen, the 50-day (hence the name) southern wind blows in sand. Particulates are heavy always. If you have a respiratory disease, check with your physician. Otherwise, short-term exposure will probably not bother you very much. If you do not have a respiratory ailment, and you feel compelled to wear a surgical mask while touring Egypt, perhaps you should reconsider leaving Japan.

19) Is alcohol served in Egypt?

Brian doesn't drink alcohol but, yes. There are bars, some left over from British times. Some restaurants serve wine and beer. Heineken seems to hold the national beer concession. There are small shops that sell alcohol. During Ramadan, only foreigners can legally purchase spirits.

20) What's shisha? Can I buy hashish?

Shisha is a tobacco-molasses mixture often flavored with fruit (cantaloupe is Brian's favorite) and smoked through a water pipe. It is a powerful blast of nicotine and it is not good for you. Brian does not smoke hashish. He has no desire to do so and less desire to end up in an Egyptian jail.

21) What's the food like?

Generally inexpensive, good, and an eclectic mix of Middle Eastern and South Asian dishes. Vegetables can be superior, and the Mediterranean coast is legend for its seafood. The best food in the world is served in an Egyptian family's home, so making Egyptian friends is helpful. The chicken that one is eating there was probably living on the rooftop that morning. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and Hardees are all too common. Particularly appealing are koshary restaurants, which serve only koshary (a vegetarian dish imported from India). Juice bars are wonderful. The latter offer fresh mango, pomegranate, and melon juices on demand. Coffee is usually instant and terrible, except in Alexandria, where it is the best in the world. McDonald's does serve regular American-style coffee. Tea tends to be Lipton black. Sugar is easy (it's an Arabic word) but artificial sweetener hard. You can buy ham at Coptic markets, but you should forget about eating pork unless you have your own apartment.. No Muslim is going to trust a restaurant that serves it, since pork fat might contaminate otherwise halal food. The Qur'aan does not call eating pork unknowingly a sin, and indeed permits eating it in order to survive. Not doing so is a strong preference, however.

22) What's "Old Cairo?"

In Brian's frank opinion, it's at least four hours of one's life that one will want back. Old Cairo combines stabilized Roman ruins with the Coptic and Jewish remnants of the ancient Byzantine city. The neighboring mosque is the oldest in Africa, but has been renovated too often. Old Cairo is at the extreme southern tip of traditional Cairo. The Coptic Museum there (one of Cairo's newer displays and recently renovated) is full of colorful artifacts, but will spare of explanation of exactly who the Copts are and why they were initial so hospitable to the invading Arab Muslims. Old Cairo offers ample bus parking, and that parking explains its appeal. Many parts, save the Roman ruins and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, which is converted from a Roman church and was heavily changed in medieval times, aren't that old. Since United States President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the Mosque-madrasa of Hasan part of an official Cairo visit, some tour vendors have been dispatching buses there rather than to Old Cairo. Substitute it.. The only risk is that a Hasan tour will not be comprehensive.

23) Are there museums other than the Antiquities Museum?

The Museum of Agriculture is rumored to be more interesting than one might think. The Museum of Islamic Art has a world-class collection, but has been closed for renovations since 2003. When it reopens, it will be more than worth a tour. Brian will happily take a one there. There is, by the way, a plan to create a vast museum at Giza for pharaonic antiquities and to reserve the current building for Tutankhamen artifacts alone. A design for the grand museum has been selected, but there is no credible projected opening date. Brian is not sure that any projected opening date for anything is "credible" in the Arab Republic. This is either part of its charm or its frustration. Or, both.

24) What about pharmacies and the like?

Drugstores are definitely around and sell the usual cosmetics and sundries that one finds in an American pharmacy. Prescription medication is something with which Brian has no experience. Best to pack more than enough.

25) Are there good shopping deals?

Brian loves Egyptian cotton shirts, which are expensive here, and comparatively cheap there. These are wonderful, colorful, and never fail to win Brian compliments. When, at the JFK-Airport leg of the flight from Cairo, the lead stewardess sees the groggy, tired, wrinkled Brian heading for the concourse and says, "Hey! Nice shirt!" one must know something good is happening. These shirts were simply a Downtown purchase, too. Middle-class Egyptians shop there. And, the deals on short-sleeved shirts were especially good in these shops since autumn was on its way. Alexandria and Cairo each have enormous, clean, and beautiful American-style shopping malls (Carrefour City Center in al-Iskandirayya, and City Stars in al-Qahira). Egyptian mall culture tends to be active and late-night. No bargains, however.

26) What can I take to Egypt as a gift?

If you're giving a gift to woman, there is no better one than brand-name cosmetics. These sell for one-third the cost in the United States than they do in the Arab Republic. If you've got someone special of either sex in mind, then a digital camera or laptop computer is a good choice. There is a hideous premium laid on imported electronic equipment. However, while certain women friends and wonderful daughters prevailed on Brian to carry over cosmetics, the best gift is school supplies. Brian packed ball-point pens in bulk and gave them away to children at mosque schools and who were walking home with a parent. Other visitors Brian has advised have hauled similar things: pencils, red erasers, pencil sharpeners, and all the other simple school-ware Americans take for granted. Contact Brian if you decide to do such charity and he'll set up a meeting with someone from an al-Darb al-Ahmar non-governmental organization that will sort and distribute these items. It's a trustworthy group.