into Cairo's chaos
Cairo is a beautiful and intoxicating hot mess of a city; elegantly dilapidated and fraying at the seams, relentlessly noisy and fractious but underscored by the delight its twenty-seven million inhabitants take in the chaos.
It feels Egyptian to its core; a city teeming with antiquities, museums, ancient mosques and churches around every corner, mysterious dark alleyways, hidden shops dedicated to artisan crafts and workmanship and louche bars where locals smoke indoors. But there’s also an unmistakable modern vibrancy to the city which pulsates with activity. It’s not a leap to imagine that Cairo today is not unlike what it was like 2000 years BC, one of the world’s most exciting metropolises.
Where you stay depends on your mood and which part of the city you want to attach yourself to, be it its thriving downtown district of narrow streets and endless shady bars, or the majestic stretch along the Nile, dotted with the occasional modern high-rise hotel. The one thing to know is that Cairo is immense and no matter where you stay the traffic is always gridlocked and unruly. Plus the attractions are in all directions, with the Pyramids the furthest away. But you’ll soon get used to your daily sightseeing commute because driving through Cairo is entrancing, like being in an alternate reality. The panorama will play in your mind’s eye long after you’ve left.
The big boys line the Nile, such as the 28-storey Nile Plaza, where you go through two security checks before you reach the lobby, but that happens all over Cairo, including the museums. Once you reach the lobby the buzz of high-end contemporary Cairo is in full swing. Suited grandees clutching cigars congregate for meetings while their Birkin bag-toting wives lounge around the pool having lunch with their girlfriends smoking shisha pipes. The bedroom views are astounding; a tableau stretching for miles, all three Pyramids in the distance. But it’s the Nile, a few feet away, that’s the real draw here with old fellucas (traditional sailboats) lazily making their way up and down just like they did back in Tutankhamun’s day.
At the other end is Mazeej, a new boutique hotel in the heart of downtown Cairo. The entrance feels like a private residence with a grand red-carpeted staircase leading up into the main area which is sparsely decorated in a chic mix of old and modern. It’s Cairo’s version of Paris’s Hotel Costes. The rooftop restaurant with its pretty parasols and its Egyptian fusion gastronomic cuisine is small and perfectly formed.
Luckily the Ibn Tulun Mosque (built in 876 A. D.) and the Gayer-Anderson Museum (formerly the private home of Brit Major Robert Grenville Gayer-Anderson who lived there between 1935-1942 and was an avid collector of Egyptian artefacts) are cheek by jowl. Walk through the quiet haven of the mosque's (the oldest in Egypt, an example of classical Iraqi-inspired Abbasid architecture) open courtyards towards the minaret. Climb the vertiginous open spiral staircase towards the rooftop and inhale the city around you.
The adjacent Gayer-Anderson Museum is an Islamic-Arabic treasure trove of Pharaonic and classical antiquities laid out across a warren of rooms, each dedicated to different eras. It is divided into two parts - a family residence and a Salamlik, or guest house, where the walls are covered with Egyptian drawings and writings. It might feel familiar; scenes from the Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me were shot there.
Food is Cairo’s beating heart with its traditional cuisine of mezze (assorted starters) and grilled meats take precedence, followed by baklava (sugary scented pistachio delicacies). The restaurant Khufu's is all about Middle Eastern modernity, where the food is as exceptional as the sight of the Pyramids in front of you.
In the centre of town, there are two stand-out restaurants to visit, Crimson and Kebabgy. Both overlook the Nile. The first is a beautiful and buzzy rooftop restaurant covered in foliage in the Zamalek district and the second is a luxurious treat where you will end your evening dancing under the stars.
A visit to Cairo wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Cafe Riche, a meeting spot for revolutionaries and renegades since the start of the 20th century. Breathe in the atmosphere, drink local beer and like everywhere else in this glorious city, let yourself be transported to a different time.
Vassi Chamberlain
