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Egypt
The Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre is absolutely amazing. When you see the tapestries and the batik you will not believe that it's all created from the mind, no pictures at all. Truly amazing. They also have wonderful pottery.
It's in Gezira - just up from Zamalek, and usually has a good range of shows on - while I was here for four months they had a couple of Operas, lots of Symphony stuff, a few Ballets and (in late November), a Harry Potter play.
It's horribly cheap (25-35LE (about £3) for a mainshow) - but if you're looking for grandeur, make sure you get tickets to the Main Hall show, the Small Hall is underwhelming.
Their website (and lots of other listings websites) lie about their program, so it's best to get down there to ask. Or call (they speak English)
Tell your taxi driver "Op-err-aa, Gezira" - costs about 5LE from Zamalek and Mohandiseen
Telephone number is 02 7398132
This cafe is rough and raucous, with the most varied clientele ranging from footpads to intellectuals, musicians, businessmen, down-at-heels actors, students and dons from the nearby AUC (American University in Cairo). This is one of the few places left in Cairo that savours the city's past and colourful diversity, but it's a past that is firmly in the present. It's a great place to have a beer and thrash out the issues of the day, practise some Arabic or simply to make contact with a real cross-section of Cairo life. Moving among its French decor - faded mirrors, marble tables and creaking ceiling fans - is Saad, the wonderfully eccentric barman and a real character who will welcome you warmly with wonderful Egyptian humour. This place is a must for the adventurous but not for the fainthearted. I loved it throughout my twenty years in Cairo and know I still have a place there whenever I return.
The Hurreya Cafe, Midan Bab al-Khalq, behind the AUC. It's on the corner, across the square from the market.
This is an amazing oasis in Giza, just off the road to Sakkara Pyramid, containing unbelievable tapestries and batiks. It is the most genuine place I have visited in Egypt, with real art and crafts and none of this cheap rubbish you find in a lot of other places. Visitors must be careful as there are no less than twenty imitation shops and centres on the main road, but when you reach this place in Harania you will know. It's in a 10-acre lush, green area and has beautiful architecture.
Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre, Harania Village, Sakkara Road.
Tel : +20 2 381 5746
www.wissa-wassef-arts.com
Sultan Hassan Mosque is an amazing piece of Mamluk architecture and a must for anybody visiting Cairo. Bab al-Shariah is a place I visited with my friend's family. Native Egyptians live and work there amid the hustle and bustle and there are all kinds of shops with merchandise at affordable prices.
Sultan Hasan Mosque is near the citadel. Bab al-Shariah is near the Al-Azhar and Al-Hussein mosques
Benha is a town about 50km from Cairo in the Nile River delta, far from the tourist trail. You get to see the Egypt where the real people live and most people here never see foreigners. On the way in the minibus you'll see the working class suburbs of Cairo, the fields that mark the start of the delta, farmers in their distinctive outfits and the wonder that is population growth.
Take the Metro to Koliet El-Zeraa station and then outside the station take a minibus to Benha.
This is the most atmospheric place to smoke shisha in Cairo.
Khan El-Khalili is situated just north of the Citadel in the city centre.
This is the best book about the history of this great city.
Any good bookshop should stock it.
The rubbish district has to be seen to be believed. It lies at the foot of the Muqqatam hill behind the Islamic city and is home to Cairo's rag pickers who are mostly Christians originally from Middle Egypt. They have built an amazing monastery with an amphitheatre dug into the rock of the Muqqatam. The contrast between the order of the monastery and the filth of the rubbish is something.
Get an ordinary taxi rather than one of the fancy hotel ones to get to the place as the car's suspension gets tested by the narrow alleys in the district.
It's one of the few places in Cairo you'll see pigs.
Between the Islamic city and the Muqqatam hill.
When planning on going to the Egyptian Museum it's a good idea to set aside the whole day and head there early. There is a lot to take in and the sheer mass of archaeology and antiquities is amazing.
Tahrir square, Cairo
www.egyptianmuseum.gov.eg
Water pipe. There are lots of different types. Most popular is shisha tufaah or apple shisha. It is better to start off your smoking career somewhere like Fishawis in Khan el Khalili or in one of the bigger hotels as the tobacco tends to be smoother. Sha'abi (poor peoples') tobacco, available in cafes everyhwere, is very rough and not for the inexperienced.
The ultimate shisha experience involves shisha, aseer farawla (strawberry juice), a glass of water and a few arabic music videos on the telly.
Everywhere in Cairo
The Cairo Times and the Cairo Cafe both include good listings. Other entertainment guides can be found in up-market cafes.
Shubra is a typical working class suburb. It's not particularly aesthetic but is very functional and a good insight into how most people live in Cairo.
Catch the Metro to Rod el-Farag.
Cairo is Africa's biggest city and one of the great cities of the world, where donkeys compete for road space with beaten up Peugeot 504s and clapped out Ladas. The first thing we did in Cairo was head to the market to meet the people. They were as expected - chaotic and eclectic. It's not everyday someone chops a camel head up with an axe right next to the cafe where you are eating. But the clothes seemed cheap and the spices exotic. And every deal seemed to start with a chat, a smoke, and a cup of coffee before business was discussed, which makes sense.
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