One of ‘the’ things to do in Amsterdam is visit one of the notorious coffeehouses. Although they are mostly good quality, Gaeper is one of the best in the city. It has a laidback but funky atmosphere and is usually crammed with an international studenty crowd.

Staalstraat 4

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Try the Shisha cafe in the Metropolitan Hotel. They have a whole range of flavoured tobaccos to give you a taste of this traditional Arabic pastime.

The Metropolitan Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road

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Smoking was recently banned in all bars, restaurants and enclosed public spaces (bars over 100m2 are allowed a separate smoking area). The law appears to be being upheld and respected, although i'm not sure how as Argentines smoke more than a stereotypical Albanian and are not known for their law abiding-ness.

It has made going out much more bearable, even for someone like me who likes a fag now and again. Before, bars and restaurants were under a pall of smoke and it was common to leave with stinging eyes and stinking clothes. It's the second progressive law to come out of the blue in the last couple of years (gay civil unions being the other). This country never ceases to amaze me, lurching from one extreme to the other. Fantastic.

Everywhere

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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.

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Like anywhere else, the Japanese smoke. Smoking, however is blanketed in the same courtesy and respect as many other aspects of the culture. If you smoke while walking around, don't toss your butt on the street. There are dedicated smoking areas around the city and there are ashtrays outside many buildings. Use them. If in doubt, follow the lead of other smokers.

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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

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