Egypt: Cairo

by Zora O'Neill

Discover Egypt. Includes FREE planning and background information. Let’s address the drawbacks first. The crowds on a Cairo footpath make Manhattan look like a ghost town. You will be hounded by papyrus sellers at every turn. Your life will flash before your eyes each time you venture across a street. But it’s a small price to pay, to visit the city Cairenes call Umm ad-Dunya – ‘the mother of the world’. This city has an energy, palpable even at three in the morning, like no other. One taxi ride can span millennia, from the resplendent mosques and mausoleums built at the pinnacle of the Islamic empire, to the 19th-century palaces and grand avenues (which earned the city the nickname ‘Paris on the Nile’), to the brutal concrete blocks of the Nasser years – then all the way back to the days of the pharaohs, as the Pyramids of Giza hulk on the western edge of the city. The architectural jumble is smoothed over by an even coating of beige sand, and the sand is a social equalizer as well: everyone, no matter how rich, gets dusty when the spring khamsin blows in.

Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

I'm a travel and food writer, with a particular interest in languages and traditional cuisine.

I grew up in New Mexico, and now live in Astoria, Queens, in NYC. I chose the neighborhood because I hear so many different languages spoken in the streets, and I can buy fresh produce 24 hours a day.

For years, my main gig was writing travel guides. It has always been a pleasure to give a great restaurant recommendation, and have someone come back and tell me how much they love it.

My first travel memoir, All Strangers Are Kin, was published in 2016. It took me back to the Middle East, to study Arabic again--a lifetime project.