We have breakfast in our hotel and we take the opportunity to chat with Issam, the owner. He is always surprising with anecdotes and culture.
Accommodation: Champollion Hostel
Address: 22 Mahmoud Bassiouny, Talat Harb Square, Qasr El Nile, Cairo
Location: 30°02’53.4″N 31°14’11.9″E
3 nights, from 11/11/2024 to 14/11/2024
Price: €193
Booked with Booking.com
From the balconies of the common area, you can admire the Champollion Palace (Jean-François Champollion is a French linguist, historian and Egyptologist, mainly known for having deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics) and a magnificent view of the city’s rooftops.
The hotel is beautifully decorated with traditional carpets. We ask Issam for the address of the store and he explains that, unlike Khan Al Khalili which is mainly touristy, there is a souk nearby, more authentic with more affordable prices: « Al Khayyamya »
We find a taxi that drops us off next to the Al-Azhar mosque, at the entrance to Khan Al Khalili. The Kayyamya souk is just on the other side. You have to walk to the big gate « Bab Zuweila« .
Just after the « Bab Zuweila » gate, we arrive at the Khayyamia souk. The least we can say is that it is not the same decor. We are far from the colors of Khan Al Khalili. Here, it is really a souk for the locals.
We finish buying 2 carpets made with camel hair and decide to go back to Khan Al Khalili
We try 2 emblematic cafes of Khan-Al-Khalili: The Um Kalthoum cafe and the Fishawy cafe
In the same area, you will find the Naguib Mahfouz cafe and restaurant. Naguib Mahfouz is one of the prides of Egypt. He is the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.
Before going back, we try another must-see address in the neighborhood: « Fatatry El Hussein ». He is the specialist of Fetir Meshaltet. It is a light and flaky multi-layered bread made from dough stretched like thin paper and folded several times.
You have the choice between sweet or salty according to your desires.
There are so many addresses in Cairo that it is impossible to test everything. We decide to go to a well-rated restaurant before returning to our hotel. It is the Al-Kukh restaurant (Kukh means hut): 30°02’59.2″N 31°14’25.9″E
The restaurant is located in a hotel. The decoration is magnificent. Little issue, we arrive at 2:00 p.m. It is still breakfast service. Lunch does not start before 2:30 p.m. We will have at least seen the decoration and the atmosphere of the restaurant.
We made a quick stop at Koshary Abu Tarek before returning to our hotel.
As a reminder, this is the essential address for the Star dish of popular Egyptian cuisine. The restaurant is even among the list of 100 legendary restaurants in the world.
We want to try a dinner cruise on the Nile with a show.
By searching on the internet we found the company JW Cruise.
Reservations are made by phone at: +20 111 722 7595 / +20 109 594 2111 / +20 112 773 0770
You can choose between 3 departure times : 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Each trip lasts a little less than 2 hours.
The price per person is 500 EGP which includes dinner without drinks and without transport.
We choose the 7:30 pm departure and take a taxi to the pier: 30°00’25.4″N 31°13’35.2″E
A nice boat is waiting for us.
Dinner is a buffet with meat, rice, salad, pasta and cakes. Nothing special but we were expecting that. We are aware that these cruises have nothing to do with real Egyptian life.
On the other hand, the view from the Nile over Cairo is magnificent.
A few minutes after departure, the show begins:
This is the opportunity to attend a show of oriental dancer and whirling dervish
Before returning, we go back to Khan Al Khalili to take a tour and smoke a shisha in the magnificent arabesque atmosphere of the souk.
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