Sep 17th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
It's 6:14 in the evening in Cairo, and 140 Muslims are lined up banquet style on the bank of the Nile across from the Marriott Zamalek. A hotel worker scurries across the street shuttling plates of rice, chicken and gravy, placing dishes carefully in front of each anxious visitor, but nobody is eating. A palpable tension hangs at the table; some diners banter back and forth, gesturing ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
cairo posts
Cairo in the full heat of Ramadan
Sep 17th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
It's 6:14 in the evening in Cairo, and 140 Muslims are lined up banquet style on the bank of the Nile across from the Marriott Zamalek. A hotel worker scurries across the street shuttling plates of rice, chicken and gravy, placing dishes carefully in front of each anxious visitor, but nobody is eating. A palpable tension hangs at the table; some diners banter back and forth, gesturing ...Behind the scenes in the Round The World travel machine
Sep 13th, 2010 at 3:00PM:
So what will you do when you get back?
I'm going to collapse in exhaustion – and turn 40. – Rolf Potts
Gadling Labs was in Cairo for much of last week, helping out on the Herculean effort of developing, shooting, narrating, editing, blogging and publishing the internet travel phenom known as the No Baggage Challenge. The journey, set to prove that luggage can be as much physical ...Women travelers have the world at their fingertips with Pink Pangea's website
Aug 24th, 2010 at 2:00PM: I'm usually allergic to pastels and anything labeled "women-specific," but Pink Pangea has won me over. The new women's travel site was launched in June, by world traveler Rachel Trager and two similar-minded female friends. The trio work for an organization that finds overseas volunteer/internship placements for young adults.
Named for the supercontinent that existed 250 million years ago, ...More Egyptian pyramids to open to the public
Jul 16th, 2010 at 3:00PM:
Visitors to Egypt have always flocked to the pyramids of Giza and Saqqara. Many people don't realize, however, that these are only the most famous of more than a hundred pyramids in the country. In fact, there's a whole "pyramid field" to the west of Cairo that includes Giza, Saqqara, and numerous other groupings across a long swath of desert. Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities is now ...Travel + Leisure names the world's best hotels
Jul 8th, 2010 at 3:00PM: You deserve the very best. You've worked hard, probably played a little hard, and you're ready to reward yourself by splurging on a much-needed gateway. So, where do the best of the best go when they want to escape?
With the help of their readers, Travel + Leisure editors released the 2010 World's Best awards. The lists include everything from airlines to islands, and hotels to cruise ships. ...Ancient Egyptian tombs discovered
Jul 8th, 2010 at 11:30AM: Two painted tombs have been discovered at the ancient Egyptian necropolis of Saqqara, twenty miles south of Cairo.
The rock-hewn tombs belong to a royal official named Shendwa and his son Khonsu. Both men lived in the Sixth Dynasty (2345-2181 BC) of the Old Kingdom. The pharaohs of this dynasty are buried at or near Saqqara. The pyramid of Pepi II is shown here, although it isn't in the best of ...Gone to Cairo, learned to jaywalk
Apr 11th, 2010 at 12:00PM: The best thing that I brought back from Egypt wasn't a chintzy souvenir pyramid, photo in front of the Sphinx or bottle of scented oil. It was experience -- or more specifically, experience in properly crossing the street.
This is mostly the result of the traffic situation in Cairo, Egypt's largest and capital city. Cars swarm through the streets like termites into a mound, filling every square ...
Compromise over Rosetta Stone fight?
Dec 9th, 2009 at 10:30AM: Dr. Zahi Hawass, the head of Egyptian Antiquities Council, has offered a compromise in his battle with the British Museum over the return of the Rosetta Stone. The stone was discovered by French archaeologists in 1799 but went to the British Empire in 1801 as spoils of war after they ejected Napoleon from Egypt. It's one of the most important of ancient Egyptian artifacts because it has the same ...Five new travel ideas from Intrepid: get off the beaten path!
Nov 20th, 2009 at 2:00PM: After a year of "travel slumps," "staycations" and other cringeworthy words and conditions, let's plan to get out on the road next year. Hey, economists are saying that the recession's already over, and the job market's recovery can't be too far behind. So, there's your motive. Opportunity? That's your vacation time; you probably have enough. All that's left to pull the perfect trip together are ...Plan your airport layover with T+L's Airport Navigator
Nov 4th, 2009 at 4:00PM: I hate airports. I hate sitting around and waiting, and I hate being unable to escape the thought that soon my plane will be the one zooming down the runway and lifting off into the sky. So rather than arrive early to the airport and allow myself time to get anxious about flying, I prefer to arrive at the last possible second, so that as I run through security and down the terminal, I don't have ...Crocodile walks down airplane aisle, creating an uproar
Aug 4th, 2009 at 12:00PM: What would you do if you saw an crocodile walking down an airplane aisle? Perhaps you'd rub your eyes, shake your head to clear any cobwebs, clean your glasses-- if you wore them and ask, "Is that a crocodile?"
Wouldn't a crocodile be about the last thing you'd expect to see walking down an airplane aisle? Particularly if it were pushing the drink cart? Just kidding about the drink cart, but ...Major archaeological discovery in Egypt. . .in museum basement
Jul 26th, 2009 at 12:30PM: Egyptian archaeologists have been taking a break from the sun lately to excavate the hidden depths of the national museum in Cairo, reports Archaeology News. They're refurbishing The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities before opening a bigger museum near the pyramids at Giza. Part of the project is to go through all the poorly recorded artifacts that have been languishing in the basement since they ...Five places Obama should have seen in Egypt
Jun 9th, 2009 at 2:30PM: When Obama visited Egypt last week he took time out from making historic speeches to see the country's most famous sights--the Pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza. It's surprising he had the time, considering he was only in the country for nine hours. It reminds me of some of the package tours that zip through the world's most historic country faster than you can say Tutankhamun.
OK, Obama's a busy ...Nine wonders in 26 days
Feb 25th, 2009 at 9:00AM: Planning ahead has never paid off quite so much. If you're thinking about a big trip for the fall, kick around Abercrombie & Kent's "Nine Wonders of the World" excursion. A private jet will cart you to the most impressive destinations our planet has to offer over 26 days, and you just won't want to come back to reality. The experience kicks off on October 19 at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami, ...History's Most Famous Travel Adventures
Feb 20th, 2009 at 8:32AM: There is no doubt that history has a level of influence on the places that many of us visit. We read about far off places and exotic adventures, and it fires our own imaginations, sometimes compelling us to take a journey of our own, and experience the things that we've dreamed about. Forbes Traveler has put together an excellent list of the greatest travel adventures from history, not only ...A&K does the unimaginable
Feb 12th, 2009 at 4:00PM: Luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent is getting ready to surprise you. On February 19, 2009, it will celebrate its newly redesigned website with an unusual discount program. Starting at 9 AM (CST), a savings of 5 percent will be offered on each of five itineraries. Every half hour, another 5 percent will be cut from the price. By 3 PM, the discount will reach its final level of 60 percent ...UN: Urban Growth Set to Explode in Africa
Nov 25th, 2008 at 2:00PM: In 1950, there were only two cities in Africa with more than one million inhabitants. They were both in Egypt (Cairo and Alexandria). In the 2008 version of continent, there are more than 40 urban centers with populations over 1 million. A report by the UN Human Settlements Programme projects that the number of Africans living in cities will double by 2030 to more than 700 million. The image of an ..."No Reservations" season 4, episode 18: Egypt
Aug 28th, 2008 at 8:00AM: Location: This week Tony finds himself in Egypt, home to the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx and plenty of other tourist stereotypes. Egypt is one of the world's great cradles of civilization as well as a crossroads of many cultures (and great cuisine) from all points north, south, east and west. Episode Rating: Three bloody meat cleavers out of five. Bourdain indeed delivers the unexpected when it ...Noisiest places in the world
Apr 15th, 2008 at 9:00AM: The noisiest city I have been to is Athens--at least what I remember. I'm basing this on a fuzzy memory of an experience crammed onto a bus thinking that the people around me were angry, bit finally decided that they were having a chat and had to raise their voices to be heard above the din of the traffic. That was one bustling place, and I've lived in New Delhi.
There's an article in the New York ...Snakes on a Plane -- Almost
Aug 14th, 2007 at 12:00PM: The campy movie "Snakes on a Plane" played up a common phobia of many people -- that's right; snakes. But it was just a movie, right? Surely with modern airport security no one could get on a plane with a suitcase full of reptiles, right? Right -- so far. But a 22-year-old Saudi passenger in Cairo, Egypt made it all the way to his departure gate before officials stopped him to check his suspect ...
