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TOP 8 EGYPT TRAVEL GUIDES – PRINT

By | September 30, 2012 | Retail + Shopping, Reviews, Travel + Leisure | 2 Comments

By Islam El Shazly

There is a multitude of guides, both online and in print dealing with Egypt. Some better than others, but only a few stand out in terms of the level of research and amount of useful information they involve. And with smartphones and tablets now being the latest human accessories, there are a zillion apps covering travel in Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

Getting to the best ones is the trick. Here are the Top 8 Egypt Travel Guides—in our humble opinion—in printed form, ordered by publication date. If you are a fan of good old fashioned paper and ink, then make sure to grab one of them before your next trip to Egypt. Read more…

AL-KHWARIZMI (9th Century CE – 2nd/3rd Century AH): MATHMATICIAN AND GEOGRAPHER

By | September 23, 2012 | Explorers, History, Pax Islamica | Comments Off on AL-KHWARIZMI (9th Century CE – 2nd/3rd Century AH): MATHMATICIAN AND GEOGRAPHER

By Islam El Shazly

Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi, not a lot is known about his life as a whole, well, except the little fact that he founded Algebra, and introduced the Zero and the Arabic numerals to the world. But he was more than that; he was a mathematician, an astronomer, a geographer, and a cartographer, and he has done a lot more than solve quadratic equations.

Al-Khwarizmi, was born in Khwarizm – Khiva – around 780 CE (164 AH) in modern day Uzbekistan, back then it was part of Greater Khorasan within Persia. He moved with his family to Baghdad, the centre of knowledge and learning in an age that is now known as the Golden Age of Islam, there he would rise in the ranks and eventually be at the head of the House of Wisdom. Read more…

SAILING THE NILE: LUXOR TO ASWAN

By | August 22, 2012 | Egypt, Travel + Leisure, Travel Chronicles | Comments Off on SAILING THE NILE: LUXOR TO ASWAN

By Islam El Shazly

Back in 2009, before I started Al Rahalah, my wife and I went on a Nile cruise courtesy of Radamis Travel*. It was on one of their two cruise ships: Radamis II, back then it was operated by the Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, and on the top 10 list of Nile cruises in the Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide: Cairo and the Nile. It is now operated by Swiss Inn Hotels & Resorts.

Before then I had only been to Aswan once for a quick two day trip; my wife on the other hand had never been anywhere south of Cairo. This proved to be one of those experiences that you never forget. In a great kind of way! Read more…

TO BE OR NOT TO BE: CONSERVATION IN EGYPT

By | August 15, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, Politics | 1 Comment

By Islam El Shazly

Conservation in Egypt is a sketchy thing; back when Mohamed Ali Pasha was in charge, it was reported that he wanted to use stones from the Pyramids to build his Nile barrages! He was trying to be thrifty: why go through the trouble of quarrying when you have some perfectly pre-cut stones right there! Thank God he was dissuaded by his accountant on the account that it would actually be more expensive to do so.

For all we know this might be an urban legend, but this very kind of indifferent attitude towards our nature and heritage is very rampant in Egypt, but only really became apparent over the last 60 years; and a phenomenon over the last 30. Read more…

TOP 10 BEVERAGES IN EGYPT – THE MAKING

By | July 15, 2012 | Egypt, Food + Beverages, Travel + Leisure | 2 Comments

By Islam El Shazly

I have been getting a lot of requests about the recipes for the drinks in our Top 10 Beverages in Egypt post; these are the basic recipes, so you can go ahead and tinker with them to your heart’s content.

If you’re a Muslim, Ramadan 1433 is right at our doorsteps (at the time of writing), and these drinks will come in handy, especially if you’re in North America or in Europe with long summer days of fasting. And if you’re not, then you can still show off your masterful skills at making some great non-alcoholic cocktails and drinks, and be the most exotic of your friends and family.

Bottoms up! Read more…

AL-MU’IZZ STREET – CAIRO’S GRAND STREET II

By | June 16, 2012 | Egypt, History, Travel + Leisure, Walking Tours | 4 Comments

By Islam El Shazly

The Grand Street of Historic Islamic Cairo, the heart of the once capital of the Fatimid Empire; as old as Cairo, it saw its fair share of kings and vagabonds. Walking through it amidst the ancient villas and the architectural marvels left behind by four dynasties, is like being transported into the world of the Prince of Persia – without all the of the sand demons.

Taking a turn into one of the little alleys that spring out throughout the length of the street on a quiet day, stop for a moment and close your eyes, you can almost feel the ghosts of all the people who walked through here over the ages. There are shadows here. The time of the Fatimid also gave rise to their cousins, the Assassins. They lurked in the shadows.

But there is light here too, the whole length of the street is full of Masajid (Mosques), Madrasas (Schools), Bimaristans (Hospitals), Baths, and Sabeel/Kuttabs. Knowledge was available for all, and trade flourished here. It still does. Going inside one of the Kuttabs you can almost hear the walls still echoing the thousands of children who came to learn Quran. Read more…

LEO AFRICANUS (16th Century CE – 10th Century AH): MAN BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

By | April 26, 2012 | Explorers, History, Pax Islamica | 1 Comment
By Islam El Shazly

Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad Al-Wazzan Al-Fasi, An elusive figure in history, just as he exploded onto the scene of Renaissance Europe, he vanished without a trace; his Cosmographia & Geographia de Affrica was Europe’s essential window into North and Sub-Saharan Africa for over 300 years.

“… I am now called the African, but I am not from Africa, nor from Europe, nor from Arabia. I am also called the Granadan, the Fassi, the Zayyati, but I come from no country, from no city, no tribe. I am the son of the road; my country is the caravan, my life the most unexpected of voyages.” Prologue, Leo the African, by Amin Maalouf. Read more…

THE TOP 10 HIDDEN WONDERS OF EGYPT

By | April 10, 2012 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure | 7 Comments

By Islam El Shazly

Most tourists stick to certain locales when travelling, mostly due to their tour operators planning a specific itinerary that does not allow the flexibility for casual sight-seeing, so they end up mostly visiting the usual suspects; the Giza Plateau, Luxor, and Aswan, they might even get a glimpse of Sharm Al-Sheikh. That’s why they are normally referred to as package tourists, they go through the paces, but never really touch most of what makes Egypt what it is; the diversity of its history and its unique natural environment. Read more…

TOP 10 FOODS IN EGYPT

By | March 3, 2012 | Egypt, Food + Beverages, Travel + Leisure | 41 Comments

By Islam El Shazly

The Egyptian cuisine is not very fancy; it is not as elaborate as French or Italian cuisine and not as heavy as some of the food in the Arabian Gulf, it also doesn’t rely on a massive amount of spices. It is very simple, and this simplicity is what makes it very tasty.

A lot of the food on the menu relies heavily on vegetables and legumes rather than meats, same as it has been for millennia, mainly because veggies are much cheaper than meat. However, you will find that a lot of items on the list below are very much of the meat variety, after all, a balanced diet of meat and vegetables does wonders for the body. Read more…

TRAVELLING IN ISLAM

By | February 11, 2012 | Pax Islamica, Travel + Leisure | 4 Comments

By Islam El Shazly

There has been lots of talk recently in Egypt about tourism, now that the Islamists have come to power in the parliament. Are they going to ban tourism? What’s to become of the 5 million people employed in the industry? What about the alcohol and the gambling and the bikinis?

As with everything in life there are etiquettes to travel and tourism within Islam, these etiquettes are there not to govern or dictate the way we should enjoy ourselves, but rather to temper it. Away from home and being among strangers gives a false sense of freedom to people, and makes them do things that they would otherwise never think of doing in their homeland; non-smokers become smokers, non-drinkers might indulge in a beer or two, and even if they make a different country their own, they are likely to take on jobs that they would normally sneer at home, like driving a taxi. Read more…