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Time off in Cairo is best spent strolling through the city's colourful streets. Pavement traders, wide roads, smoky tea houses, terrace cafes, colourful bazaars, flashing billboards, skyscrapers, flower sellers, new bridges, old museums, galleries, gardens, fruit barrows and crowds of elderly men playing dominoes are all within a stone's throw of each other. Most mosques are open to visitors of all religions. However, it is important to dress respectfully. Shoes must be removed, women should cover their heads with a scarf and clothing should not be revealing.
Cairo Attractions
Egyptian Museum
Tahir Square, Cairo
Built in 1900, this unique museum, with well over 100,000 exhibits in 107 rooms and galleries, contains some of the world's finest ancient Egyptian relics. One day's viewing cannot do justice to the vast collections on display. The golden sarcophagus and treasure of Tutankhamun has the power to hold visitors in quiet contemplation for hours. One of the favourite rooms contains a large collection of mummies.
The Sphinx
18 kilometres south-west of central Cairo
Crouching at the entrance of the ruined Sphinx temple is the monumental limestone figure believed to originate from the middle of the third millennium BC. The 20-metre-high, 57-metre-long half man, half lion is the guardian of a sun temple to the east of the Great Pyramid of King Khufu of Giza. The Greek mythological riddle of the Sphinx, eventually solved by Oedipus, is still asked of school children today: what has four feet in the morning, two at noon and three at night?
Pyramids of Giza
18 kilometres south-west of central Cairo
On the border of the Nile valley and the Sahara sits a small plain, now a suburb of Cairo, that is home to some of the world's most important historical monuments: the Pyramids of Giza. Over 4500 years old, they were built by kings Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu. The engineering and design skills required to develop the perfect form has surrounded the pyramids with an aura of mystery and made them one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Several points of interest are contained on the site including the Boat Museum, housing the transport for treasures and possibly bodies to the pyramids, the Eastern Cemetery and the great Sphinx.
Ahmad Ibn Tulun Mosque
al-Basatin, off al-Saliba Street, Cairo
One of the largest mosques in the world and among the finest in Cairo, it was built between 876 and 879 and is decorated in a plain yet sophisticated style that achieves a powerful, simplistic beauty. Standing 40 metres high, a splendid view of Cairo can be seen from the minaret.
Citadel
Shar'a Salih Salem, Cairo
An old fortress built by Salah El Din al-Ayoubi, founder of the Ayoubbid Dynasty (1171 to 1250), the Citadel encompasses the mosque of Mohamed Ali, the magnificent architectural masterpiece the Madrassa of Sultan Hasa (Koranic school) and the Police and Military Museum. There is also the Well of Joseph, 90 metres deep, which supplies the water for the whole of the Citadel.
Cairo Shopping
Bargaining or haggling is a part of life in Cairo and virtually everything is open to negotiation. For the tourist this mainly relates to buying goods from markets or bazaars. When bargaining, there are a few basic rules that you need to remember:
1. Never offer a price that you cannot afford
2. Take your time and relax
3. Enjoy the sport of it all and don't feel obliged to buy
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