All posts in Travel

RAMADAN 1431

By | August 15, 2010 | History, Pax Islamica, Travel | 2 Comments

Ramadan Kareem. By Mohamed Youssef.

by Islam El Shazly

Surah Al Baqarah (the Cow) 02: 183 O you who believe! Observing the fast is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become pious.

Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar; the traditional definition of the month is abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual activity during the day (from dawn), and breaking the fast each sunset. Muslims are encouraged to read/recite the entire Quran as much as possible and contemplate on its meaning, to give freely to those in need, and strengthen their ties to Allah through more voluntary prayer than regular. The goal of the fast is to teach humility, patience and sacrifice, and to ask forgiveness, practice self-restraint, and pray for guidance in the future. Read more…

PAX ISLAMICA

By | July 14, 2010 | History, Pax Islamica, Travel | No comments
Camel Caravan

The caravan passes. A Camel Caravan from Somalia, photographed on the beach in Kenya. © alles-schlumpf

by Islam El Shazly

For as far back as the human memory can travel in time, there has always been explorers and exploration. Had there been no curiosity about what lay behind the walls of the village or the entrance to a cave, civilisations would have never emerged and we would not be where we are.

Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it did wonders for the children of Adam.

The world knows of Christopher Columbus, Magellan, Cook, and da Gama, but there are lots more, just look at the Wikipedia page for Explorers and you will realize just how many there has been throughout the ages. Read more…

TOP 10 DESSERTS IN EGYPT

By | June 17, 2010 | Egypt, Food and Bevereges, Travel | 6 Comments
Honey.

Honey, you are so sweet. By blentley on Flickr.

by Islam El Shazly

Egypt shares some desserts with the Levant, but they are a bit different when it comes to taste.

All the ingredients in the desserts are natural and include a lot of sugar; you will find that Egyptians like their sugar. These desserts are not like anything you have tried before, unless you have visited Egypt and decided to try them.

Below is a list of just a few of the most brilliant desserts you can find in Egypt, and believe me there is a lot more different kinds of desserts available: French, Danish, Italian, etc., and even more different kinds of Egyptian desserts but I think this list is enough to get you started.

Warning! Major calories here; but the taste is worth each one of them. Read more…

WADI RISCH-RASCH

By | May 1, 2010 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel | 1 Comment

Dovecote.

A little desert trip labelled: “Following the footsteps of the last king of Egypt; King Farouk.”

by Naeem Mayet and Saaleha Bamjee
Photographs by Naeem Mayet

Sometimes, Cairo, with all of its rich fullness and grainy texture, displaces the mind’s quiet.

As both vanquisher and subduer, Al-Qahira fills the spaces between thoughts with its Life and Living.

You would imagine that in order to reclaim some of yourself, it would take a great many hours to escape the city’s penetrating charm.

Read more…

GOING FOR A WALK: AL-KORBA

By | April 11, 2010 | Egypt, History, Travel, Walking Tours | 3 Comments

by M. Butcher

When looking for things to do with or without kids it’s always nice to take a walk. We like to take the kids out in Korba because they have wide sidewalks and there are lots of stores and coffee shops to pass by. The streets are wide and easy enough to cross with kids and it is stroller friendly.

A mansion in Al-Korba.

Read more…

TOP 10 BEVERAGES IN EGYPT

By | April 2, 2010 | Egypt, Food and Bevereges, Travel | 10 Comments
Strawberries and Melons.

Strawberries and Melons.

by Islam El Shazly

Because of its location on the Mediterranean and the crossroads between Africa and Asia, Egypt has access to a lot of fruits that might not be available in other places in the world, particularly North America. Some of these fruits are exotic by European and North American standards; while others are common everywhere. I tried to have fresh juice in Canada, and frankly it didn’t come close to what we have over here.

Below is a list of just a few of the most brilliant drinks you can find in Egypt, and believe me there is an insane amount of cocktails available to satisfy even the most demanding taste buds.

Warning! Drooling might occur.

Read more…

AL MOWLED: THE BEGINING

By | February 21, 2010 | Egypt, History, Travel | 2 Comments

by Islam El Shazly

Since we are in the early days of the month of Rabie’ Al Awwal, the third month of the Islamic Hijri Calendar, I thought it might be appropriate to write about the celebration of the Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه و سلم) birthday or Al Mowled Al Nabawi.

In every travel book that I read there’s a mention of Al Mowled, not just the Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه و سلم) but also for every so called “Saint” in Egypt. We have no sainthood in Islam, but that is a topic for another time insha’Allah.

Whirling Dirwish.

A very intoxicated-looking whirling dirwish.

Read more…

CITY OF A THOUSAND MINARETS

By | February 11, 2010 | Egypt, History, Travel | 2 Comments

by Islam El Shazly

It has been a while since the last post; I’m still getting used to blogging, that, and been working on several articles and the guides pages at the same time.

Cairo; the city of a thousand minarets, that is what Cairo has been referred to in the past, and from time to time, it gets called by that name again, even though Cairo has way more than a 1000 minarets now.

In the older parts of Cairo there a lot of mosques that were build during the time of the Mamluks, they were not one dynasty, rather a sultan after the next. Mamluk literally means ‘owned’, i.e., slave.  The Mamluks were an amalgam of Turks, Uzbeks, Caucuses, Circassians, and Chechnians, among others. The trend of purchasing them as young boys and train them in the arts of war started during the Abassid’s dynasty, and reached a peak at the time of Salah El-Deen, the Mamluks that ruled the Muslim world after the death of the last Ayubid Sultan are the ones who eventually built most of the Islamic monuments that one would see in old Cairo.

Colonnades inside ibn Tulun mosque.

Read more…

BUMPER CARS, OR GOING WITH THE FLOW.

By | January 20, 2010 | Egypt, Travel | 2 Comments

by Islam El Shazly

Driving in Egypt, it’s certainly an experience. It goes hand in hand with ‘crossing the streets in Egypt’ experience. You cannot have one without the other.

It’s the most advanced game of cat and mouse; Need for Speed and all those racing games combined don’t even come close to this. Here’s how it works, you get in the car, start it, if it’s an older car you need to warm it up for a while, then go. The rules are simple, if you are the driver you have to think on your toes, literally, you have to keep an eye on the road while manoeuvring pedestrians, other cars, trucks, motorcycles, mopeds, the odd dog or cat that bolts across the street all of a sudden, children not higher than a car’s bumper also need to be avoided, and every driver that chooses the perfect blind spot in your mirrors to come at you from behind. Phew.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sklender/114692158/

Normal everyday Cairo traffic. By sklender, Flickr.

Read more…

WHEN IN ROME…

By | January 7, 2010 | Egypt, Travel | 2 Comments

by Islam El Shazly

When in Rome do as the Romans do. I was told by a group of drunk foreigners, when I was travelling once, that since I’m in the west at the moment then I should behave like them, and since they were drunk, they wanted me to drink as well. They claimed that when they go to a Muslim country like Egypt or Morocco, they follow the rules of the country.

Read more…

Page 3 of 3123