| * Beit el-Suhaymi significant house architectural highlight Darb al-Asfar, |
Islamic Cairo's finest example of the traditional family mansions built throughout the city from Mamluk times to the 19th century has a typically plain facade, but once through the tunnel-like entrance you emerge into a beautiful inner courtyard. If you only shell out for one Islamic monument, this should be it.
Guests were received in an impressive (reception room) off the courtyard, graced with a polychrome marble fountain inset in the floor and a high, painted wooden ceiling. Upstairs are the family quarters: wooden lattice windows, known as , allowed the women to observe the goings on below without being seen. The rooms were kept cool by (angled wind catchers on the roof) that direct the prevailing northerly breezes down into the building
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| * Birqash Camel Market (Souq al-Gamaal) quirky markets 35km NW of Cairo, |
A visit to Egypt's largest camel market, on the edge of the Western Desert, makes for a wild contrast to Cairo city life. The market is an easy half-day trip from Cairo but, like all of Egypt's animal markets, it's not for the faint-hearted. Hundreds of camels are swapped here daily, most having made the long haul up the 40 Days Road.
When here, watch out for pickpockets. Women should dress conservatively - the market is very much a man's scene, with the only female presence other than the occasional traveller being the local tea lady. When you arrive, pick a strategic spot and settle in to watch the negotiations. The best area is around the middle of the lot; there aren't as many camels at the entrance and at the very back, and it's noticeably scruffier there.
| * Al-Fayoum Oasis desert lake 100km (62mi) southwest of Cairo, |
Taking in an area 70km (43mi) wide and 60km (37mi) long, including the lake Birket Qarun, Al-Fayoum is Egypt's largest oasis. Home to two million people, it is an intricately irrigated and extremely fertile basin watered by the Nile via hundreds of capillary canals that were first built by 12th-dynasty pharaohs.
Taking in an area 70km (43mi) wide and 60km (37mi) long, including the lake Birket Qarun, Al-Fayoum is Egypt's largest oasis. Home to two million people, it is an intricately irrigated and extremely fertile basin watered by the Nile via hundreds of capillary canals that were first built by 12th-dynasty pharaohs. It was a favourite vacation spot for 13th-dynasty pharaohs, who built fine palaces, and later was named Crocodilopolis by the Greeks, who believed the lake's crocodiles were sacred. These days the region is revered for its lush vegetation and abundant crops, and amazing variety of birdlife.
There isn't a whole lot to do at Al-Fayoum, and the grimy Medinat al-Fayoum (Fayoum City) should be avoided at all costs. Qasr Qarun and the Pyramid of Meidum are deserving of a visit, the vicinity of the lake is attractive and the desert scenery around Wadi Rayyan, just beyond Al-Fayoum, is gorgeous. The oasis is about 100km (62mi) southwest of Cairo, and because it's so spread out, having your own transport is best.
