Thursday, August 16, 2007

Travel: A portrait of Cairo

Gulf News (Justin Marozzi)
One man's love affair with Cairo is described in this article. The touches on all aspects of its personality, including its ancient heritage:


Lured by the shining treasures of Tutankhamun (and of Ramses II, Amenhotep III, beautiful Nefertiti, heretical Akkhenaten), you will make the pilgrimage to the polluted mess that is Midan Tahrir and traipse along the museum's superannuated galleries.

With the roving imagination of which Ibn Khaldun spoke, you will lose yourself in admiration for Cairo, for Egypt, for the history of the world.

You may even, because most visitors do, make the obligatory journey to the pyramids, to be importuned by men offering camels, horses, photos, never-before-seen tombs and lost treasures.

If you can, you will shut out the extraneous noise and clutter and maybe you will be less moved by the size of the pyramids than by the simplicity of their perfection.

See the above page for the full story.

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