# Do you think Cairo is ugly ?



## FromJoanne (Feb 1, 2009)

I dont think so... everything has its beauty but not everybody sees it 
In my opinion, an eyewatering ugly city is Tripoli "next door", in Libya where I lived for almost 3 years... brown grey and boring 

I wish I had piles of photos to show you how beautiful Cairo is I should have since I have been many times but I dont.. I have just a few ..



Cairo is beautiful 
My camera doesnt lie 




Gezira island 




















Zamalek... with the Al Borg, Cairo Tower, piercing the skyline






















This was after a heavy burst of rain 



















Grand Hyatt Cairo on Rhoda island on a gorgeous clear winters morning 












The Nut seller 














Sufi dance ..raqs ash-sharqi
members of a local Sufi sect play traditional instruments such as various drums, cymbals, and flutes. The show also showcases dancing by whirling dervishes. The whirling dervish is said to have originated in Turkey, but is a common practice among Sufis. The dervishes twirl in circles wearing brightly colored and patterned skirts, that when spun produce hypnotic patterns. The dervishes will spin for 45 minutes continuously, varying their pace to match the music, then stop and be completely fine. The dervishes are the highlight of the show, but the enchanting music and beautiful singing do not disappoint.



You are sitting in an atmospheric open court yard, the surrounding building used to be an inn 500 years ago the Wikala El-Ghuriya:


































On my way to Fayoum ....the local school bus 
when I returned in the evening I looked back through the car window and saw the most beautiful biblical scene of a sunset lighting up the palms which stood like silent sentinels next to the green shimmering fields 















The view over the Nile was incredible, early in the morning the mist hung silent and thickly, like a blanket ,then the sun would burn it off, boats would scoot from here to there Then come evening, the river became studded with twinkling jewels, the sound of music and laughter from the passing dinner boats, a stream of never ending traffic, the beeping of car horns, will be forever engraved on my mind...
Cairo, there is no place like it 














Notice the little boats under the bridge 
These river people live on those boats on the river Nile endlessly casting their nets not catching that much ...whole families kids animals ..., they fish for a living ... as they will tell you "Honest men are always poor."  ..they were hiding from the rain 



I always feel so sad when I leave Cairo 
On this evening I was packing my case...my heart was heavy ... it rained and when I walked out on the balcony this is what I saw 




















The traffic is heavy at the best of times but now Kobri Galeaa was totally congested 














What an amazing sight !
Is that beautiful of not ?






































You ...who says Cairo is ugly .. look for it and you will find the beauty of Cairo 
Its everywhere


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## Snowy (Nov 6, 2006)

For me, the best cities are not necessarily the most beautiful cities, but the ones with the best atmosphere, the best streetlife, the ones with a million different stories to tell and while there are many cities that are more beautiful than Cairo, I would very much like to go there because it looks like a fascinating place..........and remember, beauty is only skin-deep!


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## FromJoanne (Feb 1, 2009)

I so agree with you Mark but its also true that people seem to either love it or hate it 
You go ....I envy you ...but scratch that skin you will be richly rewarded and dont only go to all the touristy places ..
I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world The Western Cape of South Africa and believe me I have seen a good chunk of this world yet I think Cairo is gorgeous I feel so alive I feel so happy when I am there but I guess I am lucky that my eyes are able to see that beauty 
I hope you will too


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

Snowy said:


> For me, the best cities are not necessarily the most beautiful cities, but the ones with the best atmosphere, the best streetlife, the ones with a million different stories to tell and while there are many cities that are more beautiful than Cairo, I would very much like to go there because it looks like a fascinating place..........and remember, beauty is only skin-deep!


Spot on. 

These are fantastic photos, FromJoanne, thank you for sharing!


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## pegu (Nov 18, 2008)

i never thought the nile was so narrow...beautiful pictures! cheers


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

Nice pics, I really enjoyed this thread. 

And no, I don't think Cairo is ugly.


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## fri (May 2, 2009)

But have you been to some other parts of Cairo? I've been to some of the poorer parts and all the buildings are brown and sandy. In fact most of the residential areas are brownish. But that isn't to say I think Cairo is ugly, because Cairo does have some beautiful parts (like in your pictures) and, even the brownish ones look nice in their own way. 

Another Egyptian city I really like is Alexandria. 

Great thread!


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Thanks for thosev beautiful photos  Cairo its a very nice city, and it is not ugly


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## helee (Aug 26, 2007)

Very beutiful pictures more beutiful than a thoughtnice man


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## Camilo_Costa (Oct 27, 2007)

Nope. The areas shown in this thread are nice! :cheers:


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## LS Kim (Jun 26, 2006)

Looks very nice for me!! :cheers:


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## craperskys (Oct 31, 2008)

well, cairo is really not my cup of tea, but at least "tastes are different", so who cares


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## Assemblage23 (Jan 6, 2008)

I can't tell just by looking at pictures. I have to see this city myself first!


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## Rekarte (Mar 28, 2008)

Interesting!
I like Cairo


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## MNiemann (Sep 5, 2007)

i think the palm trees are beautiful. they are so much bigger than here in the U.S.! 

I think some of the "beautiful" cities are beautifully boring.


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## FromJoanne (Feb 1, 2009)

Thanks guys for your comments
I am glad to show you these few photos 
Its a unique city certainly not everybodies cup of tea but if you are open to it you will find it an hauntingly beautiful city 
there is a saying that once you have drunk the water of the Nile you will always return and I did  








pegu said:


> i never thought the nile was so narrow...beautiful pictures! cheers



Nope The Nile is not that narrow 
There are islands in the Nile thats what you were seeing in my photos 

to show you what I mean here is an areal shot of Cairo with Gezira
*Gezira in the middle of the Nile*


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## FromJoanne (Feb 1, 2009)

fri said:


> But have you been to some other parts of Cairo? I've been to some of the poorer parts and all the buildings are brown and sandy. In fact most of the residential areas are brownish. But that isn't to say I think Cairo is ugly, because Cairo does have some beautiful parts (like in your pictures) and, even the brownish ones look nice in their own way.
> 
> Another Egyptian city I really like is Alexandria.
> 
> Great thread!


The short answer is Two of my best friends are Egyptian I am always with one of them when in Cairo 

This 19 year old girl was willing to pose for me inside one of those brown houses 

















In another house I met this mother and child 
this photo is now published in Egyptian school books
(*All rights reserved; FromJoanne* ) 




















Dont forget that cairo is one of the most populous cities in the world with about 65 million people its a cliche often used but Cairo is a melting pot, its almost like you can find the whole world there together, the West,the Far East, the Orient, Africa, modern times, ancient times, ugliness/ beauty, dirt poor, obscenely rich people Thats what makes it so fascinating 
All live side by side, there are areas where the people live exactly like people used to live hundreds of years ago 
and there are highly sophisticated,high class areas like for example Katameya Heights or parts of Heliopolis Gezira etc etc 

There is beautiful architecture new and old but also kitsch, decadence , ugly mud huts and acres of grey unpainted apartment buildings 
but then there is the Nile ... which has its own unique beauty 
All are... what is... Cairo 



> *i think the palm trees are beautiful. they are so much bigger than here in the U.S.!
> 
> I think some of the "beautiful" cities are beautifully boring*.



I couldn't agree more  I lived for example in Sussex which is a beautifl part of the UK but I thought I had died of boredom 
I didnt notice that the palms are smaller in Orlando I do love the tropical smell there after rain ...
The palms in Egypt are beautiful and huge probably because of the fertile soil around the Nile I tell you I have never eaten such tasty delicious fruit and vegetables as the ones from El Fayoum A city about an hours drive out of Cairo 

As I said I have hardly any photos from Egypt I dont feel like a tourist but I scraped the barrel for you and found a couple of palm pix


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## Shapoor (Jan 3, 2009)

Beautiful! I love this part of Cairo, but it's not very similar to other parts of the city
http://www.cord.edu/faculty/andersod/080505Cairo.jpg








http://images.google.com/imgres?img...hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&sa=N&start=21&um=1


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## Snowy (Nov 6, 2006)

FromJoanne said:


> I couldn't agree more  I lived for example in Sussex which is a beautifl part of the UK but I thought I had died of boredom


You should have gone out in crazy Brighton! ;-)


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## FelixMadero (Aug 29, 2005)

Interesting!
I like Cairo, but I dont think beuatiful


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## Shezan (Jun 21, 2007)

I don' t think Cairo is ugly


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## Andrew_za (Feb 3, 2009)

Its not ok, not bad


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## Ribarca (Jan 28, 2005)

I don't think it's particularly beautiful in a classic European sense. I must say that the pictures I have seen on street level show a much more pretty city.

The most beautiful cities are often like a theme park and somewhat boring. Cairo seems extremely lively.


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## Luo (Aug 5, 2007)

You always show the same photos of the same place lol.

I really don't like Cairo, sincerelly.

:cheers:


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## StoneRose (Sep 13, 2004)

Cairo is not ugly. It's a crazy metropolis with beautiful sides, with ugly sides, with unbelievable poor areas and with a lot of history and unfortunately also with a lot of sand.

It still will always have a special place in my heart because of it's people. They love life.

Btw I still hope of street level pics of Alexandria. There has to be some people there who can take some pics for us.


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## aaabbbccc (Mar 8, 2009)

cairo is just unique and crazy in its own way 
ugly ? well it depends who you ask how to intrepert ugly 
one person might think it is gorgeous while the other thinks it is just ugly


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## Skyprince (May 2, 2006)

Good pics!

but Joanne, I disagree with your comment.. I was in Cairo 3 years ago and backpacked thru the middle of the town, entered local's typical apartment blocks etc. and I found Cairo pretty unpleasant ( architecture-wise) and its ugly in most parts. Not to put down Cairo but just to mention my real observation.


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## Mr Bricks (May 6, 2005)

I have to say Cairo looks quite ugly, but that doesn´t mean it´s not a great city.


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## Cartel (Aug 26, 2005)

I love Cairo dearly, it's one of the greatest, most interesting and exiting cities on earth. Some parts are very beautiful, for me like Maadi, Zamalek, Giza & some of downtown & Islamic Cairo. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course but there are some poorer slums of Cairo that one would need to be under the influence of an amazing drug to call beautiful. Love it none the less and I believe it has a prosperous future. 

I would be just as quick to call London or Moscow ugly as I would Cairo. Every city has it's good and bad sides, Cairo is no exception.

Do you have any more pics? Most of these seem to be views from hotel rooms.


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## FromJoanne (Feb 1, 2009)

Cartel said:


> I love Cairo dearly, it's one of the greatest, most interesting and exiting cities on earth. Some parts are very beautiful, for me like Maadi, Zamalek, Giza & some of downtown & Islamic Cairo. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course but there are some poorer slums of Cairo that one would need to be under the influence of an amazing drug to call beautiful. Love it none the less and I believe it has a prosperous future.
> 
> I would be just as quick to call London or Moscow ugly as I would Cairo. Every city has it's good and bad sides, Cairo is no exception.
> 
> Do you have any more pics? Most of these seem to be views from hotel rooms.



No as I stated in the beginning of my thread I have very few photos and all taken on the last day of my last stay in Cairo from the 9th floor of my room but next time (winter2009/2010) now that I have my new photography hobby I will spend many hours taking photos 



I agree with all you said  except that parts of the slums do have a beauty of their own 
I always go in winter so we can walk allot, being with my Egyptian friends is definitely a privilege we can go anywhere since I love wandering around the islands in the Nile or anywhere for that matter its amazing how welcoming and friendly people are so one day we got lost after walking around the Souq al-Goma'a it was Friday market and packed ended up in the City of the Dead of course its filthy and full of undesirable people but so full of interest a fascinating area with tombs and ancient mosques for example did you know that you can climb to the top of the minaret at the Qait Bey mosque ? 

to show you the beauty of the slum:






Quait Bey, El'Arafaby :stuart holmes












By Xavier Fargas

















I think these kind of shots are absolutely fab and 
beautiful 






By Ines Bexiga 




















BY Ines bexiga
























I highly recommend these 2 websites to anybody going to Cairo or Egypt
so that you can orientate yourself before you go and not be disappointed
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/egypt/
http://www.frommers.com/community/f...umId=Cat:Middle+East+and+AfricaForum:0EE6B358

and my travel bible :Tripadviser 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/AllReviews-g294201-Cairo.html





Everything has its beauty 
but not evrybody sees it 




stuart holmes


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

Yes, I think the Cairo shown in your initial post is ugly.


But there's another, way more interesting and beautiful Cairo you didn't come up with until your last post.
I wonder why.


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## FromJoanne (Feb 1, 2009)

erbse said:


> Yes, I think the Cairo shown in your initial post is ugly But there's another, way more interesting and beautiful Cairo you didn't come up with until your last post.
> I wonder why.


*Oh dear I don't want you to have sleepless nights lying awake wondering :lol: 

I will give you a hint 

Read the words in this thread *


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

unique culture, amazing!


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## Galandar (Dec 2, 2004)

Cairo - n1 megapolis of Africa. It is hard to call it very beautiful, but it is definitely must visit destination because of its exotism and chaotism.


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## Hindustani (Jul 9, 2004)

Definitely not. Any megacity with sphinx & pyramids in the background can never be ugly. Its another thing thats its not the most picturisque city. couple of suspension bridges on the Nile like Istanbul has on bosphorus would've done the job. You wanna see the definition of ugly megacities, just visit Karachi & Lahore. Cairo is far away from it.


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## OshHisham (Nov 14, 2005)

hehe...i guess many peoples answer 'YES' to your question.

and i do think cairo is 'not beautiful', sorry to say. but the city life must be lively as it has huge populations...


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## simcard (Feb 18, 2009)

i was in Egypt with my gf 3 years ago, did the pyramids and was in Cairo for 3 days. I didnt like the city, where as my gf loved it. I hated the traffic jam as seen on the pictures and the constant honking of cars for no reason. The shopkeepers pestering you to buy from their shop is annoying too. Sorry


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

FromJoanne said:


> *Oh dear I don't want you to have sleepless nights lying awake wondering :lol:
> 
> I will give you a hint
> 
> Read the words in this thread *


What's that stuff called you're taking?


I basically just said that I don't like the Cairo you've shown in your first post but rather that one shown in your last. 

Anyway, Cairo isn't beautiful at all, I've been diving at the Egyptian coast and visited it 4 times during that vacation. Annoying traffic, annoying people (sorry to say), annoying dirt, annoying noise, annoying smell. But still there are some beautiful buildings (esp. sacred ones) left. Wish there were more.


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## FromJoanne (Feb 1, 2009)

erbse said:


> What's that stuff called you're taking?
> 
> 
> I basically just said that I don't like the Cairo you've shown in your first post but rather that one shown in your last.
> ...





Oh I see well bay-sickly  my experience and I know I am by no means the only one , was and is the opposite of yours, Egyptians are generally lovely welcoming people who have a great sense of humour, there is so much beauty to be found in Cairo and that includes the views of my first post 

More beautiful buildings ??? :lol:What ignorance ! Egypt and Cairo is bursting at the seams with beautiful buildings 
You visited Cairo 4 times all the way from the Red Sea ??? 
Wow :nuts:very persistent for someone who disliked it so much and you must have either had a hell of a long looong vacation or a private plane considering the distance since it takes at least 6 hours by road 

Anyway I cant relate to you or your experience in Egypt 
but whatever your opinion is I am sure nobody is going to lie awake about it :cheers:


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## Metsada (Oct 22, 2006)

Cartel said:


> I would be just as quick to call London or Moscow ugly as I would Cairo. Every city has it's good and bad sides, Cairo is no exception.


That's not fair; London or even Moscow don't have that many ugly parts. And the ugly parts in Cairo are much uglier than the ugly parts in London (and even Moscow).


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## Metsada (Oct 22, 2006)

Skyprince said:


> Good pics!
> 
> but Joanne, I disagree with your comment.. I was in Cairo 3 years ago and backpacked thru the middle of the town, entered local's typical apartment blocks etc. and I found Cairo pretty unpleasant ( architecture-wise) and its ugly in most parts. Not to put down Cairo but just to mention my real observation.


I have heard the same thing from a lot of people who went there. It's a pity, since Egypt (like Iran) is one of the oldest civilizations on earth. It doesn't mean that it can't improve though.


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## simcard (Feb 18, 2009)

erbse said:


> What's that stuff called you're taking?
> 
> 
> I basically just said that I don't like the Cairo you've shown in your first post but rather that one shown in your last.
> ...


fight fight FIGHT :naughty::tongue2:



FromJoanne said:


> Oh I see well bay-sickly  my experience and I know I am by no means the only one , was and is the opposite of yours, Egyptians are generally lovely welcoming people who have a great sense of humour, there is so much beauty to be found in Cairo and that includes the views of my first post
> 
> More beautiful buildings ??? :lol:What ignorance ! Egypt and Cairo is bursting at the seams with beautiful buildings
> You visited Cairo 4 times all the way from the Red Sea ???
> ...


fight fight FIGHT :naughty::tongue2:


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## _Barca_ (Apr 15, 2009)

Yes it is.


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## unusualfire (May 26, 2004)

"Dont forget that cairo is one of the most populous cities in the world with about* 65 million *people its a cliche often used but Cairo is a melting pot, its almost like you can find the whole world there together, the West,the Far East, the Orient, Africa, modern times, ancient times, ugliness/ beauty, dirt poor, obscenely rich people Thats what makes it so fascinating
All live side by side, there are areas where the people live exactly like people used to live hundreds of years ago and there are highly sophisticated,high class areas like for example Katameya Heights or parts of Heliopolis Gezira etc etc"

That's the furthest from the truth.


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## Skyprince (May 2, 2006)

erbse said:


> Anyway, Cairo isn't beautiful at all, I've been diving at the Egyptian coast and visited it 4 times during that vacation. Annoying traffic, annoying people (sorry to say), annoying dirt, annoying noise, annoying smell. But still there are some beautiful buildings (esp. sacred ones) left. Wish there were more.


Totally agree with what you said. I had exactly the same impression of Egypt.


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## Skyprince (May 2, 2006)

Metsada said:


> I have heard the same thing from a lot of people who went there. It's a pity, since Egypt (like Iran) is one of the oldest civilizations on earth. It doesn't mean that it can't improve though.


I was actually disappointed with my Egypt trip. Cairo offers nothing much and it's not beautiful at all ( except for very few districts ), the infrastructure & living condition is the worst I've ever seen ( Yemen the poorest country in entire Middle East has surprisingly good infrastructure and good living condition; and Yemeni cities are soo beautiful ! ); I was extremely shocked to see the living condition of ordinary Egyptians (>80% of Cairo population ) in their poorly-maintained blocks. And salesmen in Egypt are very pushy and aggressive. But yes, many Egyptians are very friendly and hospitable- I got sun-stroke when I was in Luxor and one poor Egyptian family took me to a doctor and paid 100 Egyptian pounds- that's half of their monthly salary . 

Again, no offense to anybody.


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## Substructure (Sep 10, 2004)

That was my impression as well. I would say the original post of this thread was an attempt to make Cairo look like a nice place, and somewhat succeeded in doing so.
But with a crazy pollution, crazy noise, crazy traffic, and crazy people, Cairo is really not that attractive.
Also, reading Cairo has 65M inhabitants would be funny if it wasn't another attempt to misguide the readers.



> It's a pity, since Egypt (like Iran) is one of the oldest civilizations on earth. It doesn't mean that it can't improve though.


The current Arab Republic of Egypt is *not* the civilization there was there thousand of years ago (_kīmi_). Arabs invaded Egypt in 639 and slaughtered most of its people, burning to the ground most cities and monuments. Egypt is still an arabic country with arabic people to this day, but they are not the original Egyptians.

Currently, the only remaining Old Egyptians living there are the Copts (some of them, not all), a few hundreds of them still speaking the original Egyptian language in its Coptic form, itself derived from the Demotic and Hieroglyphic Egyptian. Unfortunately, these people still suffer oppression today on their land from their Muslim counterparts. Some Copts are muslim though, this is not a religious war.


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## FromJoanne (Feb 1, 2009)

Had looked up the population and that particular site said 65 million I checked again there seems to be confusion about it 
PEOPLE AND HISTORY 
Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world and the second-most populous on the African Continent. Nearly all of the country's 79 million people live in Cairo and Alexandria; elsewhere on the banks of the Nile; in the Nile delta, which fans out north of Cairo; and along the Suez Canal. These regions are among the world's most densely populated, containing an average of over 3,820 persons per square mile (1,540 per sq. km.), as compared to 181 persons per sq. mi. for the country as a whole.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5309.htm


Many didnt get what I said in the very beginning of my post 
*Everything has its beauty but not everybody sees it*
I dont claim Cairo to be all beautiful but there is certainly beauty to be found as I keep saying and I did find beauty I am sorry you didnt I showed here part of the beauty I found through the very few photos I have thats all


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## philadweller (Oct 30, 2003)

It's beautiful in a rotting decayed sort of way. Kind of like blue cheese. You have to love cities to see the beauty in Cairo. African cities are not as glamourous as Asian or European cities. It has to do with what a regions people are willing to tolerate and their capital. Otherwise the world would still be living in dung huts which is probably better for the planet and the ecosystem. Lagos would be considered ugly in my eyes from what I've seen on this forum....and with Nigeria's new mandatory death sentencing laws for homosexuals, well it just adds more fuel to why I think Lagos is ugly. Sorry I went off track here.


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## aaabbbccc (Mar 8, 2009)

I hate to say this 
casablanca is alot nicer than cairo and alot cleaner 
no offence but true


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## Cartel (Aug 26, 2005)

Skyprince said:


> I was actually disappointed with my Egypt trip. Cairo offers nothing much and it's not beautiful at all Again, no offense to anybody.


Cairo offers nothing much? A hell of a lot more than the backward child labor city you come from. ( no offence to anybody, that was just the impression I got )


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## Fizmo1337 (Mar 26, 2009)

I haven't been there so I have to base it on the pictures you gave. However your pictures are only from your balcony so it's only 1 view I can base my opinon on. I have to see more to judge it properly but based on pics it seems lovely to walk along the Nile. Cosy, lot's of green, a mix of modern and Egyptian/Arabian architecture, the waterfront (obviously) and a nice chaotic feeling of people.
I guess it must be interesting to go just outside the touristic areas and spend some time in the small alleys with traditional shops etc... but it seems there's not much to see/do as a tourist outside the centre. Normally I go off the traditional touristic paths but I guess in Caïro it's better to only visit the centre (and some small alleys close by to get the historic centre feeling).

I always had a feeling that Caïro was cosy (along the Nile) and had some great architecture, a bit like Istanbul. Seems there aren't that much impressive architectural landmarks (mosques etc...) like in Istanbul.

Again, I haven't been there so I can't judge it properly  I could be wrong


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## NastaseDM (Jun 8, 2008)

*cairo*

After seeing the pictures of the city I can only conclude one thing. Beauty in the eye of the beholder is such BS. I believe is a saying used here not to put down the people who come from there. Why do you think it is pretty much the same picture over and over again because it was probably the best part of town and looking in a different direction will show reality. Reality is that unfortunately it is a a poor, dirty and unpleasant city. I don't want to put anyone down but reality is reality. On that note I have no idea how life is over there but from the looks of it I wouldn't like to visit nor live there. Original poster please take no offence but you asked for viewers' opinions.


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## SPQR (Aug 25, 2007)

This city was a total mystery to me, thanks for the pictures.


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## Skyprince (May 2, 2006)

Cartel said:


> Cairo offers nothing much? A hell of a lot more than the backward child labor city you come from. ( no offence to anybody, that was just the impression I got )


Do you refer to cities in Yemen ? I just returned from there and yes salary level in Yemen is much lower than in Egypt but Yemeni cities are orderly, extremely charming, good infrastructure ( first-rate roads ) with brand-new cars, living condition is pretty good for ordinary Yemenis ( they live in solid comfortable homes ), there is rule of law, and nobody takes money from tourists. That's the most exciting among all 31 countries I've been to . Egypt, especially in Cairo, is the exact opposite! 

Even for an extreme backpacker I didn't find anything much to see in Cairo; everything was very harsh- I got cheated by many aggressive salesmen and taxi drivers in Egypt and I know many tourists who got sick ( including me ) due to food poisoning there. I'm sorry to say this, but you cannot cheat people to believe that Cairo is attractive and tourist-friendly .


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## StoneRose (Sep 13, 2004)

Wow, I'm actually surprised to see so many negative opinions on Cairo and the Egyptian people since my experiences have been different.

I think a lot of it has something to do that I was not really a tourist but lived in a normal Cairo neighbourhood for a few months and got to know the way of life a little bit.

The neighbourhood called Dokkhi where I lived was really nice. Also Zamalek and Heliopolis are great places to live imo.

This picture shows a little bit what "my" Cairo was about:








http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrispitality/2612212145/

Still, 'beautiful' is maybe not the word I'd use for Cairo either.


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## philadweller (Oct 30, 2003)

Cairo looks like it's ready to crumble sadly like Havanna, Cuba. What is the Cairo economy all about?


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

^ Havanna is a whole different thing. And it's not crumbling at all, since UNESCO took the city's old town under its wing, or at least since the late 90s. They've already renovated a lot and some of the colonial neighbourhoods and esp. representative buildings look almost perfect. Not comparable to what you get to see in Cairo, not in any sense! Cuba in general is actually doing quite well preserving its architectural heritage.

I didn't take photos of Havanna, but I'll see if I can upload the videos I took of the city in 2003.


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## Saigoneseguy (Mar 6, 2005)

From what I see in all the photos posted in this thread: yes, Cairo looks REALLY ugly.


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## DarkLite (Dec 31, 2004)

I like Cairo, it has this mysterious, chaotic, urban, lively, and rustic charm to it. I loved those pictures of the Cairo markets


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