One of the custodians at the Mosque of al-Salih Talai took us to the rooftop and the view from there was spectacular. This area is Islamic Cairo and the whole rooftop view was dotted with sightings of minarets. From one angle we could see the Citadel and all the buildings up on the hill. Most of the time we were just peering on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. There's so much illegal construction going on that a lot of stuff they put up on rooftops have already collapsed and left like that. So there is debris on most rooftops. It was still interesting, it is an interesting phenomenon.
The citadel is visible in the far distance. The Citadel forms the Eastern border of Islamic Cairo. It is possible to walk there and it is possible to walk from there but we took taxis. It is very confusing and these neighborhoods don't look too hot. It is best to visit in the cooler months. I can imagine the heat in summer. Cairo is probably one hot dust bowl.
One of the custodians at the Mosque of al-Salih Talai took us to the rooftop and the view from there was spectacular. This area is Islamic Cairo and the whole rooftop view was dotted with sightings of minarets. From one angle we could see the Citadel and all the buildings up on the hill. Most of the time we were just peering on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. There's so much illegal construction going on that a lot of stuff they put up on rooftops have already collapsed and left like that. So there is debris on most rooftops. It was still interesting, it is an interesting phenomenon.
The citadel is visible in the far distance. The Citadel forms the Eastern border of Islamic Cairo. It is possible to walk there and it is possible to walk from there but we took taxis. It is very confusing and these neighborhoods don't look too hot. It is best to visit in the cooler months. I can imagine the heat in summer. Cairo is probably one hot dust bowl.
The view from the top of the streets below.
The 'mashrabiya' screen windows of the Mamluk days, still intact and still beautiful. Notice how dusty it was.
It was a nice visit and the custodian asked constantly if we were happy. If we were he expects a big 'baksheesh'. We gave him some money, he wasn't happy, he held out his hand for more. I forgot how much we gave him. Some visitors are put off by this behaviour, I read in other blogs. One blogger said, Egypt is the top of the list for tourists to make one visit and never go back, he cites the reason, 'baksheesh'. It didn't bother us. We will return to Egypt, baksheesh or not. Egypt holds one third of the world's antiquities and not to see them all would be a tragedy, more so than handing out a little baksheesh here and there.
1 comment:
Very interesting anfd the minarets are beautiful. What a contrast between rich and poor there.
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