Middle East - Anthony Ham [101]
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INFORMATION
Bookshops
American University in Cairo (AUC) bookshop Downtown (Map; 2797 5370; Sharia Mohammed Mahmoud; 9am-6pm Sat-Thu); Zamalek (Map; 2739 7045; 16 Sharia Mohammed Thakeb; 9am-6pm Sat-Thu, 1-6pm Fri) The best English-language bookshop in Egypt, with stacks of material on the politics, sociology and history of Cairo, Egypt and the Middle East. It also has plenty of guidebooks and some fiction. The Zamalek branch is the smaller of the two.
Diwan (Map; 2736 2582; www.diwanegypt.com; 159 Sharia 26th of July, Zamalek; 9am-11pm) A cosy, modern bookshop with English- and French-language books, novels and guidebooks as well as a neat little café.
Lehnert & Landrock (Map; 2392 7606; 44 Sharia Sherif; 9.30am-2pm & 4-7.30pm Mon-Fri, Sat morning) Good selection of books about Cairo and Egypt, as well as second-hand books and vintage postcards and photographs. There’s a branch opposite the Egyptian Museum (Map).
Emergency
Ambulance ( 123)
Fire department ( 180)
Police ( 122)
Tourist police ( 126)
Tourist police office (Map; 2390 6028; Downtown) On the 1st floor of a building in the alley just left of the main tourist office.
Internet Access
Five St@rs Net (Map; 2574 7881; Midan Talaat Haarb; per hr E£5; 8am-1am) Has air-con, does printing and burns CDs. There’s another branch near Midan Tahrir (Map; Sharia Talaat Harb).
Hany Internet Cafe (Map; 2395 1985; 16 Sharia Abdel Khalek Sarwat, Downtown; per hr E£3; 10am-1am) Near the corner of Sharia Talaat Harb.
Internet Egypt (Map; per hr E£10; 9am-midnight) In the basement of the Nile Hilton shopping mall. Students receive a 20% discount.
InterClub (Map; 2579 1860; per hr E£5; 8am-2am) New computers with LCD screens. Near Estoril restaurant.
Zamalek Centre (Map; 2736 4004; Sharia Ismail Mohammed, Zamalek; per hr E£5; 8am-12am) Friendly surfing in Zamalek.
Medical Services
Many of Cairo’s hospitals have antiquated equipment and a cavalier attitude to hygiene, but there are some exceptions, including the Ma’adi branch of As-Salam International Hospital (Map; 2524 0250, emergency 2524 0077; Corniche el-Nil, Ma’adi).
Pharmacies abound in Cairo and almost anything can be obtained without a prescription. Pharmacies that operate 24 hours and deliver include Al-Ezaby (Bulaq 19600; Arcadia Mall, Corniche el-Nil; Heliopolis 19600; 1 Sharia Tayseer).
Money
The Banque Misr branches at the Nile Hilton (Map) and Mena House Oberoi (near the Pyramids of Giza; Map) are open 24 hours. Otherwise, there are banks and forex bureaus all over town – forex offices give slightly better rates on cash. There are oodles of ATMs throughout the city.
American Express (Amex; 9am-4.30pm Sat-Thu) Midan Tahrir (Map; 2578 5001; Nile Hilton, Midan Tahrir, Downtown); Sharia Qasr el-Nil (Map; 2574 7991; 15 Sharia Qasr el-Nil, Downtown) Exchanges travellers cheques and supplies US dollars.
Egyptian Foreign Exchange Corp (Map; Sharia Emad ad-Din, Downtown) The closest place to Ramses train station, a 10-minute walk away, to change US dollars or euros.
Thomas Cook (emergency hotline 010 140 1367) Downtown (Map; 2574 3955; 17 Sharia Mahmoud Bassiouni; 8am-5pm Sat-Thu) Same services as Amex.
Post
Main post office (Map; 2391 2615; Midan Ataba; 8am-10pm Sat-Thu, 8am-noon Fri). You will find the Poste restante (8am-2.30pm Sat-Thu) on the other side of the same block.
Telephone
In Central Cairo, there are Telephone centrales (Map) located on the northern side of Midan Tahrir (in central Cairo); on Sharia Mohammed Mahmoud, Bab al-Luq; on Sharia Adly; next to the Windsor Hotel off Sharia Alfy; and on Sharia 26th of July (Map) in Zamalek.
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