Middle East - Anthony Ham [114]
PORT SAID
Trains to Port Said (E£18 to E£20, four hours) leave at 8.45am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 7.10pm. To Suez (E£18 to E£20, 2½ hours), trains depart from Ain Shams station, 15km northeast of Ramses station (accessible via metro), at 6.30am, 9.20am, 1.10pm, 4.15pm and 6.45pm.
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GETTING AROUND
To/From the Airport
Cairo International Airport (Terminal 1 2265 5000; Terminal 2 2265 2222) is 20km northeast of Cairo. There are four terminals in all, but two terminals about 3km apart handle most passenger traffic. Terminal 1 services EgyptAir’s international and domestic flights and Terminal 2 services all international airlines except Saudi Arabian Airlines. You’ll find ATMs and exchange booths in the arrivals halls.
Bus 356 is air-conditioned, and runs at 20-minute intervals from 7am to midnight between both terminals of the airport and Midan Abdel Moniem Riad (Map), behind the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo (E£2, plus E£1 per large luggage item, one hour). There is a far less comfortable 24-hour service on bus 400 (50pt), which leaves from the same places. Note that between the hours of midnight and 6am, this bus only stops at Terminal 1.
If you arrive at Terminal 1, you’ll see the bus-parking area to the side of the arrivals hall. If you arrive at Terminal 2, walk out of the arrivals hall, cross the road, go down the stairs or escalator, cross through the car park and wait on the opposite side of the street at the end of the car park to flag the bus down.
If you decide to grab a black-and-white taxi, the going rate to central Cairo is around E£50 to E£60 (it’s E£35 to E£40 back to the airport). You’ll get the best rate if you walk down to the car park rather than relying on the taxis right outside the arrivals hall. Limousines cost anything from E£60 to E£100.
Bus & Minibus
Cairo’s main local bus and minibus stations are at Midan Abdel Moniem Riad (Map). From there, services leave for just about everywhere in the city.
Metro
The Metro system is startlingly efficient, and the stations are cleaner than any other public places in Cairo. It’s also surprisingly inexpensive. You’re most likely to use the Metro if you’re going down to Old Cairo (served by a station called Mar Girgis) or Giza train station. A short-hop ticket (up to nine stations) costs E£1. The first and (sometimes) second carriages are reserved for women only.
Microbus
Destinations are not marked, so microbuses are hard to use unless you’re familiar with their routes. Position yourself beside the road that leads where you want to go and when a microbus passes, yell out your destination – if it’s going where you want to go and there are seats free, it’ll stop. Fares range between 50pt to E£2 depending on distance.
River Bus
The Maspero river bus terminal (Map) is on the Corniche in front of the big round Radio & TV Building. From here boats depart at 8am, 2pm and 9pm for Doqqi, Manial, Giza and Misr al-Qadima (Old Cairo). The trip takes 50 minutes and the fare is E£1.
Taxi
By far the easiest way of getting anywhere is by taxi. They’re cheap enough to make buses, with their attendant hassles, redundant. Use the following table as a rough guide to what you should be paying for a taxi ride around Cairo. It’s best to hail a trusty Peugeot 504 rather than one of the diabolically unroadworthy Fiats.
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TAXI FARES FROM DOWNTOWN
Destination Fare (E£)
Abbassiyya (Sinai) Bus Terminal 15
Airport 35-40*
Citadel 10
Heliopolis 15-20
Khan al-Khalili 5
Midan Ramses 3
Pyramids 25-30
Cairo Gateway 5
Zamalek 7
* Note: Airport to Downtown, E£50-60
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AROUND CAIRO
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MEMPHIS, SAQQARA & DAHSHUR
There’s little left of the former Pharaonic capital of Memphis, 24km south of Cairo. It’s worth visiting, however, for its open-air