Middle East - Anthony Ham [148]
Train
Slow and uncomfortable trains to Cairo leave daily at 5.30am, 9.45am, 1pm, 5.30pm and 7.30pm (E£11/18 without/with air-con, 2nd class, five hours).
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SUEZ
062 / pop 555,000
Suez is a convenient spot to break up the long journey between Sinai and the capital. Though there is little to see in town but the famed canal, watching the cargo-laden maritime behemoths that ply the city’s waterways can be truly mesmerising. From a slight distance, it almost seems that these giants are eerily slicing their way through the desert at the edge of the city.
The town is in two parts: Suez proper, the chaotic main settlement, and Port Tawfiq, at the mouth of the canal. The latter, a catatonic suburb boasting wide boulevards and some colonial buildings, is the best place for ship-spotting.
Information
There are ATMs at Banque Misr and BPN Bank, on or just off Sharia al-Geish, as well as several other banks in town.
Al Jezeera (off Sharia al-Geish; per hr E£3; 10am-4am) Fast internet access, just south of Al-Khalif restaurant in Suez.
Tourist office ( 333 1141; 8am-8pm Sat-Thu, 8am-3pm Fri) The extremely helpful tourist office in Port Tawfiq overlooks the canal.
Sleeping
Hotels choices are pretty limited and are fully booked during the month of the hajj.
Arafat Hotel ( 335 5992; 7 Sharia Arafat, Port Tawfiq; s/d E£45/55, without bathroom E£35/45) The only real budget pad in Port Tawfiq, this friendly place has very spartan abodes and shared bathrooms that haven’t seen a mop since the ’52 revolution. Do yourself a favour and go for the private bathroom option.
Red Sea Hotel ( 333 4302; www.redseahotel.com; 13 Sharia Riad, Port Tawfiq; s/d with city view E£282/354, with canal view E£324/398; ) Immaculate inside and out, this option has speckless rooms, some with balconies right over the canal. There’s free wi-fi here, with air-con and satellite TV being standard. The 6th-floor restaurant has a panoramic view and serves decent fresh seafood meals (E£30 to E£40).
Eating & Drinking
Pizza Pronto ( 330 4443; Sharia as-Salaam; pizzas E£14-26) Expect fast service, a decent stab at making a pizza, and lines of hungry punters at this popular pizza joint on the main drag in Suez town.
Al-Khalifa Fish Centre ( 333 7303; Sharia as-Salaam; salads E£1.50-2, mains E£16-35; ) A no-nonsense restaurant that sells nothing but fresh fish cooked any way you like it. There’s a picture menu helping you choose from tuna, calamari, shrimp or the catch of the day. Look for the big glass windows and fishy decor.
The main cheap-eats area is in the street between Al-Khalifa Fish Centre and the White House Hotel, off Sharia as-Salaam. The best of these is probably Koshary Palace (Sharia Saad Zaghloul, Suez; meals E£1.50-5), just around the corner from Al-Khalifa Fish Centre.
Getting There & Away
BOAT
For details of international boats from Suez, Click here.
Bus
The bus station (New Bus Station) is inconveniently located 5km from central Suez, on the road to Cairo. Arriving by bus, it’s possible to get off before the bus station at the highway on the edge of the centre. Taxis (E£5 to E£10) and microbuses (50pt to E£1) congregate here to take passengers into the centre of town or Port Tawfiq. A taxi between the bus station and Suez costs E£10 to E£15.
Upper Egypt Bus Co ( 356 4258) buses to Cairo (E£8, 1½ hours) leave every 30 minutes from 6am to 9pm. Four services travel to Alexandria (E£25 to E£30, 3½ hours) at 7am, 9am, 2.30pm and 5pm. To Hurghada (E£35 to E£40, four to five hours), buses depart about every two hours from 5am to 11pm. Services to Luxor (E£45 to E£60, seven to eight hours) depart at 5am, 5pm and 8pm. Buses to Aswan (E£60 to E£70, 12 hours) leave at 5am and 5pm. Buses leave at 11am and 3pm for Al-Quseir (E£45, seven hours).
East Delta Bus Co ( 356 4853) has six buses to Port Said (E£11 to E£13, 2¼ hours) between 7am and 3.30pm.
East Delta Bus Co buses also travel along the direct route down the Gulf of Suez to Sharm el-Sheikh (E£30 to E£35, 5½ hours) at 8.30am,