What’s a weekend?
As with all Muslim countries, the official weekend starts late Thursday and all day Friday, which means the city absolutely pumps on Thursday nights as everyone mainlines sugary pastries and […]
NOTEBOOK
Canter past Patagonian icefields. Sail the tranquil waters of Lake Como in Italy. Sip coffee in a Palestinian village. Listen to the ancient voices of Australia’s Arnhem Land. Climb the mountain paths of northern Albania. Let’s go!
Back to the city…
The first glimpse of Cairo wasn’t encouraging…what you could see of it. Flying in at 10am, all that was visible was the desert road from the east Egyptian city of […]
Experiences of Jordan
The cultural custard that is the world is painfully evident in Amman at 4am today, as I decamp from Bangkok for a four-hour killer stopover till Cairo. The toilet attendant […]
Return to Cairo, the City Victorious
I wanted to call this blog ‘Return of the Killer Tomatoes’ or ‘Return of the Jedi’ or … ‘Return of the King’, but actually, it’s me, not tomatoes or jedi […]
Blood on the streets, Eid al-Adha
Cairo didn’t sleep last night – shops were open till around 4am, people wandered the streets eating ice cream, chilling out and waiting for prayers to commemorate Eid al-Adha, the […]
The Sacrifice begins
You could be forgiven for saying Egyptians just can’t wait to begin the Sacrifice – the annual celebration of Abrahim offering to sacrifice his son for God’s wishes. “The streets […]
The highs and lows of Cairo
Well people, I can safely say that yesterday was a day of extremes for Cairo. The morning started with a visit to the animal section of Souk al-Gomma, the Friday […]
Flocking to Egypt
There’s a curious phenomenon occuring in Egypt at the moment. Suddenly, without warning, the streets are awash with sheep. Ok, not awash, but in a city the size of Cairo, […]