matez3alish ya AB…masr omm edonya!

Come visit but keep in mind you’re adding to the congestion so if you’re going to have that attitude in mind then save yourself and the people of Cairo your presence there. Oh and again you’re an idiot to think all Cairo has to offer are pyramids. Even the colonizers and the capitalist investors of today know Cairo and Egypt overall has tons to offer.

Khan el Khalili is a smaller version of Zainab/Cooperative market with a bit of Bohri Bazaar added. I remember I was taken there by my local friends as a major tourist attraction but was disappointed to find nothing new comapared to what I was used to here.

I did get away with a major discount when the Sheesha seller was amazed I could write his name in Arabic script. There was a commotion and several shopkeepers came over asking me to write other words to test out my skills !! Most people there believe Pakistanis follow the Sanskrit script like the Indians.

Congestion and pollution in Cairo is unbearable. Believe it, its worse than Karachi. The public transport system is pathetic.

But looking at the infrastructure of the city, one could easily tell that the planners meant well but did patchy work.

There are more rip-offs in Cairo than Karachi. Years of tourism has taught them how to manipulate foreigners. A devious art where the Karachi Zainab Market sellers don’t even come close to them.

Of course, the major positive Cairo has is that they probably have more tourists visiting in a day than Karachi does in a whole decade. This itself brings a color to the city.

The Nile is beautiful. We can’t say the same about Lyari.

But I do not agree with Neoka’s friend. Cairo is very different from Karachi. Egypt is bigger than Pakistan but mostly desert and uninhabitable. More than 90 percent of the population lives in less than 10 percent of the land (don’t quote me on that figure, but its something to that effect). The only livable places are around the Nile and smaller rivers/deltas, and the coastal area (Alexandria, etc).

Considering these constraints, I found Cairo to be relatively better organized and cleaner compared to Karachi. (Although my last visit to Karachi was more than six years ago). Egypt may be congested but it is beautiful and fascinating. Its ancient buildings and bazaars, its colonial era architecture, the Nile, the kornesh (riverside) walk, the food. The people are a bit short tempered but that is to be expected given the population, weather, pollution, economic and political issues, etc. Lets face it, Karachiites are not exactly pacifists.

Overall Cairo is a great place to visit or even live. I would love to make another trip, preferably in the spring or winter time.

If we do go the Cairo way in terms of population, then we surely will have worse conditions

they even have a subway system and YET so much traffic probs……. kya banay ga karachi ka…

thankyou neoka, for making a comparision here… seeing real world problems before they come up in ur own backyard is a real eye opener.. :S