Port Said, Port Fuad

On Friday I decided on a whim to travel to Port Said for the weekend to see what it was like. I took the bus for 23LE at 1:00pm from Turgoman Station in Cairo, arriving in Port Said around 4:00pm. Port Said (in Arabic pronounced bur sai-eed) is a city of a half million people, located at the junction of the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea. After the construction of the modern canal in the 19th century, Port Said became one of the world's most significant ports. Although it's no longer as important as it once was, a large amount of intercontinental freighters and cruise liners pass through the harbor every week. For this reason, the whole city is a duty-free zone.

Along the road to Port Said.


I took a taxi from the bus station to the center of town. I had a lengthy and nearly fluid conversation in Arabic with the driver; it's always very gratifying to be able to talk for a long time in Arabic without any sort of awkward communication issues. I walked around for awhile before finding the hotel I had been searching for, the Mereland Hotel. I only stayed there because of the cheap price of 40 LE, or about $7 USD. It was pretty dirty and I wouldn't exactly recommend it as a place to stay.

Various shots from around Port Said.




View of the tiny alley from my hotel.



After walking around the city for awhile longer, I headed to the north of the city to check out the beach. The beach was disappointing. It was free, but therein lay the problem, as it was very dirty and uninviting. On the west side of the city was a popular restaurant called El Borg (The Tower). It was a nice sit-down place packed with Egyptians. I ordered shrimp soup and fried fish. They brought me the above, along with various side dishes and sauces. It was a real feast - I counted no less than twelve plates of various foods on my table at the same time. The food was delicious and I would highly recommend this restaurant.

Public beach.



El Borg Restaurant.


Strangely enough, there were at least a hundred balloon people lining the streets, promoting something.


I spend the rest of the evening wandering around the city. The city was bustling with shops of various types, especially electronics and clothes. The street that runs parallel to the canal, Sharia Palestine, consists almost entirely of cell phone shops, strangely enough. Most of the women here were dressed in conservative Islamic clothing, and a few of the men wore the galabeyya robe. However, it seemed as if most of the city-goers were wealthy or at least had a comfortable standard of living. Port Said serves as a popular tourist spot for Egyptians in the summer, but I went during the off season, so there weren't any to be seen. I did not see any Western tourists in the city either until the next day, when two big cruise liners docked into the harbor. I got the same question "are you from the ship?" numerous times that day from the locals.

Saturday I woke up early to try to find a place to enjoy breakfast, but I realized that none of the restaurants opened until after noon. I had to settle for coffee and cake at a hotel cafe. Afterward I walked to the west of the city to see the military museum, but the interior was closed for construction. I was able to see some of the exhibits on the museum lawn though, including equipment from the 1956 Suez Crisis and the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. There was another museum of some sort in Port Said, but it too was closed.

Outside the military museum.



I had another enjoyable meal for lunch at a place called Abu Essam, not far from the beach. Nobody else was in the restaurant at the time, but it was a great place. They served a feast here too: seafood soup, shrimp kofta, and about a half dozen other plates of salads and sauces. About halfway through the meal I was served a bowl full of some ground leaves and oil to go with my meal. I was served the same thing the previous night at El Borg. This time I asked what it was, and my waiter told me it was "just for entertainment," whatever that was supposed to mean.

Various shots of the canal from Port Said.





Afterward I walked down to the ferry station a short distance along Sharia Palestine. Conveniently enough, the ferry is free, and it passes across the Suez Canal between Port Said and Port Fuad every five or ten minutes. Cars can cross via the ferry too. Port Fuad is a separate city which used to serve as a suburb for Europeans who worked at the port, and it still bears a certain resemblance to European architecture. Aside from some green residential areas and a good view of the canal, there wasn't anything to do in Port Fuad.

Shots of the canal from the ferry.



People getting off the ferry.


Port Fuad.


After I felt as if I had seen the whole downtown of the city several times, I took the bus back to Cairo at 7:00pm on Saturday. Overall, Port Said was a nice city, mostly clean with some good restaurants and shops. It was interesting to see the ships passing across the Mediterranean Sea and through the Canal. It wasn't stunningly impressive, but it does make for a good day trip out of Cairo.

They don't let you form your own opinions here...

The Second Day

I woke up around 9:30am today, showered, packed my bags, and proceeded to check out. I developed a slight cold since arriving in London, but it's nothing too bad. Checkout at the hotel was fairly simple, and when I asked where I could find a taxi, they pointed me to their car service. The service was charging an inordinate amount of money but it was still cheaper than a cab ride in NYC, so I accepted even though I was being ripped off. I gave them my roommate Nate's number so they could find out where to get to, because I hadn't a clue.

Views of the airport and the hotel ground from my room:





The ride was the first time I could really see what Cairo looked like. I was expecting a dangerous ride, but it turned out to be less tame than a ride through NYC. The cars seem to drive slower here than American cities. The driver had to stop a few times and ask to see what street we were on, but he eventually found the apartment around 12 noon. I had him wait while Nate came down. In the meantime I met my bowab. He is young and speaks a little English, and greeted me in a friendly way. Taking a quick look around the neighborhood, I noticed it was cramped but relatively quiet, and I only saw Egyptians.

Nate brought me up to the room, which is on the fifth floor. The apartment looks like I expected it would. It has a small kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom, two balconies, a living room, and a dining room. My room has two beds together, a dresser, a clothes cabinet, and a balcony. Nate offered to help me locate the department store, bank, and cafe in the neighborhood.


Hallway to the bedrooms


My bedroom and balcony


The dining room


Living room


Living room with balcony in background


Kitchen


Living room from the other angle


Dining room, with a crib



The view from the apartment is interesting. I see mostly apartment buildings, with clothes drying from the balcony. The street is narrow and filled with cars, but it is not too crowded. There appears to be a staffed parking lot across the street. I haven't been on the roof yet. There are two old men that sit on the stoop of the building next to me and they have spent several hours there today.

Kids playing games across the street


Looking down Amir Street toward Mesaha


Parking lot across the street


Someone parks a pink Beetle down there


Straight ahead of the balcony



I spent a little while settling in and unpacking, and then Nate brought me to get a new key and show me the city. The street layout of the neighborhood is not very intuitive. The most noticeable landmarks were store signs and storefronts, since every building and alley looks the same.

Nate took me to the key and plumbing shop, which was a few blocks away. It was essentially a cement garage full of plumbing supplies and keys, with a register in the middle. In fact, a lot of the stores I saw were essentially garage-type structures, without any sort of weatherproofing or finished interior. However, there were many convenient places within a few minutes of my apartment: a couple Western banks, several cafes, electronics stores, a butcher, a department store, a McDonald's, a Pizza Hut, and convenience stands.

After getting my key, Nate brought me out of Doqqi, across the Nile by Gezira, and into Downtown and Tahrir Square. The city itself is crowded, but no more so than Chinatown or Wall Street in New York. I noticed only 1 Westerner in Doqqi, but many more once we were in Gezira and Downtown.

The only part that was especially shocking was crossing the street. There are no street lights and no sidewalks, so you just cross 3 or 4 lanes of constantly moving traffic. The drivers slow down when they see you crossing, but you are often within a few inches of a car. There are some policemen who direct traffic at the major intersections.

We ate at a place Nate suggested in Downtown; I don't remember the name. There were two groups of Western tourists in there, but everyone else was Egyptian. Nate suggested I order the pigeon, so I did. It was pretty good, like dark meat of a chicken, though there were far more bones than meat.

On the way back, we took the Cairo Metro from Sadat to Doqqi. The metro is very clean, very intuitive, and only 1LE per trip (about $0.18 USD). In that respect, it is better than the NYC subway. The downside is the fact that there are only 2 lines. I don't know the city well enough to say whether or not that is adequate.

The metro is about a 5 minute walk from my apartment. When we got back to the apartment, I finally got a (weak) wireless Internet signal from somewhere so I could update this.

Later, Nate invited me to come along with him to see a concert. We traveled to Downtown via cab, and I think our driver hit the car in front of us along the way. We first went to an ahwa, a coffeeshop, which serve a significant social purpose in Cairo. They are as popular as bars in America, but they serve coffee, tea, sheesha (to smoke), and some specialty drinks. Some are primarily for men, but the one we went to had women and a few Westerners. It is completely unlike an American cafe.

The one we went to consisted of chairs and tables on the side of a dirt road. Waiters come out of the stand where they prepare your drinks and take your orders. It was literally in the middle of the road, as several cars drove through a small space between one side of the ahwa and the other. I ordered ahwa, or coffee, with sugar. Regular ahwa is known as Turkish coffee. It comes in a small shot glass and is extremely thick in texture. It is almost as if you were to drink finely ground coffee with a few drops of hot water. I ordered mine with sugar. It is completely different from Western coffee, but very tasty nonetheless and will have it again sometime.

A few of Nate's friends arrived afterward. The ahwa is a pretty calm place. People enjoy their beverages, smoke, and talk, without any sense of urgency. Unlike an American cafe, I did not see anyone reading or doing work. They appeared to just sit and relax. The prices were quite cheap.

Afterward, we went over to the concert. It was at a place known as the Townhouse, which is like a local arts guild. It appeared to be quite fashionable and artsy. There were about 75 people in the theater, and it was filled to capacity. After it began, it turned out it wasn't a concert as we had thought. It began with an interpretative modern art performance, and was followed by a series of several skits. I do not enjoy modern performing art. I also didn't understand but a few words of the skits. However, the set and performance technology was rather impressive.

Afterward we took a cab back to our street. The cab driver got lost along the way, so it took an extra 10 minutes longer than it would have, but I got to see parts of Doqqi I hadn't yet seen.

Crossing the bridge near Gezira


Somewhere along the streets in Doqqi



That's all for the day. I'm pleased with the apartment and the neighborhood and glad I got here without much hassle. I am at ease with the city, although communicating with people is going to be very difficult and awkward. Even after studying fusha for a few semesters, the phrases used in conversation are hard to get used to. The big advantage is that I can read all the signs. I don't know many of the words on the signs, but I can pronounce mostly everything and learn from context what they mean.

Tomorrow I will head to AUC. I am going to get up early to try to take the bus from Zamalek or Downtown, as I'm not sure if the bus will be stopping in Doqqi.

Right now my priorities are to get to AUC successfully, get all the "new student" business squared away, and familiarize myself with the campus. I signed up for the Survival Arabic course which begins tomorrow, but I haven't gotten a confirmation of it and I haven't paid, so I'm not sure if I'm enrolled. After that is done, I want to get some groceries and convert some more currency, preferably tomorrow. Then I can consider some more things, like locating the best stores to get household goods, the best grocery stores, a church, a good coffee place, some parks, and other things.