Islamic Cairo - An Open-Air Museum in the Egyptian Capital, Cairo, Egypt

“So, tell me honestly, what is your opinion about Islam?”, the guide asked. We were a group of five women, on our way to visit and tour Islamic Cairo. The guide was a young guy with a tendency for the theatricals. And I was not about tel tell him what my true feelings were about Islam. Or for any religion for that matter. But how could any of us, young Western women, have any positive feelings towards a religion that treats the female gender so badly? Or at least that’s how you would see it from a western pair of eyes. And how I have felt visiting Islamic countries too. Our guide for the morning was a young Muslim man, who was trying to be funny to impress the foreigner ladies. I don’t want to be too harsh - he was quite nice and a great guide. Yet, as a woman, I know when I’m being charmed. Or at least, when people are trying to do so. It’s just too obvious.

This tour wasn’t in our plans, originally. I knew Cairo was a big city, but I still managed to be impressed by it, and somehow caught by surprise by how spread apart different points of interest were. Since I was on an organised tour, I had barely researched the city - I knew I wanted to visit the Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids in Giza. Turns out, we ended up having more days in Cairo than expected, due to a last-minute change in itinerary. This meant we had more time in Cairo than we thought, and looking back I see this was for the best. There is a lot to do in this city, and exploring its own history is one of them. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).