Egyptian Nightlife, late night cafe culture (Part III of III)

Now my three part series on Sharm El-Shaik comes to an end, with this somewhat long post. This post has been a long time coming, and covers not only Sharm El-Shaik, but all of my time in Cairo. It has required much "research", going out late at night until the wee hours. My thanks to Ahmed, who has been invaluable in this regard.

The Cairo skyline at night, Cairo Tower in the middle

The biggest difference between Egypt and back home is that alcohol is generally a no-no, while not illegal, it carries a heavy social stigma. It has three major replacements: coffee(Turkish and Normal), cigarettes and Shisha (aka Hubbly-Bubbly back home). In addition to discussing them, I think I will describe my nights out in Sharm el-Shaik, as well as the difference between Egyptian and um, normal coffee-shops (cafes).

Me smoking Shisha (with the Nile in the background), not one of my best moments

First let me discuss Shisha (aka Hookah). Technically it is a water based pipe for smoking, usually tobacco of some type. Since the tobacco smoke passes through the water before inhaled, it becomes moist and becomes less harsh on the tongue (apparently, I don't have any points of comparison). It is really common in Egypt (although it originates in India), it is as common as tea and coffee is in any social situation. I'm not sure I enjoyed it - it made me rather dizzy and pretty nauseous, although I did feel rather relaxed (that could have been because I was finally blending in).
Cigarettes and Coffee come in a close second to Sisha in terms of popularity. The Egyptians smoke like chimneys (not quite as bad as Italians, but close), although the government is starting to crack down on the practice. Cigarette prices are a lot lower than South Africa, although I don't recognise any of the big brands, so they might be of a lower quality. Coffee comes in Turkish and regular varieties. Turkish coffee makes you knurd (well, its Discworld equivalent), according to Terry Pratchett, the far side of sober, and I completely agree. I don't remember much of my knurd time, but I came to with several empty bottles of water around me, and a bad feeling about the ANC conference. I will and try acquire some of this substance when I get back to South Africa, it is in a word, awesome.

The Naguib Mahfouz Coffee Shop, a rather classy Egyptian Coffee Shop in Khan al-Khalli (see the shopping post)

The next topic is naturally the location of where these substances and practises are observed and abused. There are what are called Egyptian Coffee Shops, which date back about 200 years, and can be found on many a street corner. They vary in furnishing (usually just some small, brass tables and chairs) and quality, but contain several common elements:

• Men Only - men go here to get away from their wives (hence most of the clientèle are older men), also there is usually a TV with sport on.
  
• Sisha and Black Tea are the order of the day - anything else is considered slightly wimpy for some reason
• Several Old guys will be lurking around any time of the day or night - this is to provide background noise. No one appears to understand them, really.

Inside one of the many cafes in Cairo

The other location that are increasing in popularity are cafes. If they sold alcohol, they would be upmarket pubs back home. They are popular with younger Egyptian people of both sexes, and form the backdrop of what is the Cairo social scene. An interesting mix of styles are available and incorporate everything from Mediterranean to Parisian to American motifs. One of my favourites was a French styled one, in what was once the Hotel Versailles (there is actually a surprisingly strong francophone influence in Egypt). All of these cafes provide the traditional Sisha, tea and coffee, along with often a spectacular array of culinary offerings and beverages, depending on the cafe's particular styling.

I apologise for the rather lopsided nature of this photograph of Naama Bay's main street at night (12am) from the Camel Bar's roof.

Finally I must cover the night life of Sharm El-Shaik. Being an international tourist spot, it invariably caters to foreigners who want to drink and then embarrass themselves on the dance floor. Besides the before mentioned beach bars, there are several well known night clubs (all of which only get going after 12am). I visited the one called Pacha on Sunday, and it is clearly modelled on Ibiza lines (The cover charge would make even a Capetonian baulk, and the drink prices were downright criminal). I was lucky enough to get the funky house night and all was right with the world (I even taught some Russians the Wetsuit). This explains the hangover I had during the trip to Ras Mohammad (the previous post, remember, honestly). Finally, I would like to express my deep-seated thanks to the African continent, somehow it has imbued me with a sense of rhythm (well, compared to the Russians).

Thus finishes my three part account of my trip to Sharm el-Shaik, with a little bit of Egyptian night life for free. I have left out quite a bit, but that was because me lying around on gorgeous beaches all day and swimming in a nice, warm ocean is boring to read about. I cannot thank Ismail enough for organising my little holiday, during my big holiday. I really enjoyed the rest.

Coming Soon: The Shoppers Guide to Egypt - my penultimate post, mostly about pretending to be a penniless refugee from war-torn Outer Mongolia (I got bored, OK?).

On Egyptian Society (Part II) - this one might be a while coming. Expect a lot of disjointed ramblings with little underlying merit to them.

Sharm El-Shaik, an Egyptian Seaside Resort (Part I of III)

The Beach Boardwalk, Naama Bay

I'm sorry for a week long lack of blogging, but I was finishing up some work (3D modelling, damn vector calculus), and then I was jetting off to Sharm El-Shaik, a renowned holiday spot. I was there from early on Saturday to late yesterday (Tuesday) and I must say that I had a very good time, lots of thanks to Ismail for sending me. My activities however can be summarised quite succinctly: beach, lying in the sun, drinking and watching BBC in varying degrees of anxiety(it was covering the Polokwane conference).

Palm trees next to crystal clear sea

More specifically I was staying in Naama Bay, a sort of tourism orientated enclave, to the North of Sharm El-Shaik. Sharm El-Shaik itself is on the Sinai Peninsula, the little bit of land that separates Africa from Asia. As I mentioned above, it is a popular tourist destination (Europeans and Russians mainly) and is a world famous diving spot. The mountainous interior of the Sinai peninsula is home to the Bedouin people (nomadic desert dwellers, well they used to be) and Sharm serves as a gateway to the peninsula. A point of interest is that the Bedouin were the inspiration for Frank Herbert's Fremen people in the Dune Science Fiction series. I did meet a few of them (a lot work around the resorts and beaches), but I couldn't tell them apart from the other Egyptians straight away(this could be a failing on my part), usually it came up when I asked them where they were from.

More of the beach front, one of the many seaside bars (a potentially dangerous combination)

I arrived early on Saturday morning (I took the 5 o'clock from Cairo, arrived in Sharm International at 6 o'clock). The sunrise was quite spectacular, rising over desert mountains. I appreciate all sunrises I see, considering that 6 o'clock approximates to my personal midnight. I got to my hotel, Hotel Karamare, a very nice resort with some unfortunate decoration, and had a power nap after watching some BBC(my hotel in Cairo only gets CNN). Upon waking I hit the hotel breakfast, which unfortunately for the hotel's profit margins, was a buffet. Once full of every conceivable type of breakfast, I went for a stroll around town, town being the seafront part of Naama Bay.

Something of a cross between a pigeon and a starling, chilling in a beachside cafe

Naama Bay is both unique and generic: it is full of souvenir shops (all called 'book stores' for some reasons, the only writing in sight is on the postcards), and really, I must admit that most of the souvenirs are awful (as in crimes against taste awful); the scenery however is amazing: palm trees, desert mountains, crystal sea and try as it might, the people trying to sell crap just can't do anything about that. The atmosphere of the town is also nice, extremely relaxed, lots of cafes and people sitting around doing nothing. In particular the beachside bars and restaurants managed to hit the right note, and definitely were a positive.

The shore of Sharm, as seen from the other side

After my wanderings around town, I lay on the hotel beach and swam in the warm sea. Being the Red Sea (now I only need to swim in the Arctic and Antarctic seas), it is quite warm although it seem a bit saltier than what I was used to(I was probably imaging this). That night, after another exercise in profit margin shrinking at the buffet, I decided to take the nightlife by storm. But that is another story.

Coming Soon: Egyptian Nightlife (Part II of III), Cairo cafes, Sharm El-Shaik clubs, Seesa, funky house music and Russians, all the gory details.
Rus Mohammed (Part III of III), I snorkel around one of Egypt's only Nature Reserves, home to colourful reefs and mangroves, plants that live off salt water.