Survival & Maintenance
Dress codes – to Bling or Not to Bling?
Exercise opportunities, tailors, dry cleaners, hair & beauty salons, travel agents, airport transport &, travel tips

Spas & Salons

•  The Daniela Steiner Spa at the Four Seasons Cairo at the Nile hotel offers
    fullscale (and pricey) pampering
•  The day spa in the Marriott Zamalek
•  Tarek Nail Centre in Dokki at 47 Michel Bakhoum St, Tel 374 87422; in
  Maadi at 73, Road 9, below Pizza Hut tel 23583385; and Heliopolis at 5 El
  Hegaz St (infront of Merryland) Tel 225 81605.  www.tareknail.com
•  Ahmad and Abdou, for hair.  Despite being a chain (like Frank Prevost in
  Dubai), it is one of ChI’s favourites. Outlets in the City Stars Mall Heliopolis,
  the Salam Hotel Mohandesseen
•  Muhammad El Saghir, in Zamalek, in the Marriott, and in Heliopolis.  Good
  for nails too.
•  Lazartigue in the First Mall, Giza.

 

Dry Cleaners

•  The big hotels have it.
•  Try the Marriott and the Hilton, which both have good dry cleaners which
  won’t generally chew up your clothes.
•  There are neighbourhood dry cleaning outlets, but its up to you if you really
  want to chance your precious goodies to them…..you may strike lucky, or
  you may face a badly shrunken garment with no resemblance to what you
  brought in!

 

Cosmetics

All the international brands can be found at Filopater Palace, in the outlet in the Four Seasons First Mall.

 

Travel Agents

•  Swan Travel Agents for luxury tour company boats up the Nile.  They get
  very booked up in winter (peak season) in particular, so reserve early.  Boats
  travel up the Nile in a sort of caravan, and at moorings, you often have to
  walk across other people’s boats to reach your own! (A great way of
  checking out whether yours is the best one or not, though!)
•  Thomas Cook, for travel within Egypt (and beyond!)

 

Climate

You know this, right? But, just in case… Cairo has a desert climate which means a huge drop in temperature at night.  And, in December to March, it can be pretty cold, rainy, windy and miserable.  So dress accordingly, as private homes are almost always unheated.

 

Dress Codes

Over the years, it is clear that more and more Egyptian women of all backgrounds are covering up.  Tourists (and ChI’s) can do as they wish – but ChI’s may prefer to wear long sleeves, cover their rear ends, and to avoid short skirts.  Women (of all nationalities, and whether veiled or uncovered) are routinely harassed on the streets, so walk tall, walk confident and stay cool.  Interestingly, despite seeing more women in hijab, you still see men and women walking down the street hand in hand.

 

Customs

(Of the cultural sort….!)  Unlike in Dubai, which is pretty much a smoke-free zone in public places, Egyptians are chainsmokers.  Non-smokers will definitely suffer – so be warned!  Not much you can do about it except endure or sit in the open air.

But, ChI’s (whatever their smoking inclinations) will definitely be saved by the indomitable and irrepressible sense of humour of the Egyptian people, which is surely part of their ability to survive the challenges around them.

 

Reliable Airport Transport

Limousine Bank Nasser (yes, really!) offers a cheaper-than-most (by about 50%), reliable airport transport service.  Not the newest model Mercs, but Mercs none the less, and pretty cool!  Tel. 021 245 13996.

In town, radio cabs are good but tend to get booked up in the evenings, so call ahead….

 

“Comfort Blankets & “Clutching at Straws”

•  TGI Friday in Roxy Square Heliopolis
•  KFC (everywhere)
•  Starbucks (everywhere)
•  Kitkat Square – just for the name – in Embaba.  Named after the KitKat Club
  of the 40’s, though the area has become more “popular” in character – ie
  shanties – and has seen riots and sectarian political clashes in recent years.
•  If your particular yearning for designer Paris, there’s a Kenzo outlet near the
  Four Seasons in Giza, and a good Max Mara in Dokki(!)  Not forgetting a
  Mango outlet in City Stars Mall, too….