Fayoum Pottery Festival - Izbet Tunis (Tunis Village)

In December, a group of us hired a microbus and went for a day visit to the Fayoum Pottery Festival.
I have been to the Fayoum before, but nothing prepared me for the village of Izbet Tunis, it's so beautiful!

It is about 140km out of Cairo and is on the southern edge of Lake Qarun.

There are many pottery makers based in the town and for the 3 days of the festival, they were holding 'open house' displaying their wares.

Here's a video I put together of some of my photographs of the day:



There are some places to stay.  I didn't stay overnight, but Doris Frei has a little place called "The Little Swiss Oasis" where she has a 1 double guest room available - currently 350LE per night for 2 persons, breakfast is 45LE per person.  If you just want to say hello, she has a small, pretty cafe area for teas, coffees and cakes.  If there are a few of you visiting, she can arrange additional accommodation in the village. Update 14/3/2014: Doris' website has been unavailable for sometime now (many months) so it may be that she no longer runs the B&B or indeed is no longer there. 

If you wanted to spend a few days in the area, you can also visit Wadi Rayan waterfalls, Wadi Hitan (where there are prehistoric whalebones in the desert) and Greek and Roman ruins.

Here's a link to my post about my trip to Wadi Rayan back in 2009.

http://oldbagofcairo.blogspot.com/2009/07/trip-to-wadi-rayan.html

And here are some links to further information about the area:

Links: (Links checked and replaced where necessary Feb 2012)

TourEgypt article about Greek and Roman ruins

Further info about Lake Qarun

photos of the area from 1999

PDF 5.3MB DOWNLOAD Official guide to Wadi Rayan and Fayoum Area

(The original link to this guide is defunct so I found a copy on my computer and have uploaded it here. If anyone in officialdom would like to contact me if this is not ok, please let me know.)

Helnan Auberge Hotel at Lake Qarun, Fayoum

Just in case - contingency plan - useful links

Everyone's aware of the situation in Tahrir and other cities around Egypt right now.  The protests are geographically confined to quite small areas at present, and life is pretty normal in most other areas, albeit somewhat economically depressed.

Elections are due to start on Monday and over the next 3 Mondays.  The powers that be are pretty adamant they are going ahead.  In any case, there is a possibility that things might become a little heated.

Some of the big British companies (and I assume other nationalities) have offered their employees 'early Christmas holidays' and have done or are flying them out in the next few days.

The British Embassy sent round a document tonight as an email attachment on being prepared, I copy the text at the bottom of this post.  But first some links and other notes:

USEFUL LINKS

British Citizens LOCATE service:  https://www.locate.fco.gov.uk/locateportal/

American Citizens Smart Traveler service: https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/

British Embassy in Egypt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ukinegypt

US Embassy in Egypt Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USEmbassyCairo

If there are similar services for other countries, please feel free to post relevant links in comments (comments are moderated before publishing to avoid spam).

PETS

I would also ask if you have pets to please try and make adequate arrangements for their care in the event that you have to leave.  There were some tragic pet tales during Revo 1.0  where pets were abandoned by owners or left locked in apartments with no food or water.  Unfortunately, I have to advise that the British authorities (DEFRA) were utterly intransigent on the matter of pets having to fly cargo (I phoned them on behalf of others) - which takes pre-arrangement and would be impossible in an airlift. They were not even prepared to contemplate people taking their pets on planes and having them received by quarantine officials and taken straight to quarantine even though (I believe) you can take pets into the UK with no vaccinations providing that they do go straight to quarantine under usual regulations.  Utter jobsworths in my opinion.  

Quarantine regulations for the UK are changing on January 1st BUT until then, pets coming in from Egypt are still technically required to serve 6 months quarantine (though there is some suggestion that for pets already in quarantine on January 1st who satisfy some conditions, this may be relaxed).  Even when regs change, your pets are STILL REQUIRED to have had various paperwork and treatments 6 months before entering the country.  If you want to take your pets, please get them prepared in advance 'just in case' and you can take them hand to several European countries if that suits you better eg Italy, Spain, Germany - I think - check with the airlines for up to date information. You can take pets in on the Eurotunnel but NOT EUROSTAR from Europe so long as the paperwork is in order.

HOW DID THE DIFFERENT EMBASSIES / EMPLOYERS  PERFORM IN REVO 1.0?

See this article by One Fleeting Glimpse for her round up! 

http://www.onefleetingglimpse.com/2011/02/important-lesson-learned-about-living.html

After reading her report, you will realize the truth that the majority of Embassies are NOT THERE for their citizens but to represent the country's interests. Not the same thing!

See this forum of International teachers for how different employing schools performed:

http://internationalschoolsreviewdiscuss.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/egypt-current-teacher-status-job-seeker-advice/

If anyone has any links to other information about how different employers performed (that is in the public arena), please post in the comments! No libellous posts please!

British Embassy Cairo

Contingency planning tips for businesses and organisations

It is better to be proactive in the event of the security situation should deteriorate.   Here is a list of possible tasks you can prepare in advance:

·         Ensure yours and your family’s  passport is current.   If your immediate family members are not British nationals ensure that they have valid and up to date travel documents for the country of their nationality. During a crisis, UK passport or visa services may be extremely limited, which could make leaving with your non-British national family members more complicated.

·         Firstly register with us on Locate and keep your registration up to date. Ensure you include all your contact details including a landline. Those registered with Locate at the moment are receiving prompt and regular email updates. 

·         Stock up on food and water sufficient to last for at least one week, in the event that you are unable to leave your home.

·         Ensure that all vehicle and domestic generator fuel supplies are as full as possible.

·         Check serviceability of vehicles and generators.

·         Check serviceability of communications equipment.

·         Have a reserve of funds at your office and/or home

·         Confirm that you have sufficient medical supplies.

·         Know who your warden is and check means of communication with them and British Embassy.

·         Prepare small holdall of:

a)      Passports

b)      Essential papers: e.g. birth/marriage certificates, chequebook, title deeds, etc

c)       Vaccination certificates

d)      Valuables

e)      Clothes and cash to cover a period of crisis away from home.

·         Read and follow our travel advice and information.  You should be aware that your insurance may no longer be valid if you do not follow our travel advice.

·         If you are here as a tourist, take out adequate travel insurance.  Expats should assess and consider the risks against any personal or corporate insurance policies.

·         If you are with a company or an organisation, find out what their contingency plans are, and what they will provide for you.

·         Be prepared to leave the country at the earliest opportunity, in line with our travel advice. This may be complex if you are a permanent resident with family or business interests in the country. However, if you do not, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to assist you to leave the country at a later stage.

·         Monitor the media for updates and be alert to rapid developments at all times.

·         Monitor the Embassy website (http://ukinegypt.fco.gov.uk )and Embassy Facebook site.  We will keep in touch with you via the wardens network, LOCATE, UKinEgypt website, via the British Business Group and the UKinEgypt  Facebook site.

·         If you manage a business or organisation ensure you have the contact details for your staff and that you set up a telephone tree to cascade information.

Visit to Dreamland Ecostation - 29th October 2011

We gathered outside Bahgat Stores area in the carpark just before Dreampark.

First, we were shown the dramatic improvements made over the past 12 months to the formal beds in the area by Monsieur C's team.






Techniques such as mulching and using small pebbles or gravel to help retain water and reduce the demand for watering have been introduced which can only be of benefit in this region, both in terms of available resource and financially.

We then filled all available cars and moved to the composting area. This was amazing. The compost heaps range in long lines – maybe 50m or more in length – and are around 1m high. The major component is vegetation from the gardens of Dreamland residential area, almost all of which is now being brought to the ecostation for processing. Before the team were awarded the contract, the waste was taken away by contractors and simply burned.




There have been some learning curves to be gone through about the type of rubbish which can be used in the station and the message is gradually getting through that plastic and other types of non-organic and non-plant matter cannot be used.

At the moment, the work is all done by hand.



The team. They said they were happy to be working on the station and believed they were doing something important.

The heaps are turned manually.



They are moved a metre or so to the side, thereby aerating the compost helping it to decompose faster.



At present, using manual labour only, it takes around 6 months to produce suitable compost. With a machine, the compost could be turned more frequently and the time could be reduced to 3 months.

The only machine at present is a silage machine. Silage machines chop up the plant material into small pieces. The machine proved a great hit with the children, but it should be pointed out that these machines can be lethal – several adults in the UK have met a grisly end in these sorts of machines - and children should absolutely NOT be left alone unsupervised with one.




We were encouraged to thrust our hands deep into the heaps just to feel the heat generated as nature does her work.




To make things more interesting for the children, a competition to find as many different types of insect as they could was held.




We then stepped over to the golf course for a break. We hadn’t thought of bringing a picnic, but it would have been a great spot!




Some bird watching took place with the children challenged to identify five different varieties. Some papier mache bird boxes were available. Apparently, bird boxes can only take one family before they need to be specially cleaned out.



After the break, we went back to the compost area and checked out the plant beds. Monsieur C. introduced the children to the joys of gardening and they seemed to enjoy it.






Bags of fresh compost were handed out to those who wanted them and the visit drew to a close.
More photos of the day, particularly of the birds and insects seen, can be found on the Egypt Lifescape Blog

This was a very interesting visit. The operation is currently bootstrapping, and the majority of the costs are labour (and of course occupation cost of the land - I believe the owners of the Dream estate don't charge for the use but I may be wrong).

The concept would be very simple to extend to any of the new developments springing up all around Cairo and in other parts of Egypt.

At present, the Dreamland Ecostation is at full capacity for a manual operation and to be able to take in more organic matter and drive up the rate of compost production, some machinery will be needed.

Education into the techniques used to propagate this idea is also necessary.



Photos watermarked using :  Batch Photo Watermarker

Ecology in Cairo - 29th October visit Dreamland Ecostation

Urban nature activities organized by Real Life Farmville and Dreamland eco-station for kids and their parents!!!!

Activities
• Tour of the eco-station (let’s understand how Dreamland recycles its green wastes!)
• Insect & other small animal- safari (survey on biodiversity in the eco-station)
• Bird-watching initiation (bring your camera & binoculars, books on birds)
• Compost distribution (every visitor can carry home the compost he needs for his plants and vegetable garden – don’t forget to bring a container – bag, can)
• Vegetable gardening session (every visitor can learn how to do a garden and also take home few seeds to start a garden!)

Date: 29 of Oct. from 9:30am to 1pm at Dreamland Eco-station
Meeting point : Dreamland Mall parking


More information about the projects here:


http://egyptlifescape.blogspot.com/

Cairo sensory input

Sometimes sensory input other than through the 10.1" screen and the headphones is necessary.

I had a great day of sensory input yesterday riding the big old Egyptian buses and the metro and mooching around the ancient market streets full of traditional spices, oils, fruits and modern Chinese cheapo rubbish! All the mosque azzans going of at slightly different times! Cacophony! Such contrasts!

I bussed and metroed up to the city from my home and met my friends at Orabi metro.  We walked over to Turgoman to check some bus details, then along to a koshari and pasta joint for a fine repast.  Decisions made, we returned to Turgoman for yours truly to purchase a ticket for a night bus for my next cross-Egypt journey (for my first post-revolution 'adventure'!) before repairing to Ramses for train details and ticket purchasing for my friends' onward journeys.

After that, we taxied over to Khan El Khalili and partook of liquid refreshment of the chai variety at an qwha where one of my friends was known to the proprietor and sadly found out that a trip to Tanta to meet a Sufi master was to be held on Friday but she was leaving Cairo on Thursday.  My friends went for a visit to Al Husseiny mosque but I didn't accompany them as I have been before and let's just say didn't feel I needed to repeat the experience.  It was right on prayer time so one of my friends stayed for that.

We then took a very long walk back through the Tentmakers' area, back through to Attaba where my friends were staying - checked the net to see if there was any music at Makan that night, but there wasn't.  Off to Talaat Harb and the touristy but nice Falfelas for tameya, omlette, and other things I can't remember the name of.

Back down the Talaat Harb to Tahrir where I descended to the metro and continued my homeward -journey.

We saw some people gathered on the central roundabout at Tahrir but nothing untoward appeared to be happening.  If we hadn't known about the tragic incidents of Sunday, as three foreigner-women, we wouldn't have 'guessed'.  We didn't pick up any bad atmospheres at all.  One man who had given us directions at one point asked us if we felt safe in Cairo, and we did.

If you are in Cairo, just play a bit safe, keep away from any obvious demonstrations or random large gatherings of people.  We didn't go into the Khan El Khalili itself, but there were tourists around including one coach load of people who looked as if they were all about 90 years old and none of them looked alarmed about anything (such as can be detected through a bus-window anyway!)

10th-11th October 2011: Curfew 2am to 7am introduced

Following today's incidents where at least 19 people have been killed and 150 injured in clashes between protestors and  authorities in the Maspero/Tahrir area, a curfew has been announced tonight from 2am to 7am.

I am not clear of the extent of it, but it's probably safest to assume that it applies generally until it becomes more clear.
Apparently the curfew will apply to Tahrir up to Abbasiya.
Live updates on the situation from this link:
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/503384

Egyptian mobile phone numbers changing from October 6th 2011

Update 7th October 2011: If you are calling or texting someone from an Egyptian phone, they will receive the call or message for now, BUT contact information is lost so they will not know who is calling or who is texting (unless they have edited all their contacts).
PLEASE SIGN TEXTS WITH YOUR NAME SO THEY KNOW WHO IT IS FROM!

New mobile phone numbers will be 11 digits long, up from 10 at present.
There will be a 4 month overlap period when you can use the old and new formats.

Egyptian mobile phone numbers to change from 6th October 2011

Etisalat 

Current 10 digit numbers, which all start 01, will take an extra 1. They will now begin 011

Current 11 digit numbers, which all start 0152, will change the 5 to a 1. They will now begin 0112

Mobinil

Current 10 digit numbers, which start 01, will add a 2. They will now begin 012

Current 11 digit numbers, which start 0150, will replace the 5 with a 2. They will begin 0120

Vodafone 

Current 10 digit numbers, which start 01, will add a 0. They will now start 010

Current 11 digit numbers, which start 0151, will replace 5 with 0. They will start 0101

Pictorial display of the changes:

I saw this on Facebook, but I don't know the original source of this graphic.  If the originator contacts me, I will be happy to make due reference.

The phone providers are probably going to supply you with tools to change the numbers automatically from 6th October, so don't panic into changing them all manually just yet!

Important entry visa news - now you see it now you don't

11TH SEPTEMBER 2011:  STOP PRESS - EGYPTIAN CABINET REVERSES THIS DECISION!

Changes to Tourism Visa Suspended

Changes to visa regulations suspended

Changes to tourist visa revoked


So let me see, yesterday I received an email from the British Embassy saying:


" We have spoken to the Immigration Ministry today, who tell us that it is not correct that you can no longer buy visas on entry.  They tell us that they have no new instructions and that nothing has changed."

Yet, it was in fact true, the decision had been made, but following the hue and cry has been reversed.

One is shaking one's head and tutting!

NOTE THAT THIS INFORMATION BELOW IS NO LONGER (WELL TODAY ANYWAY!) RELEVANT!!!

Independent travellers to Egypt please note:

In the pipeline - visitors to be required to get visas before entering Egypt not on arrival

Please be aware if you are planning to visit Egypt and get an entry visa upon arrival at the airport, it is reported that this is likely to change.

According to this link:

Egypt requiring tourists to get visas in advance

this may kick in as early as NEXT WEEK.  Be advised especially if you are planning to travel here very soon.

El Korba Festival 2011 POSTPONED

Stop Press - El Korba Festival 2011 due to take place 1st July is POSTPONED

source: AHRAM - El Korba Festival 2011 POSTPONED

The news is that the El Korba Festival will be held on 1st July 2011 - Baghdad Street, El Korba, Heliopolis.

I urge you to keep updated on this as the date has already moved once!

Guest Post: Cairo Pet Owners by cairopets.com

Hello Cairo Pet Owners!

It's a sunny day in Zamalek and I'm working on my pets website, www.cairopets.com

I'm a journalist and (bad) playwright from New York living in Cairo.  I have one fabulous dog that I brought with me. She's lived in NYC, New Orleans, Dublin and now Cairo. Lulu is better traveled than many people I know? I also have two cats that my partner and I adopted from the mean streets of Maadi.

Dogs, Cats, Horses and More in Cairo

Having lived here over a year, I've struggled a bit to find good vets, pet shops, kennels and other services for my dog and cats. To fill the need, I've created a website that aims to put all the info on one handy site; cats, dogs, birds, horses and others.  There are forums for pet-owners to talk to each other, extensive listings for vets and pet shops, kennels, plus a place to review the services that you have used.  Everyone wants to find a good vet - it is great to see how others before you have fared with a certain practice.

Animal Welfare and Volunteering in Cairo

Animal welfare issues are high on my list of priorities too. Using my experience as a volunteer coordinator, I have created a volunteer program at S.P.A.R.E., a local animal shelter. There are opportunities to travel with a group out to the location and spend some time at the clinic, doing some chores and playing with the animals. S.P.A.R.E. is a fantastic organization and with a bit of help could become a great resource for helping animals.

As our program grows, I hope to include camels, donkeys and other animals in the project. I am aiming to raise awareness about the needs of all animals in Egypt.

There are lots of resources out there, it is just a matter of finding them! I also hope to roll out a few new services in the next six months: Ordering supplies online, homemade dog and cat food and a few other features.

Cat and Dog Services

The other pet problem in Cairo? People who offer services have a hard time telling people about what they offer. www.cairopets.com has an inexpensive classified ads section where dog walkers, dog sitters, cat sitters and others can let owners know that they are available for hire.

Creating www.cairopets.com was an act of love by a person who loves animals. I am hopeful that it will make it just a little bit easier to care for a pet in this great city. If you have a listing that we don't have, let us know and we'll put it up. Please email me with feedback or any questions. We'll be happy to find the answer for you!

info@cairopets.com

A few comments on Cairo at the moment (late March 2011)

If you are in Cairo **right now** (29th March - 1st April inc), there's a free exhibition of photographs from the revolution - only open until (and including) Friday 1st April at the small gallery at the Opera House - just round the corner from the ticket office. Nearest metro "Opera" - walkable from Tahrir.  Opening times 10am - 2pm and 430pm - 830pm.

Yesterday (March 28th), I was out and about with 2 female visitors from different European countries. We travelled on buses, microbuses, the metro. We visited Tahrir, City Stars and the Opera House grounds.  We experienced almost no 'tourist' hassle (just a bit of 'see our tours' 'where you from' type stuff), and no harassment, unpleasantness of any kind. People were welcoming, helpful and polite.

Things to note:

Ramses railway station (main station in central Cairo) is undergoing a lot of building work.  It is open, but is a little chaotic.  If you are meeting people there or travelling from there, allow extra time to find your way into the station - you will have to navigate around the construction sites.  Also note that we could not find any toilets or any sit-down cafes (though plenty of refreshments for sale on the platform where trains to Luxor leave from) on the station, so do bear this in mind.

The Railway Museum is currently closed, we were told for around 2 months from now.

The Egyptian Museum appears to be open but we were just walking past, not attempting to go in.

The central Tahrir area where the peace camp was has been cleared (which happened on March 9th) and various potted plants have been placed around there.

The Museum of Modern Art and Palace of Arts are both closed.  We were told Palace of Arts should be reopening on Sunday 3rd April. Don't know about the Museum.

Not sure whether there is a program operating at the Opera House at the moment, didn't see any posters up and the ticket office was closed by the time we arrived. There is a schedule online http://www.cairoopera.org/ecalendar/index.aspx

As at 4th April 2011, the following were also still shut:

Abdeen Palace
Islamic Museum of Art

Visit to see horses and camels at Nazlet Al Saman (Pyramids)

NOTE: This is a personal note based on my own observations. I am not a vet. This is not any kind of report - vets for different charities are writing these.

PERSONAL SUMMARY: The situation is not as dire as you may believe from the internet (which is not to say there aren't problems, because there are - there have been ongoing concerns about the condition of many of the animals there which long predate the current political situation). Donations are needed for ongoing medical treatment and food for the poorer folk. The charities are hoping to work there on an ongoing daily/near daily basis for the next 3-4 months. If tourism does not begin to pick up then things could deteriorate.

(UPDATE 14/2: I have now seen the vet's report for the day and it does say that he was informed by a local person that the number of horses dying had increased from starvation. There are also concerns about the nutritional content of the food at this time which is laying the animals open to catching other illnesses).

VISIT

Following the furore on the internet in the past couple of days over the plight of the horses and donkeys (but strangely not the camels!) at the village of Nazlet al Saman at the foot of the Pyramids, I went along today to see for myself.

I went to the ESAF /Brooke Hospital station outside Ramsis Stables. Got there around 10am - they were already in full swing. I took over from one of the vets recording the animals being treated (owner, diagnosis, treatment) and did that for about 3 hours.

The Brooke people treated horses and the ESAF people treated the camels and also some horses and a donkey. The Donkey Sanctuary is treating donkeys elsewhere in the vicinity. I understand that the ESMA charity is also working in the area.

By around 1pm, about 400 animals (I think all street animals) were treated at that station, mainly horses and camels, and mainly for mange, worms and lameness.

One person went up to visit the graveyard - subject of many photos on the net in the past 2 days - and another person I met later in the day by accident and nothing to do with the 'situation' said that anyone who rides regularly in that area knows that this is the horses' graveyard. Basically, if a horse dies - and one of the stable owners told us there are around 7000 horses living in that area so there are naturally deaths - it is left out in that area for nature to take it's course, rather than removing and burying the carcasses.

A vet and another person also visited the place where the horses which have been pictured as starving were living. The owner said that there is some kind of sickness up there (predating the political situation) but they don't know what it is, but they were not starving the animals. The vet invited him to bring the horses down to the treatment station.

The green stuff which is the staple food of most of the horses seemed to be very available, and apparently costs something like 35-40LE per 100kg. I saw truck loads of it being brought in so it is available.

The ESAF/Brooke effort will be ongoing daily for the next 30 days at least, possibly longer.

After the station closed for the day, we sat down drinking tea and some of the stable owners and others were talking about how they can bring animal rights into the new political agenda. Some were expressing concern about how the furore on the internet had conveyed the wrong impression that all the animals were sick and dying of starvation. We discussed getting a journalist in to cover the situation properly allowing all their say. But we all know that when there is a 'party line' it can be hard to find someone willing to go against it. Hopefully, a journalist can be found willing to do a proper investigation.

They were also very angry at being blamed for sending the horses and camels up to the demonstrations last week and were clear that it was not anyone from that area.

I asked one of the stable owners if his stables were nearby could we go and look, so we all reconvened over at his stables. They are livery stables where foreigners keep their horses and I saw some magnificent horses in excellent condition.

The conversation continued, but we did raise the issues of how best to help the animals - tourists please come back! - but also how to raise the general condition of the street horses and camels which are not based in stables. These are all things the people are discussing.

We know things were far from perfect there before the political situation, and now may be the time to start sorting these things out.

From my personal visit and a discussion with the staff, if you want to make donations then I would recommend that you specify for them to be spent on medicines or medical treatments. I don't know, but I imagine the routine mange and worming treatments are relatively inexpensive, but there were animals who will need ongoing antibiotic and other treatments which may be a lot more expensive.

On another point, a friend was telling an Egyptian friend (middle-class, well-educated, professional) of hers what was happening up there to be met once more with the 'why bother with animals when people are starving' response so common here. There was little acknowledgment that the animals being treated were working animals and peoples' livelihoods depend upon them.

There is a major awareness-building an education effort needs to go on here with the general public.

I have no photos as I wasn't sure what the situation was, I didn't take my
camera-phone with me.

Charities working in the area:

Egyptian Society of Animal Friends

The Brooke Organisation (Note that Brooke are not able to apply your donation to a specific project unless it is substantial)

The Donkey Sanctuary

Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals

How to get your Etisalat or Mobinil mobile phone topped up from abroad

One of the issues we have had to contend with over the past couple of weeks is (a) shortage of cash (ATMs completely empty in many parts of the city) and (b) shortage of mobile phone topup scratch cards which were simply unavailable for a while and which are now being sold at a high mark up - 10LE vodafone costs 13.5LE and 10LE etisalat costs 13LE. I don't know about Mobinil since I don't use that network.

Anyway, in case there are any problems getting hold of cash and/or mobile top-up scratch cards, I thought I would let you know how you can get a friend or relative to top up your Etisalat (and apparently Mobinil) phone from abroad if necessary (cash or scratchcard shortage). (Doesn't work for vodafone).

The person abroad can do it on www.prepaidunion.com and can get you 100LE for about 18 euros which is about £15 or $25. Once the credit is paid for, it should appear more or less instantaneously. Be sure to follow through ALL the screens. This is quite a high mark up but when cash is in short supply, the ability to not have to use cash is a huge bonus.

We have found the only way to do it is to get a Wall-e card and use that to pay. The site claims you can pay with credit card but haven't been able to make that work from either the UK or Egypt. Maybe different from the US? There are other methods listed on the site but I guess you have to have those things set up already.

Wallie cards can apparently be bought in shops such as WH Smiths or Clinton Cards though friends in the UK had difficulty - I think this is related to the ID requirements being so tortuous. The UK site for wallie cards is www.wallie.co.uk

They can be bought on line on a couple of on-line gaming sites, but they require evidence of ID and phone calls so again, can be difficult if you don't want to start emailing copies of passports or ID cards around the place!

Anyway, two of those on-line gaming sites are: www.offgamers.com and www.pcgamesupply.com

I had no joy buying from either of those from Egypt. The companies are both complete jobs worths - even if you are paying with verified PayPal, 3D security on credit cards, and even though I have spoken with my cc company in the UK and they are aware of the situation. Both companies wanted scans and emails of all sorts of things - passport, utility bills, credit cards - not good in a crisis. My friend buying from the UK just had to accept a phone call.

For some reason they refused to phone me on a UK mobile which I have with me or an Egyptian landline. One person here apparently had no problem but maybe he was able and willing to send scans of his passport and credit card to random strangers! Of course, with our internets blocked for 5 days we wouldn't have been able to do that anyway.

Might be worth you passing this on to friends/relatives out of the country.

PS - also worth noting that in Egypt you can transfer money from mobile to mobile (on the same network) so if you send topups to your friends in Egypt, they might be transferring it on to others - if you think they're using a lot ask if that's what they are doing.

Added 2nd October 2011:  apparently you can top up Egyptian Vodafone from abroad using this company: http://www.ezetop.com/countries/africa/egypt/vodafone/

PLEASE NOTE I HAVE NOT TRIED IT PERSONALLY!

Egypt Race for the Cure 23rd October 2010

This event organized by the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt was held on 23rd October 2010.

Yours truly, along with thousands of others, was a participant. It was a brilliant time, so glad we went! The atmosphere was fantastic.

5 of us met at Meridian Hotel and walked up to the Pyramids. When we got into the pyramids area, we were herded into buses and transported to the start line which was behind the pyramids in the area where you get to see the publicity shots of pyramids standing majestically isolated in a desert as opposed to plonk in the middle of a busy area of the city.

Some 'typically Egyptian' bits - they were waiting for the road between the pyramids and the start up on the plateau to clear of traffic - didn't seem to dawn on anyone that you actually have to stop all the coaches from coming along the road!

Thousands of people stretching from well behind me right round to the finish line.

Also, the route fell apart a bit near the end - it wasn't clear which way to go! But kudos to the organisers overall, we all had our t-shirts (white for most, pink for survivors, blue for workers), and at the end, you handed over your food voucher and got handed a bag containing water, 'juice', a small bag of chipsies and a small individual pizza.

The tourists on the coaches seemed a little bemused but a lot of them started waving and smiling when they clicked what was going on.

There were thousands of Egyptian women there, and we were also very pleasantly surprised at the number of Egyptian men who turned out to run the event - no reason why we should be given that Egyptian men have wives, mothers, sisters all subject to breast cancer (and of course men can get it too - I did see one guy in a 'survivors' pink t shirt.

Anyway, we did our mile in about 30 minutes walking like most of the rest of the people. One of our group did in fact run and it took her about 10 minutes being buffetted by crowds and buses!

It was a great day out and was good for me because I was ill and confined to barracks for nearly 2 months.  This was my first decent bit of exercise since August!

Coming to live in Cairo for a year - Summary

Having just made this huge post on another place in answer to someone's questions, I have copied it over here!

The original question related to some of the practicalities of actually being here for a year including the cost of living. Please note I have excluded accommodation discussions because my situation is a little different. The best advice is usually to get here and then look, not try to fix up from abroad.

What visa can I get?

The only visa you can get yourself in your own right - without being married to an Egyptian or without having a job with work permit - is 'touristic'. If you come into the country and get the usual 30 day effort at the Airport, then before 30 days is up, make your way to one of the places you can get a touristic visa - there may be one nearer where you end up living than Mogamma. You can ask for a one year visa but don't be surprised if they offer you a 3 month or 6 month instead.

What if I want to be able to leave Egypt and come back?

If you plan on leaving the country and coming back you MUST get a reentry visa before leaving Egypt otherwise your residency visa is cancelled when you leave. As far as I know, the only place you can get a reentry visa is Mogamma.

Can I get a work visa?

There is no such thing as a work visa. To work legally you need to get a job from an employer who offers a work permit. Or get married to an Egyptian, get the 5 year permanent residency, then have him go to Mogamma with you and sign papers saying that he assumes full responsibility for your work.

The position of 'freelancers' who are not confined to one employer is vague to say the least.

While many people are working here illegally, that choice is between you and your Maker! Just imagine if they had the equivalent of the Daily Mail here [Wink]

What about tax (in Egypt)

If you have a job with a work permit, then the employer should be paying your taxes. As we all know, there are companies which deduct the tax from your pay but don't in fact hand it over to the authorities.

What do I do about healthcare?

Healthcare - again, some companies will include it as part of a package, otherwise you're on your own. Having said that, paying private here is probably cheaper than getting health insurance if you are relatively fit. My view is, keep at least one of your UK credit cards with a big balance clear (well use it once a year so they don't close it!) just in case. A friend's husband had quadruple heart bypass and it cost something like 130000LE I seem to recall, just to give you some idea of an upper cap.

I did look into private health insurance and it would have cost about £40 per month when I looked (holiday insurance won't do btw!) - about 20% of my typical monthly expenditure. Total health care costs for me todate 'paying as I go' (including seeing cardiologist, neurologist, ECG, electrocardiogram, blood tests) in over 2 years = £35.

A trustworthy Egyptian friend has access to an account with some money set aside in it in case I ever get in a situation where medical care needs to be paid for quickly and when I am not in a position to be able to get to the ATM myself. I carry the friend's contact details on me just in case. (I think it's best if the emergency contact is an Arabic speaker!)

UK Tax

The UK has a double-taxation treaty with Egypt so if you are working here, money earned here is not subject to tax in the UK and vice versa (caveat - I am not a financial adviser, this is not advice and legislation may change at any time). (This isn't, say, the case for Canadians who have to pay tax on world wide income even if it is taxed in the other country!!!!!) Depending on your financial position back in the UK (eg are you going to be receiving rental income, savings income?) - you may still have to complete an annual tax return and there is a nice fat fine for not doing so. Call the Inland Revenue begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting and ask to register as 'non resident for tax purposes'. They are very helpful!

UK National Insurance

You have to pay 30 full years (under current legislation and if you are under, say, 50) to get full pension. You can make voluntary contributions if you want to keep up your record and if there's no danger of you going back - but you have up to 6 years after the relevant year to make voluntary contributions.

It's worth getting a statement from them as to how many years your record is - I was amazed to find I had 29 years in and so it's not worth me paying voluntary until much nearer the retirement age unless the rules change! (Apparently all the time I was at Uni, contributions were made for me by the State!)

(And btw even if you have got 30 years in - if you continue to work, you continue to have to pay NI so keep your eyes on the legislation in case the 30 years changes again and decide whether it's worth you paying voluntary).

Opening a Bank Account in Egypt

You can open one easily with a tourist visa + passport + credit card or similar from the UK. Unless or until you get a job, open a savings account. There are some very nice juicy interest rates here and most transactions are still done in cash.

You can open in more than one currency so, say, you could move sterling over here into a sterling account and just have it sit there and change it up when you need it or when exchange rates are good.

Your choice whether to go for a European-name bank (eg HSBC or Barclays or Credit Agricole or BNP Paribas or whatever) or an Egyptian bank eg Arab African or United Bank or whatever. Note that there are many banks with slightly different names!

How much does it cost to live here?

Not including accommodation costs: my monthly Opex - living expenses are about 2000LE averaged over the year: (including electricity (100), broadband (150), phone (25), gardener (130), 300LE for catfood, transport - mainly buses, microbuses and metro - I use taxis rarely - food, cleaning materials,toiletries, going out about once a week, mobile top ups etc).

You will find that I am probably at the lower end for an expat.

My vices are drinking gallons of milk (costs me around 200LE per month [Eek!] ) and my inability to go to Hyper1 without spending 40LE in Cilantros on iced white chocolate drinks. Hence I avoid going to Hyper more than once every 6 weeks. It is physically impossible for me to go in Cilantros and just have a coffee for 10). My name is OBC and I am a milkoholic.

The other thing you may want to factor in is a gym or similar. I joined a club way back when I first started coming here - before I moved here - offering a quick prayer - because the cost now would be way out of my reach. I haven't included the 'write down' of that in my monthly expenditures because it came out of 'capital'. (Sorry - too many years of corporate budget models!)

Full gory details of my 2008 costs are here: Gory Details

Finding somewhere to live

Here's a useful link for flats (apartments) and sharing. Obviously, keep your wits about you and don't do anything here you wouldn't do in your home country.

Expatriates.Com - Cairo Housing Classifieds

CAVEAT - ALL THE ABOVE IS MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND OPINIONS. I AM NOT A FINANCIAL ADVISER TAX ACCOUNTANT IMMIGRATION OFFICER LAWYER OR ACTING IN ANY OFFICIAL CAPACITY. SEEK QUALIFIED ADVICE IF ANY OF THE ABOVE AFFECTS YOU IN ANY WAY.

Cairo Metro - a few updates

I haven't posted for a while as I was away for a month and then since I got back, have been busy working on a project (which I hope to reveal soon!)

Anyway, yesterday I was out and about on the metro and thought I should highlight a few changes which have happened over the past 3-4 months for those of you who may not have used the metro for a while.

Women's Cars (carriages)

First thing to remind everyone is that for around 2 years now, the women's cars have been the two in the middle of the train, not the front one.  Some guide books and internet sites which have not been amended give the outdated information.  Also, as a reminder, women can travel in ANY car.  Men are not supposed to ever go in the ladies' car labelled in red, but can use the ladies' car labelled in green in the evenings.  Sometimes men accidentally get on them, and upon realising their error, look all embarrassed until they can get off and move down to the mixed cars.  I have witnessed police 'raids' a couple of times where they turf all the men out of the red-labelled ladies' car.

Since I returned from my trip, signs have been appearing on platforms showing the position of the ladies' cars more prominently.  Some stations have had them before, but written in Arabic and not obvious. Recently, quite a few stations have now got clear blue signs saying 'Ladies' on them - this is not indicating the location of toilets, but where you should stand for the Ladies' cars.

Getting on and off

Generally speaking, getting on and off the train is a bit of a scrum, especially in rush hour or at the most popular stations (Mubarak and Sadat - the two interchange stations).  However, for the past 3-4 months, posters have been going up in metro stations indicating that you should get ON to the train using the middle two sets of doors on each carriage and OFF the train using the end two sets of doors on each carriage.

So far, carriages on the Shubra/Giza line have been labelled accordingly with very clear signs, both inside and outside the carriages indicating whether you should be using that door to get on and off.  I first noticed these about 3 months ago, and I was amazed to note that where the carriages are labelled accordingly most people actual FOLLOW this!  Of course, occasionally if the carriage is very busy and there is no time to push down to the exit doors, people will still get off in the middle, and also if you are rushing for the train on at the ends. But, all in all, people are making an effort.  So far, all the labelling appears to be on the Shubra/Giza line only.  I haven't yet seen any El Marg/Helwan trains labelled up (though the posters are at stations for both lines so this will clearly be brought in eventually).

Travelling in the heat

Most of the trains I have travelled on - both lines - are air conditioned (or blowing cool air into the carriages through vents).  However, one day last week I was on an old Helwan metro and was amused to discover a very Egyptian solution to a problem which has baffled London Underground engineers for years - how to cool the carriages in hot weather ....

Yes, that is a fan stuck up there.  There were a number of them located around the carriage supplying a nice cool breeze.

So actually, using the metro in the hot weather is not as bad as it might be.

Cairo Metro

Metro stations can be found above ground by spotting the big red M on a blue background signs.



There are two lines (with a third under construction).  Shubra-Giza and El Marg - Helwan.  There are just two interchange stations at present, Mubarak - which is right under Ramses Main Train Station, and Sadat - which is the station at Tahrir - for Mogamma, Egyptian Museum, the AUC Downtown campus, and a number of other important places.


One thing to notice is that the names of stations given in many of the tourist maps and guides are NOT CORRECT.  Whether this is because stations may have been renamed at some point in the past 6-7 years or what, I don't know.  Also, new stations at the ends appear occasionally, for example, on the El Marg line, there's a new station appeared north of El Marg which isn't on the maps - it's called something like New El Marg.

Station names are all given in English letters as well as in Arabic so don't worry about that!


The stations are surprisingly clean. Trains are frequent and I haven't personally experienced a breakdown, though apparently there was one 2 years ago which made everyone 20 minutes late one day and was the subject of much comment and threats never to travel by metro again! (One 20 minute delay in how many moons?  20 minute delays were the daily norm on the jolly old Victoria LIne back when I were a working lass in London not so long ago!)

Time from El Giza to Sadat is around 15 minutes and El Giza to Mubarak, around 20 minutes. During the day, from El Giza up to Sadat and down to El Maadi is maybe 30-40 minutes.

The fare is 1LE for a single journey anywhere on the network - from one end to the other - crossing lines, or from one station to the next.  If you are going to be doing a lot of travel - eg study or work, then season tickets are available, though I think you have to be making 10 journeys a week for it to work out as worth it.

To buy a ticket, go down into the metro station and you will see ticket booths. You may be lucky and there may be no queue. Otherwise, you will have to push and shove your way to the front and deposit 1LE per ticket under the glass hatch and grab a ticket back again. If you are new to this, I suggest you try to pay the exact fare and not have to wait for change as people will just be pushing over you. Do NOT try and be polite and stand in a queue, otherwise you will be waiting for ever. Not a time to be shy.

To get access to the platforms, you have to push your ticket into a machine - like the ones on London Underground and on Paris Metro (I think - haven't travelled there for many years) - and it pops up on the other side - don't forget to take it and keep it! - and you can push through the turnstile bar.  To get back out of the station, you have to reenter your ticket - and this time the machine will keep it - so make sure you keep hold of your ticket while travelling!

At all the stations I have been to, there are attendants around to help you on the rare occasions tickets get stuck in the system or if the turnstile bar doesn't open for you.  I've seen a few people jumping over the turnstiles, but very few compared to what I used to see all the time in London.

They don't have Oyster cards yet though ;)

I was very surprised when I asked the question on a forum about 3 years ago how few of the foreigners on that forum had ridden the metro, which is quite a pleasure most of the time. One of my friends did get spat at by a hawker on the metro when she didn't buy anything from him (he was walking through the ladies' car) but that is a pretty rare event.

Cairo Metro official link

IMPORTANT - PASSPORT RENEWALS - ALL BRITISH NATIONALS IN EGYPT (AND ANYWHERE ELSE!)

22/2/2010: STOP PRESS: THE BRITISH EMBASSY WEBSITE HAS NOW BEEN UPDATED:

UPDATED BRITISH EMBASSY WEBSITE

 And I quote:

"The Cost

If you apply for a British passport overseas you can expect to pay:

·          For your passport (the fee is the same worldwide).

·          The cost of sending your application to us (as you would in the UK)

·          For the secure return of your passport and documents.

In the next 6 weeks we will publish instructions on how to submit your application and advice on using local courier services."

This seems to confirm that the INDIVIDUAL will be responsible for dealing with the postal side of things.

I have just been informed tonight (and have been sent a copy of a letter from the British Embassy in Cairo to prove it!) that from 15th APRIL 2010 it will NO LONGER BE POSSIBLE TO RENEW YOUR (FULL VALIDITY) PASSPORT AT THE BRITISH EMBASSY HERE.

AT THE TIME OF WRITING, THIS DOES NOT YET APPEAR ON THE EMBASSY WEBSITE


Update from a source:


"Applications direct to Paris and returned to your overseas address via courier (to be paid for by you of course) if you don't trust the post. Embassy only to get involved in emergencies. This will make it really secure........ go figure.......This was from embassy employee last night."

The sooner this is clarified by the Embassy on their Website the better!


Passport renewals are being consolidated in several countries and apparently ours is to be in Paris.

You can still get it by post but (a) consider how utterly inefficient the postal service here is and (b) how impossibly fussy the new regulations for passports regarding photographs are, this is actually going to be pretty well impossible.
 

Here are print-screens of the letter.

I have also uploaded the print screens here:
British Embassy passport letter page 1 of 2
British Embassy passport letter page 2 of 2


British Embassy in Cairo Website (Not showing changes as of date of post).

.

Cairo Railway Museum

STOP PRESS 29th MARCH 2011 - THE RAILWAY MUSEUM IS CURRENTLY CLOSED as Ramses Station is undergoing a lot of building work.  We were informed that it will probably reopen in a couple of months. I hope so, because it would be a shame to lose this treasure.

I have been dying to visit this museum for many moons, and finally, at the start of an extended day out on Saturday, myself and two friends (also female - surprise :D ) decided to visit the Railways Museum situated at Ramses Station (Cairo's main station).

This is one of Cairo's more quirky museums (as is the Agricultural Museum which I must revisit one day, it being almost 5 years since my last visit.) a little off the usual tourist track. If you like trains and other mechanical things, then allow around an hour for a visit - it can be done in less, we actually thought we would be in there for around 20 minutes but were pleasantly surprised!

The entrance to the Museum is halfway down Platform 1 from the main station concourse. Admission is currently 10LE Saturday through Thursday (closed Monday I believe) and 20LE on Fridays.

The opening hours are currently 0800 - 1400. However, this appears to vary sometimes, so maybe aim for 0900 at the earliest.  (Some sources say it is open in the afternoon as well but I was certainly not given this impression at any time!)

A catalogue is available, I think it cost me 8LE but I wasn't really paying attention. Visitors are allowed to take a maximum of 3 photographs. I am wishing I had taken the trouble to read the catalogue while there, but actually our time was limited. I shall certainly be making another visit at some point.

The railways in Egypt have an interesting history, George Stephenson himself having been involved in the initial construction in the 1850s. Heavy British influence is evident in the exhibits from the number of items stamped with the names of British manufacturers from the Golden Age of manufacturing.

The museum is on two levels and we went upstairs first. The museum manager and guide are both female. The guide accompanied us on and off for our visit.

The photo shows a shot across the whole first (second for US) floor. There are a variety of exhibits, mainly to do with the railways but also some other transportation-related exhibits. We spent a good half an hour up there peering at everything. There is a scale model of the former Royal train which the guide informs us parts are still used by the President and most of it is in the railway workshops.

Downstairs, there are larger exhibits including the Khedivial engine built in 1862 for Saied Basha and a cut-away diesel engine.

This photograph shows the view across the ground (first US) floor of the museum from the Khedivial engine.


I asked permission from the Manager to take the guide's photo next to the engine and explained I would be posting it on the internet.

Our guide, Madam Nahed El Katteb, has been working at the museum for 20 years. She graduated with a philosophy degree from Zagazig University. Her father was a railway worker and she inherited his love of trains and so chose to join the railways for her career. The day we went was her 18th wedding anniversary!

After inspecting everything and looking at the model layout (awaiting repair), we were taken to the Annex.

This small side building contains one main exhibit,  a six-wheeled coupled goods engine supplied by Stephensons between 1865 and 1868.  There are a number of other smaller exhibits, signal lanterns and so on in there as well.

This is a fascinating little museum dating back to 1933 and definitely worth a visit.


Egyptian National Railways Museum Page


Egyptian National Railways Wiki page

Other search terms:

railway museum Cairo
Ramses Station museum
Rameses railway museum
Cairo train museum
Egypt railway museum
Egypt train museum
Railway museum Egypt
Train museum Egypt
train museum Cairo

Collecting an Item Delivered Airfreight to Cairo Airport

This dates back to retrieving my piano in December 2007 so may have altered since - I doubt it however!

I was contacted on the Tuesday afternoon following my arrival to say the goods had arrived.

I asked a couple of friends if they could come to the Airport with me so we went there on Thursday by car (you need to travel round the airport so a car makes it easier).

You will need your passport, you will need lots of money - take loads of 5LE notes for the tips, overestimate how much you need, I was caught VERY short at the end and couldn't pay any tip to the truck men unfortunately. If the customs manager had valued my piano more, then I would have been well and truly stuck.

The place you need to go to is near the Airmall building (NB this no longer exists - it was near Terminal 1 I think) - we had to go first to a cargo offices building which was blue and had eg British Airways World Cargo, Rock It (company which imported mine) etc etc to finish paperwork (220LE for this). Once you have got the papers you need to collect the goods and you will need Mr Fixit (these guys hang around outside and will approach you as soon as you get out of the car at the blue offices).

Things to note:

(1) You can hire pick up trucks at the airport to take your stuff home. The truck I hired was 120LE from Airport to 6th October with 2 men driving it. We didn't need a very big one for the piano.

(2) You can NOT be accompanied by a friend into the cargo area. You could try to do it on your own, but I paid a Mr Fixit - agreed price was 250LE and I ended up paying 350LE (there were two of them). I will put up the names and phone numbers of Mohamed and Ahmed the Mr Fixits I used later when I get them.

(3) You will need to buy:

permits for you and Mr Fixit - 7LE each.

tips for in the warehouse - going rate is 5LE - but for the two men who helped crate it all back up after customs had finished, 10LE each.

Warehousing fees, I had to pay 110LE because it was in the warehouse an extra day.

(3) WOOD IS A PROBLEM. You need to make sure that if you are sending wooden stuff, the box is marked with the IPCC mark - I have taken a photo and will upload another day. I still had to wait for the Agricultural Ministry person to OK my crate (20LE) even with that stamp. Some poor chap was standing in the warehouse looking like his time had come because he was bringing in a load of pictures in wooden frames.

(4) Your crate will be opened and stuff scattered everywhere by customs. If you have any vital screws, bolts etc (like I have with the piano) I advise you to take them separately (which I did! I bought them in my handluggage!) - you will never see them again otherwise!

(5) My piano was x-rayed which involved another truck, it nearly falling off, etc.

(6) There are about 100 signatures and stamps to be sought - this is why you need Mr Fixit.

(7) MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL the tax you pay is 40% of the value of the goods. Now, this is an art not a science. MAKE SURE that any paperwork you have giving the insurance value of your object is NOT available - it only serves to confuse. The manager of customs decided the value of my piano was about 2800LE so I had to pay 40% of that as the tax/customs fee. Mr Fixits will probably go through your box and make sure this is the case.

(8) The whole process from arrival at the airport to leaving took around 3 hours. I saw many people in the building in a bad state because their goods were packed in cardboard, the boxes were broken, the goods were damaged, etc etc. Get a decent freight company.

I used Allfreight - allfreight.co.uk

(9) Your friends waiting for you - there is a cafe outside, exactly opposite the customs gate but it is apparently very smokey and lots of workmen. Its probably better to go to the cafe in the Airmall which is more comfortable (except it no longer exists!).

About the wood.

Freight companies use either wood crates or cardboard boxes to ship your items and the wood that these crates are built with have to be approved too. I heard that one crate was not even opened as it did not have the correct stamp on it from the country of origin stating it was free from termites etc. Apparently from a source certain European countries refused Egyptian wooden crates at theEeuropean destination so Egypt followed suit and now need an agriculture seal of approval to ensure entry to Egypt.

Then once they are happy you have the crate seal of approval they can then open the crate to examine contents. If the crate does not have the seal it is immediately returned to point of origin.

If you have wooden items IN the box then you have to have these separately checked and X rayed and tested by agriculture experts, like wooden frames, ornaments, wooden boxes, pencils etc..

Opposite the customs security gate there is a cafeteria, very smoky and dirty, and on either side 2 car parks. You should be able to find a space. The top car park is where the lorries and pick ups sit waiting on customers. It is just a 1 minute walk from the customs gate and opposite. Approach any of the drivers and negotiate a price. They have trucks and pick ups of all sizes available.

I would advise not to hire a truck from outside the airport until you are sure you have customs clearance.

The 'Mr Fixits' are vital. Dont think you can do it alone , you can't even if you speak arabic. They know exactly the routine and exactly which desks to go to.
They will approach you as you draw up outside the 'blue freight offices'.
They are worth every penny.

Number of the fix it guys Ahmed and Ahmed

0122501786

Yes, the wood stamp was for the crates too, not just the contents. The certificate was 20LE. There wasn't any baksheesh for that bit, a very official looking woman in uniform from the Agricultural ministry came and prodded and poked everything before issuing the certificate.
I think my crate was actually opened and contents inspected before the crate was approved - its a bit of a blur - all I remember is tons of paper (packing materials etc) all over the warehouse!

Cargo agents in Cairo

If you want to contact an agent here in Cairo before you move, especially if you have no Egyptian person able or willing to assist you, it may be worth contacting these guys:

Quick Cargo
5 Tehran St. Dokki
P.O. Box 415 Dokki
Tel: 35390262/3/4/5
Fax: 35390383

I have NOT used them, and the only people I know who HAVE used them have used them for collecting pets at the airport which are normally shipped cargo. Those that have used them say they are worth the money because of the hassle they save you.