A visit to Ibn Tulun Mosque

Got up early on Saturay morning and went down into Cairo to take a few photos with Ahmed. Aimed for Ibn Tulun and Sultan Hussan mosques in Old Cairo. Had a great morning, we were the only two there, no tourists, no egyptians! Got to go up the old minaret which nearly gave both of us heart attacks as the heat got up.

Heres some of the photos in B & W, will post some more with descriptions later.....

Revolution No. 2: Maybe, maybe not

I had to do a double take reading this wall - did it say cops or copts!

Lots of security warns at work, from embassies and from Ahmed the Driver: "Don't go out on Friday". The reason is the planned large demonstrations organised today. The demos have predicably gone from "We want Mubarak/regime out" to this Friday where pretty much every participant is marching/potentially fighting for their own cause making it a bit difficult to gauge what is going on. In the press Ive heard these reasons for the demos:

the cost of food, unemployment, the lack of cooking gas, the lack of petrol/diesel, speeding up trials of fallen regime’s figures, drafting a new constitution before the parliamentary elections, stemming the use of excessive force, trying protesters in military tribunals, releasing political detainees, replacing some governors, ministers and the deputy prime minister Yehia al-Gamal and restoring safety to the streets, set a minimum and maximum wage and return fortunes stolen by Mubarak regime figures.

Something there for everyone. I sense from talking to people to egyptian I know was pushing Mubarak and buddies to go they have a differentand wide spectra of visions of what they were changing too. Was it a fully islamic state or a total western an secular one, or the status quo with different leaders? Whatever the vision it is now clearer that the problems of Egypt run deep, and whatever government will struggle. The longer the struggle the worse the economy and tourist dollar......

Lets hope for a peaceful weekend

Some new Images of Cairo

Last Saturday I had a few hours in the morning so myself and Ahmed the driver scouting some areas I want to go back and take photos. Heres a few random images of our little jaunt around Cairo

The photo of Mubarak used to welcome you into Cairo.....seems he is not so welcome anymore...

One of the poorer areas just to the east of the Nile against the escarpment. Nothing is thrown away so the roof gets an accumulation of rubbish covered by the general dust that envelopes everything...

Top floor with a view - the Penthouse Suite
Sattelite dishes
To our western eyes this looks horrendous, but in Cairo, where not everyone can afford a baby seat in a car, this is daily travel.....
Out close to the Pyramids the "black earth" agricultural areas is being heavily built upon, bad for the supply of food to the city....

I got Ahmed to stop by the dump underneath the overpass by the Sakkra Road and the Ring Road, He know thinks Im crazy. I stopped to take photos of these "city" Egrets who pick an easy living from the refuse of 18million people.

Thought they look a bit grey and de-draggled



Out in the country along the Sakkara road, one of my favourite routes.
The country cousin of the refuse Egrets....fishing amounts the lilies
View of the Nile and the city from the bridge crossing at Maadi

Boat yard underneath Maadi bridge

Tiger - the garden visitor

We have recently had a regular visitor to the garden, a cat christened Tiger. A bit of a scardey cat but she is getting braver......

Off road - Cairo Style

It is advisable when going off road or cutting a corner you have the right type of vehicle. This lorry appears to have taken the corner onto the ring road at high speed, and left his front tires behind.....

Graffiti-Fest part I: Zaahra

Unfortunately I have had to cancel my weekend trip into town to do some more photography, was planning a few of the more distinctive mosques and parts of the City of the Dead, but now the family have other plans for me. At least I can get the chance to put on some of the graffiti images I collected last week, I plan to make a collage from them......

These ones are from Zaahra and show a selection of images and sentiments, celebrating the revolution, social media, unity etc etc.