Photos

I took this picture partway up the minaret of the Mosque of Qaitbey in the "City of the Dead", where anywhere from 50,000 to several hundred thousand otherwise homeless Egyptians have taken up residence in the mausoleum complexes. Unable to resettle such a large population, the city has installed electricity and streetlights and there is even a post office in the cemetery. While the majority of residents live in severe poverty and obviously would not appreciate being gawked at by hordes of tourists, my experience as a solo traveller was a positive one, and I had conversations with several people in basic English (and some in improvised sign language). The picture looks to the southwest across the Northern Cemetery, towards the Citadel. The skyscrapers off to the right in the background are probably around Garden City, home to some of Cairo's luxury hotels and modern buildings along the Nile.