|
|
Cairo (Egypt)
View of Pyramids from the Mena House Hotel
Few other countries are so dominated by their capital: Cairo is Egypt. For
Egyptians to speak of one is to speak of the other. The "Mother of the World"
nurtures more than 16 million Egyptians, Arabs, Africans and
sundry(各式各样的)international hangers-on in a collision of East and West, old and
new, African and Arabic. She"s overburdened with one of the world"s highest
population densities, which makes for a seething (原意为沸腾)mass of people,
buildings and cacophonous(发音不和谐的)traffic.
Cairo has been the heart of Egypt for more than 1000 years. Here the
medieval world and the contemporary Western world clash in a confusion of
mud-brick houses and towering modern office buildings, of flashy cars and
donkey-drawn carts(驴车). Cairenes see nothing strange in this. They aren"t driven
by the Western obsession to update and upgrade. The resulting pervasive sense of
timelessness is one of the city"s great charms. At the end of the day, it"s a
city travelers either loveor hate; few come away indifferent.
Cairo Tower at Night
Finding your way about Cairo"s vast sprawl is not as difficult as it may
seem. Midan Tahrir is at the center. Northeast of Tahrir and centered on Sharia
Talaat Harb is Downtown, a bustling commercial district. The city"s main train
station at Midan Ramses marks Downtown"s northernmost extent. Heading east,
Downtown ends at Midan Ataba and the old medieval heart of the city known as
Islamic Cairo takes over.
Bordering Downtown to the west is the Nile River, which is obstructed
(拦截)by two sizeable islands. The more central of these, connected directly to
Downtown by three bridges, is Gezira, home to the Cairo Tower and the Opera
House complex. The west bank of the Nile is less historical and much more
residential. The primary districts are Mohandiseen, Agouza, Doqqi and Giza, all
of which are light on charm and heavy on concrete. Giza covers by far the
largest area of the four, stretching some 20km (12.4mi) west on either side of
the long, straight road that ends at the foot of the Pyramids. |
|
发表于 2016-7-9 23:19:07