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Floating Nightlife
By Juergen Stryjak
If a stranger says an Egyptian proverb, drinks the water
of the Nile, then he will return again and again to the land
on the Nile. I doubt if it has ever really been advisable to
drink directly from the Nile, but the proverb gives no
indication of how this should be done. While Egypt’s
ancestors may have boiled the water, even within living
memory, today it comes out from the tap after an expensive
and large-scale processing in modern waterworks. The
Cairenes drink it every day, and some tourists may have
sampled it without realizing it, as the inevitable glass of
tap water served with tea or coffee ultimately cames from the
Nile.
The deeper meaning of the proverb says: The Nile is
Egypt’s soul. Without this majestic river, none of the
wonders, which tourists from all over the world come to
admire, would exist in the middle of the rough desert that
dominates Egypt’s landscape. No pyramids, no mosques, no
churches, no agriculture in the delta, no cotton fields in
Upper Egypt – nothing. Everything depends on the river,
and ultimately, so do the Egyptians themselves.
If not a Nile cruise of several days, a night spent on
the Nile or at least an evening seems to be a must for every
tourist. A number of floating restaurants in Cairo, for
example, respond to this desire and offer a special
nightlife experience. All of them entertain their guests
with more than only with a luxurious dinner. The tour
includes belly dance shows and live music of all styles,
Arabic as well as Western, and sufi or even acrobatic
performances.
The most luxurious of these boats is the Marriott Nile
Maxim, which imitates an old flat Pharaonic barge. The
food is excellent, the live band plays and sings Arabic
classics as well as modern jazz standards, and the belly
dancer is one of the countless Russians, which have
dominated the Egyptian dance scene recently. The two
Egyptian male dancers on board know their job, and it doesn’t
matter whether they move to modern sounds or old Arabic
tunes. A group of Japanese tourists, which I saw the last
time there, enjoyed the show, although none of them was
brave enough to accept the belly dancer’s persistent
invitation to join her on the stage. The whole cruise lasts
around two hours, enough for watching the show as well as
admiring Cairo’s fabulous skyline, and for consuming the
entire meal from mezze ( appetizers) to
dessert, in a relaxed atmosphere. Don’t expect to be able
to top that romantic event with an intimate talk with your
darling. The music is just too loud for that.
Another choice for a different nightlife experience are The
Pharaos cruising restaurants. These two boats are
probably the most thematic ones among Cairo’s floating
restaurants. But come on, where else but in Egypt should one
be ready for a little Pharaonic Disneyland at least once
during your trip? The boarding alone is a great event.
Soldiers with javelins and servants in Pharaonic dresses
await the guests at the dock. The light is glaring, the
scene very solemn and every guest is welcomed as royalty.
The cruise lasts two hours, too, and the program is similar
to the one at the Nile Maxim, with some minor differences:
The dinner is a rich dinner buffet and if you dare to dance
with the belly dancer on stage, you will receive a snapshot
of this memorable moment by the time you leave the boat.
Of the S/S Nile Peking, it is said that this is
the renovated boat of Agatha Christie’s »Death On The
Nile«, embellished with traditional Chinese ornamentation:
oriental calligraphy and red lanterns. It features several
restaurants and pubs, including a large dining area, a
Mongolian barbecue and the Shanghai Pub. Cruises are usually
more than two hours long, but they don’t follow a very
regular schedule and therefore it is better to confirm this
by telephone. If docked, the restaurants and bars are open
daily between 1:00 am and 1:00 pm.
Nile Maxim. In front of the Marriott Hotel,
Seray El-Gezirah Street, Zamalek, Cairo. Dinner Cruises
every evening at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Telephone: 73 58 88.
Price: Expensive. Reservation recommended.
The Pharaos. 138, Al-Nil Street, Giza, off the
Zoological Garden. Telephone: 57 01 000. Fax: 57 03 737.
Dinner Cruises every evening at 7:00 pm and 21:30 pm.
Reservation recommended. Prices: LE 120 (USD 32) for the
whole trip including dinner buffet and show, excluding
alcoholic beverages.
S/S Nile Peking. Corniche El-Nil, Old-Cairo, Cairo,
near to the south tip of the island El-Roda. Telephone: 51
70 839. If cruising, a dinner course comes for between LE 55
(USD 15) and LE 80 (USD 22), excluding beverages.
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