Travel guide Egypt

They populate city streets and country roads. Many cats and dogs roam around restaurants, more or less insistently asking people at tables to share their meals. They are very rarely aggressive, although fights between rival gangs can sometimes suggest otherwise.

This tip, usually expected as a reward for a service rendered, does not only apply to tourists. The economic situation and the persistence of informal work do not guarantee a decent wage for many Egyptian workers. Low wages and rising living costs make baksheesh a necessity.

More than just a drink, qahwa is eaten in a group, accompanied by a shisha. Finely ground and boiled in a kanaka, qahwa can be drunk sada (no sugar), masbout (medium dose) or sokkar ziyada (lots of sugar), it is always flavoured with cardamom. Coffee is also a place to discuss politics (with caution).

The place of superstitions is not negligible in the daily life of the Egyptians. Against the jinns or evil spirits, Father Saaman, a Coptic priest, advocated exorcism. Still today, his church of Moqqattam is attended every week by hundreds of Christians and Muslims wanting to appease their souls.

Foul is the staple of the Egyptian diet. Simmered for a few hours in a narrow-necked pot, it can be topped up with olive oil, fried eggs, basterma (dried beef) or tahina (sesame cream). Highly nutritious - thanks to its high vegetable protein content - it replaces meat, which is becoming increasingly expensive.

Shoe-shine boys, seed sellers or car tire dealers: in Egypt, trades are on display along the streets... Everyone is busy in the souks. Sweet potato vendors and their strolling ovens fill the streets with their warm smell. The small trades are legion and can sometimes be surprising!

At 6,700 km long, the world's second-longest river is the cradle of Egyptian culture, and isn't the country itself a gift of the Nile? Revered in the time of the Pharaohs, controlling its floods was a major issue in the ^19th century. You're bound to come across it during your trip, and you may even have the chance to ride on its waves!

Egyptian cities don't shut down once the sun goes down. So there's nothing to stop you going to the hairdresser at 9pm, finding a birthday present after dinner or doing your shopping late into the night... Cairo never completely sleeps, except on Friday mornings, before prayer, when it's very quiet.

Bread is a staple of the Egyptian diet. Nothing expresses its importance better than its translation into Egyptian dialect: 'aish, which also means "life". Egyptian bread, known as 'aish baladi, is a round, flat cake. It is renowned for its nutritional qualities. Don't hesitate to stroll around the markets and taste it.

Egypt's history is marked by numerous revolutionary episodes: long before 2011, the 1919 revolution helped to topple English domination, and the 1952 coup d'état toppled the monarchy and brought Nasser to the head of the country. Persistent structural problems do not rule out the possibility of further uprisings.

It's no exaggeration to say that tourism was invented for Egypt. The joint rise of Egyptology and Orientalism in the ^19th century played a major role in the development of travel to lands hitherto known only to merchants. At the end of the ^20th century, the development of mass tourism transformed the country and its infrastructure.

The surface area of the cities is constantly increasing and they are buildings that now extend over what were agricultural fields a few years ago. Yet many laws exist. But corruption and negligence allow buyers to circumvent them. A major problem that the authorities do not seem to have taken the measure of.