Skip to xAlexandria xAswan xCairo main pagex Suburban Cairo xGiza & the Pyramidsx Cairo hotels xDahab xLuxor xSharm xSiwa Oasisx x10 best ways to find sex xor xGay Guide to Tunisia. GAY GUIDE TO DOWNTOWN CAIRO Once you've read this guide why not browse our new gay Cairo message board - click here ! Or post a personal on our x Gay Middle East Bulletin Boards ! TAHRIR SQUARE It is usually busy in the Tahrir Square Gardens close to the Hilton hotel in the evenings after about 9pm and especially on Thursdays when there's usually quite a mixed crowd of queens, students and hustlers but be careful of the sex police. As of spring 2001 this meeting place has been somewhat disrupted by construction work. You'll soon discover the displaced hustlers who now hang out on street corners near by but discretion and cuation certainly advised. Interested students and other gays are more likely to be found inside the various nearby restaurants and cafes. NILE HILTON TAVERNE BAR Try the Taverne Bar at the Nile Hilton on Thursday nights but it doesn't get busy until about 11.30. The Taverne is a relatively safe place to meet gay friends but all the same watch out for the police guides. It's best to use a false name and hotel address if you are at all suspicious. You can also try the Hilton Deli close to the lobby which is a good location for finding gay friends almost any afternoon or evening. Sometimes you can also be lucky at the Hilton shopping mall. Interested guys tend to linger by the escalators, toilets or at shop windows. And of course if you are financially free and not too finicky don't forget the famous Nile Hilton Health Club where many guys have reported the convenient ease with which one can find a partner in the sauna. The management won't tolerate any hanky panky on the premises though ! JACKIE'S JOINT DISCOTHEQUE Jackie's Joint at Nile Hilton attracts a mixed gay/straight crowd. It's open nightly from 21.30 to 04.00am but the best nights to try are probably Thursdays when there is a DJ with house, trance and hip hop and Sundays when trolley dollys (airline staff) with ID get free entry. Also mentioned in The Gay and Lesbian Travellers section of the 20002 edition of Lonely Planet. RAMSES TRAIN STATION Cottaging at the lengthy urinal stand at Ramses train station toilets is commonplace during busy hours but may get you arrested if you are not careful. As you enter the station from Ramses Square, the toilets are on the left uncomfortably close to the station police office. You might be better off cruising the station itself. You can linger briefly by the magazine stall near platform 3 or by the cafeteria near the entrance. But don't delay too long, especially if you are a young Egyptian, as the police may question you. For a guide to bonking on the Cairo-Luxor/Aswan overnight train - see the advice in the Aswan section X click here. Did you know ? Many of the "women" begging on Cairo's streets are men in drag. Some of the poor are desperate enough to dress up as older women, complete with a shawl to hide the face, and beg from the city's commuters who are marginally more inclined to give money to women beggars. If these marginalized men pretended to be lame or blind, but male, beggars - the only other viable alternative - police would be more likely to challenge their authenticity. SHARIA TALAAT HARB AND THE CORNICHE Other, marginally safer, cruising areas include Sharia Talaat Harb between Medan Talaat Harb and it's junction with 26 July Street. At this junction, just metres from Cairo's High Court, the irrepressably reckless and the desperate might wish to try the infamous and highly risky public toilets next to the car park. Those wishing to be a little more discreet in their tactics might prefer to try the Nile Corniche East Bank between the Nile Hilton and Ramses Hilton hotels. The Corniche is particularly popular with the general public late in the afternoon and at dusk; families and young lovers alike sitting on benches or lounging against the corniche wall under the shade of overhanging trees. As always gays tend to prefer the hours after dusk. You should also note that all the Downtown cruising locales are especially busy on Thursday evenings. CINEMAS And of course one musn't forget the back rows of the older seedy cinemas in the Downtown area. Pay 2.50 to 5.00LE for a balcony ticket and at certain cinemas a tip to the usher might also help. Although sex in cinemas is extremely risky, a few are favoured because of their poor lighting and popularity with young Egyptian males. If this is what you are looking for you might try Karim I and II ( 5 Sharia Emad Ad-Din ), Radio ( 24 Sharia Talaat Harb ) and last, but by no means least, the once splendiferous Metro ( 35 Sharia Talaat Harb ) which even King Farouk used to visit [ he had an armchair specially brought in from the palace. ] but where according to a 1997 Cairo Times review, spectators now sit in a "smelly auditorium with stray cats meandering about." In such dark and damp auditoriums, such is the excitement and reverie of the audience when anything at all risque appears on the screen, that no young man, let alone woman, will be "safe" if sitting alone. EGYPTIAN MUSEUM As a final resort why not try the Egyptian Museum (Tahrir Square) which somewhat bizarrely has a reputation of being a virtual kharakhana (brothel). I have heard several people allege that one or two of the museum guards have been willing to fool around in quieter darker recesses of the Museum in return for a small financial inducement. It is possible these reports predate the addition of new security lighting in the museum following a daring 1996 break in. If you have had any museum experiences please email us at info@GayEgypt.com. Regardless of its cruising possibilities, the Museum is a must if you have any interest in Pharaonic Egypt. Of particular interest to gay historians is Room 3 on the ground floor in which four statues of Akhenaten, dating from the 1370sBC, stare down from the walls. According to the Rough Guide his "flaring lips and nostrils, rounded thighs and belly are suggestive of a hemaphrodite..." and adds that the captions "hint at perversions." Warning: Do you fully understand the risks you are taking ? We know some people are brave enough not to be intimidated by the Egyptian police. But you are strongly advised to read our brief account of the recent wave of arrests in Egypt - click here. KHAN EL-KHALILI If rough trade is more your type ( rather than students and queens ), then your best bet are the narrow streets around Medan el Hussein in Khan el-Khalili. If you are in Downtown just stop a taxi and ask the driver to take you to Medan el Hussein. The fare should be about 3 to 5LE. Sit outside a coffee house with a mint tea and sheesha and hawkers and hustlers will soon compete for your attention while in the nearby Souk es-Sudan you can spot European queens being lured by handsome youths into the perfume bazaars. Perhaps the best coffe for encounters of all types must be The Fishaawi with its wonderfully ornate mirrors in a narrow alleyway just 30 metres or one block off Medan El Hussein behind Hotel El Hussein. It is busy for most of the 24 hours it is open and is a good place for meeting tourists, students or rough trade. The Hammams ( bathhouses ) of Khan -el-Khalili are also well known as meeting places. Once infamous centres of gay prostitution in Ottoman times but now many are in a very seedy state of disrepair. If you find the right place at the right time you might strike lucky. Try the thirteenth century Hammam el-Sultan on Sharia Al Muizz ( Sorry - this has recently closed. ) or alternatively Hammam Al-Malatyah on Sharia Amir Al-Gyushi (open all night). The 2002 edition of Lonely Planet mentions Hammam Bishtak on Souq-as-Silah, 300 metres north of Ar-Rifai Mosque, but warns that "we heard rumour this had also been clamped down on by the authorities and may now be closed." If true it ends a glorious homoerotic history of over 650 years as the hammam was originally commissioned by Amir Seifeddin Bishtak shortly before his death in 1341. A typical Hammam charge in Khan El-Khalili is around 5 to 10LE. Warning: Do you fully understand the risks you are taking ? We know some people are brave enough not to be intimidated by the Egyptian police. But you are strongly advised to read our brief account of the recent wave of arrests in Egypt - click here. GEZIRA AND ZAMALEK THE QUEEN BOAT DISCOTHEQUE Warning: This disco raided by state security police on 11 May 2001 - see gay news The Queen Boat discotheque on the river close to the Marriot hotel though not a gay discotheque was earlier this year very popular with the gay crowd. But lately has attracted a dismal turnout probably because of police raids in March 2000 and again on 11 May 2001 (Click on gay news). Possibly after a few months the very brave might still think it worth checking out on a Thursday night after about 11.30pm. Many other discotheques only let men enter in the company of a woman. If you know anything about what happened on 11 May 2001 please let us know at info@gayegypt.com One day we hope to take legal action against those who authorized this operation. Gay rights are human rights. Homophobic violence is a crime. MARRIOTT HOTEL Much safer are the gardens and poolside tables at the nearby Marriott Hotel where fashionable queens congregate in droves every evening but you will need a bank account the size of El Fayed's if you want to drink there on a regular basis. PUB 28 According to The Rough Guide "Gay men [ and british expats ] favour Pub 28 at the junction of Shagar al-Durr and Hassan Assim streets" in Zamalek. It also receives a mention in the international gay guide Spartacus 2002/2003. However, when a friend and I visited, we weren't at all welcome. Whether this was because of our informal dress style, our limited expenditure or because we were a male-male couple I'm not sure. ANDALUSIAN GARDEN The Andalusian Garden is located in Gezira between Tahrir Bridge and Sixth October Bridge. It's not strictly a gay cruising ground but the proximity of The Cairo Tower, The Opera Complex and the Museum of Modern Art draws a number of tourists, students and queeny types and if any of these excite you then the park may be worth a try. A token entrance fee of fifty piastres serves to keep out rough trade except perhaps for a few hantoor drivers who during busier periods sometimes wait along the adjacent roadside. The park itself is pleasant enough with well kept lawns, benches from which to quietly observe others and even an obelisk. If you get hungry you can always retire to one of the riverside tables at the Casino El-Nil cafe restaurant. Did you know ? In 1990 Islamic fundamentalists threatened to destroy the nearby Cairo Tower because it's phallic shape was exciting women - Read more! Warning: Do you fully understand the risks you are taking ? We know some people are brave enough not to be intimidated by the Egyptian police. But you are strongly advised to read our brief account of the recent wave of arrests in Egypt - click here. MOHANDISEEN This upmarket residential and shopping area is just a short distance by taxi or bus from downtown Cairo. It has for some time been a favourite area for cruising but it is definitely known to the Police who continue to make arrests in this area. You can cruise on any of the busy shopping streets but, as elsewhere in Cairo, at considerable risk. A popular spot with both gays and straights is the ever busy Coffee Roastery at 46 Sharia Nadi Al-Seid. Comfortable and covering over 200 square metres, it is usually packed with students, many of them looking to pick up. But such a conspicuous location is bound to be very risky ! Warning: Do you fully understand the risks you are taking ? We know some people are brave enough not to be intimidated by the Egyptian police. But you are strongly advised to read our brief account of the recent wave of arrests in Egypt - click here. Skip to xAlexandria xAswan xCairo main page xSuburban Cairo xGiza & the Pyramids xCairo hotels xDahab xLuxor xSharm xSiwa Oasisx or x10 best ways to find sex Finished planning your evening out ? Try a depraved story - click here ! Browse GayEgypt.com's multi-country personals section - click here ! Or learn some Arabic sex slang - click herex ! Warning: Gay sex or any homosexual activity in Egypt puts you at risk of arrest, deportation and imprisonment and all sexual encounters are undertaken at your own risk. FROM AN EMAIL TO GAYEGYPT.COM - 21 08 05  "Every time I tell someone I am from Egypt, I hear the same spiel about how they always wanted to visit the Pyramids and the Sphinx. May be on their way to the Pyramids tourists should stop at some of the jails or even the forensic examiner’s office and take pictures of innocent men being anally probed to determine if they were “used.” May be they should crank a dynamo with wires connected to a man’s testicles while he screams and faints from pain. Or may be while tourists are learning some Arabic words to negotiate with the locals they should learn how to say khawal (faggot) or shaz (pervert) to yell at innocent men being charged with "debauchery and defaming religion" just because they love other men." Extract from Ahmad's letter.XXX His email: ahmadism@hotmail.com To read the rest of the letter please click here. If you've got an opinion on something please email us at freedom4egypt@hotmail.com   |
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