12 Nov 2007

Mansoura, Egypt







We arrived at Mansoura probably around 10 something, but I can't really remember the time mainly because I felt quite disoriented. Our hotel seems ok enough - not the best but pleasant and clean. This is a view of the Nile from my room. Beautiful in the early dawn.
Mansoura is still crowded though probably less so as compared to Cairo. All the buildings seem pretty old. Even the cars were very old. I don't want to sound too critical but the whole place looked as if it lacked care and maintenance. The streets were dirty and dusty, the buildings even more so. People were everywhere. Even though the Nile flowed through the city, there seemed to be little care for it. Not that there was rubbish or whatever, its just that they could have planted flowers to brighten up the place. But beautification doesn't seem to be an important issue with the Egyptians. There was a garden of sorts near the banks of the river but Dina, the sweet young executive who took us around, said we could not walk there because it belonged to a club and only members could walk there. Isn't that a shame? They've got a beautiful park along the river but its not public.
We made a stop to look at some shops but most of the goods inside were not really appealing to either of us. However not to disappoint out pretty guide we both bought scarves at one of the shops she took us. The price was okay but the shops were dingy and poorly lighted so they didnt really encourage buying. Even the goods appeared old and dusty. I wonder if they have any modern shops but according to Dina, all their shops looked like that. My overall impression of Mansoura is that its too crowded and people are more concerned about the day to day living than to pretty up a place that would not bring money? Maybe that sounded harsh but it could be pretty, given some care.

7 comments:

Sarah said...

I notices the same things you noticed ...it seems the women are not intersted in the beauty of their homes or gardens..........even themselves are sort of neglected .........i saw no flowers anywhere............inside the homes are just lacking the joy and lovelyness and femine details you see in Morocco , Spain and the Caribbean ..........where homes are the pride on joy of the Women that live in them ..........in Mansoura and in Egypt in General i noticed the lack of that special care and pride of having lovely homes.....even the women there once they marry lose appeal and let themselves go ....many times i confused the maid with the lady of the house ...Sad but true in more than 4 of the many homes I visited.....I spend 14 days in that City . It was a business trip and visited many homes. I must say they are all nice and friendly people ..they are sweet and hospitable.......and the place is pretty secure to walk around too.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I'm surprised and disappointed that you took such a bad impression of Mansoura..I was brought up there and though I agree that it is not the best city in the world, neither is it the worst

MZ V 2006 said...

Valerie
I had alot of thoughts about Mansoura Egypt and I know it had beauty and some sadness to it and i know it was not the cleanest but the people that are there they are great people and they are very helpful and i did enjoy my visit and i lived there for 4 months and i would go back again and learn more about the culture and people and to be honest 4 months is not long enough and i would do it again and to be able to fall in love with many who live there and i do miss everyone there and the beauty of mansoura is different in all parts of the area and i am glad i had the experience to live there and be there that long
missing egypt and hope to go back to mansoura
missing mansoura always

Wallas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wallas said...

hey kat how r u doin' ? i hope u r good .. listen firstly i'm 4om mansoura i don't gonna say that mansoura is looks like paris ! i want show u some of points da big garden on da bank of da river nile is a public 1 u can pay only 1 L.E n talk an tickt .. so not belong 2 club members as u said .. secondly i want da names of shops u said it's goods dusty n old !! plz if see my comment just let da names of dis shops .. as my know all shops around da hotel u stayed in r soo modern n have a global brands .. if u went 2 another areas buy a bad goods .. that's yr fault .. finally i want say we r not a tourist city it'sjust asmall city not like cairo or alexandria n i don't think so our streets is soooo dirty as u said ! n if us saw a rubbish in some where that's bot mean all city is dirty .. our city interest in medicine we have hospitals with high efficiency n a university with a privileged position in egypt .. i hope u understand my point of view

Abbas said...

Hi There.
I thinnk,I will be visiting there.Going for a masters.
So what are the places to visit.

Abbas

Kat said...

Dear Wallas,
I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings - but they were my personal opinions. Of couse I think Mansoura is a beautiful place, just that it is so dusty and maybe I was disappointed because I expected to see bigger shops. As you say it is not a tourist place but just a small town.Thank you for correcting me.

Kat