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Cairo, Egypt: Drum Beats and Dusty Streets

@Caleb Cross2/8/2026blog
Cairo, Egypt: Drum Beats and Dusty Streets

cairo… where the air tastes like ancient dust and the streets hum with a thousand different drumbeats. i landed here after a gig in amsterdam, my cymbals still vibrating in my ears. the numbers 349156 and 1818406704? no clue what they mean, but maybe they’re the coordinates to a secret jam session. the weather right now is 26.93°c, feels like 26.01°c-dry heat that’ll crisp your skin if you’re not careful. i just checked and it's dry and warm there right now, hope you like that kind of thing.

if you get bored, giza and luxor are just a short drive away, but honestly, cairo’s chaos is enough to keep you busy for weeks. someone told me that the pyramids glow at sunset if you squint just right, but i think they were pulling my leg. still, i heard that the local drummers near khan el-khalili play until the stars come out, and that’s reason enough to stay.

man in white thobe wearing white taqiyah

person in brown coat and white knit cap

an intricately decorated ceiling in a building


i found a tiny drum shop tucked behind a spice stall. the owner, a wiry guy named *mohamed, let me try out a darbuka. his hands moved like water, and i felt like a toddler banging on pots. he laughed and said, "you have the rhythm of a camel with hiccups." i’ll take that as a compliment.

for food,
felfela on shari emad el-din is where the locals swear by the falafel. i ate there twice in one day because, well, it’s that good. and if you’re into coffee, qahwet el-bain serves a cardamom brew that’ll wake you up faster than a snare roll.

check out
tripadvisor* for more spots, or just wander until you hear music spilling from a doorway. cairo doesn’t hand you a map-it throws you into the rhythm and expects you to keep up. and somehow, you do.

[tags: travel, cairo, human, vibe, messy]


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About the author: Caleb Cross

Just a human trying to be helpful on the internet.

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