You may get a better response in the Eygpt forum, Willie, so I'll transfer this over there but leave a copy here.

Bawbee

It depends very much where you will be working and if you are travelling single or with a family that needs a school nearby.

Thanks for the response. I'm not sure where I will be based. Although I will be travelling alone I will need a larger apartment.

Maybe I would be better asking if anyone could recommend a reputable letting agent in Cairo.

Cheers

WG

Find out first where you are going to be working. Even a letting agent ( and you ll find that the rents will be 10 - 20 % higher if you go through an agent ) will ask you where do you want to live. The location really makes a big difference... Heliopolis is a nice area ( well parts of it ) and it will be cheaper than Maadi and much cheaper than Zamalek. But if you are working in 6th October City then Heliopolis will be somply too far away !

First of all, find out where you are going to be working then we can help you more.

Just as an after-thought, with all these funny non-civilian words like mobilise and based, I suppose you are in the services or maybe in the diplomatic corps. If this is the case most of the Brits at the British Embassy are living in Zamalek and Mohandiseen, though the embassy is in Garden City. If you are single then there's no point living all the way out in Maadi, though you might consider Heliopolis as a third choice.

We lived in Heliopolis when we lived in Cairo and it was great there

Had to get a bus to school on Zamalek every morning though!

A lot of my friends stayed in Maadi and Zamalek though

Sorry I realise that's not much help - lol!

thanks to all my fellow HT's for your responses. For background, I am not in the forces. I am in th eOil and Gas game and these are expressions that we use when speaking about offshore locations (force of habit).

Anyway, I'm going to be based in a hotel until I get accomodation and I want to get a reasonable sized flat so that I can accomodate all my (un)invited guests (LOL).

As far as I know most of the project team will be in maadi, so any pointers for there would be appreciated

Regards

WG

British Gas ?

As the Mobil offices are off Garden City and Shell is in Heliopolis. Most likely they will put you in the Sofitel Pullman Towers which is on the Nile, but most of the expat families in Maadi live on the other side of the metro line in the "green" area of Maadi and in Digla Maadi. Thats also the whereabouts of BG if I am correct. My advice would be to spend a couple of days on your weekend off walking in the area down from the BG offices around Digla and that. The area is nice and green and you will see "For Rent" signs hanging up - find a street that you like and then look for the place you like. If in the Sofitel pop into the Alfa Market almost next door. Its a big supermarket and they have a noticeboard where people post things like flats to rent. There are quite a few expat community associations based in Maadi so these are also good sources for flat rentals.

Swisssinai (can I call you Swiss?),

No, I'm going over there for a company called Gupco. Anyway, thanks for all the pointers, I appreciate your help. You seem to be the HT'er with most local gen and I appreciate you passing on this information to me (a Turkish Forum refugee).

Some ex-colleagues tell me that Cairo is a "sweet" posting with little crime and a forgiving attitude to us westerners. So I'm looking forward to a very pleasant couple of years over there. It's so good, even the job sounds like fun.

Willie G
PS Just a thought. How can I be a westerner when I come from North East Scotland?

Well don t call yourself a north easterner cos people will think that you are from Siberia. And probably with your accent they will think that you are talking in Siberian !

Yes - Cairo and especially Maadi is sweet. Too sweet for my liking.... Egypt as a whole is very safe and the crime is almost only minor pick pocketing and things like that... but Maadi is a bit too artificial for my taste, with the locals bending over backwards to help create a sureal utopia for the expats, especially the Americans who can get away with murder ( well almost ) as the police will not touch them. Apart from that you will find the life very comfortable. You could easily find a nice apartment within walking distance of Gupco which is located off Digla. Gupco is huge with hundreds ( thousands ? ) of employees, far bigger than say BG - though with probably more headaches.

The area is not really a place for young single men as there are no real pubs or nightclubs but for families and for more older domesticated chaps like myself there is a good mix of shops, supermarkets, restaurants and cafes ideal for both foreigners and the Egyptian middle class. I am sure you will feel very comfortable and be very happy here.

Good luck !

Just a quick note to say that I have accomodation. I've been in the Sofitel Maadi Towers since beginning of Feb and my company is looking for an apartment in Maadi district for me.

Cairo is a wonderful city (well, except for the traffic) and everyone is so friendly.

Thanks to Swiss for all his useful pointers.

Cheers

Willie G

Might have to do future posts in the expat forum cause I'm over here working hard. Not like you tourist types (LOL)

On 2nd thoughts, I might do a report after my GF visits later this month We are going to do Cairo, Pyramids, Nile cruise and Luxur. Action packed or what?

Cheers and best wishes to the Turkey crowd as well as the Egypt members

Willie G
PS Don't tell JT, but it was 27 deg C here today and sunny as well (Brill)

Sneak

John