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Wedged between Mohandiseen and the Nile, Aguza ("Old Woman") stretches its legs along the Corniche . At the northern end of Sharia el-Nil, near the Zamalek Bridge, are the Balloon Theatre - a regular venue for the National and Reda dance troupes - and Egypt's National Circus . Further south at no. 192 is the British Council , a fulcrum of expat life and a sought-after place of employment. Beyond the Scherezade Hotel and Aguza Hospital, couples seek privacy in nooks along the embankment, oblivious to cruising cars. A popular stopover for taxi drivers and nightclubbers is the 24-hour Cafeteria Nema, opposite the Police Hospital near the 6th October Bridge. From here down to Dokki the riverside is colonized by casinos . These are family-oriented places for eating and listening to music (gambling isn't involved) that really come alive on Thursday nights. Some are taken over by wedding parties with traditional musicians and a bellydancer. Should you be invited to join a bash, accept without hesitation - they're always fun. Street urchins and passers-by peer through the gates, shouting blessings or ribald comments. The downside to the casinos is that some have poor food, and all of them are swarming with mosquitoes. Fifty years ago the Corniche was also a mooring place for houseboats - then a fashionable alternative to rented flats. It was here that the Nazi spy Eppler used a famous belly dancer, Hekmet Fathy, to inveigle secrets from Allied staff officers aboard her dahabiya. Also involved was a young Egyptian officer, Anwar Sadat, who attempted to convey messages to Rommel and was subsequently jailed by the British for treason. Post-revolutionary Egypt was austere by comparison, but hardly innocent. In 1988 the government tried to suppress the memoirs of Eitimad Khorshid, a femme fatale who cut a swathe through the Nasserite establishment of the 1950s, and promised to reveal all in what became an underground bestseller. To reach any of the above locations, catch a taxi via 26th July Street or the 6th October Bridge. An elevated extension of the latter pushes 500m inland towards the Agricultural Museum (daily 9am-3pm; 20pt) in the grounds of the Ministry of Agriculture; the entrance is on the south side of the estate. A group of six pavilions - some closed for renovation, others that could themselves almost be museum pieces - these solemnly dingy museums of yesteryear contain exhibits on ancient farming techniques, with stuffed animals and models of native village life. There are also quirky items such as prettily arranged displays of insects and a rather horrific demonstration of various animal diseases. The Cotton Museum (daily 9am-4pm; GBPE6, students EGBP3), gives the rundown on Egypt's main cash crop. The Ministry of Agriculture marks the point where Aguza merges into Dokki.
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