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Laid out during the 1960s to house Egypt's new technocrats, "Engineers' City" (as the suburb was initially called) responded to an influx of business and media folk during the Sadat era by shortening its name to Mohandiseen and emulating America. Nowhere else in Cairo can you cruise down a boulevard glittering with boutiques and junk food outlets, squint and imagine that you're in LA. Even the palm trees seem to hail from Hollywood, rather than the Nile. But around midday on Fridays, the illusion is ruptured as herds of camels are driven through Mohandiseen en route to the slaughterhouse, bringing traffic to a standstill. Sharia Orabi runs northwest for 1.5km (strictly speaking, this area is called Sahafeyeen), but except for the International Language Institute (ILI), two blocks from the Al-Sudan ring road, it has no more to offer than the continuation of 26th July Street. Most of the action occurs along Mohandiseen's main axis, Arab League Street (Sharia Gameat al-Dowal al-Arabiya), also known as "The Mall", which is bisected by palms and shrubbery for its three-kilometre length. Due to its orientation, you can look down it on a clear day (admittedly rare in Cairo) and see the Pyramids of Giza in the distance. During summer Cairene families picnic here - an indication of how few green spaces are available. The avenue's main landmark is the Atlas Zamalek Hotel , 500m past Midan Sphinx. Starting with a pharaonic-style McDonald's opposite the Atlas, fast food proliferates along the way to Midan al-Nasr, the centre of a radial grid of streets harbouring a dozen embassies (among them Kenya, the CAR and Eritrea). To reach the quarter from central Cairo, you can catch buses from Midan Falaki, Midan Tahrir, Midan Ataba or Midan Ramses that end up on Sharia al-Sudan near Midan Lubnan. Alternatively, to get to Midan al-Nasr on Arab League Street, you can take buses from Falaki or Tahrir (Arab League Building), Ramses or Ataba. A faster way is to jump on a service taxi microbus at Ataba or along 26th July Street and get whisked across Zamalek to Midan Sphinx or Arab League Street (but make sure of the destination of the microbus).
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