Net-centric Nonsense II

A few days back, I wrote a post arguing that it didn't much matter that the Egyptian government cut off Internet and most mobile phone service in Egypt, because passionate protestors intent on bringing down the government will find a way to organize anyway. The government apparently agrees with that, as it has restored service when, as predicted, the many thousands of demonstrators didn't go away. Although several U.S. new-media companies hailed with some fanfare the workarounds they came up with to allow Egyptians to resume Tweeting, blogging, etc., the protestors did quite fine on their own while offline, thank you.

The more serious government media policy - I guess I should say alleged government policy - is allowing armed thugs to attack international reporters at the scene, even as these same thugs wade into crowds of protestors while on horseback or astride camels. The potential for ever-more serious violence is ever-present, with the Army apparently holding the balance of power. As the first groups of international travelers - many flown out of Cairo on charter flights arranged by their own national governments - are making clear, there has been plenty of violence in Egypt already. Many erstwhile tourists describe scary scenes of having to clear numerous checkpoints - some manned by government sympathizers, some by anti-government protesters, some by neighborhood vigilantes - on their way to the airport in Heliopolis.

Some of these trips took hours - only to be followed by many more hours spent trying to catch a commercial or chartered flight out of the country. News reports say as many as 18,000 people have been massed in Cairo International Airport. I have been in that airport. It's a nice airport -big, with the 2009 addition of a gorgeous new international terminal - but not big enough to comfortably hold that many would-be passengers. With the situation on the ground changing by the hour, travelers who haven't left are at times keeping to their hotels. Fairmont Hotels and Ressorts, with two properties in Cairo, is a leading hotelier there. Having stayed in the downtown Cairo property and the Heliopolis property, I hope to never see scenes of chaos there.

No one - traveler or local - knows how any of this will play out. One big unknown is when tourism will return to a semblance of normality in this antiquities-rich country. One thing's for sure, though: If hardline Islamicists win the day, the young anti-Mubarak demonstrators - many of them women, most of them passionately pro-democracy - will find precious little democracy in Egypt's future. They will be among the first people to be supressed.

The Sun Shines on Fairmont Towers Heliopolis

CAIRO - Hillary Clinton checked out the day before I arrived at the Fairmont Towers, in the aptly named Heliopolis (city of the sun) district of Cairo, but the hotel staff was still abuzz about the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State and an entourage that included 50 security officers.

But then the two-year-old, light-filled hotel - a 247-room business redoubt near Cairo International Airport - sees frequent visits by high-profile people. One reason is its proximity to the airport, which sports a handsome new terminal (terminal 3) just several months old. Another reason is this is Egypt's governmental district; the presidential palace is here, as are other walled government buildings, interspersed with highrise apartments, along a broad, beautifully landscaped boulevard that runs between the airport and the congestion and bustle of downtown Cairo. Heliopolis is on the eastern side of the megalopolis (estimated population: anywhere from 15 to 20 million), and prime tourist attractions such as the sphinx and the pyramids are in Giza, on the western edge. Old Cairo and the River Nile are halfway between.

I tumbled off my 6-hour Egyptair flight on a sunny, breezy day and settled into my room: large, well-appointed, with a big, sparkling bathroom, a comfortable bed - covered with Egyptian cotton, of course - and a good-sized desk. My room looks directly out into the hotel's defining feature: a 5-story atrium, complete with skylight, a bar area, an indoor stream and clusters of tall palms and ferns. The business center is right off the main lobby, along with a good place to have a French-press coffee and croissant, which I did. Just past the reception desk in the lobby is a plush area tucked away behind closed doors: Fairmont Gold, a lounge with food and beverages and comfortable, modern furniture reserved for the Fairmont's best customers.

Hillary Clinton and her posse may have been gone, but the hotel was packed. Most of the property's guests are business travelers, according to hotel executives, and the meeting rooms below ground level were humming and crowded. My only complaint: smoking is allowed in the public rooms, so billowing clouds of tobacco smoke are abundant. This is a cultural feature in much of the world, including the Middle East, where smoking restrictions, let alone bans, have yet to widely catch on. Hence, the hotel goes with the flow. Otherwise, Fairmont Towers Heliopolis is a lovely property with a friendly, attentive staff; it earns its five-star rating.

For more information: Web: www.fairmont.com/towersheliopolis. Toll-free telephone in North America: 1 888.0707. E-mail: towersheliopolis@fairmont.com.