Issue #2, October 3, 1999

Greetings from Al-Qaahira (Cairo), land of the Sphinx, the Pyramids and the KHAN AL KHALILI.

Yes, kids, imagine row upon row of tiny shops, jammed one right next to the other in a mall that looked and felt more like a maze than, say, Vista Ridge or Golden Triangle malls. Claustrophobia City might be a better name for the place. If you've seen _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ where Indiana Jones enters the Egyptian marketplace, you can get an idea of how crowded the Khan is. It took Barbara and I about one and a half hours (an hour or so waiting for the trolley) to get to the Khan. We had a long hike, as well, but in the end all was worth it. We sat ourselves down at a small deli that served kofta, and had some with Coke and Baraka Mineral Water. Kofta is shaped like a brown-and-serve sausage, but is made with lamb and beef meat instead of pork. It has a flavor like Greek gyros, and is dipped in a creamy sauce. Yum! Barbara has liked it so much, we bought some frozen kofta for dinner. After eating the kofta at the deli, Barbara remarked how she had forgotten her sunglasses. Not three minutes later, a street vendor, sunglasses by the dozens in hand (on arm and body as well!) strolled up next to her and offered her sunglasses.

One special thing about the Khan you must know. It's not your typical mall. Imagine going to the mall and haggling or bargaining over the price of your favorite clothes, toys, etc. The vendors EXPECT you to bargain, so if you DON'T bargain, they're surprised. The vendors will offer a price usually twice as high as what they expect to receive. Now, back to the story.

The sunglasses vendor offered a pair of Foster Grant (maybe) sunglasses at 85 Egyptian Pounds. Known as Guineas here, one pound is worth about 35 cents. Barbara offered 30 pounds. The vendor then asked for 70, Barbara countered 50. The vendor didn't give up. Sixty pounds. Barbara countered 55, and the sale was made at 55 pounds (about $16). WOW, Barbara's first experience haggling with a street vendor! She may have paid a bit more than half, but she has enjoyed her sunglasses. And they look good on her, too.

Once we finished our meal at the deli, and Barbara put her cool sunglasses on, we walked about 200 yards to the entrance of the Khan. Once inside, vendors from almost every kind of shop imaginable (and then some) are calling out in Arabic and English, French and Spanish, for people to buy their souvenirs and wares. Clothing shops, specializing in the traditional Egyptian robes (galabeyyas) are situated next to wallet shops and gold jewelers. Souvenir merchants and papyrus sellers, metal workers and wood workers, artists and sculptors all have tiny shops for your browsing pleasure. Smells as different as coffee, tanned leather, perfumes and good Egyptian cooking can be smelled here. Tapestries line certain areas of this indoor mall of narrow corridors. Some shops are so well hidden, that it takes some curiosity to find them. We had an experience where one man, I guess he was about 30 years old, asked us to follow him because he had a surprise for us. We, with friends we met there, were game for the adventure. Through the twisty corridored streets of the mall, we went, and into a small opening (about as tall as it was wide) and found ourselves in a small stairwell. The man climbed the stairs, so we did, too. It was a bit scary to be following a total stranger, but he did say he had something to show us. I was hoping it wasn't a skeleton or some monster. It actually ended up being a tiny workshop where they made gold-plated and silver-plated jewelry. If we wanted we could get our names inscribed on a cartouche -- an oval base about the size of a pen top -- in Egyptian hieroglyphics or in Arabic. The cost was small enough that we all were tempted, but we weren't really in the mood to buy these trinkets. We told him "No Thank You," politely, and he lowered the price! We insisted that we weren't interested, and he was about ready to give us the cartouches FREE! Imagine that! Going into K-B Toys, telling the clerk that the Barbie Dolls are too expensive, or the Nintendo game prices are WAY too high, and the clerk telling you -- "Fine, I'll give it to you free!" WOW!

The long and short of it was that we REALLY weren't interested in the merchandise, and just kindly walked out and back onto the street.

We spent a few more hours at the Khan (frequented mostly by tourists), and an adjacent area known as the Bab Zuwela (Tent Maker's Bazaar) which is frequented mostly by Egyptians. At the Bab Zuwela you can buy almost anything for adults -- sheets, towels, underwear, pillows, cotton (in bulk!), tapestries, rugs, chickens (live ones!), children's clothes, and untold other items. The Bab Zuwela is outdoor (not indoor) and is usually crowded with hundreds of people wanting to buy these items at rediculously low prices. Egyptians get a different price than foreigners -- usually twice to three times lower than the foreigners' prices.

Barbara and I purchased an embroidered tapestry from artist Mahmoud Farag, who specializes in making pictures with Arabic words (mostly taken from the Koran). We walked into his stall (I hesitate to call it shop) and wanted to know if he had a tapestry of a cat. He did, but none of them were in Arabic script. So we asked him if he could make a tapestry for us from a concept. He assured us he could. We told him we wanted a cat, made out of Arabic scripting, with olive green, gray and white coloring. He asked us to find a cat shape similar to the design we wanted, and found in his collection a cat, seated, looking at a ball of string. Needless to say, he accepted the task and after two weeks, we received a handsomely designed tapestry for about $35. It is hanging on our wall as I write this and looks uncannily like our cat Nigel ;-)

One Important Note: The Khan is so crowded, that I was not willing to take pictures of it. I'm also afraid that even if pictures had been taken, they wouldn't reveal the spirit of the place. It's one of those sites better read about and experienced than seen. Maybe one day I'll be brave and take my camera -- maybe on a day when it's less crowded?

Instead, please enjoy pictures of the Nile dinner cruise Barbara and I took for my birthday. We ate LOTS of food, listened to LOTS of music and saw: a belly dancer, a whirling dervish and the sites of downtown Cairo.