Cairo and its Bazaar
Saturday, Feb. 22.
Another early start and 6:30 am departure from our Amman hotel got us to the airport plenty of time before our 9:35 Egypt Air flight to Cairo. Everyone and their luggage made it to Egypt. This was the first time we have been on the African continent. The tour rep met us at the Cairo airport and got us on the bus to our downtown hotel.
We have a good friend who happens to be visiting Cairo and our schedules overlap by a couple days. We made arrangements to meet up and spent a great afternoon in old Cairo. Nabil knows the back alleys and narrow streets well. He was born in Egypt, speaks Arabic, and visits once or twice a year.
We got into some places that few get to see because Nabil speaks Arabic and came armed with a bag full of little ‘thank you’ gifts for people who could help with our special access.
Visiting a major mosque and school with Nabil. Head cover and attire for women are strictly enforced as you can see.
M
‘Pencil’ style minaret
Windows in a mosque dating back to the 13th century.
Interesting buildings dating back a thousand years or so included mosques, Turkish baths, homes, shops, and more. We wandered through the fantastic bazaar with people selling all sorts of products. Some tried to sell us their wares and none were pushy or rude when we thanked them, but turned down their offers. We did do a little souvenir shopping at a little, out of the way, 2nd storey ‘fixed price’ shop. No haggling or bargaining. The rock bottom price was already on the items. We did buy a small carving, some lovely papyrus art, and had our own cartouches made with our names in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs Nabil told us that most bazaar sellers start asking a price about 4 or 5 times more than they are prepared to accept. Indeed, the fixed price stores was about a fifth of the price for the same items that we saw in other stores.
The Cairo bazaar.
One of the Old City gates.
Mosque dome and minaret tower.
The Cairo Bazaar
After a few hours, we had a tasty dinner in a local Egyptian restaurant in the middle of the bazaar before doing a little more wandering and people watching. Without Nabil, I don’t think we would have had that most interesting experience.
A few more observations: The traffic here is crazy. Seems like everyone has a car with a working horn. Lines on the city streets are non-existent and the very few traffic lights in the old part of the city serve simply as suggestions for drivers. Crossing the street was an experience.
Twenty million people live in greater Cairo and another two or three million commute to work here daily. Egypt has just surpassed the 100 million population mark. Compared to Amman and Aqaba, quite a few more people dress in traditional Islamic attire, both men and women. Despite our early start and the hectic nature of the city, our first day in Egypt was interesting and enjoyable
Tomorrow morning, we meet our Egyptologist who will be with us until we leave Egypt. He’ll give us, we hope, the plan and itinerary for the next few days.
Another early start and 6:30 am departure from our Amman hotel got us to the airport plenty of time before our 9:35 Egypt Air flight to Cairo. Everyone and their luggage made it to Egypt. This was the first time we have been on the African continent. The tour rep met us at the Cairo airport and got us on the bus to our downtown hotel.
We have a good friend who happens to be visiting Cairo and our schedules overlap by a couple days. We made arrangements to meet up and spent a great afternoon in old Cairo. Nabil knows the back alleys and narrow streets well. He was born in Egypt, speaks Arabic, and visits once or twice a year.
We got into some places that few get to see because Nabil speaks Arabic and came armed with a bag full of little ‘thank you’ gifts for people who could help with our special access.
Visiting a major mosque and school with Nabil. Head cover and attire for women are strictly enforced as you can see.
M‘Pencil’ style minaret
Windows in a mosque dating back to the 13th century.
Interesting buildings dating back a thousand years or so included mosques, Turkish baths, homes, shops, and more. We wandered through the fantastic bazaar with people selling all sorts of products. Some tried to sell us their wares and none were pushy or rude when we thanked them, but turned down their offers. We did do a little souvenir shopping at a little, out of the way, 2nd storey ‘fixed price’ shop. No haggling or bargaining. The rock bottom price was already on the items. We did buy a small carving, some lovely papyrus art, and had our own cartouches made with our names in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs Nabil told us that most bazaar sellers start asking a price about 4 or 5 times more than they are prepared to accept. Indeed, the fixed price stores was about a fifth of the price for the same items that we saw in other stores.
The Cairo bazaar.
One of the Old City gates.
Mosque dome and minaret tower.
The Cairo Bazaar
After a few hours, we had a tasty dinner in a local Egyptian restaurant in the middle of the bazaar before doing a little more wandering and people watching. Without Nabil, I don’t think we would have had that most interesting experience.
A few more observations: The traffic here is crazy. Seems like everyone has a car with a working horn. Lines on the city streets are non-existent and the very few traffic lights in the old part of the city serve simply as suggestions for drivers. Crossing the street was an experience.
Twenty million people live in greater Cairo and another two or three million commute to work here daily. Egypt has just surpassed the 100 million population mark. Compared to Amman and Aqaba, quite a few more people dress in traditional Islamic attire, both men and women. Despite our early start and the hectic nature of the city, our first day in Egypt was interesting and enjoyable
Tomorrow morning, we meet our Egyptologist who will be with us until we leave Egypt. He’ll give us, we hope, the plan and itinerary for the next few days.
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