Saturday, April 17, 2010

The Khan

Khan el-Khalili is one of Cairo's main attractions for tourists. It's a gigantic souq or bazaar. Miles and miles of winding little streets that sell everything imaginable- from spices to antique cameras to belly dancing outfits. It's quite overwhelming. I'm almost too tired to even blog about it. But. Must. Keep. Blogging.

So I'd heard that the prices at the Khan were a little outrageous. I didn't want to buy much but I did want to try my hand at bargaining. I found a little camel shaped puzzle and asked the shopkeeper how much it was. He told me 100 L.E. or about $20. Outrage! Back in the states I wouldn't pay more than $5 for it. I didn't really want to buy it so I started to walk out, but the shopkeeper handed the camel to Ike who was sitting in the backpack. And thus ensued about 5 minutes of me saying, "No way, that's too much," snatching the camel from Ike (tears from Ike) and then the shopkeeper handing the camel back to Ike (smiles from Ike) and saying, "Ok, how much?" Tears, smiles, tears, smiles. I ended up paying 30 pounds (about $5.50) for something I didn't really want. But once I started haggling, I was committed.

Words can't describe the Khan so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

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Feels like home.

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This shop had burned down.

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We ended our night with koshary at Abou Tariq's. Yum!

3 comments:

Popok said...

We love your blog; great memories of our time in Cairo with your family are rushing back to us as we look at your gorgeous pictures. Some of our most memorable moments (with the bodyguard...) were in that souq, and in front of our giant bowls of koshary at Abou Tariq's. There's no better time to visit Egypt, everyone! We loved seeing pictures of your Mom trekking around Coptic Cairo--she looks great!

Tess said...

Booker liking the food there? You are having so much fun!

Cassie said...

This would be the epitome of Brandon's Hell. All those stores and shopping. And my Heaven... :)