Khan el Khalili - Cairo's answer to the Eaton centre? ;)

Shops in the souq
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No trip to Cairo is complete without a visit to one of its busy, bustling markets. The Egyptian word for market is “souk”. The most popular one is the Khan el Khalili market. I suppose one could call it Cairo’s Eaton Centre judging from the number of stores and tourists that crowd the narrow lanes.

Mind you, many visitors are inclined to sometimes dismiss the Khan el-Khalili as a tourist trap, and indeed, all manner of souvenirs may be purchased there, from statues to 'personalized' cartouches to papyrus art. But the Khan (meaning market) predates tourism to the area and was established in the 14th century. Further, most tourists tend to buy souvenirs, and for many items, this is the best and least expensive place to buy them with the most variety. But many things are sold here, and one discovers that the locals are here as well, buying their fabrics and clothes, pots, and other ordinary household needs.

The souq dates back to 1382 and there are shops for everything ranging from clothing, bric-a-brac, spices, souvenirs, glass, copper, silver, papyrus, perfumes, etc. and at quite reasonable prices.

What was i smoking!!? ;)
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Not far from the market is the Al-Azhar Mosque and across it are many small restaurants. It was insanely hot and the first thing we wanted to do was get a bite to eat and cool off. Most of these restaurants have a small room upstairs which they call “conditioned” and yes, it is a windowless room with cool air blasting in. It was our haven and we sat there for lunch and sampled some more local fare. Now, we were ready to shop!!

The souq dates back to 1382 and there are shops for everything ranging from clothing, bric-a-brac, spices, souvenirs, glass, copper, silver, papyrus, perfumes, etc. and at quite reasonable prices. I purchased a variety of items including a couple of sheeshas (which I also smoked to Missy’s horror!) and to the amusement of the local vendors that cheered me on. It was fun.

Shops for everything
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The market was crazy busy but according to some local vendors the tourist trade has suffered quite a bit since the terrorist attacks in the market in 2005. A suicide attack in the market, on 7 April, took 21 lives (eleven Egyptians, two French tourists, one American, and seven foreigners of unidentified origin). It was the first attack in the series; this attack scared away tourists from Egypt in general and Khan El-Khalili in particular for some time.

I found it to be particularly safe though and the vendors are very friendly although you have to have good bargaining skills to be able to shop here. As an example, I purchased a beautiful copper lamp at one of the stores. The price originally quoted to me was LE 750 and I ended up paying LE 280 for it and I’m guessing I still I paid too much, haha. Oh well, if you ever come home I’ll show it to you and you can let me know what you think.