Old Cairo and Bazaar

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Tuesday morning dawned bright and early, 7:30 AM. It was bright dry and already about 79 degrees with a light breeze. Speaking of breezes….
Remember the tea from yesterday? Well as you may recall I was concerned that I may have made a mistake drinking even this little amount of local water as my stomach was a bit rebellious last night. Let’s just say there was an ill breeze blowing all evening that contributed to the smog and the ….well you know.
Anyway by the morning the winds of change have died down and the tea brought no further ill will and we headed down for a hearty and free breakfast.
With the Chan mystery behind us we settle in for a typical European/Egyptian breakfast. The selection was enormous. First there were breads of every kind, rolls and toast as well. Three fresh squeezed juices from apple to orange to grapefruit. Five different kinds of cheese from hard to soft, mild to sharp followed by baked ham and good German sausages. There were also grain cereals, tomato grilled, fish, grilled mushrooms and four different kinds of beans. You could have hard boiled eggs or have an individual omelet, scramble or fried egg made to your order. Coffee or tea was brought to your table by the waiter to complete the tableau.
We ate our fill and prepared to jump into yet another cab for the ride to the Kali Kalilli or Bazaar shopping area in Old Cairo.
We jump into a white cab with A/C but of course it does not work and we begin our harrowing journey through the traffic to the other side of Cairo.
Rick actually finds the cab rides fascinating. The weaving, the horns, the near misses and the complicated dance that is chaos in motion seem to hold sway over Rick. He just loves to watch it all unfold before his eyes it seems for his own amusement.
I on the other hand am more concerned for my life as we miss cars and or people by millimeters. We find out today there are 30,000,000 people in Cairo with 5,000,000 cars. If you are timid you will go nowhere. You have to be aggressive if you want to move along.
There seems to be no control over traffic. Traffic lights do not seem to exist nor do stop signs. Cars merge from left to right or right to left with no order. But it is all choreographed so well that everyone just knows what to do and does it without accident to death, which is simply amazing.
So we arrive at the Bazaar and fork over 50 pounds ($10) for the 45 minute drive and head out to explore.
Now you have to realize this Bazaar is open 24/7 and is mainly for locals to buy what they need for daily life. There is food and drink, clothes of every sort, scarves, shoes and even TV’s and refrigerators. There were several vendors selling safes! Anything you need they have.
That was for the locals. They also have the TOURIST section which is completely different than the locals section. Where the locals have controlled chaos, the tourists are subject to constant “attack” (Rick’s choice of word) by hawkers. They all have the best this and that. “I have what you need. Come see my store I have been here for 100 years.” (Funny he did not look that old)
Unfortunately all they have is CRAP and cheap souvenirs, just like they said in all the tour books. Most of what they have is mass market cheap items for people to bring home. The real fascination is the surrounding area and the local life that you see all around you. Let me explain.
This area is in the middle of the middle of the Old Cairo. There are Mosques everywhere you look. Look in any direction and in 100 yards or less is another minaret. This is a holy area where Muslims come pray 5 times a day. We learned that you can easily spot a pious Muslim; he has a mark in the center of his forehead worn down from rubbing his head against the prayer rug 5 times a day. And sure enough the mark is very clear in the dead center of their forehead if they are pious and not there if they are not.
A non Muslim can go into some of the Mosques so Rick and I venture in. Before you are allowed to enter you must take off your shoes and carry them as shoes are not allowed on the rugs throughout the Mosque. The space is wide open to the elements and the wall facing Mecca is where the Oman stands and reads the prayers. We walked through the open air area and took photos. We were guided along by some old man who asked for a tip, what else is new, at the end of the “guided tour”. Another 5 pounds ($1) gone.
After this we got lost in the Kalilli. Seriously lost. We were in alleys, back streets and were very close together and there were wares and things to buy handing from every wall so it was hard to see the Minaret we used to establish direction.
Thankfully the ever present Tourist police came to the rescue. We were pointed in the right direction and soon found our way safe and sound and back to the center of things and into the hands of the Hawkers.
Soon Rick had about enough of this and wanted away. I too soon felt there was noting to buy here but we needed to make one more stop, the Fishwy Cafe.
This café and Hookah bar is the favorite of tour books and locals alike. It serves hot and cold drinks, small eats and offers a wide variety of tobacco options in personal water pipes. This is a must do stop if you want to relax and see some of the real Cairo local life.
So a few turns later and another tourism officer’s directions we still can’t find it! I know we are right there but no there. So we ask another person, unfortunately one who works in another shop who assures us that Fishwy is nowhere close but his coffee house is better anyway. We moved on and once again asked another proprietor the location and after a few minutes we were showed to the alley down which our destination lay. Fishwy Café read the welcome sign at the dark end of the alley.
Now this was nice. Outside tables and benches, shade and friendly service greeted the weary tourist and local alike. There were several men, old and young, seated at tables or benched smoking away on their Hookah. We ordered two strawberry drinks which came with a bottle of cold water and just sat there and watched the world go by.
Sitting next to us on my right was a group of young students, two boys and two girls, obviously having a nice time smoking and drinking tea and water. NO ALCOHOL or DRUGS can be enjoyed at the café. They were laughing and having a general good time. One girl was having her hand decorated with henna ink in a fine intricate design by an older woman who sold her talents as a Henna artist.
When she was done and moved along I turned to see the result. The young lady noticed my look and showed me her hand for a closer look. I complemented the art and we laughed a little not speaking the same tongue but understanding each other anyway. Her friend looked over and put his arm around me and told the group to take his picture with a Tourist! They took a photo and then the newly tattooed girl wanted her picture with the Tourist and snap snap another photo. I turn to the young man and say 5 pounds please! Now that brought a huge laugh not only from the young crowd but from several other tables who seemed suddenly interested in the two tourists. Language barriers did not exist, we were all having fun.
It was time to go back to the hotel and lounge around the pool. To do that however we need another cab.
So we head to the road and stop another Tourist Policeman and seek his help. We explain our destination and maximum cost of 50 pounds ($10) and he flags down a cab. The officer negotiates on our behalf but the driver will not go below 100 pounds so the driver is sent away. Another is flagged down and with a more positive negotiation we pile in. As we do the cab driver hands the officer a 10 pound note for helping us, which we are now responsible to give to the driver. WHAT A RACKET, everyone gets paid for anything. Oh well when in Rome…I mean Cairo.
Of course we have no A/C, something we now expect to deal with, so roll down the windows and off we go. This driver takes us through a completely different route so we get to see more of Cairo including the Palace of King Farouk, now a museum. All I can say is “it’s good to be the king”
The traffic is a little better or our driver is a little more daring but we get back to the hotel in 35 minutes. Now we are 60 pounds lighter and I decide it is time for a swim and Rick prefers a nap.
Into the bathing suit and with computer in hand I head to the Oasis known as our pool. It is beautiful and huge. I get my free orange towel and sit down and write this blog from beginning to end. Done with the blog I am going to shut down for now and hit the pool.
TWO MINUTES LATER
Can you believe it is RAINING? It has not rained in Giza for three months and right now it is pouring. It can’t last long I am sure but it is now 3 PM and I am a little hungry and since we missed lunch I guess I will head back up and we will head out to eat.
Changed into a nice pair of shorts we head out to walk to a local place to eat. Unfortunately the best laid plans of mice and men…. It is still raining.
Back inside the 5 star hotel. They have to have food someplace inside so we search the lobby. We have the lobby bar where the smallest bite to eat is 25 pounds; no way will Rick spend that. There is a Tex Mex restaurant on the first floor where a burger is 55 pounds but they do not open till 6 PM.
Back to the lobby bar where the lobby agent directs us to the top of the stairs and to the left for a lunch buffet. The buffet costs 160 pounds ($32) that is not going to happen. But we are swallowed up by a bunch of German tourists whose tour bus just arrived. So we are swept along into a buffet lunch area and dine until we are full and quietly as possible walk back out. No one the wiser and 160 pounds heavier (money that is). Now some of you may say how can they do that?
Well simple we were told to follow the group, told to sit down and told to eat. I always try to do what I am told so……. Not my problem. Anyway they had a ton of food and we had not found a reasonable option so there.
After lunch we headed back to the room where I down loaded some photos from the camera and labeled them with the HiJack label program. Now I need to figure out how to add to the blog!
More to come I am sure as tonight is our last night alone, tomorrow we hook up with the tour and off to see the Colossus, the Alabaster Sphinx, the Pyramids at Giza with light show and the Step Pyramids.

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