Driving through Cairo

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Today we set out to find the central market in Cairo. All of these Asian cities have one==usually a many block square area with all kinds of shops, some retail, some wholesale, and usually divided up into sections depending upon what is being sold. All of the textiles, for instance are in one section. Then all of the produce, the leather goods, electrical equipment and so on.

Getting to the market involves a taxi ride, and Cairo's taxi fleet is probably the worst looking, most beat up, run down bunch of taxis I have ever seen. A ride across town costs about $2.00. Of course there are no seat belts. The driver, smoking a cigeratte, cleaning his sunglasses, drinking a soda and talking on the cel phone is driving in a lane he just created between a bus and another taxi at about 60 mph. People are walking through the traffic, dodging cars as they attempt to cross the busy streets. When cars stop for a moment, children and some adults wander out in between the cars attempting to sell kleenex to the drivers and passengers. People on bicycles, motor scooters, motorcycles and even horse drawn wagons are all competing for the limited space on streets that do not have lane markers. At some intersections there are uniformed traffic cops who are attempting, with very little success, to bring order to this chaos. It is also blisteringly hot and of course these taxis are not air conditioned.

Cairo's central market area is large, busy, and pretty run down. Some of the merchants told us they are planning some major renovations andplan to redo the streets in old-style pavers rather then asphalt; so they have torn up all the asphalt and it is now a dirt and mud street with construction going on.

As you might imagine, tourists also find these markets so it is a giant flea market too, with hawkers, kids selling trinkets, merchants all trying to find a way to entice you into their shop to view their version of the pyramids, papyrus scrolls and of course jewelry.

We had coffee in part of the central area of the market and this "coffee shop" was obviously very old and generally dirty and run down but they had quite a bit of business, from businessmen in suits and ties smoking hookas and drinking tea, to tourists like us drinking tea and coffee.

Restaurants are scarce here, and we ended up having lunch in a small dirty restaurant, where the only choice of meals was "small" and "large", and consisted of a bowl of noodles and lentils, covered with some sort of hot tomato sauce. On the table was a bottle of strange clear liquid which patrons were pouring on their noodles. I declined to try that stuff, but the noodles were good and the meal for two of us, including two bottles of soft drinks was $1.35 total.

Tomorrow we hook up with our actual tour; we will go to visit the pyramids, the egyptian museum, and then we take the overnight train to Aswan where we pick up our truck.

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Photos

Old Amber for sale
This market has everything

Inside the Central Market
This street is slated to be repaved with old-looking pavers

Coffee and Tea
Coffee in the old center of the central market

central market
Market spills out into the street

Lunch
Lunch for $ 1.35

Comments

[Amber LaHaye]

Was that good?
That food looked kind of grose. Was is good? Did it taste like spaghetti?