Cairo 7

A day in Khan El-Kalili
The Cairo Bazaar, known as Khan El-Kalili is quite an experience. We were dropped off at one of its gates by one of the ubiquitous black and white taxis that crowd the Caire streets and seem to aim for any pedestrian brave enough to try and cross to the other side of any road.

The market is made up of thousands of stalls and shops, one on top of the other in a neighborhood that dates back to medieval times and is defined by narrow alleyways, crumbling buildings and beautiful mosques. The folks that crowd the streets represent slices of every nation and every culture known to man....and the vendors usually approach passers-by by asking "Where you from?". Mike started saying that he was from Bulgaria...and most of the vendors would reply as they would have if he had said New York: "Bulgaria? Beautiful country. Nice people. Welcome to my country. I have what you're looking for!"

We walked around for a while, taking it all in...overwhelmed by the amount of goods that were being sold everywhere, and ranged from plastic pyramids to jewelry...from waterpipes and inlaid boxes to fabrics....and t-shirts, galabeyas, dresses, scarves, sandals, hats, etc. etc. etc. And at the same time as our senses were being attacked by the copious amount of colors, textures, smells, and sounds..we also had to fend off the constant invitations to "buy something cheap"...or "just come in and look".

Alfredo gets a close shave.
We took lots of pictures...talked with many Egyptians...bargained for fabrics and other small gifts. While Mike was checking out yet another inlaid box "factory", I wandered into a barbershop next door and got myself as proper haircut and shave. We were the only Westerners in the tiny establishments and the fellows that were there seem quite amused. Chris befriended the barber's young son and taught him to use his camera...and the kid turned out to be a naural shooter. In the meanwhile I enjoyed a few minutes sitting down and having my bangs trimmed and my chin cleaned up. Jacob was tempted...but vowed to keep his beard until we return to the US...so he passed.