The Khan al Khalili is divided more or less into two sides: what I think of as the gaudy, trinkets side and the “real life” Egyptian side. Imagine my preference… We did, however, brave two trinkets shops in search of gifts for those back home and for, uh, Christmas stockings. I find myself quite taken with those perforated-metal hanging lamps. You can see them in Ikea, but they are missing the essential layer of grime and what appears to be unintentional randomness to the perforations that can only be found here. They really are beautiful. I resisted, though, as Carrie and I brought back something like this from Luxor in 2000. It hangs outside our front door to this day, but the energy efficient bulb in it leaves much to be desired (is it just me or do all energy efficient bulbs seem dim and dark in comparison to their incandescent progenitors?). We made a point of walking through the Damascus Gate today in the “real life” side of the Khan, and from their to the street of the tent-makers. I could not resist a beautifully embroidered cloth with “Bismillah” stitched into it in the shape of a bird.
We are all still faring well, although poor Finn was traumatized by the open carnage in butchers shops and the way a shopkeeper handled meal-destined bunnies by the ears… Again, people were so kind and welcoming. Of course there were touts and hardened sellers of knick knacks, but we were utterly charmed by children greeting us and repeating the single phrase they knew in English over and over (“Wassyourname?”), people in the street stopping to welcome us to Egypt with no other apparent intent other than to wish us well and hope we send the word out that this is a wonderful place to visit. Egypt badly needs tourism again.
Here are some of the photos I shot today:
