Khan el Khalili is a souk in the middle of Cairo and there are zillions of photographs out there on this. The souk dates back to 1382AD but now is absolutely a total tourist trap with kitsch Egyptian souvenirs all over the place. Bleah. This area is also a bit dangerous as it has been the target of terrorist attacks. But no terrorists here on a Sunday.
A pile of dusty lamps.
Selling a cloth bag with hieroglyphic alphabets printed on top. Check out what “ch” is representing. total wtf. What’s with the placenta business? 
They have taken Queen Nefertiti and converted her into a painted hooker. Disgusting. This is how the original statue looks like.
Anyway, moving into the souk proper.
It was Sunday so most of the shops were closed, but the Cafe El Fishawy was open.
The sign shown reversed on a mirror. 
A stuffed rather corpulent Nile crocodile mounted on the wall. 
A carved panel on the door. 
A series of mirrors which show the cafe…reflections myriad of times. 
People sitting outside and enjoying their hubby bubbly shisha water pipes. 
This is the hibiscus flower drink called as Karkade. Its just brilliant, love it and can drink this by the gallon. 
A sunglasses peddler and behind him a chap was sitting checking his emails and chatting on a tiny laptop. Just brilliant, the juxtaposition of old and new was brilliant. 
A fly specked extremely dirty chandelier. 
Another lovely lamp. 
It was the world cup season, Ronaldo and Zidine were there… 
The other side of the cafe and yours truly can be seen on the window.
Then went to have a bite to eat at the Naquib Mahfouz cafe.
Brinjals 
Humus 
Bread 
Two stuffed pigeons. 
Brinjals with garlic and lamb. Not very impressed with Egyptian cuisine, I am afraid. But then, the other stuff in Cairo more than makes it up for the lack of decent food. 
Here’s the man himself and where he used to write his books. It is a tourist hellhole, I have to admit, not fun at all.
3 comments:
I miss Fishawy. Spent many hours lounging in this place after frantic shopping with groups of relatives and friends.
BD, have you considered watermarking your photos? They are really good and open to plagiarism. (I know of other blogger friends who have had problems on this front)
& btw AFAIK, the Naguib Mahfouz Cafe by the Oberois was opened much after the man had passed away. He used to sit at Fishawy, watching life pass by and inspire him
Khan el Khalili reminded me of Aminabad and New Market! I did love the beautiful metal work window grills:) Now I'm trying to place Mahfouz's characters into the Cairo I've seen.
thanks for the update, Kim, I missed that.. :)
and good idea on the watermark...
dipali, yes, it does remind me of our "chowks"
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