I have ventured into the winding alleys and streets of Khan al Khalili several times now. Each time is an adventure. You are probably wondering now what is Khan al Khalili?
It is a huge area filled with many street where you can but pretty much anything. This massive market is overflowing with goods such as jewelry, miniature pyramids, scarves, drums, t-shirts, oils, spices, cloth, bags, and many other items. Tourists and locals alike shop in Khan al Khalili. It is located in Islamic Cairo which is one of the oldest regions of Cairo. Besides the bazaar, there are also mosques, street food vendors, and cafes found in this area. Walking through the maze of vendors, sellers constantly talk to you to stop and look at their merchandise. "Hello," "how are you", "come look", "you know how much this costs", " you can have it for free", "today everything is half off", "I have a deal special for you", and so on and so on. It seems as if the pleas for business will never end. A response of "la'a shokran" is said repeatedly throughout the day. Or, many times, I simply ignore the men. The times I do decide want to buy something, I stop, and ask how much the item is, and begin bargaining. Many times I have a price in my head I am aiming for, and a maximum price I will pay. The bargaining is done in arabic because that automatically helps your chances. Sometimes a few stories are made up to say we are egyptian and that sort of thing. You go back and forth with the man, staying with your price and eventually he drops and drops and drops. For instance the other day, my friend Bria and I were buying 8 silver charms. The man originally told us 400 pounds. After several minutes of bargaining we got the price down to 170 pounds. Several time that day, men told us we were "cutting their necks" meaning we were the only ones benefiting from the deal, but you have to stay strong, or you will surely get ripped off.Walking around haggling all day makes you tired, so usually we take a break in Al Fashawy's, a famous cafe in Khan Al Khalili. Usually I drink hot tea with mint and fresh juice, mango and lemon are my favorite. The whole time we sit there, we are constantly asked by people to buy watches, wallets, jewelry, and other items. All the same, it is a nice break before going back out to bargain more prices.
The most beautiful thing that I see in Khan al Khalil are the Bedouin cloths, or that's at least what I call them. They are sheets of fabric printed with brightly colored beautiful patterns. They are on nearly every street, and their colors will surely catch your eye. I just love looking at them. Trips to Khan al Khalili make me tired every time, but still I walk away( or literally, ride away in a taxi) happy with the unique gifts I found.
