Khan al-Khalili

Today I ventured to Khan al-Khalili - a mega market if there ever was one. I have no idea how the shopping King Chris and I missed this place the first time around. He would have loved it.
It is a maze of small shops that goes on for miles. It has been a center of trade since the 14th century.

It had everything from tourist trinkets of stuffed camels and paperweight pyramids, to gold, silver and precious stone jewelry, brass and copper, hand bags, clothes galore - eastern and western styles, rugs, shoes, home goods, cleaning supplies, you name they have it. If not in their shop, they’ll send a young boy to run and find it for you. (Yes, that's a picture of a woman in a burkha buying bras on the street.)

The vendors were a bit aggressive, “Miss! Miss! What do you want to buy today?” I said nothing, just photos today. “Nothing. I have nothing. What color do you want?” So, they also have a sense of humor and a few were interested in chatting.

Mostly, I got jostled around for a couple of hours. I happily walked in circles through the maze. And when the vendors starting saying welcome back and I actually recognized them as well I knew it was time for a break. So I stopped in a café. When I stopped for lunch the vendors came right into the restaurant to continue selling. And the cats were begging at my feet for something too.

I did buy a couple of things, mostly because I heard Chris in my head talking about how much fun it is. And it was.