Egypt @ Khan el-Khalili : November 25, 2008

Khan el-Khalili is Cairo’s Bazaar District.

Like any other countries there’s no other place to get local goodies and tourist traps than the neighborhood market.  This famous market was bustling with locals and tourists alike.

So after the Pyramids Off to the market we went.  To buy tourist trinkets of course!  There were so much to see and so much to do.

What did we buy?  Hookahs, Belly dancing outfits, sandals, shoes, and more hookahs!

Here’s a funny story associated with this trip to Khan el-Khalili.  I’m not sure everyone knows that Egyptian men are aggressive.  Especially towards Americans!  Two female single Americans traveling to an Islamic country.  i didn’t think twice until visiting Egypt.

We went deeper into the Bazaar looking for Hookahs.  These men noticed we were tourist and wanted to show us his collection. This shop was two levels.  Both levels full of Hookahs.  The bottom level were supposedly hookahs that were mediocre in quality while the top level were Hookahs that were top of the line.  This man  probably in his mid thirties, had black gums most likely from chewing tabacco.  They have no sense of personal space- lets just say he was a close talker.  He finally convinced us to look at his collection upstairs.  the more he showed us the less interested i became especially since he was such a close talker.  him and his friends were making jokes and we laughed a bit and then he started to put his hand on my shoulder and i screamed … Don’t touch me.  and he was all frazzled by my screaming he was nervous and put his finger to his mouth and was telling me SHhhh SHhhh… he was trying to get me to be quiet cause i was laughing and screaming that he needed to back away.   i told him you just cant put your hand on me like that.  you are a stranger and i don’t know you.  he then said, but i thought we are friends now.  I’m like no-you just want me to buy your stuff.   All the entire time i was feeling violated my friend was having a good laugh at me watching this unfold. Thanks for the help D.   Doesn’t help that the other guy working has a crush on her and they were chatting it up.

In the end we all just laughed at the situation and well his friend came out in this Belly Dancing outfit.