Its origins date back to 1382, when the Dyaharks el-Khalili built a large caravanserai or inn for merchants with rooms for animals and cargo.
This caravanserai, landmark economic activity in the area still exists, and if we visit we ask only the narrow street of Sikka Khan el-Khalili and Badestan.
To explore this huge market of labyrinthine alleys, there are a few prerequisites:
Lots of patience, good humor and learn to haggle!
If we get a good price, the first thing is to ask around to know where the shots go, we should not show much interest in the article (or we are lost), and NEVER get it.
The price we say is exorbitant, and we offer four times less, arm ourselves with patience, and have some fun (the Egyptians are very fond of the joke, and when they discover that you are Spanish, go like flies), but always showing respect and being careful because the last attempt engatusarte joke, the catch phrase they have learned in Spanish or calling jabibi (friend).
Never talk with your companions about what you want to pay, because although it may seem, it is likely that you understand.
If you take them propaganda pens! go crazy for them, and maybe the little things can change by offering a gift or for your children ... Although I prefer the non-propaganda, and for us is a simple pen.
But if you do not like haggling, get tired, or simply do not have time: Stop by the store of "George"!
Yes, you heard right George, that although it is Egyptian, lived many years in Catalonia and speaks fluent Spanish. In his shop you will find the same as in the other (Sishas, djellabas, all kinds of estuas, essences of perfumes, papyrus, etc), but at a fixed price that is fairly cheap, and it always gives you a little something. The quality probably is not very good, but others give you quality?, And you solve the issue of gifts.
His shop is in a narrow alley, up some narrow stairs leading to a kind of corrala, but do not worry, it is well known, and if you ask any young man will be happy to accompany you.
El-Khalili, o Jalili, is the ideal place to buy gifts, because the stores where you have the guide is far more expensive because they take commission. Although you may be told that their scrolls are authentic and from the Jalili are made from banana skin, but ...
Does your brother will notice?.
Regardless of the tourist shops, El Khalili is the heart of Cairo, and it is worth to get carried away by the scent of spices and get into the narrow streets. It will be like if we had moved into the era of the Arabian Nights, where we can find artisan workshops, butcher shops where there are no refrigerators, impressive mosques in which you'll see people sleeping, or ancestral barber shops where you removed the hair with a single cotton yarn.
An essential visit is the Fishawy Café, better known as the coffee of the mirrors, which has been open for over 200 years for 24 hours a day. There you can enjoy a Karkadé or hibiscus tea, while sharing a shisha with aromatic fruit flavored snuff.
Related Posts
Tags: Egypt , Cairo , Khan el-Khalili , Khan el Khalili
