An Evening at Khan el-Khalili

We took a trip over to Khan el-Khalili last night. The Khan is a center of action for both tourists and locals who want to buy merchandise ranging from "cheap price" bracelets to gold. We entered from the tourist side and stopped at one of the restaurants in the square by the al-Hussein mosque.


This particular group of restaurants has a carnival-like atmosphere. Each has a "tout" or barker out front to try and convince every passerby to "come, have a sit!"


We chose "Eid Sons." It was a nice place to watch the people. Naturally, we had our shoes shined but declined offers to sell us cheap Rolex watches, jewelry, wallets and scarves.

A tour group was meeting up at the cafe next to us. Probably following some instructions like, "Take an hour to shop and then find your way back here."

Those aren't easy instructions for someone not familiar with the area. The narrow streets and many corners are very disorienting. After dinner, we plunged into the Khan at this entrance.


There are shops here for whatever you might think you need.

Gold.


Lamps.


Just plain stuff.


And, of course, Alabaster.


Linda was interested in a particular style of Alabaster bowl to use for decoration. Soon the shop owner had a variety of bowls out for us to view. And an alabaster shop salesman always has the light switch handy so he can drop a candle into the item and show you the subtle colors.


When we left the Khan, we passed by a restaurant specializing in fateer (or fiteer or fatir or fattir. As usual, the choice is yours. The original spelling is in Arabic letters.) These folks don't want to scare the tourists away by calling their place the International House of Fateer. So they use the name many tourists give this treat.


Last night, it was pretty much a local crowd.

Taking the Shortcut

With the completion of the Ring Road bridge past our apartment, traffic flow on the street below has improved. But it is still slow at times.


That can cause some drivers to look for ways to beat the system. Here a Tuk-Tuk driver just goes the opposite way of the other three lanes. This is not unusual. Drivers seldom honk at another driver just because they are going the wrong way when traffic is heavy. It does create a walking hazard, though. Never assume no one is coming behind you!


To get around the traffic jams, drivers will often take an "alternative path." We have one in our neighborhood that represents a bit of a battle between "the establishment" and "the people." There is a shortcut around all the traffic in front of our apartment that involves driving down a rough gravel road and onto the road in back of us. Local authorities try to keep it closed, but drivers open it.

On our walk a couple of days ago, we saw some local buses coming along the shortcut road.



We took a closer look. Sure enough, if you were willing to go over a mound of dirt, you could get onto the shortcut.



Here is what the entrance to the shortcut looks like, on the right in this picture. The green arrow points to a less obvious shortcut. If you are coming off the Ring from the east, you can just cross over that divider and head for the shortcut. (or drive the wrong way up the front road too!)


A couple of days later, we saw that the authorities had closed up the gap again. It still works for motorcycles, though. I'm sure it will be open again soon.


At least one time, the authorities blocked off a larger part of the shortcut beyond the entrance. Then people had to clear out a little area right next to this building and squeeze through between the building and the tree. They managed.

ISO 9000 Manager, Call the Front Desk!

When I shared this picture of our new balcony shades, I mentioned that I hadn't installed them all yet.


Since I've been retired for over seven years now, I don't know if "Quality", "ISO 9000", "Six Sigma" and "Demming Prize" still carry the same weight in corporate management as they did in the early '80s, late '90s.

Let's just say that the Quality trend hasn't made much impact yet here in Egypt. Here are the mounting brackets that came with the shades.


I didn't ask to have them mounted by the store. I've seen too many local craftsmen at work. Mounting something on concrete or brick here usually means pounding a drywall screw into the surface and giving it a couple of twists with a screwdriver.

I checked the hardware section at Carrefour and found these plastic screw anchors. Not the lead ones I would buy at home for concrete but better than nothing. When I find something here that I might be able to use, I buy it immediately. It may not be available tomorrow. Naturally, the anchors came with screws.


An unusual choice of screw style for the application, but everything is different here. I made a trip to Dary department store on Pyramids Road, the best spot I've found for hardware. These German screws wouldn't be my first choice either but worked out well for both diameter and length.


That probably leaves you wondering about the holes? Well I've acquired a few tools here. An American just can't get by without his tools. Clint Eastwood, as the character Walt Kowalski, in Gran Torino put it this way:

Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone.

My tool box includes two of those, but here's the whole shoebox, laid out on the table.


That electric drill and the two carbide bits puts me way beyond the capability of most local handymen. The shades operate very nicely, by the way.

And that really ugly screw?

I didn't use it at all after photographing it. But I did slip it into my shirt pocket and that's how I ended up setting off the metal detector at the library in Alexandria.

Shopping on King Faisal Street

We were off to visit friends for dinner last night. The friends live in the vicinity of the pyramids but near King Faisal street. I've used the map below before to show where Pyramids street is located. King Faisal is the street running parallel to Pyramids but just a bit north.


If Pyramids is the busiest road on this side of the Nile, Faisal must surely be the second busiest. Faisal is block after block of shops and restaurants. The "fashion center" of Cairo is definitely downtown but choices and good prices are found here.

We left early because of the heavy traffic on Thursday evening, the start of the weekend. After catching a taxi over to the area, we started walking down Faisal. What's this across the street? A lamp store!


Let's take a closer look:


Just about everything here is sold in a specialty shop. Outside of the new mass-merchandisers like Carrefour, store owners specialize in one product line. You buy paint at a paint store, curtains at a curtain store and lamps at a lamp store. This shop looked interesting to me. There are lots of shapes for the lamps and the shades. You might recall that we bought a couple of brass lamps previously. That is a different line. These are more traditional lamps although there are some modern items inside too.

Here is a closer look at the window:


Linda didn't see anything that really fit her decorating style here so we moved on.

We were headed down this street. You can see that it's under construction. That is a Tuk-Tuk headed our way while a couple of fellows push another car in the opposite direction. The Tuk-Tuk is an Indian import. These auto rickshaws have become very popular here in the past few years. They are supposed to stay in local neighborhoods and not cross major streets. Good luck on that restriction! Since many of the drivers are young and inexperienced, they are generally regarded by Egyptian drivers with considerable disdain.


Moving down that side street, we soon came to these two shops side by side. The one on the left sells plumbing supplies, the one on the right sells electrical wares. The photo on the right shows one of the guides to supplies at the plumbing store.


Down the block, there was another electrical store. These are usually easy to recognize because they display a large coil of orange plastic conduit and usually have a large display of switch and outlet faceplates. Faceplates come in a great many more styles here than back home.

It's About Time to Head Home

We only have a bit more than a week left before we head back to Bloomington. We have been finishing up a few projects and reconciling ourselves to leaving others for next year. Like finding a suitable dining room table. That will just have to wait.

We did buy four roll-down shades for the rear balcony. So far I have two installed. I better get going on finishing that project. They make it comfortable to sit out back in the afternoon once the sun starts heating the area. The warmth of the sun is perfect for breakfast in January but gets to be a bit much in the afternoons as March approaches.


And it looks like the heat will be increasing. The forecast for the next few days shows a change coming.


Temps rising to 99 and 100 Monday through Wednesday. And the symbol that Excite.com provides on the left of a tree blowing in the wind? 24mph! A sure sign that the Khamseen is coming. Khamseen (or kamsin, take your pick) is Arabic for fifty. All desert countries have a name for the wind. Supposedly, once it starts, the Khamseen blows for fifty days. Here, another local blogger describes the 2007 version.

A quick check on the Bloomington weather reveals that it may, in fact, be safe to come home.


When we arrive, I may be able to remove the extension cords along the driveway that were lighting our Christmas candles when we left.


UPDATE NOTE: I added a close-up shot of an irrigation pump and a short video with the "putt-putt" sound of the motor at the earlier Irrigation Day post.

A Walk in the Park

Yesterday, we headed for the western side of the Nile in the downtown area of Cairo. Two of our favorite neighborhoods are found there, Dokki and Zamalek. These are two old and upscale neighborhoods of the city. Dokki is packed with beautiful old homes that are now mostly embassies.


We enjoy walking through Dokki. There are tree-lined streets, relative quiet (except when school has just ended for the day) and lots to see. A few of the trees were beginning to show signs of spring. The fruit, flower and vegetable vendors offer plenty of color.


This area is close to the Sheraton where we used to stay when we visited Cairo, so we know it well.



We then headed past the Sheraton onto the island that forms Zamalek. This area is accessible from the east side of the Nile via the Qasr el-Nile Bridge. We call it the "Lion Bridge" because of the large statues of lions at the ends. We were heading for a restaurant with a view. Many people have been near this area when visiting the Cairo Tower but miss the great river views from this indoor/outdoor restaurant. Here is the area that I'm describing as viewed from the north end of Zamalek.


We were pleasantly surprised to notice that the park, just to the south of the road by the Opera House has been nicely cleaned up. It cost two pounds apiece for the entrance fee, but it is well worth the 35 cents to walk through this area. From the park, you get the view of the Cairo Tower on the left instead of the view on the right.


It's a lot quieter, too.

Here are a couple more pictures from the stroll through the park:


We soon reached the entrance to the restaurant known as Casino El Nile. There is no casino, just a riverfront restaurant with hundreds of outdoor tables and a number of indoor tables too. Since everyone here thinks it is winter, the outdoor tables were almost all vacant. We chose one with a nice view.


If you were new to the city it would be easy to miss the entrance to this place:


And you would miss not only a great view, but very good food. Linda had the Shish Tawouk (grilled chicken) and I chose the Chicken nigresco. I made my choice based on a guess that it might be blackened chicken. The waiter said it came with rice. Count me "double surprised!" Chicken Nigresco (or Negresco) turns out to be chicken with pasta in a bechamel sauce. It tasted good.


We stayed through sunset and enjoyed desert. Linda had Om Ali, her favorite. We took one last picture of the restaurant as we were leaving.