Shopping and Zoo

Stall at Khan El-Khalili Market

We were both woken to what seemed to be the sound of a man singing over a loud speaker I turned on the lamp and looked at my clock it was 4:30am the singing went on for about another 5 minutes then stopped. Later we found out that it was the mosque close by calling everyone to come to prey. This happened 5 times a day and no matter where you were in Cairo you would hear a call from Mosque coming from every direction.

We were awake now and due to a early night and jet lag we could not get back to sleep, being 4:30 in the morning and breakfast not available until 7am we spent the next few hours flicking through the channels on the tv, reading the lonely planet and planning what we would be doing in Cairo over the next few days.

Our plan on the first day was to go to the famous Khan El-Khalili Market in the morning and the Cairo Zoo in the afternoon. After breakfast and some time on the internet we went to the main road and caught a taxi to the market. Once we reached the destination and we were out of the taxi we had no idea where to go we saw a big mosque in front of us and many little alleys around us with stalls selling fabrics this is not what we expected, unsure if we were in the right place we started going in one direction and that didn't feel right so we turned around and went the other we must have looked lost because a man came up to us and asked us what we were looking for. We told him the El-Khalili Market he laughed and said "You are here come to my friends shop" we had read about people coming up to you and dragging you in their shop and not letting you leave until you purchased something so we kindly declined. He then asked if we wanted him to show us around, again we declined and turned away he was following us again asking us to go with him to his friends shop " I will get you and good price I won't ask for any 'backshish'" which means tipping in Arabic. Again we declined the man and walked in the other direction to get away we saw a tunnel that went under the road we would go that way, when we came out of the tunnel we saw a big open square with cafe's lined on the left and stalls on the right side this is what we more expected to see we felt we were in the right place

It was now late-morning so it was somewhat vacant we thought that the place would be crowded with people because that what we had read in the lonely planet. We decided that we would sit down at one of the cafe's and have a bite to eat and a drink before we ventured into the rest of the baazar, even though the bazzar was not busy there was still lots of noise shopkeepers calling out to people walking past their stalls, coffee cups clinking against saucers and horns of the traffic that were driving by. It also had the smell of freshly baked bread and incense burning.

After our meal we went in one of the alleys that was connected to the square we saw stall after stall all filled with different colours. They sold everything from tourist knicknacks, Galabea clothing, food, spices and local wear. It seems like if you can't find it here, you won't find it anywhere. The stall holders are very vocal in trying to find out what country your from to open up conversation to get you into their stalls, we both felt a little uncomfortable because it was quiet we were harassed a lot so we never walked deep into any stalls we looked at the items that were lined up at the front. We walked around for about 2 hours in the end we didn't buy anything because we were worried about our bargaining skills and decided that if we had the time after our tour we would come back, we should be experts at bargaining by then.

We were now in a taxi onto our next destination the Cairo Zoo it was on the other side of the city in the taxi Mel and I sat in silence looking out the window taking in what was going on around us. No one seemed to follow any road rules traffic was not sticking in any of the lanes that were lined on the roads and no indicators were used turn corners, cars were using their horns to tell other drivers that they were coming and to move out of their way.

At the Zoo we went to the front gate to purchase our tickets there was a price for locals and a price for foreigners for our tickets it cost us 10 Egyptian pounds a total of $3 AUD each.
Inside the gates there was a big grass area but it looked like it had not been watered in months so it was so dry and brown however people were still using the area sitting having picnics.

We took one of the paths and started to make our way around the zoo. We were the only foreigners there all other visitors were Egyptian. Not long after being there we noticed a group of teenage boys following us with their phones out taking photos of us. They followed us most the time we were there.

There were a lot of empty cages or cages with just one animal looking sad and lonely. It was dirty, neglected, poorly maintained. Most the animals were skinny and smelt really bad. If you are an animal lover, you will probably not be happy with what you see. If you wanted you could get photos with the lion cubs for $1. Even though it was cheap Mel and I both decided against it we felt terrible for the animals and knew the money was not going to go towards them.

We had enough of looking at sad animals it was getting late anyway so we went back towards the hotel stopping for something to eat we found a KFC unlike any KFC I had been to all the staff that worked there were deaf. To order your food they gave you a place-mat and you had to point at what you wanted. This was something I did not expect to see in Egypt it really took me by surprise what a great idea to get the deaf community out in the working community.
Back at our hotel we were exhausted it was going to be another early night shower and bed.

Again the next morning at 4:30 I was woken by the call for prayer. Mel slept through it this time so I spent the time reading and listening to my ipod. After breakfast today our plan was to spend some time by the pool in the morning and in the afternoon go to the biggest shopping centre in Egypt.

Before we could go anywhere we had exchange money we went to the reception desk to ask where was the closest place to do this. They had no idea they said that we would have to go all the way back to the airport that was the only place. Surely this could not be right. We saw a sign in the lobby with our tour company information and a number to call if you had any questions. After niggling with my sister over who should make the call to the number provided I was the one that had to do it.

A man answered the phone his name was Marwuan, I told him our situation that we had to exchange US dollars to Egyptian Pounds and that reception told us to go to the airport to do so. He told me that the information was incorrect and I could exchange it at a 5 star hotel that was just a few blocks away. Sorted we knew where to go. Little did I know then that the man I had just spoken to would one day become my husband?

We went on our way to exchange the money it was very easy to find on the way back to our hotel a man started to follow us he then started to speak to us saying that he worked at our hotel and asked if we wanted to go and see his friends shop. We had never seen this man at our hotel before so I asked him to tell me which hotel he worked at. He went quiet I asked again still no response he continued to walk beside us. I grabbed my sisters hand then told the man that we were not interested in his friend shop and asked him to please leave us alone. To my surprise he stopped walking beside us and just watched us walk away.

When returned to the hotel we put on our bathers. We went down to the pool area we were the only people there. Our plan was to get a bit of a sun tan but the pool was surrounded by tall buildings so that did not happen. We were both sure that people were looking out their window at us lying their in our bathers but we continued we were on vacation and needed to start to relax so we enjoyed the morning swimming and relaxing in the heat.

In the afternoon we made our way to Citystars the biggest shopping mall in Egypt. It was huge 5 floors filled with all the great labels Zara, Hugo Boss, Celvin Klein, Gap and many more. During our time shopping it just came upon us we were holidays and yet to have a nice alcohol beverage. All the restaurants were on the top level surely one of them would sell alcohol. We choose a restaurant called Ruby Tuesday because on their menu they had pictures of all these pretty cocktails in tall glasses win we thought our first drink on holidays after a great morning swimming and afternoon shopping. We sat down all excited ordered our food then went to the drinks menu lots of cocktail were listed so we ordered our cocktails Mojito with big smiles on our faces. The waiter must have noticed our excitement then said to us "you realise these have no alcohol in them". I looked at Mel then turned to the waiter the smile had left my face "oh really no I didn't but that's ok" I was shattered was really looking forward to a nice cold cocktails. I started to worry was this holiday going to be a dry holiday would I not be able to have a drink for the whole 3 weeks.

We returned to our hotel after dinner. As we walked through the lobby we noticed a group of people that seemed to have Australian accents listening on the sly to see if they were on our tour I learned that they were just finishing their tour. We also over heard them say they were going to have a shower and dinner then go up to the roof for a beer. What a beer on the roof I turned to Mel "you're telling me there is a bar on the roof here and we didn't even know" the concern I earlier had a about a dry holiday was no longer an issue we had to go up there straight away.

When we reached the roof bar no one was there not even a bartender we looked around the view was amazing we had a view of the city and the Cairo Tower which was lit up with lights changing colours every minute. Even though no bartender we took a seat anyway we wanted to enjoy the view, a bartender arrived not much longer.

Bartender came over to our table and asked to take our order I asked what was available he told us soft drink, juices and 2 types of beers that was it. I'm not a beer drinker I actually can't stand the stuff but if that's all they had to offer that had to be it. The bartender returned with 2 bottles of beer they were bigger than I was used to seeing 500ml and 8% alcohol. They tasted terrible but I got through most of it. I felt a little tipsy also fatigue hit me hard the jet lag was still lingering and the fact I was awake again at 4:30am. We were going to wait around to meet the other Australians and ask about their tour but I couldn't it was time for me to hit the pillow, tomorrow we planned to explore along the Nile and our tour was starting tomorrow evening.