I went to the Khan el-Khalili bazaar today. It’s a bazaar that was established 600+ years ago in Cairo and continues to this day.

Some of the architecture in and around the bazaar dates back that far as well.

The merchants sell all sorts of stuff, and there are also cafes/restaurants in there. The famous Al-Hussein mosque is right next to it, so during the call to prayer several times per day, many of the merchants will go in and do their prayer there.

There are also a ton of stray cats, stray dogs, and beggars in the bazaar.

The bazaar has a mix of good stuff and lame stuff for sale. A sad thing in Egypt is that a lot of trinkets for tourists are cheap made-in-China objects. Eg if you buy a little metal pyramid keychain, or a little metal statue of an Egyptian god, it’s likely made in China. Within the bazaar, a general rule of thumb is that metal stuff directed at tourists is mostly made in China, while textiles, stone, and ceramic objects are likely of Egyptian origin. A large part of the bazaar caters to tourists, but there are also some subset of shops geared more toward locals. https://image.nostr.build/e12970df05304cabe89af00028645c2e1d34f89d443e05fc680b2cff286efcef.jpg https://image.nostr.build/4e4494aaef798c6c68a75fe1e9ea34a4ca11c4f692d48cfbf02bd3a705144ac5.jpg https://image.nostr.build/3055b86d83004a3b36c6d2d2b5070bd08cfc0f66728a3ca1e36f4eb09b742c1e.jpg https://image.nostr.build/b76fb6933519a6a41fb6422ea6c90acbf0054f49ef1cbdeb846c5a638fc5e25d.jpg