29 July 2008: You can’t experience Cairo without going to a souq. A souq (also sometimes spelled as ’souk’) refers to a market in an arab city.

On our last day in Egypt, we took a cab to the Khan El-Khalili bazaar, a major souq in Cairo. You could get lost in this huge maze of shops. The outer streets of the souq were not as crowded as the inner streets. Once we walked further in, it was so overcrowded that we were packed as tight as sardines in a can. There was no way we could take out our camera to record it as we were pushed around by the maddening crowd of merchants and shoppers.

The walk was a test of patience and heightened vigilance. You don’t want your belongings being snatched or be stabbed. Certain goods are found in specific parts of the souq. There would be a street with textile shops, another street with shops selling food and spices.

Where there are tourists, there’s a risk of a terrorist attack. On Feb 22 2009, there was a bomb explosion in this souq set off by still-uncaptured terrorists, killing a 17-year-old French teenager and injuring 24 other people, most of them tourists. Local terrorism damages Egypt’s tourism industry, which is the biggest industry in Egypt.

 The outer part of the souq

 We love their hanging lamps!

 Shisha pipes for sale

Spices for sale

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