The Cairo traffic alarm clock wakes us at 6.00am again – always so reliable. We finish the last few bits of packing.  Peter meticulously checks that we haven't left anything in draws and cupboards (even though we didn't use them).  We mooch around the suite, take in the last arial views of Cairo from the balcony and then go to check out.   At the reception desk Peter asks the member of staff if he knew what the shooting was yesterday morning.  He tells us that somebody had tried to steal a car.  The police response to me seemed incredibly heavy handed as we must have counted over 20 police at the scene of the crime.

We leave our luggage at the hotel as we still have a few visits to make. We had spotted Abdul in the hotel car park earlier so again escape out of the back of the hotel through the coffee shop. We get a taxi back to the Khan – one and half hours certainly wasn’t long enough before. This time we seem to have been dropped off at a different entrance to the Khan.  We are now in a maze of narrow alleyways and can’t quite get out barings. Nothing to lose – we just found ourselves meandering along the streets taking in everything this wonderful scene has to offer.

http://www.sevenveils.co.uk/learning/articles/cairo.php

We have found ourselves in Wikala el Ghuria – the northern quarter of the bazaar. We stop briefly to read a sign that is promoting a workshop – craftsmen and women can be seen producing local handcrafts such as tapestry and inlay work. Whilst we read the sign Peter notices a young man in the spice shop next door watching us. Peter asks him about the workshop and we are told that it won’t be open for another two months. Peter strikes up conversation with him. He tells us his name is Mohamed and that if we want to see crafts being produced he will take us. We have no real itinerary so decide to take him up on his offer.

Mohammed tells us that this area was inhabited by many Turks. Turks came to trade here in the courtyard of the Wikala - his own father is Turkish and his mother is Egyptian. He asks us what crafts we would like to see in particular and told him lantern making as we hadn’t seen this yet. Peter and I had had great trouble trying to make contact with lantern makers directly – there are plenty of agents acting on behalf of the manufacturers but this wasn’t going to enable us to see the crafts being produced first hand and also find out about the crafts people themselves. He says he can take us but the lantern maker won’t be open until 1.00pm. In the meantime he takes us to an inlay workshop.

We follow him through the maze of alleyways. We go deep into the Khan until we come into a tiny courtyard and the entrance to the workshop. This feels like a secret place – a place where tourists are unlikely to stumble. We are away from the madness of the Khan – everything is silent. We are introduced to Mahmoud who invites us in. The workshop is tiny – no bigger than 3 metres by 3 metres. Every inch of the workshop is fully utilised with high shelves stacked with plain wooden frames and the carcases of jewellery boxes waiting to be decorated. In the corner a worker sits at a small bench carefully placing small bits of mother pearl into an already etched out design. Next to him is a pot of animal glue – a smell that takes me back to college in the 1970’s where I studied upholstery and cabinet making.

We are shown the shells, how they are cut and then how each inlaid piece is sanded down and lacquered to produce a high sheen finish. Hanging on every spare inch of the walls are inlaid picture frames, tambourines, shelves – all covered in a thick layer of dust – probably from the sanding process. On the wall is a small glass fronted cabinet. Mahmoud opens the cabinet which reveals a display of jewellery boxes. He takes a couple out and asks us if we know which ones are fake. Peter and I begin to examine them and tell him that we can’t see any difference. He takes a knife and starts to scrape the bottom of one – and then another. He tells us “you see, one is plastic and the other is camel bone”. He was referring to the frame on the bottom of the jewellery box. He then went on to tell us that they make the fake ones for the Khan and the real ones with camel bone for hotels and expensive shops in the city. I think at that point both Peter and I felt we're trying to be taken in with smoke and mirrors! He showed us one of the ‘real’ jewellery boxes and told us how the internal frame of the box was made from one piece of wood – not jointed. How it was lined very well and finished to a high standard and that the black wood was real ebony.

I look at a couple of the jewellery boxes and select one and ask how much. He tells us 75le. I suspect this is more than the true value but we agree on 75le and also buy a small picture frame for the same price. Poor Peter has haggling exhaustion plus he doesn’t like haggling when I’m with him – man’s work I think! We are invited into the courtyard to drink tea. Mahmoud smokes shisha and Mohammed joins us. The courtyard has a real charm.  These are ancient buildings and their history, the families that have lived in them – the essence of the lives and loves of generations of people, permeate the walls.

They chat in Arabic – Peter occasionally gives a translation for me – I’ll have to sack him as a translator I think! Mahmoud brings out a plastic wallet which is full of photographs. They are photographs of the pieces of work they have decorated from jewellery boxes to the most amazing pieces of furniture. Mahmoud is particularly proud of a Regency style seat that was commissioned by the French Ambassador. He explains to us that the cabinet makers in the Khan produce the wooden furniture frames. Glass makers in the Khan hand make any glassware for example on a glass fronted cabinet. Metal workers in the Khan will produce the handles and hinges and eventually the inlay workers will decorate and finish the pieces ready for delivery. Also in the Khan there may be a specialist to pack the pieces and also an export agency to ship it to wherever it needs to go. This truly is a co-operative approach to business – a network of tradesmen working together towards an end goal. I found myself reflecting on how different things were back in Garagos. A lone pottery in an isolated village – any contacts to pack and ship would have to be made in Luxor or maybe even in Cairo. We take a couple of photographs and say goodbye to Mahmoud. Peter tells me later that he thinks Mahmoud and Mohammed are related. I imagine generations of the same families have remained in the Khan for centuries.  

Mohammed takes us to the lantern maker whose workshop is now open. Again another tiny little workshop. Mohammed introduces us to the owner Hani who has a table outside where he is finishing the copper pieces. Inside another Mohammed shows us how he solders the copper panels together.  I only take a few photos and videos before the camera battery dies. I look around (standing on the same spot). Lanterns hang from the ceiling and are also stacked up on the floor – taking up three quarters of the floor space. There is also a shelf with small lanterns and candle holders.

Hani the owner shows us that some of the designs are based around traditional Islamic patterns and others represent the Coptic cross. The design he showed us of the Coptic cross had 12 points or sides which he tells us represent the 12 desciples.  

http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/crosses/coptic.html

Although the lanterns here have a certain charm, they are not the quality that I am looking for – the copper/brass is very thin and I doubt that some of them are copper or brass at all. We thank Hani for his time and leave.

Mohammed invites us back to his workshop for a drink – hibiscus tea. He picks up a handful of hibiscus petals and then summons a boy from the street to go and make the tea. Peter asks Mohammed if he can do a spice mix for us – Ras el Hanout in Morocco – Mixed spices in Egypt! After we receive our bag of spice Mohammed shows us his saffron. He produces two tins and he asks us to guess which is the good one and which is the bad one – oh heck – another yarn again! We’re not worried – Mohammed has been a fantastic guide around the area we have already decided to buy some saffron from him. Neither is real saffron but we play along with him anyway and then make the purchase.

The boy arrives with the hibiscus tea and we sit down and drink. Mohammed tells us that his father is a professional Tanoura (Sufi dancer) – otherwise known as a Whirling Dervish. He would be dancing in Wikala the following night. This is such a shame – I would love to have seen the show. We have seen many Sufi dancers in Luxor – they traipse from hotel to hotel and cruise boat to cruise boat doing the same show night in and night out. It is an amazing spectacle, very hypnotic to watch – and I would imagine even more so with a professional dancer.

http://focalfantasy.com/CultureTravel/Egypt/16822027_qQvmMM/1/1291238151_p9bB...

Mohammed tells us that he will get the key to his house which is above the spice shop. "Wikala was built in 1504 A.D. by Sultan Qunsuwah Al Ghouri, late during the reign of Mamelukes. Wakalat El-Ghouri was originally designed as an inn for accommodating traders coming from all parts of the globe as well as a marketplace for trading goods and a venue for making trade deals. Before the discovery of the Route of Good Hope, Egypt had been the hub of overland trade caravans from east and west …………"

http://www.touregypt.net/ghuriwakala.htm

Two minutes later Mohammed comes back and invites us to enter a large wooden doorway around the corner from his spice shop. We climb up four or five floors – I lose count – the heat is oppressive and I’m totally out of shape! We reach the roof of the building. Mohammed and Peter continue to climb over the rooftops – I stay and take some photographs – just absolutely wonderful views over the Khan and also of Cairo. This is just fantastic - we can see all the way over to the Citadel.

Peter and Mohammed return. We go back to the spice shop where we say our goodbyes. I’d love to come back and see Mohammed – he has been an excellent (unofficial) guide and has been a key to helping us unlock some of the secret treasures held within the Khan.

We cross a small bridge that takes us to the middle of the Khan – the part we are more familiar with. We decide to make another attempt to find Midak Alley. We wander up and down the streets we know – relying on our barings to guide us to this small area. We end up doubling back on ourselves a couple of times and then we eventually give and decide to go to the Naguib Mahfouz Café to eat. As we make our way there we pass a lantern bazaar. I notice a lantern in the same design that I have at home, hanging at the front of the stall. The owner – another Mohammed comes to talk to us. I ask him how much the lantern is and he says 180le. This was cheaper than what we had paid for it in a local shop in Luxor. I liked the fact that Mohammed hadn’t tried to haggle with us and start with some ridiculous price. He tells us that his family have a factory that produce the lanterns. We talk for a while – he shows us some lovely silver plated and copper coffee pots. We exchange details and tell him that we will contact him when we’re back in England.

We arrive at the café and order tea and a mezze to share. Babaganoush, tiny cheese pies, tahini, yoghurt dip, tameya, nice fresh bread – gorgeous! We sit and watch life go by for a while. Khan is a carnival full of lively characters. Everything is a show and I’m always entertained by the interaction between the locals and tourists. Some tourists are up for playing the game – others run the length of the alley, keeping their heads down and trying not to make eye contact with any of the vendors. Walking in the Khan definitely feels a little more 'full on'– from the vendors that is. It’s still friendly but just a little more 'in your face' than what I’ve experienced in the past. It’s definitely a much more comfortable experience than in the Souk’s of Marrakesh but business is bad here – 9 months into a revolution and everyone is desperate for the business. It’s now 4pm and we leave the café and the Khan and catch a taxi over to El Daher to visit Peter’s aunt Aziz and cousin Ayman.

We arrive at the apartment. Cake and tea await us. When I say I don’t have sugar in my tea this is met with great surprise. I now remember that every time I have been offered tea by Peter’s family and I say I don’t take sugar – it’s always met with a look of shock. Sugar although not expensive is a treat and a treat that is offered as part of their hospitality. Ayman is an account manager in a tour company in Cairo. Most young people seem to have employment connected to tourism in one way or another. We spend an hour or so – Peter and Ayman talking about politics and how bad the revolution has been for ordinary people so far. We now have to go and pick up our luggage from the hotel. Before we go to the airport we have one more family visit to make. Ayman walks us out.

We get a taxi easily outside on the street – the driver is a young guy called Mina. Back onto the crazy freeways of Cairo. Traffic over the island is still congested and the beeping relentless. I begin to worry that Abdul will be outside the hotel. We will have to pull up to the front of the hotel to pick up the luggage. Peter tells me not to worry – he has been speaking to Mina and if Abdul is there he will explain that Mina is his cousin and has been driving us around Cairo for the last couple of days to visit the family. Sorted.

Luggage is picked up, doorman tipped and we say goodbye to crazy Cairo city. We drive out to Heliopolis. Although the traffic is still very heavy, the streets become wider, tree lined and we can definitely sense we are driving into a more affluent area. Peter makes several phone calls to his Aunt Alice and Uncle Michel for directions to their apartment. We drive past St Georges Church where a wedding seems to be taking place. Peter tells me that this is the church where is cousin got married so we must be close to his aunt and uncles home. Eventually we find it. As we get out of Mina’s car both Michel and Alice are standing on the balcony waving to us. We walk down a driveway lined with potted cacti and enter the building at the side. We climb the stairs and are greeted with warm handshakes and four kisses on cheeks. We are invited to take a seat out on the balcony as it is cooler.

Alice makes us tea and again is surprised when I say I don’t take sugar. She asks me if I will have just a little sugar – Peter and I laugh. Michel and Alice are about to go to Austalia to visit their son Maged. He and his family have been in Australia for 5 years where he works in a managerial position in a bank. They have been going to Australia to stay for 6 months of the year for the last few years – now they are retired they can live between Australia and Egypt quite easily. As I look out from the balcony across the tree lined street I can see other families doing the same, drinking tea and relishing in the warm gentle breeze, far less polluted than central Cairo. We take some photos of us together – now having to use my iphone as the battery on my cameras has exhausted itself. Mina is still waiting for us. We say goodbye, wave goodbye to Alice and Michel who are again standing on the balcony.

Off we go to the airport. It’s now nearly 10.00pm and the flight leaves at 11.00pm. It’s a good job that we didn’t make it to Egyptair to get an earlier flight as we’ve really squeezed every minute into these four days. We leave Cairo. As we take off I think about how the city below is just beginning to come alive.

An hour later we land back in Luxor. Again Bob has arranged for one of his drivers to pick us up from the airport and take us back to the hotel. Just as Cairo is swinging into action, Luxor is going to sleep. The streets are empty and all is silent – not even one beeping car.

I’m woken at around 6.00am by the collective sound of a thousand cars beeping.  Again there is a thick layer of smog floating over the river Nile.  Peter is still asleep so I make an attempt to start writing up the blog.  It’s almost impossible to keep up with on a daily basis.  I decide to just write manual notes and then will type it all up when I get a chance – more than likely when I get home to England.  I download some of the photo’s I’ve taken so far just in case anything happens to the camera when we’re out and about.

We had said that we would meet Abdul for breakfast but decided just to have a cup of tea in one of the hotel’s café’s.  It’s midday before we go out to see Abdul.  Our first appointment of the day is over in Nasr City – an hour or so outside of central Cairo.  We had arranged to meet with a supplier of copper lanterns.  The journey there was horrendous – the traffic in the suburbs of Cairo is just as bad as central Cairo.  We had to phone our contact a couple of times once in Nasr City to find the office.  We did eventually find it and was met outside by the owner of the company.  Although they didn’t have a show room they had arranged to bring a selection of lanterns to their office for us to look at along with some mother of pearl inlaid mirrors.  We took photos and we were very pleased with the quality of the lanterns.  We were invited to drink tea and we had the opportunity to ask a range of questions first hand.  We asked about the packing, the shipping, the timescales etc. 

We didn’t stay long – very short time compared to the length of the journey there.  We now had to face that same journey back to central Cairo.  We skirt past City Stars – a fantastic shopping mall I had previously visited with my friend Jane who lives in Luxor.  City Stars is huge - almost a city within a city!                   http://www.citystars.com.eg/citystars/index.asp

Back in central Cairo we ask Abdul to drop us at the Khan el Khalili.  This is one of my favourite places in Cairo and where I could easily spend days wandering around it’s maze of alleyways and ancient bazaars.  It was known as the Turkish Bazaar during the Ottoman period – now generally know as Khan.  http://www.touregypt.net/khan.htm    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_el-Khalili

The ancient Islamic architecture gives you a real sense of another time a time when the merchants from afar used to come and pedal their wares.  My guide book tells me that “The souq dates back to 1382, when Emir Djaharks el-Khalili built a big caravanserai (or khan) right here.  A caravanseri was a sort of hotel for traders, and usually the focal point for economic activity for any surrounding area. This caravanserai is still there, you just ask for the narrow street of Sikka Khan el-Khalili and Badestan.”

My fondest memory of the Khan el Khalili was during my trip with my friend Jane.  I love the novels of Naguib Mahfouz and had recently read Zuqak al Midak which was based in the Khan.  We decided to go and seek out the alley where this story took place.  We had great fun with map in one hand and limited Arabic between us trying to find this elusive place.  Eventually we found it.  I was shocked.  The alley was tiny.  At the end of the short alley stones steps took us up past entrances to a large house divided into flats.  It didn’t match what I had imagined the alley to look like.  So many characters with so many trauma’s, hardships, love affairs, Kirsha’s café where men went to smoke shisha, listen to the story tellers – all taking place in this tiny little alleyway.  At the time of this particular visit there still stood a little coffee shop called Kirsha’s.  The coffee shop had no more than 6 small tables where locals came to drink tea and smoke shisha.  The wall was adorned with photo’s of Naguib Mahfouz himself.  We were told by the proprietor that Naguib Mahfouz used to sit in this very coffee shop to pen his stories.  Also on the wall is a rather imposing picture of a man dressed in traditional garb.  We asked who this was.  The proprietor told us that this was Kirsha himself, his own grandfather.  Experience tells me to take this story with a pinch of salt.  However, I really wanted to believe that I really was in Kirsha’s Café, the very one that Naguib Mahfouz wrote about and that we were experiencing a little bit of Egyptian history and culture.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naguib_Mahfouz     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midaq_Alley_(novel)

Back to today. Peter and sit in a coffee shop on the edge of the Khan – absolutely parched.  As soon as we sit down we have various pedlars approaching us with sun glasses, jewellery and scarves.  I show no interest but Peter purchases some jewellery for a 'very cheap price' (and also very cheap in quality) but all I can think is that Peter sees it as a benevolent act to help his fellow countrymen!

I ask Peter to investigate the toilets whilst he goes to pay.  He comes back and says he wouldn’t recommend the toilets so we leave and make our way to the Naguib Mahfouz Café where I know the toilets are absolutely immaculate. (This is not the cafe mentioned earlier in Zuqak al Midak) We order more tea.  I catch sight of one of the staff that I had my photograph taken with 3 years ago on my trip with Jane.  Great memories!

We venture forth again working our way through the bazaar sellers presenting their wares to us as we pass.  It’s almost like running the gauntlet – too scared to stop and look at any products or we might find ourselves trapped.  As we move to another area – a bit quieter, I stop to take some photographs.  2 men sit on  chairs outside a shop.  One who speaks very good English suggests a good spot for me to capture the picture I was after.  He moves his chair so I can get a good shot.  He then politely asks us to look at his hand blown glass – especially the Christmas decorations.  Now, this is a much better selling technique.  Why oh why doesn’t everyone else realise that the more aggressive you are the less likely people are to buy?

His name is Gabr and he tells us that he used to live in England.  He also had a friend who used to work in Harrods and that this friend used to import glass products to Harrods.  After we enter he brings out a big selection of glass decorations.  We had already been speaking to various other suppliers and manufacturers so knew what the prices were.  He wasn’t willing to give what we call a good price for a single purchase.  We told him we would be interested in purchasing a large number but we would have to negotiate on price.  He told us that he had a friend in America with a website of all his products.  If we looked at this and then told him what items we were interested in we could then discuss prices – either by fax or phone.  This seems a bit too long winded for me.  Without an email address the communication process can be very lengthy.  Add to that the difference in concept of time – we needed a speedier mode of working.  However, we have nice sample to take back to England and to help us decide whether this is something we should add to our range.  It is easy to feel a little deflated when you realise that business transactions can be such a long drawn out process.  Small enterprises like this could reach out to a wider range of customers if they utilised the internet and email.  But I also need to learn to accept other ways of working - regardless of how long they take.

We say our goodbyes.  This is a short trip to the Khan – only one and a half hours.  We phone Abdul who is still waiting for us and ask him to drive us to El Quba Garden – Garden of the Domes.  We are going to visit some of Peter's family.  The area is famous for having two residences previously belonging to King Farouk – one of palaces being the largest in Egypt.  We arrive at the flat and I leave Peter to pay Abdul.  Abdul asks for 300le which again is way over the going price.  We leave it until we get back to the hotel to discuss this further but I think we have already decided not to use Abdul again.

I am introduced to Peter’s mother’s sister, Akhlas and her husband Mourid.  Also Peter’s cousin Shareen who is married to Raymond and their daughter Molly and also cousin Christine.  Such a warm welcome.  We sit and talk and it isn’t long before we are invited to sit and eat dinner.  Again we are presented with very generous plates of food.  Very delicious and most welcome after such a busy day.  After dinner we move to one of the bedrooms to sit where there is air conditioning.  Molly attends a private French school and excitedly gets out her text books to show Peter.  Peter begins to read from the books and Molly takes great delight in correcting his French pronounciation.  Later Mourid brings through some photographs that had been taken in Garagos in the 1930’s.  He tells us this was part of a much bigger album that had contained photographs of local people in Garagos and how they lived at the time – how they dressed, where they worked and what they looked like.  Photographs were taken in profile and face forward - a bit like mug shots. I can imagine that if a study like this was done nowadays people would find it rather intrusive.   Mourid says that over the years he has given various bits of the album away and only these few pages remain.  This is a shame – Peter and I would love to have seen more.

I tell Mourid about an academic paper I came across on the internet.  It is a study that was done in 1999 on the impact of the conversion of Copts to Catholicism in Garagos.  The website only gives a synopsis of the paper but it can be purchased in full.  However, it is written in French.  Mourid who used to work for the French Embassy in Cairo before retiring speaks fluent French and said that he would be interested in seeing the paper and between them all they would be happy to translate it.  Time moved quickly.  Its 9.00pm and Raymond needs to leave for Hurgada – a 7 hour drive from Cairo.  He tells us that as soon as he arrives he will start work without any sleep.  This already is becoming a common theme where well educated men are leaving their families to go and work on the Red Sea coast where tourism is booming.  This must be so difficult for the family.

We spend the rest of the evening chatting and we laugh as Molly continues to try and deliver a French lesson to Peter.  At 11.00pm we also say our goodbyes.  We are told that next time we must stay with them in their home and not stay in a hotel.  We go out to the street to find a taxi and it’s only minutes before we find one.  Now we may have already decided not to use Abdul again but I think after this particular journey I can certainly appreciate what a safe driver he is.  I think we just climbed into the Taxi from Hell!  Peter is very good at striking up conversation with people but the driver didn’t speak – just grunted responses.  He drove like an absolute lunatic and after routing around on the backseat discovered that there weren’t any seatbelts in the back.  He drive at high speed in very congested traffic, weaving and dodging other cars, beeping his horn at every opportunity.  This can only be described as a white knuckle ride.  I kept praying that soon I would catch sight of the Cairo Tower and would then be confident that this ordeal would shortly be over.  We hit some congestion in and around Tahrir Square where I thought if we crash at least it will be at a lower speed.  As we approached Dokki via one of the bridges I could see how heaving the city was.  It seemed busier at midnight than it did during the day – both with pedestrians and traffic.

We eventually arrived back – in one piece thankfully.  Peter and I sat on the balcony (well I’m more half in and half out of the room).  We watch the busy metropolis come to life and try to think about what the following day will bring.