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There are many businesses in
Cairo that seek to please the tourist. Cairo is the center of the
Egyptian Perfume business which sells perfume oils to the French
Perfume industry. It is only natural that almost any place in
the city you can be enticed into a "perfume palace" for mint
tea, a presentation of local copies of famous fragrances and some
haggling over sales of perfume bottles or bottles of perfume
oils.
Many of the artifacts found in
graves were related to perfume oils. See
More...
But, the enterprising Egyptians
have developed all sorts of tourist products and experiences, some of the ones
we encountered were:
-- The Golden Palace
perfume shop, selling perfume bottles and essence
oils.
-- Souvenir shops
selling books, t-shirts, galabeyas, replicas of
antiques, fake scarabs, gold or silver cartouches
with your name inside, and anything else the
tourist might want.
-- Rug shops that sell
camel hair rugs.
--
Shops that demonstrate papyrus making and that
sell papyrus with hand painted scenes from the
tombs.
--
Street sellers selling jewelry, post cards,
papyrus with tomb scenes, fragrant necklaces of
flowers, replicas of antiques, head clothes.
--
Night clubs that have belly dancers.
--
Sound and Light shows at the pyramids (and also
at Karnak in Luxor).
--
Ragab's Pharaonic Village which explained the
gods and some of the ancient Egyptian way of
life, and also had a replica of a temple on a
small scale (with a soon to be constructed gift
shop in the shape of a pyramid).
--
Twilight boat trips with dinner, on the Nile.
--
Sailing on the Nile in a Felucca.
-- The
Kahn al-Khalili market with its canvas bags
(great bargain, near the Bab al-Futuh) ,
patchwork cushions and wall hangings, brass
works, and real antiquities.
-- Hundreds
of mosques, museums and Egyptian and Roman
antiquity sites. |
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If you can't
find something interesting to do in Cairo, you are
"tired of life" as Dr. Samuel Johnson said of
people who were bored in London.
Click
the thumbnail photos below to see full-sized pictures of
some of the tourist things we did in Cairo. The papyrus
scenes are typical of those available almost everywhere
in Cairo.
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perfume |
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The
Golden Palace is a perfume shop in Giza. It is
owned by Adel M. El Gabry who is a friend of a
friend, and who showed us great hospitality. His shop is
decorated in beautiful silks, colorful wall
hangings, and lovely hand carved furniture.
There are
hundreds of perfume shops in Cairo, as Egypt is a
major source of perfume oils for the Parisian
market. It is an industry as old as the Pyramids
and spending a afternoon in the cool rooms with a
cup of tea, sampling perfumes is one of the
pleasures of Cairo.
The oils
can be shipped to you, or sealed in bottles for
you to carry with you.
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camel ride |
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There are
camel rides available near the Pyramids at Giza.
We went early in the morning. It was cool and the
desert breeze was blowing. |
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cattle |
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ragab |
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Ragab's
Pharaonic Village is a "theme" park.
Guests travel by statues of Egyptian gods in
floating stadium seats. Explanations of the gods
are given via a recorded presentation, therefore
you must group together according to language.
Also along the canals are human dioramas of
Egyptian life. The players act out perfume
making, papyrus making, harvesting grains and
making mud bricks. The trip ends at a brightly
painted replica of a temple. A guide explains the
various functions of the traditional courts of
the temples. Click on the picture to see a full
screen version. |
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nut |
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photo |
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Around
the Pyramids, there are many locals dressed in
traditional garb with camels or horses decorated
is colorful style. These men earn their living
posing for pictures, and will agree to pose for a
fee. When we first went to the Pyramids we took a
picture of one of these men through our car
window and were promptly tracked down with
demands for baksheesh. Our driver calmed him down
and sent him away but explained to us that it was
his business to pose for photos, and we should
expect to pay. That seemed fair. The next day we
took a wonderful video of a man and his camels.
Daisy and Canasta. |
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