Comments on: Snippets of Cairo’s Friday Market

By: hany

hany — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:00:04 +0000

let me tell u that cairo gov used to make a lot of money from the market as they used to collect fee from each seller in the market , but as corruption can live with other corruption the reason was given for removing the markets was to improve the areas where the markets were , which it was pure shit , they were removed because someone had busniess in the area and the market stand in the way of it
the only improve happend were in thursday market place which the area of the market became a main road and a school in the other side of it …
as for the rest , they are the same ..
when u live in a corrupted society , expect anything..

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 24 May 2010 13:21:27 +0000

I love reading and seeing pictures of a market I’ve never been to. Markets are my absolute favorite thing about traveling, and you really made this one come to life. Good post!!

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:00:30 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Hany. What is it about the Egyptian government and shutting down markets?!

By: hany

hany — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 11:26:24 +0000

i have been going to cairo friday market since iwas aware of it in decmber 1990
the friday market u photographed and talked about represent the trash era the market have came to ,
there was other markets in other places incomparable tothe one here
imbaba market which was located in the other side of nile that face classy zamalek
it was the best ever , in goodsand place , it was removed in january 1995
and it was a very sad day for me
another market called al imam which it’s not far from the one u talked about here
but with better goods also , removed by late 1995 to the current place u pictured here
thursday market which was located in far east of cairo in a street called kablat
i knew this market by early 1991 , it had some good things , also removed in late 1998
al monieb market [tuesday market] located in the giza gov , this was way too far for me
i knew about it in 1994 and it was removed by 1998 it had nice goods also
and the only one that left is the one u talked about here which it’s useless for me but as a collector i tend to go each friday so i don’t feel guilty thinking there was something and i missed it..

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:37:02 +0000

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments.

@ Mike – Glad to have you along with me. I think there’s something to be said for putting the inner Brit into shock every now and again! And you are spot on about our view of value needing to change

@ BLOGitse – sad to hear you are leaving Cairo for Morocco when we have only just met! I guess I’m lucky in that I feel able to wander wherever I feel like in the city… and I’m nosy! My mum doesn’t like Cairo for all the reasons you mentioned… she’s been here 3 or 4 times I think, and that’s more than enough for her!

By: BLOGitse

BLOGitse — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:43:43 +0000

You’ve been in Cairo since 2006, me 2008, and I found your blog today!
I’m an expat here but in April in Morocco…
I like your style, pics…I can ‘see and feel’ that you’re much more “in” this city than me.
So your mother doesn’t like Cairo – why not?
Traffic/pollution/too many people/noice/chaos…one or more of those maybe?

By: Belinda

Belinda — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:48:08 +0000

Hi Nick great new blog – love the look and feel. Top guide! x

By: Mikeachim

Mikeachim — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:28:34 +0000

Sublime.

I’ve just been there, thanks to you.

Part of me hankers for a market that raucous, even though my Inner Brit would go into shock and I’d have to whip out the psychological equivalent of smelling-salts…

It’s humbling indeed when stuff we regard as “junk” becomes highly prized elsewhere. (Which is a process that works both ways, of course). Worth is so indelibly related to context that…well, we should know better. But no, we call it junk – and cling harder to things that would have us laughed at in other corners of the world.

I think our definition of “value” needs to be recycled.

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:06:04 +0000

That's cool about tapes as packing material! A good friend of mine here has a crafts business, and she actually makes purses out of old cassettes. You can see them hereif you are interested

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:55:38 +0000

Thanks Neha. I’d seen people balancing aquariums, bread, trays of tea, metal pipes and all sorts of other things on their head, but toilet man took the biscuit! Glad you like the pics, I still have a slight phobia about photography that I’m doing my best to break!

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:53:25 +0000

Mike you crack me up. I’m not sure you could snub anyone if you tried! Looking forward to the white rabbit!!!

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:52:07 +0000

Thanks Lauren. Markets like these that are one of the reasons I still enjoy living here so much.

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:46:02 +0000

lol, no more sitting on the rooftop swearing at my computer!

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:44:57 +0000

Glad you enjoyed! Though isn’t the British Museum in… er, Britain? ; )

By: Katja | Driving Like a Maniac

Katja | Driving Like a Maniac — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:43:33 +0000

Wonderful descriptions. That’s got my feet itching to travel and no mistake. I’m here for a few more months yet, but after that … The people here in Salento (southern Italy) joke that we’re practically Africa anyway, so who knows …?

Cassette/video tape makes a great packing material, by the way. When I was packing my London life up last summer, and trying to reduce/reuse/recycle as much as possible, I found that dismantling all my old VHS tapes was an absolute godsend. The plastic cases could be recycled, and the innards dropped into cardboard boxes to soften the blow as I dropped all my china in on top.