The Khan el-Khalili has been a Cairo shopping center for ages. With its winding mazes of very narrow alleys lined with stalls, it is an intoxicating and sometimes overstimulating experience. In the tourist areas it can be irritating to fend off the constant "where you from?" and "free to look, come inside," that many shopkeepers resort to in order to compete with other shops selling the exact same wares. Tucked away at one end, though, is the part of the Khan that most tourists never see. My mother and I ventured into the area where only the locals shop, and made some wonderful finds with very little haggling. In the distance is the tower at Bab Zweyla, a medieval gate to the city that we later climbed to get a view of Islamic Cairo.
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