Thursday, April 13, 2006

Bead Shopping in the Khan

I went on a bead shopping excursion into the Khan al Khalili today. We were only there for 3 hours, but I am exhausted. What a sissy girl I am. It was about 90 degrees out today, but the sun is blocked out in so many areas of the Khan by roofing or buildings that it just didn't feel that hot. Plus there weren't many tourists, so it wasn't packed.

I didn't think it was crowded anyway. I've seen much worse. A couple of the women in our group are just visiting here and they thought differently. Nope, this is definitely off-season. Or almost off. It was interesting to see their reactions - not knowing which way to look, so much going on and so many people shouting or talking to you. And you really have to watch where you are going because the streets are narrow and basically rubble so tripping is always a possibility.

Blogger will absolutely not allow me to post one of my pics, but I still have a pretty good selection for you. This is a huge bowl of beads, bought by the gram. I sifted through here for awhile and found a few cool scarabs.

Turquoise, both natural and dyed, is readily available. Have to admit I have no idea what the red beads are.

This is a glass shop next door. Of particular note are the hanging "grape" lanterns in the middle of the pic. Remember the red and green "christmas tree" lampshades that I got? This is one of the ways these can be used. I also like the giant egg-shaped lights made with mosaic'ed glass tiles - they look like something to put beside your lava lamp.

A table full of very typical souvenirs. Those are scarabs on the bottom shelf.

10 comments:

Finn said...

Love the pictures..*S* Probably as close as I will ever get to the 'real deal"...LOL..and that's ok too.

The scarabs in that bowl of beads must have been smaller than this last picture. Is that what the face on your bead necklace was..a scarab? I've forgotten what you told me...sorry.

All that turquoise must really have like Christmas for you when you first got there..*VBS*

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh my gosh Tonya! What a feast for the eyes! I can't even image all the colors, and people and stuff going on there! I"m so glad you took pictures! Those turquoise beads are so pretty all hanging there. And that bin of beads! Heck it almost made me want to reach right and and do something with them!

But I have to ask, what is a scarab for? Is it a good luck charm?

Laura said...

Tonya - I love living vicariously through you! What gorgeous pictures and what an exciting life you lead. Thanks so much for sharing yourself so freely with all of us!

Judy said...

I agree with Laura...what a life you lead in exotic places. I can't wait to start seeing pictures from Paris!! The beads are so yummy and I don't even bead. I'm afraid I would have spent hours digging in that bin for treasure!

Nines said...

Ya gotta love the pyramids in small, medium and large. Hey, can you super-size that? A friend brought me home a souvenir from Bahrain- made in China. But hey, it was a camel with a candle sitting on his saddle. pretty cool. giggle. My grandmother bought me a scarab bracelet when I was about 7- still have it. That was when King Tut was making a tour in the US. I love them because of the sentimental value- she had a coffee table book on all the treasure. I liked the bead...whatever you call those things hanging behind your cool grape thingys.

Joyce said...

Love those beads. Now I have an incredible urge to go to Egypt! I want to thank you for the lessons on wonky letters. I have used them on a wall hanging and now on a small quilt. I love the look and I love doing them. Next I want to try the houses.
In case you didn't know, Paris has a huge garment district with tons of beatiful fabrics at reasonable prices. At least it did last time I was there.

Joyce

YankeeQuilter said...

Thanks for the virtual tour! The tourquise looks great! I am having "issues" with our computer which are driving me crazy! My mission for the weekend is to file taxes and fix the computer so I can join the world again! I've missed reading your blog!

ForestJane said...

Wow, that bowl of beads just makes me want to reach in and run my fingers through them... so how many grams did you end up with?

All that turquoise, I want to play with the strings of them too! I can remember, back in the 60's, my older brother was in college, and his roomie had a beaded hippie curtain in a doorway between rooms that I was just fascinated with. How many of THOSE did you bring home?

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! What a fantastic array of goodies :-) I love the turqouise pyramids and the hanging beads - glorious colours. What a great afternoon you must have had. If I was there the old card would have melted from overuse LOL.

Anonymous said...

Hi There! Greetings from Finland! My friend is in Cairo, trying to find beads for me just the ones in your picture. How can we find them? Khan Al Khalili but do u have more information on location???? With greetings from my house, covered with snow :o)
Piia