Aswan Spice Market

June 1, 2007:

After checking in at our cruise ship we freshened up, rested a bit and then took taxi's to the marketplace.
Our driver was a very good driver, he cut through traffic and went at a very high speed, but I felt perfectly safe.

Once at the Marketplace, I asked Elaine and Helen if we could stick together for our shopping. It was nice to have some shopping partners! First we walked down the street looking at all that was offered, then we turned around and started back toward the meeting point, stopping at the booths which caught our fancy.

First we stopped outside this spice vendor where Elaine made her spice purchases. While waiting for Elaine, Helen saw a statue at the next booth which she liked. After this we stopped at the next booth to purchase our gallabeyya for the gallabeyya party on the boat the next night. Elaine had already purchased hers, but Helen and I still had choices to make. Helen got a pretty white one. I chose a green with blue, yellow and red stripes, it was a bit fancy, but I liked it. I also bought a blue one for my sister. The vendor here was very nice and took the time to show us how to properly wear the scarfs. Then he tried to sell me a belly dancers skirt, I asked him is his wife would ever wear that. He said no and I replied that I wouldn't either!

I stopped in at this spice vendor to make my purchases. He was a very nice guy, low pressure sales which by this point I definitely appreciated.

Unfortunately I didn't buy an Egyptian cook book and the food was absolutely delicious! To fill the void, I've been making some Indian dishes. This cook book came from a little restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota, it was printed in 1986, I probably bought it in '87. Titled, "Passage to Indian Cooking" by Kashmira Irani, there are lots of delicious recipes in it. The other night I used some of my fresh cardamom pods in a masala gosh, delicious! Tonight I'm going to make tandoori chicken so will get to use the saffron.