埃及旅遊記之一 – 開羅/ Travel Cairo, Egypt

埃及旅遊記之一 – 開羅/ Travel Cairo, Egypt

(scroll down for English Version / 英文版向下看)

開羅侃.哈利利市集 / Khan al-Khalili Bazaar

travel cairo, Egpyt Khan al-Khalili Bazaar
By Heba otefy – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https///commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73165137

阿拉伯世界旅遊,最常見到的現象便是傳統市集緊緊圍繞著古老的清真寺。熙來攘往的人潮喧鬧聲與清真寺裡信徒念阿拉與靜思禮拜形成鮮明的對比。這似乎便是伊斯蘭文明與其他文明最不同的現象。換言之,你若慕名而來參訪某座古老的清真寺,市場的人潮會先引領你接受伊斯蘭物質文明的洗禮。這些市集可千萬別小看它,它們往往也是名勝古蹟。人潮是新的,展品是新的,但裡面蘊藏的都是珍貴的歷史。這種市集散佈在阿拉伯世界,有些市集的歷史超過千年仍很活絡。

English Version / 英文版:
A fun phenomenon while traveling the Arab world is ancient mosques surrounded by shopping bazaars. The noise from the busy marketplace and Islamic meditation in the Mosque create quite a contrast. This site is probably one of the most different phenomenons between Islamic and other civilizations. Travelers may visit an ancient mosque as their destination but find themselves being carried away by the surrounding busy market before arriving at their destination. Market goods in the bazaars lead one to accept Islamic culture even before stepping foot into a mosque. Do not underestimate these shopping bazaars; most of them are world heritage sites. The crowds and exhibits may be new, but what underlies is a wealth of history. Such bazaars are scattered across the Arab world, some of them with a history of more than a thousand years.

  • 我們抵達開羅後,儘管很厭惡整座城市好似為了觀光而存在。當地人連未受教育的十歲小孩嘴裡都會說一些簡單的阿式英文

來招攬遊客,人人都知道何時把手伸出來要小費、何時伸手索取通關賄款。然而,埃及朋友告訴我,眼見未必全然是事實,想了解他們必須居住一陣子才能評斷;至少在開羅雖小偷不少,卻見不到搶匪;車輛雖將每條馬路擠得水洩不通、交通號誌形同虛設,但行人卻比車大,舉起手來昂首橫跨馬路,沒有車子會撞到你;飲食一不留意便可能罹患腸胃炎,但隔日醒來還是期待能出門看看新鮮事物。這是一個讓訪客罵聲連連,卻仍流連忘返的地方。

English Version / 英文版:
After arriving in Cairo, Egypt, the whole city seemed like it was built for tourism. Even an uneducated, 10-year-old local kid can speak simple English to attract our attention. Everyone knows when to reach their hands out for tips or customs clearance bribes. However, my Egyptian friends reminded me that “what you see with your eyes is not necessarily real.” To truly understand their culture, one must stay for a while before judging. Theft in Cairo is common, but not robbery. Vehicles jam the roads like traffic lights do not exist; however, pedestrians rule the streets. They raise their hands and waltz across the road. Pedestrians always have the right of way; cars will not run over you. Even if one suffers from gastroenteritis from a bad meal, you wake up the next day looking forward to exploring more. Cairo is a place where visitors yell and curse but still linger.

阿茲哈爾清真寺「侃.哈利利」市集 / al-Azhar Mosque and Khan al-Khalili Bazaar

阿茲哈爾清真寺 / al-Azhar Mosque, Cairo
阿茲哈爾清真寺 / al-Azhar Mosque, Cairo (By Daniel Mayer – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4679194)

我們首先來到古老的「阿茲哈爾清真寺」對面著名的市集「侃.哈利利」(Khan al-Khalili),享受真正的開羅平民生活。
侃.哈利利市集是中東最古老的市集之一,它的歷史可以推溯到六百多年前曼陸克王國時期,該王國一位來自巴勒斯坦al-Khalil城市的阿米爾al-Khalili,在法提瑪王國歷代哈里發的墳場遷移後建築這座市集,位置便在開羅舊城市中心。

English Version / 英文版:
Our first stop was the famous al-Azhar Mosque; across the Mosque is Khan el-Khalili, a famous bazaar where one can experience Cairo‘s real civilian life.
Khan el-Khalili Bazaar is one of the oldest bazaars in the Middle East. Its history can be traced back to the Mamluk Sultanate‘s realm, which was over six hundred years ago. The location was originally a cemetery for the Khalifas during the Fatima Kingdom. Al-Khalili, an emir from the Al-Khalil, Palestine, built this bazaar after the relocation of the cemetery.

  • 該市集基地呈碩大的四方形,四方建高聳大門,猶如一座迷你城市,裡面有許多的街道。商店的建築非常古老,樓下是商

店,樓上則是倉庫和住家,許多建築曾是曼陸克王國時期王公貴族的故居。這些房屋門口牆上都用優美的書法刻著屋主的名字和頭銜。有趣的是,現在這些古老的宮殿門口都擺著玲瑯滿目的金銀銅鐵商品,沒有人會留意到這些建築裡曾經發生多少感人的故事。

English Version / 英文版:
The structure of the market is a vast squared courtyard, with tower gates on all sides. It’s its own mini-city with streets inside. The buildings are ancient. Shops are located at ground level, whereas the upper levels are used as living quarters warehouses. Many buildings housed royals and nobles during the Mamluk period. These residential blocs have the names of the owners engraved at the entrance in beautiful calligraphy. However, today, these ancient gates are filled with gold, silver, and other merchandise that no one will notice the history behind these buildings.

埃及手工藝品血拼去 / Shopping for Souvenirs and Egyptian Handmade Goods:

我們對埃及的手工雕刻仰慕已久,埃及人根據他們的歷史,創作許多銅雕品,包含古埃及各王朝著名人物、伊斯蘭時期人物與歷史事件,以及現代埃及社會生活的題材都呈現在這些作品中,價格非常平民化。一海之隔,同樣是手工雕刻品,歐洲與埃及價格有如天壤之別。我們聽說這裡的商品價格非常有彈性,因此使出台灣「智慧」,買了許多台灣小公寓裝不下也用不著的埃及銅雕、桌巾、壁毯、紙草、香精、項鍊、長袍。印象最深刻的是當我們在香精店裡挑選玫瑰精油時,熱誠十足的小老闆說他們還有更多的貨品,就在附近商家裡,堅持要帶我們去挑選。根據我們長年旅居阿拉伯國家的經驗,自然了解阿拉伯生意人合作無間的傳統。如果我們看上其他店家的商品,那麼利潤會由引薦者獲得,買賣雙方都開心,商店彼此也不會有惡性競爭的狀況。

English Version / 英文版:
Egypt is famous for its carvings. Egyptians created their arts and crafts based on their history. Many bronze sculptures are prominent figures from various dynasties of ancient Egypt. Artists take ideas from historical events in the Islamic period and modern Egyptian social life. The prices are very reasonable. Who knew the Mediterranean Sea could drastically change the prices of handmade goods. A little bird told us that prices were very flexible, too. We used our “Taiwanese wisdom” and bought many Egyptian handicrafts that we knew could have had no way to fit into our tiny apartment in Taiwan. But the bargain was too hard to resist; we ended up purchasing bronze sculptures, tablecloths, tapestries, papyrus, essential oils, necklaces, and robes, with no regrets, I may add. What impressed me the most was when we were looking for rose essential oil in the fragrance store; the enthusiastic young owner said they had more products nearby and insisted on taking us there for a look. Based on our many years of living in Arab countries, we understood the unspoken tules of traditional Arab businesses. On occasions like this, profits are shared between the seller and the referrer, creating a happy business environment with no vicious competition.

  • 我們從早上走到下午,每一棟建築都讓我們駐足許久,唯獨無法將過去與現在連結,因為每一棟古屋外面如今都疊滿商品。

我們更著急的是到費夏威咖啡館去品飲土耳其咖啡,這間咖啡館歷史超過兩百五十年,因許多埃及著名的文人和詩人經常在這裡尋找靈感而著名,包含1988諾貝爾文學獎得主納吉卜.馬赫夫茲Naguib Mahfouz)生前經常在這裡逗留寫作,他的小說《侃.哈利利》裡的人物便取材於這間咖啡屋。我們在裡面喝咖啡、傾聽老琴手彈魯特琴,他彈奏時眼神似乎已漂浮到遙遠的時空外。這一天我們盡興而歸。

English Version / 英文版:
Even after browsing for the whole day, we still find it hard to connect the past and present with so many distracting merchandises. Hence our minds were more looking forward to going to El Fishawi Cafe for a shot of Turkish coffee. This cafe has a history of more than 250 years. It is famous for hosting many notable Egyptian literati like 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature winner Naguib Mahfouz, who often visited to seek inspiration for his literary works. We sipped coffee inside this historic cafe while listening to the lutenist indulging in his own live music.

Author

Collaborations or become one of us(邀稿、合作、或加入「時尚高潮的團隊): 賴 (Line)ID: Tinkeebellezza ( 沒有 @,“T”大寫,要傳訊息才看的到哦!) Line App ID: Tinkeebellezza ( Capital “T,” without @, please send us a message, so we don’t miss you!)  https://line.me/ti/p/Riv8JfyrwU Email: fashionecstasytv@gmail.com 電話/ WhatsApp: (+886) 958771010 追蹤&按讚 / Connect with us: FB (Facebook): http://www.facebook.com/fashionecsta 追蹤: @FashionEcstasy ( I G、 推特) follow: FashionEcstasy (Instagram & Twitter) 還有: @Tanya.fashionecstasy (IG) @HsuTanya (Twitter) Also: @Tanya.fashionecstasy (Instagram) & @HsuTanya (Twitter) Youtube YT訂閱 /  Please subscribe to our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/FashionEcstasydotcom?sub_confirmation=1

2 thoughts on “埃及旅遊記之一 – 開羅/ Travel Cairo, Egypt

Leave a Reply