Souvenirs from Egypt
There are million posts out there about what to bring back from Egypt and I agree with most all of them on what to get, but I want share my experience on how the whole shopping process goes down in the land of the Nile.
The tour company we used arranged day trips and different tour guides for us for each leg of our trip, which was super cool. What we didn't realize was some of the day trips were actually kind of sale pitches for souvenirs, with the introduction that these establishments were better than the markets because you wouldn't be forced to buy anything and have really good prices.
I got the feeling that our guides really didnt like being in the market place even thought we would have had fun with it. Because we zipped through them and didnt spend much of anytime in any of the open air markets. A lot of the market people are super insistent that you uy from them. Especially if you touch something.
Perfume Factory
We visited a perfumer factory in Aswan on our very first full day in Egypt. Going into it, I really thought we would see perfumes getting made. In reality, they show you how the perfumes/oils are superior to other oils. Don't leave a residue and last a lot longer. You get to sample and smell any of the oils you would like. A lot of other reviews state that they think the perfumes you buy are actually diluted and dont really have any fragrance. I don't find this to be in the case in my scenario. My perfumes are super fragrant and last a lot longer than my essential oils in a diffuser.
I do think it would be better to order them online though rather than toting them around.
Spice Shop
Same kind of deal as the Perfume factory. Thought we would be shown shown how they make spices but we weren't. We did get Sample spices they have and shown hard to find spices and how you get an amazing price compared to other places especially in the States. Like Saffron, because it's more local you can get it in bulk for cheap.
We were given Hibiscus tea and told the healing properties of Hibiscus. We really liked the taste of the tea they brewed for us so we bought a 1lb of it.
The tea actually ended up helping my son later in the trip. He had a severe allergic reaction to some ill cared for horses and started to swell up and his eyes became bloodshot. He drank some hibiscus tea (because of what we learned at the spice shop)when we got back to our Nile Cruise Ship and his symptoms started clearing up almost instantly.
- Protects with antioxidants. The hibiscus plant is rich in antioxidants such as beta-carotene, vitamin C and anthocyanin. ...
- Fights inflammation. ...
- Lowers blood pressure. ...
- Lowers cholesterol. ...
- Promotes weight loss. ...
- Fights bacteria. ...
- Supports liver health.
Alabaster
At this shop we actually got to see a demonstration of how they shape alabaster and to spot fakes. We also got to help carve into it, which was fun. The shop (and all the shops we visited)had welcome drinks and complimentary bathrooms, which the latter are a big deal in Egypt because all public toilets come with a small fee to be paid to a bathroom attendant.
The alabaster shop had trinkets to big beautiful vases and everything in between. I was hesitant to buy anything at first because the items didnt have prices and we just went through a demonstration on how valuable alabaster is but I was pleasantly surprised on the price and you can try and haggle it down even.
Papyrus
This was the last "shop" we went to and I told myself before hand there is no way I wa going to buy Papyrus. But they showed us how papyrus was used, and made some paper in front of us and we actually got to see the Papyrus plant which is really cool because it literally only can be found in Egypt. So, I got some. I got a scroll of my family's names in Hieroglyphics.
Take away from the whole experience-Everything is very cheap in Egypt and you can haggle for about anything.
My advice, for overall Egyptian souvenir shopping, is to have a currency convertor on your phone so you know what what they are asking for.
If you see something you like, get it then when you see it instead of saying, Ill find it later because odds are you won't see it again. There were so many times during my trip I saw something that caught my eye and told myself that I would find it later and then I wouldn't.
I felt like the souvenir quality was better (and cheaper) in Luxor and Aswan than in Cairo.
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