DAY 38 Tue 20 July

Today I had an appointment to head into Maadi with Pal to do a bit of shopping – in fact, despite the fact I had less than a week left in Cairo, this turned out to be one of my more expensive shopping trips. First stop was Road 9 where we split up and I went off to do some of the touristy shopping things. First stop was El Maadi House, where I had bought souveniers previously – picked up some nice wall hangings and scarves and linen shirts – tick some people off the list. Just above that shop was Drinkies, so I decided to buy a dozen beer (all Saqqara as they were out of the large cans of Stella). I then tried to find a shop I had been in with Pat on an earlier day – I missed it the first time, and headed all the way up to Graeco (the coffee shop) before realising I had gone too far. Found it as I walked back thank goodness. There I picked up a set of six coffee mugs with picturesque villages on the side of them, and an ornamental tea pot (it doesn't have a bottom, and has holes in the side where the windows of the buildings are – lol. By the time these were wrapped, I was late meeting Pal back at the car. The car was parked near a car I had admired (I'm not sure if that is really the word I am after) previously. It had a heavy coating of dust, and looks like it hadn't moved since Ramses II was a lad! We then headed towards the big Metro (supermarket) in Maadi, with a stop at the pharmacy along the way. This was one of my most expensive food shops in Cairo, and it was for the shortest period of time... but I had decided to pick up some food for Morad (his fridge is always empty). This ended up being a good thing, because in payment for the food, he took me sightseeing at Dashur :)
Pal then dropped me off at Maryanne's, where I relaxed for a little bit before heading over to Morad's to drop off the food and say hi, before heading back to Maryanne's when Susan and Sabine were due to turn up for an evening ride in the desert. Susan rode Lilly, I was on Wadi, and Mohamed was riding Diva, and once the horses were all saddled up and ready to go, we met Sabine at the back gate, and headed out into the desert. The plan had been to head out towards the pottery shard spot, but unfortunately Susan hadn't had much to eat that day, and the pace was a bit much, so before getting too far we turned around and headed back towards the gate out of the desert. Riding back through the village, there were children playing in water that was leaking from a pump I'm assuming - having a great time sitting in the water and playing in the mud (well, maybe wet sand as opposed to mud!)
Back at the farm, after getting Susan a bite to eat and us all sitting down for a beer and a chat, Susan and I hopped into her taxi and headed off to Khan el Khalili. The plan was to do a little bit of shopping and get some night time photos around this picturesque area of Cairo. The area with the Suk is a mixture of old and new, including some of the old city walls, and the fact that the sun had set added further ambiance to the photos. Despite the time we got there (nearly 9.30 at night), there were still a lot of people around and a lot of shops open, though as we made our way deeper and deeper in, the shops in the centre were beginning to close, though the shops on the main roads surrounding stayed open. Stopped to pick up the perfect gift for Simon, a statue of the head of Bastet. There was an amazing little antique shop, with all these odd little things in it that we went into. The lighting in the area added to it – and Mum's camera allowed for some amazing photos to be taken – the image stabiliser allows night time photos to be taken without a tripod being required (not that I ever had a tripod – I used to try and find a flat surface to lean the camera on to minimise shake, but it didn't often work very well). And the lighting of the mosques in the area also meant some nice photos, especially with a nearly full moon behind them. At about 11pm we stopped at one of the cafes for dinner. It was a good place for people watching – there was a guy a couple of tables over playing a traditional instrument, and then there were all the hawkers coming round – one guy was selling dolls, another lady would do henna paintings. The smell of flavoured tobacco was also strong in the air, nearly drowning out the smell of the cooking food behind us. And the number of children up and about at that time of the night was astonishing. They had toys with little LED lights, some like UFO's heading up into the air. At midnight we headed back to the taxi, and after dropping Susan off in Maadi, he drove me out to Maryanne's. What a long day – by the time the taxi pulled up at the gate, it was 1am... and I had to be at Morad's at 9am for our trip out to Dashur!

Desert ride 10:
Distance - 6.27km
Time - 1:05:46
Average speed - 5.7kmph
Max speed - 38.7kmph