Egypt Day 19

Mohammad, my guide last Monday, told me about a show put on by a group of Sufi dancers. Sufi is a Muslim sect, started in Turkey a few centuries ago. They are also known as the "Dancing Dervishes". It is a religious sect that believes by spinning continuously with upraised arms they will go into a trance, and get nearer to God.
I missed seeing them when I was in Turkey, so I was keen to see them here.
I was adventurous and took a minibus there and back. The show was in a courtyard at the old university. A beautiful setting.
The original dervishes were all in white, and basically just spun around. Not overly exciting to watch. Well this group put on a much more entertaining show. It was actually spectacular. Lots of music, intricate dancing, and, of course a lot of spinning.
I would recommend going on YouTube and search for
Cairo, Egypt: the Sufi Dance (Al Darawich)
Travel with Mike
It's 6 minutes long and well worth the time.
I have seen just about everything on my agenda. I had planned to go to Alexandria, but it would be a long day, and I'm getting lazy in my old age, so I decided just to walk the streets of downtown Cairo today.
I had an excellent Turkish coffee at my favourite hole-in -the -wall cafe. Good coffee, and a great place to people watch.
I finally found a grocery store! Sort of. It's about the size of a small 7-eleven, but it sold more than pop and chips. It's too bad I didn't find some of these things when I first arrived.
Another discovery; I didn't bring my European electric kettle (220 V), so I have to go to the hotel kitchen to get hot water for tea. It's a pain, because everything runs on propane. The first time I took a shower I almost scalded myself, the water was so hot. It's actually hot enough to make tea, so I'm all set. A teabag and scalding hot tap water. Voila!
Make Your Own Sunshine