Cairo’s “City of the Dead”

You certainly don’t have to travel around the world to find the perfect piece of junk. Chances are
you can find it in any public trash can, but at the “Friday Market” in
Cairo’s
“City of the Dead”
anything and everything is merchandise and for a good price. Trent Rockwood takes us on a
detailed tour of the urban sprawl where 5 million of Egypt’s poor squat on cemeteries making old tombs their
homes. (Squatting is illegal according to Egyptian law.) With no TV, telephones, lights, sewer or waste
management in the city it makes for an interesting stop while exploring the country. So what takes a lost traveler
or local Cairene into the “City of the Dead?”

The bargains. And there are many. The poorest of the poor can find something here. As a writer
he does an excellent job of walking his readers through the market with him in this feature found on
Go
World Travel
. From merchants selling used and battered electronics, to dog mating vendors, and used
clothing supposedly plucked off the dead in the tombs, the “Friday Market” sounds nothing like the
average street market. After analyzing his own shopping bag which contained a used shirt, two Mameluke coins and an
alarm clock Trent discovers he made out pretty well and all for $3. Reading this really had me blown away and I must
say I wouldn’t mind stumbling into the town one day myself.

A really good read if you have any interest in Egypt.