Thursday, September 19, 2013

Trip to the Qaysari Bazaar



The sights and sounds of the bazaar near the citadel were filled with authenticity.  Here I am standing near the base of the citadel (the historic city center continuously inhabited since the 5th millennium BC, and possibly earlier).  Many little souks (shops) used to be outside at the base of the citadel but they were forced to move to one of the newer structures nearby or the old structure when citadel renovations began a couple of years ago.  







Our first stop was a rug souk.  Rugs are one of the few handcrafted items made by the local people here.  They are beautiful woolen rugs and many have geometric patterns.   Shoulder bags and bags with small tassels are also made locally.  This souk also sold prayer rugs and traditional white shoes.


Next door was a souk with beautiful instruments.  They also sold prayer rugs and the bags with tassels.










Then, it was off to the old bazaar!  We entered through one of the many alleys surrounding the bazaar.  It was hot and the alleys were filled with many people.  Once inside, we walked through a maze of narrow paths between the shops, underneath a roof of corrugated metal. Most alleys are arranged by the type of product sold on that alley.  It is filled with little shops of everyday items and a place where the locals shop.  It was nice to experience what the locals do on an ordinary weekend.






The floor was uneven and there was construction going on near the jewelry souks making it really loud and very dusty. We had walk over a plank covering a large hole to enter some of the shops.   Later, there was a large stream of water going through the middle of the bazaar. 





Many men proudly wear traditional Kurdish clothing and this man posed for us. His daughter is next to him.  I picked up some glasses in the shop behind him.

A kind man who spoke English took us to a naan bakery and bought us a pack of ten straight from the oven!  Naan is a flat bread that the Kurdish people eat daily for most meals.  We picked up some roasted chicken in one restaurant that was wrapped in several pieces of nan and came with a side of pickled veggies.  It was 10,000 dinar or about $8 and very heavy. 
Pomegranate Seeds! 

Tikka & Kabab
Dates & Figs

 

1 comment:

  1. We really have a sense of the excursion -- you let us go there with you, see the sights, hear the sounds. Fantastic first post, Julie!

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