Yet, we heard about a weekly market in El Qurna. As luck has it, it occurs on Tuesdays. So, we figured out how to get there the Egyptian way.
When living here, a foreigner has different needs than a tourist. Unfortunately, there's no clear way of indicating we are here for the longer haul. Consequently, we get constant invitations to take taxis, carriages, and boats. Everyone can spot a tourist and perhaps offer something. It gets a little frustrating until one realizes these guys are just trying to put, literally, bread on their family's table. After we get 'known' we expect to be hassled less.
We bypassed all the offers and invitations so we could go to the normal bus stand near the Ferryboat. This morning at about 9:45 am, we paid our Egyptian £1 (US $0.13) fare and headed to the Tuesday souk. More specifically, we passed coins along to the passengers seated in front of us, who passed them forward to the driver of the van. It was a short trip taking about 20-25 minutes. We went along the road where the irrigation runs out next to the mountain, but returned on a shorter road.
It was typical of an Asian market, except perhaps a bit more Biblical looking with a desert mountain backdrop. It was colourful and larger than I expected. We really can't compare prices with regular markets, but we came back with a whole lot for $US 8. In fact, my arms hurt a little from carrying the bags.
We have taken to resting in the afternoon. A little while ago, we went across to the other side to make our final withdrawal from the ATM for our five months of rental. The machine was down, so it looks like yet another trip in the morning. So far, we have stayed here on just promise of payment.