The Birqash Camel Market: Not for the faint of heart states the Lonely Planet. The actual market itself wasn't too bad for an animal lover, (They do beat the camels with large sticks and have one front leg tied up to control them), but the animal graveyard you had to drive through before you reached the market was one of the worst things we have ever smelled!

Laura at the Camel Market.

We arranged to have a driver arrive at 630 to take us 35 km East of town the Birqash Camel Market. We requested the same driver who took us to Giza, as he was really kind and seemed very honest and helpful. Our driver arrived and he was in a cast. The poor man had been hit by a car the night before and broke his wrist. This is the first pedestrian we have actually heard of being hit, but I am sure this happens many times each day. Crossing the road in Cairo is like playing a big scary game of Frogger. (We try to make light about it). So our driver brought his friend to drive for him, and he would act as our guide.
So we drove out of the city to this market. The drive itselft was half the adventure, we passed through many agricultural areas. You wouldn't believe how much weight they can pack on the back of a donkey.
So we finally made it to the market, and as we said in the intro, first you had to pass this animal graveyard with different carcasses in different states of decay. It was one of the worst things we have ever smelled. The market itself was very interesting, we were the only tourists there and everyone was very friendly. (They wanted their photo taken with us). At the camel market camels are being sold for breeding, but the majority are being sold for food and apparently end up on the plates of the poorer families in Cairo. It was good to see a piece of the Egyptian culture that most tourists don't get a chance to see.
In the end Abraham, our driver refused a tip for his service, broken arm and all. He said we had been generous the day before. We thought this was very kind and really displayed his honesty. There are some wonderful people in Egypt.
Afterwards we headed off to the Egyptian museum, they say if you stand for less then one minute at each display it will take you 9 months to see the entire museum. We hired a local man (who has worked at the museum for 50 years) to take us on a whirlwind tour of the highlights then we headed back to the Cairo market to wander and enjoy the culture.

Young boy learning the trade

Buying/ Selling Camels