Cup Of Tea? Waterpipe?

The horse fair refreshment stand at the horse fair is a tiny bit spare. But it got lots of business from the buyers and sellers of horses, donkeys, and equipment get thirsty bargaining.

Hookahs for all

Waterpipes, hookahs, shishas...all of them names for the smoking implements that "filter" the smoke through the water and are so popular in Egyptian coffee shops. Not being a smoker, I can't verify that they cool the smoke, but being an ex-health teacher, I can verify that the smoke definitely isn't cleaned in any way. Nevertheless, the glass bottles and metal tops make a lovely pattern.

Waiting Out the Rain

On a wet afternoon in Cairo a group of men play dominoes at a coffee shop while waiting for a shower to stop. Visitors sometimes wonder what is smoked in the waterpipes at the coffee shops, but as a rule it is a fruit flavoured or honey flavoured tobacco.

Not Just For Alice's Caterpillar

Water pipes are known by all sorts of interesting names: hookah, hubbly-bubbly, or in Egypt sheesha. There is a small dish at the top where a flavoured tobacco is burned and then the smoke is drawn down through the water and out the hose attachment. The tobacco may or may not be enhanced with other things, but most of the time it isn't. There is also an assumption that the smoke is somehow cleaner for having passed through the water, but that is also false. The smoke from a sheesha burning an apple tobacco is really very nice, however passing a tip from smoker to smoker also helps to pass tuberculosis. That's not so cool. But if you stand watching the departure lounge at Cairo International, you will see lots of them boarding.