Shopping on the West Bank

On the West Bank the shops are very different to those in the Western countries. Here you don't find glamorous shopping centres. The szene is directed by hundreds of small shops, which offer everything that is needed for the daily life. But as a tourist you also find a lot beautiful handmade souvenirs for at home. All along the streets of the villages you see small shops very close to each other offering different goods: food, vegetables and fruits, milk and cheese, souvenirs as well as traders with electrical equipments or bakeries.

Hint for self caterers: all goods on the West Bank are a little bit more expensive than in Luxor City. Therefore sometimes it is worth to cross the Nile by the public ferry for shopping. Do a stroll along the Salah el din Square or the beginning of the Television Street and have look in its various shops and super markets. You will find out that there are goods available which you cannot find on the West Bank, for example olive oil or Basturma, and the variety of fresh vegetables is bigger. Another choice for you is the weekly market in El Qurna. More information about this market you will find in our section West Bank Stories. But principally in the villages on the West Bank you find everything what you need for your daily life.

Another difference is the opening time. Because there are no strict regulations every trader can open and close his shop as he likes. Some close for some hours in the afternoon others on fridays. Butchers mostly take their day-off on monday. On the other hand some shops are open all around the clock. That means: look around and try to keep the opening times in mind.

If you are searching in the mini markets for frozen good like minced meat (with the butchers you have to order this in advance), just go behind the counter and have a look into the freezer. Mostly you will discover what you are looking for. In many places it is difficult to ask, because the vendors don't speek English or French, you not enough Arabic. Therefore everybody will understand your look into the freezer.

By the way - the mini markets and pharmacies - which are more like European drug stores - have fixed prices. It is not worth to try out bargaining.

If your are on tour with a guide for sure he will lead you to one of the many shops and factories for alabaster and papyrus. That are the most famous souvenirs from the West Bank. Even the quality of alabaster is nearly in all this factories and workshops the same, there it is a must to bargain. That's very different to the painted sheets of papyrus. The quality of the paintings or writing of the hieroglyphes, the colours, and last but not least the quality of the papyrus itself all this tohether makes the price. Attention: Not everything what's cheep also is really good. But at the end your personal taste will do the decision. The opening hours of this shops mostly are related to the visiting times of the monuments nearby. That means, most of the shops are open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

 

Nefertari Papyrus Institute