We spent Friday morning at the camel markets. I told someone earlier this week I thought it was a tourist attraction. I couldn't have been more wrong! The 30 AIS teachers who arrived via bus were the only non camel-selling people present, and it was quite a shock.
As you can see from the two videos below, the camel market/auction is not at all like what you would expect from an auction back home. Basically there are camels tied up in flocks (or caravans, I've been told), and there are people hitting them with sticks to keep them in place. As you will also see in the video, the camels don't follow instructions any better than a gr. 7 boy ! SO, it was easy to suddenly be in the way of an errant camel.
The auction part went like this: A group of men stand in a circle chanting/yelling, there's a camel in the centre. All of a sudden the yelling stops, and the camel is sprayed w/ spray paint and taken away. If this sounds organized or clearly laid out, I can assure you it is not!
The other highlight was having my picture taken. Now I had to pay 20 LE to take pictures at the market, but all the men were taking my picture for free. If I had charged money, I could have made a small fortune.
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