During past excursions, Ron has managed to acquire a “rug guy.” Mohammad has a store in Maadi and sells, in addition to rugs, all manner of Egyptian goods, including pottery, mashrabiya, wood and pearl inlay, pashminas, gallibayas, and an odd assortment of lamps, brass goods, metal flasks, tins, boxes and chach-ka. He proudly states that he sells nothing from China, it’s all Egyptian, Kazakhstanian, Palestinian, Iranian, etc.

We visited him a few months ago and purchased a wonderful unique metal desk lamp and some gift items. We went back again last weekend looking for some pashminas for the living room (to match ones Ron had from prior visits) and to look for a small entryway rug, in addition to checking out his rug assortment for some people back home who have expressed interest in getting one. He took us through the back of the store and into another large room where stacks upon stacks of rugs are kept. He and his wife pulled out rug after rug after rug and I just kept snapping pictures. He told us where each one came from, but I lost count after a while. The sizes are varied, the styles, colors and designs are all varied. It’s a fantastic collection and the prices are very good (compared to back home). Here are just some of the rugs we saw: