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Formerly in Imbaba, but now held way out to the north at Bil'esh , is Cairo's Friday Camel Market , a weekly feast of drama and cruelty. Beaten into defecating ranks, the hobbled camels are assessed by traders who disregard their emaciation - caused by a month-long trek from northwestern Sudan to Aswan, followed by an overnight truck ride to Cairo - and concentrate on other features. Strength and speed are discernible in the legs, chest, eyes, ears and position of the hump, while teeth reflect age; the clearly knackered are evaluated for their meat and hide. During rutting season, signs of irritation (an inflated mouth sac, ferocious slobbering and gurgling) often herald a kick or bite from an enraged bull camel. Docile females are generally preferred as mounts. They're also exchanged for goats and other livestock, while Bishari herdsmen and Egyptian merchants gossip over tea, unperturbed by throat-slittings and disembowelments near the piles of saddlery and tack. In an adjacent compound is a furniture and bric-a-brac market, not unlike a car boot sale. Lasting from dawn till early afternoon every Friday, the Souk el-Gamal (pronounced "Gah mell ") is busiest between 6 and 8.30am. To get there by taxi will cost around GBPE20, but the market is also accessible by service taxi microbus from the old site at Imbaba, or from Warraq (a village halfway between Imbaba and Bil'esh). Both are served by microbus from Sharia Sabtiya, off Midan Ramses; you then have to take another microbus for the final leg. Alternatively, you can catch the #214 bus from the Nile Hilton terminal in Midan Tahrir to Manashi by the Nile Barrage at Qaratir (45min) and take a service taxi microbus from there. Going back into town, you should be able to find direct service taxis to Midan Ramses.
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