17 Trip Mementos from Cairo, Cairo, Egypt (B)

A jewel, a rose... what else is there distinctly Cairo to bring home as a gift??? Feeling lost for ideas? - Look in here to generate some and expand your souvenir-shopping horizons...

Bring the Middle Eastern fragrance to your home, just by burning some Oud mixed powder. Your house and your heart will be filled with a warm oriental feeling, like the one embracing Cairo's narrow streets and markets.

There are two types of incenses available. First is the very famous Oud or “Agar-wood”, which comes from the heart of the infected Aquilaria tree. Only trees infected “with some sort of mold” would produce the dark aromatic resin, that is processed into Oud. The raw materials are imported from countries of the Far East like India or Indonesia. Agar Wood is Egyptians' favorite fragrance, even though it is as pricey as it is pleasant. A cheaper alternative would be a mixed powder, containing other incenses like “Ein Al Afreet” and “Mastic”.

The other type is Bokhor “Incense sticks”, available everywhere, from perfumery stores to supermarkets. It is of course a lot cheaper as it is made of regular wood mix soaked in fragrances or oils. These incenses are available in many shapes and varieties to fit different beautifully crafted censers. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).