Wonderings in our wanderings.

Being a bit older and having fewer urgent things to fill one's time with; it becomes second nature to let one's mind 'wander'. As it wanders; it finds things to wonder over, funny.

So it has been over the past few days. The Egypt forums are full of doom and gloom regarding visas and work permits etc., and the Muslim Brotherhood and what they will do in government. It's all very depressing, and certainly not very welcoming to potential foreign visitors, or encouraging to ex-pats or many Egyptians alike!

But, as usual, our daily wanderings and meanderings carry on. I've noticed one or two things which you might find to be a bit of a break from the unrelenting bad news from Europe and elsewhere.

Last week, we were mooching around in one of the less frequented areas in one of Luxor's very popular hotels. I was really taken aback at what we stumbled across! I suppose that many of you will have seen a rat trap before, they're a wire cage about a foot long and maybe 4 inches square; big enough to accommodate a normal sized rat, as you might imagine. We see them in just about all the hotel gardens, discretely positioned here and there, sometimes camouflaged, but they are necessary due to the large number of rodents which are attracted by the easy to access waste food from the very large number of hotel kitchens and restaurants in Luxor. Here's what we found:

   
That's one of Freda's 'Ruby Slippers' (which she retained after starring in a film, many years ago) just to give you an idea of the size of the device. It makes you wonder exactly what they are trying to catch, I should add that we were mighty pleased that the trap was empty when we came across it!

Talking of hotels; as it was Wednesday yesterday, we had a nose into the Etap to see how their arrivals from England might go. It was quite a bit warmer, reaching over 21 degrees, and we were able to sit in our usual seats just to the left as you come out of the main entrance. From here we can see all the buses coming from the airport as they swing around onto the Corniche. Quite a number of cars and mini-buses pulled into the hotels drop-off point. Also several midi-buses, I was pleased to see so many people checking into the hotel.
I'm often amazed at the thoughtlessness of Egyptian drivers. I'm sure some of you know the pull-in drop-off point at the El Luxor, and can therefore envisage the scene. While a 'Blue Sky' coach (handling agents for Thomas Cook) was waiting to cross the road and pull into the North entrance, a 'Sinderella' midi-bus nipped in from the South, so that they ended up bumper to bumper while dropping off their respective passengers. As the Blue Sky coach had only a couple of people to drop off, it was ready to leave first. No problem to an Egyptian coach driver; he just reversed (blind because of the trees) out into the busy road! No one watching him back, just slowly edging into the traffic! Honestly, sometimes they terrify me!

Anyway, I was quite taken by an advertising banner which was hanging on the side of the building next to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, behind the Etap:

I should think that their range of winter coats would go down a storm in the Catholic community! What do you think?

Tonight, we have been invited to a meeting with Dr Abdulmawgoud Dardery, who is Luxor's representative to the government in Cairo. He is also a leading light in the Muslim Brotherhood. The meeting is being held so that Luxor's many ex-pats can find out some up-to-date and correct information regarding visas. Where 12 month tourist visas have been routinely issued for many years, it transpires that many folk are now only being issued with 6 month visas, which is causing some concern for those who have invested heavily here (buying houses and the like). I don't suppose that the current or past regulations will remain unchanged once the new (presumably stricter) government finds its feet, but maybe this meeting, with one of the MB's leaders after all, might give us some indication of any future legislation, and which way they might implement it. Insh'Allah! 

I'll let you know what happens tonight. (That's if they don't lock me up as an undesirable!)