It is my experience that a great many Egyptians are paranoid; about privacy, crime and the seemingly ever present threat of interference of one sort or another from outside their immediate circle. Consequently, the thought of whatever might be about to happen yesterday had many of them in a bit of a tizz! A visitor, who is staying on the West Bank, told me that his hotel owner was "worried" about things in general. It seemed that the hotel man's concerns had also taken hold of him; the visitor, to a certain extent, as he went on to tell me that; "Times are tough here, it could go either way. For sure it would be much worse in Cairo, but if that blows up, it will have an impact on Luxor." I've no idea why an Egyptian should be fomenting such idiotic and fearful ideas in the minds of impressionable tourists.
Perhaps he was trying to pull off the same trick as the big hotels on the East bank have been doing every time there has been any mention of possible disturbances, "You shouldn't leave the security of the hotel today my friend! That's right, stay here, and I'll get in a few bottles of Stella to help keep you occupied, but don't tell anyone, as I don't have a licence!" Perhaps not, I'm an admitted cynic when it comes to Egyptian businessmen!
So, being English (and obviously incredibly brave) we left our 'rose tinted spectacles' at home and ventured out as usual, as we have done on every day since the revolution began.. Lo and behold: the buses weren't on strike, and seeing as we were awoken, at 07.45, by the Egyptian National Anthem from the school across the road; neither were the schools. The calechemen behind the Temple were working (if you consider lying around talking and smoking to be work) normally. I didn't notice any closed-up shops. If truth were told: there was nothing out of the ordinary! No indication, at all, of a 'General Strike', and even less of any 'Civil Disobedience'.
Now then, that is of course, only 'our' experience! I'm quite sure that there will be a foreign journalist, or someone on 'Facebook' or one of the Egypt forums (who isn't actually here in Luxor at the moment) who will know of some atrocity perpetrated against a tourist, or group of tourists here in Luxor yesterday, which was a direct result of these highly organised forms of protest. Let's just wait and see, eh?
Does it show, that I'm starting to get a tad annoyed at all the misinformation which is being spread abroad by people who really should know better?
Here's a picture I lifted from the Luxor4U website, it might give you an idea of how seriously Egyptians can take things (and quite literally, as this sign maker certainly did):
And these are the people who are warning gullible tourists about upcoming problems?????????
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