Yes folks, today is the "United Nations World Tourism Day", (Ok Mr Pedant; 'yesterday was'!) and of course, Luxor would celebrate it in some style.
There were to be two main venues; in the morning on the plaza in front of Karnak Temple there would be traditional music and dancing, between 9 and 12. Then later at 5 o'clock till 9, a similar programme could be seen at the Abu Haggag Square, behind Luxor Temple. All were welcome, and there was no charge. Excellent, I thought, manna for the blog!
After a relatively hard day working on the guest apartment, I struggled to get a shower and get changed etc., without having an extended nap, but ever conscious of the need to bring you the latest news, Dear Reader, I managed to drag myself out!
Freda first saw a sign of celebration as we passed the bottom of Cleopatra Street, there was one of those stationary balloon things, which they often have at the opening of a new shop or whatever. It was just visible over the top of, and in between, the coaches in the Temple coach park!
We couldn't have any conversation at this point, as the Mosque speakers were going hammer and tongues, deafening, as usual. We made our way around the big Mosque and onto the Square, where there were quiet a few people about, as usual, with little'uns careering around in those electric car thingies. But no sign of any organisation of any sort, and certainly no dancing troupes!
I sat and warmed my bum on one of the stone seats, while Freda stood and looked forlornly around. Within the first minute, we'd seen off two sellers of chai and a nut man with his bogey. We were, admittedly, a bit late for the start. It was actually ten to six by the time we arrived, but, hey, this is Egypt, right?
We must have been there for a good twenty minutes or so, before we adjourned to the Winter Palace for a refresher. The sofa in the foyer was a tad more comfy than the stone in the square, even allowing for the stored heat! It was reasonably busy in there, three young men were sitting opposite us and playing with mobile phones and a 'tablet', I think that's what it was, anyway. One of them looked familiar, and I eventually twigged where I had seen him before; it was in a photograph supposedly taken at Herr Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest' in Berchtesgaden. He was the one in the SS uniform, all blue eyes and blonde hair! Funny that he should still look the same after all these years?
Then came three American sightseers, ostensibly looking for the 'terrace' (indoors?). The doorman explained that they had just passed it as they entered the building, but they weren't being taken in by an Egyptian, no sirree! They hung around for a bit, going out onto the rear terrace, and then coming back in and heading off along the corridor towards the ground floor rooms. One of them even thought to try and confuse one of the porters by asking for the 'bathroom'!
We have two friends staying there at the moment (Clive and Sue) but they were dining out at the 'Taste of India', so we missed them. Never mind, tomorrow is another day. After we'd enjoyed making up new lives for the people roundabout, and had our fill of tea and Nescafe (and the nice little home-made biscuits they are now doing) we made our way back up to the rear of the Temple. It was now about 8.30, and the show was supposed to finish at 9, so we thought that we'd catch the ending nicely!
You guessed it! No-one there apart from the usual suspects, Egyptian families enjoying the cool of the evening with their friends, and children running around blowing off a bit of steam. Yet another triumph for the organisational skills of the Luxor Governorate
Losing the will to live? I'm really not quite sure; if I'm still here tomorrow I'll probably be OK.
There were to be two main venues; in the morning on the plaza in front of Karnak Temple there would be traditional music and dancing, between 9 and 12. Then later at 5 o'clock till 9, a similar programme could be seen at the Abu Haggag Square, behind Luxor Temple. All were welcome, and there was no charge. Excellent, I thought, manna for the blog!
After a relatively hard day working on the guest apartment, I struggled to get a shower and get changed etc., without having an extended nap, but ever conscious of the need to bring you the latest news, Dear Reader, I managed to drag myself out!
Freda first saw a sign of celebration as we passed the bottom of Cleopatra Street, there was one of those stationary balloon things, which they often have at the opening of a new shop or whatever. It was just visible over the top of, and in between, the coaches in the Temple coach park!
We couldn't have any conversation at this point, as the Mosque speakers were going hammer and tongues, deafening, as usual. We made our way around the big Mosque and onto the Square, where there were quiet a few people about, as usual, with little'uns careering around in those electric car thingies. But no sign of any organisation of any sort, and certainly no dancing troupes!
I sat and warmed my bum on one of the stone seats, while Freda stood and looked forlornly around. Within the first minute, we'd seen off two sellers of chai and a nut man with his bogey. We were, admittedly, a bit late for the start. It was actually ten to six by the time we arrived, but, hey, this is Egypt, right?
We must have been there for a good twenty minutes or so, before we adjourned to the Winter Palace for a refresher. The sofa in the foyer was a tad more comfy than the stone in the square, even allowing for the stored heat! It was reasonably busy in there, three young men were sitting opposite us and playing with mobile phones and a 'tablet', I think that's what it was, anyway. One of them looked familiar, and I eventually twigged where I had seen him before; it was in a photograph supposedly taken at Herr Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest' in Berchtesgaden. He was the one in the SS uniform, all blue eyes and blonde hair! Funny that he should still look the same after all these years?
Then came three American sightseers, ostensibly looking for the 'terrace' (indoors?). The doorman explained that they had just passed it as they entered the building, but they weren't being taken in by an Egyptian, no sirree! They hung around for a bit, going out onto the rear terrace, and then coming back in and heading off along the corridor towards the ground floor rooms. One of them even thought to try and confuse one of the porters by asking for the 'bathroom'!
We have two friends staying there at the moment (Clive and Sue) but they were dining out at the 'Taste of India', so we missed them. Never mind, tomorrow is another day. After we'd enjoyed making up new lives for the people roundabout, and had our fill of tea and Nescafe (and the nice little home-made biscuits they are now doing) we made our way back up to the rear of the Temple. It was now about 8.30, and the show was supposed to finish at 9, so we thought that we'd catch the ending nicely!
You guessed it! No-one there apart from the usual suspects, Egyptian families enjoying the cool of the evening with their friends, and children running around blowing off a bit of steam. Yet another triumph for the organisational skills of the Luxor Governorate
Losing the will to live? I'm really not quite sure; if I'm still here tomorrow I'll probably be OK.
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