Day Three of our latest Nile Exploration.

Good evening and welcome. (I just love pinching other people's catchphrases!) Here's one specially for my old Mother at home in Windy Nook, "Can you hear me Mother?" We don't telephone very often, as we are both going deaf, but she is in the modern age and consults her laptop regularly.
Anyway, back to our day on the Nile. This morning, Abdullah took us ashore to view the Temple of Horemheb and the adjacent tombs of Tom Dick and Harry. Very interesting, I'm sure! Before we went, we had our breakfast on the sundeck. While we sat there Freda pointed out a cat sized creature strolling along the footpath. It had a long fat tail, like a cat, but short legs and a rather pointed face. Of course, as usual, I hadn't brought the camera, and by the time I retrieved it from our suite the beast had disappeared out of range. If you know what it might have been I'd be pleased to know. Abdullah the guide said that it must have been some sort of rat!
We started off wandering along the rat path in some lovely soft deep sand, it reminded us of our summer holidays spent at Seahouses with the children. There were many footprints on the way. Lots of birds, some which Abdullah described as "wolf" prints (but we all know that many Egyptians call the small desert foxes wolves) and also a track which had obviously been made by a unicycle:


Daft Abdullah said it was the track of a scarab beetle, but what does he know????

It was an interesting walk, I've got to say. As well as clambering about in the tombs and rocks we came across some different things; like the empty lightbulb boxes!
Being of the normal consciencsous type, the man in charge of replacing the bulbs which illuminate the antiquities hereabouts, just drops the boxes wherever he happens to be! (I think he must be a regular visitor at Dr Al Malach's surgery downstairs!!!! Abdullah showed us where the ancient sailors had made themselves a tying up place for their boats and ships:



I was quite taken by the coloured ceilings in some of the tombs:


Abdullah was also explicit in his instructions to NOT put our hands in or near any cracks or crevises in the rocks, we couldn't know what was lurking in them! So, when we had to make our way up this gully in the following picture; he threw a stone up it first. He actually looked quite concerned!


These monuments are situated in what Abdullah described as "The biggest sandstone quarry in the world." I'm not sure whether that is technically true, but it did seem to carry on for a long long way. Just past where I took this next picture from, there is a sign forbidding further exploring.


The David Attenborough in me led me to also snap this queer little six winged creature:



We travelled under sail for quite a while during our onward journey to Kom Ombo. This meant that other boats were passing us, as there wasn't a great deal of wind. One such boat was the Abercrombie and Kent dahabiya. It is very large! In fact, it has TWO tugs to tow it along when the wind drops, here it is:



I'm sure you will agree that this vessel bears more of a resemblance to a large motor driven cruiser than to a dahabiya!

We visited Kom Ombo Temple along with the tourists from several other cruise boats, it was quite busy. In fact, Kom Ombo was very busy! Whilst we were moored there, there were about 30 cruise boats visited, including those which were there when we arrived and those which arrived before we left.
As usual, Abdullah was excellent; showing us things on the walls which we had not seen before, even though we've been there about 6 or 7 times. He's also very willing to please.

Summer is a'comin' in an' winter's gone away, oh!

Yes folks, we "welcomed in the May" at the Sheherazade Hotel on the West Bank, in some style, and in good company too I've got to say.

Tutankaren (AKA Lotusflower) from Welsh Wales had intended to join us and Mr and Mrs suzychuck of Trip Advisor fame to see what it was all about. Sadly, when the time came, Karen was indisposed and had to cry off, what a pity.

Never mind, we met the suzychucks at the Etap at the appointed time, actually REFUSED A POT OF TEA, and made our way along to the ferry. Freda had wanted to go over on the public ferry (I think she wanted to show some solidarity with the proletariat, or something like that) but we were approached by a nice motorboat (Mama Africa) captain, whom I know a bit (he went to college with another Egyptian friend) and we went with him. It's a lot easier and quicker than waiting for the ferry to fill up with the aforementioned proletariat before it sets off.

When we reached the "Side of the Dead" we boldly refused taxis and massages etc. and struck off towards our destination, it's only ten minutes or so, after all! As we arrived at the hotel, we saw two of Luxor's more famous West Bank ex-pats leaving! I did check my watch, and we were in plenty of time. Actually, we were twenty minutes early; call it "Reverse Egyptian Time", if you like!

A few of the local peasantry were gathered in a rustic bandstand type of place, with a roof of rushes (or some sort of organic stuff, at any rate) and seating around the edge, facing inwards. It was charming, to say the least. We were welcomed by the lovely Christine (Soloman, that is, manageress of the hotel, and not the lovely "Christine the Sand Dancer" of Tutti Frutti fame) with tea and English cake. Isn't it queer; that's exactly what we had refused at the Etap. Here's the lovely Christine, reading a Mayday poem, with the May Queen seated on her left.


We only knew one or two of the people there. Christine, of course, Stan, whose Luxor4U screen name, and website, is "Living in Luxor", and that's it, actually! Here's a picture, of my usual quality, of Stan the DJ talking to a young woman who is unknown to us (we being East Bankers).


One woman arrived sometime later, whom I think we've met before, but I cannot remember her name. During the proceedings, a man arrived and went around introducing himself. He was one Justen Karlsen of TA and L4U fame. I knew who he was the instant I saw him, but I couldn't tell you how. He was very charming and polite, and lo and behold; he was from the same part of Lincoln as Mr and Mrs suzychuck, what a small world. When he got home, he posted on L4U about meeting suzy and her beau. Fame at last, eh suzy? And here they are, Mr and Mrs suzychuck, he's the one in the middle, with the foliage coming out of his head. (Something was said about being green AND cabbage-looking)


Here's a candid one of Mr suzychuck, without his disguise. Not too sure about the two dodgey looking people (obviously still wearing their disguises) on the right though!


Got one of suzychuck herself, but that couple were still determined to be in the shot!


Several more people arrived as Stan the Man played suitable music for the occasion. (Started off with some Donovan, but mainly Steeleye Span, and Maddy Prior in other guises, and with several other worthwhile pieces as well.) I thoroughly enjoyed the music. In fact, at one point I telephoned Dear Sister in Windy Nook, and let her hear some of "Alison Gross" over the phone!

Most of the other revellers were ladies who seemed to be still in their hippie mode of the sixties. I was rather taken by one lady who walked as if she was trying to emulate the daft models on the catwalk, but on second thoughts; maybe she just needed a touch of hip replacement surgery, it was difficult for a mere layman to tell.

There were a few children around, all Egyptian as I would imagine that all the English and other foreign ladies present were possibly past the age of childbearing (although a few younger ones did turn up a bit later).


After the adult ladies had managed to not quite strangle each other with the Maypole ribbons; it was time for some of the little ones to join in and have a few goes. The younger ones were supervised by their equally hopeless elders, much to the mirth of us innocent bystanders.


Eventually, there was quite a bunch of local kids doing their level best in trying to strangle the beautiful little May Queen, they almost did, as well! This pic of the May Queen was taken before the strangling attempt, it just goes to show that no-one is safe here in Egypt, lol.


The children were obviously having a whale of a time, I don't suppose that they had ever seen anything remotely like this before.

Mr and Mrs suzychuck were very good company, they even paid the bill! I'm going to have to watch myself here; if this matter of TA people paying my way on nights out carries on, I'll be vying for the number one spot on KV Explorer's "Luxor Cadgers List". The current holder of that accolade is supposed to have a nifty habit of disappearing to the loo, just before the bill arrives, then returning after their guests have settled it. (And that's before their commission!) Nevertheless, one day, insh'Allah, we'll be in a position to repay their many kindnesses. As my old Dad used to say, "When the ship comes up Bottle Bank!" (FYI Bottle Bank is a short, steep street which runs by the Gateshead side of the Tyne Bridge and down to the small "Swing Bridge" crossing the river. The major problem with a ship coming up it, however, is that it has now been officially designated as one-way, and that way is downover!)

Anyway, after all that, I think we can say that the May is definitely IN !

Enjoy your summer, wherever you are.

Holiday time.

Hello from a very cold Windy Nook, where we're on our Christmas holiday from 3rd December until the 27th.
Actually, we really started on the 2nd when Freda had a fancy for a McDonald's. This is a bit of a queer occurrence, as she isn't a burger fan in general. But, you know me, anything to please the Boss. (I've always been a crawler!)
As we left McD's, I jokingly suggested that she might enjoy a chocolate brownie and ice cream at the Roof, by way of a dessert. To my great surprise she agreed, so we nipped into Snacktime before the "Little Shop Little Prices" man (Mamdou) latched onto us. Amazingly, the front table overlooking the temple etc. was vacant, so there we sat. The waiter was there in a trice and took our order "TWO chocolate brownies, please?" He was rather taken aback, as we normally only order one of anything, to share. "No shisha sir?" he thoughtfully enquired. But, unbeknown to him, I had already suggested that we retire from there to the Etap for tea and a shisha from Mr Bedawy before heading homewards. We enjoyed the brownies as much as we had enjoyed the cheeseburgers and made our way outside, crossing the road quickly before Mamdou got his beady eyes on us. Too late, he hurried through the traffic and caught us just as we were mounting the kerb on the other side. However, I managed to turn and speak to him before he had started his "Little Shop" spiel (once he starts he just HAS to finish) and when he recognised me he just said hello, and how are you and that sort of stuff and the a cheery "Goodbye".
The tea and shisha went down very well, as did the little "tourist watching".

We had arranged to be collected from the apartment at midnight to get to the airport in plenty of time for our flight to Cairo. All went smoothly, and we were soon ensconced in the grubby little cafeteria in domestic departures. Now then, this is a good place to people watch! Lots of Egyptian men (mainly) with an amazing array of different sizes of cardboard box. The clingfilm wrapping machine was going twenty to the dozen, the man operating it must have had quite a sweat on! And, of course Egyptian queueing! Need I say more? One chap had my attention for longer than any of the others. He looked like a typical West Bank farming type (I'm in no way denigrating the "type", by the way) with galabeya sleeves into which you could have flown Concorde, and a couple of winter scarves wrapped around his head which made him look like a pot of tea with a tea cosy on. His galabeya looked anything but clean, and he was small and stick thin. He wandered back and forth, haranguing people as he came across them, eventually sticking with an official looking bloke in a suit. His finger was wagging in the poor man's face, and his voice was raised. The poor official eventually made a call on his mobile and let the little fellah speak to whoever it was on the other end. The "whoever" also got quite an ear bashing before the customer was finished! He eventually made away towards the departure gates with his trolley full of his clingfilm wrapped boxes.
Anyway, we got to Cairo airport without mishap and managed to change terminals (only getting on the wrong bus once, which Saddam Hussein was driving) in our allotted time of 5 hours! Wondering where to go (Freda always looks around for signs etc. whereas I would rather just ask someone) I made my way towards the "Information" desk. Here it is below, but you'll have to click twice on the picture to see why I took it!

The BA flight from Cairo to Heathrow wasn't as nice as Egypt Air, but it did have a great selection of CD's to listen to, I had fun making my own playlist from CD's by the marvellous Leonard Cohen, the Rolling Stones, Etta James and Bo Diddley. Quite a change!

We arrived at Heatrow early, and left late, due to our last flight being postponed for two hours, in increments of a half hour at a time, very annoying! Nevertheless, we managed to get to Newcastle, where we found out that our son-in-law had just pranged our son's lovely (recently purchased) car, actually, another car ploughed into him in after losing grip on a bend, and there was no-one to pick us up from the airport. As we made our way down the covered walkway to the Metro station I was surprised to see the following icicles.

Our son-in-law managed to borrow a Nissan Micra to collect us from our local Metro station and took us home where the gang were awaiting our arrival. And more icicles hanging around our house as well.





According to the weather forecasters, we'll be carol singing in these conditions on Christmas Eve! So spare us a thought (along with some money!) when it comes around.
I'll be back in touch if anything crops up, in the meantime; enjoy the warmth if you're still in Egypt, and happy sledging if you're in England.

Happy Christmas to evryone.