What's going on in Luxor now?

I don't know about you Dear Reader, but I'm getting rather peeved at what I'm reading in other places regarding the horror stories about the 2000 people demonstrations, and counter revolutionary thuggery in Abu Al Haggag Square in Luxor!

I was quite shocked to read these reports, as I had passed the Square on the same day and seen nothing amiss, and had not heard any gossip or actual news about anything at all which could be described as 'untoward'! I asked our neighbours, who are all concerned about the political situation, and how it is affecting all their livelihoods, if any of them had heard anything about these happenings. they were mystified as to what I was referring to. "Oh Mr Edward, you must tell us about all this! We haven't heard anything, which newspaper was it in?" And we are less than 5 minutes walk from where it was all supposed to be going on!

I had to go and have a gander!

As you all know; it's Moulid time here in Luxor. In fact, there was a rumour that the annual stick fighting outside our door was to start tonight, but it seems that it's actually tomorrow night instead. nevertheless, all of Luxor is preparing for the event. Sweetie shops are sprouting up like weeds, everywhere, selling the most appalling looking confections. Heaps of monkey nuts are appearing along the roadside on Sharia Karnak, along with the tents for the Zikrs and the various traders who are hoping to recoup some of their losses from the sudden death of the tourism. The men with the bundles of smiting sticks are lolling all over Station Street and the Abu Al Haggag Square, but Freda wouldn't let me buy one, not even to protect her from the throngs of revolutionaries and counter revolutionaries which we were certain to come up against at some point during the evening.

'Revolutionaries and counter revolutionaries' that phrase reminded me of a film I saw the other week. It was about Russian involvement in the Second World War, and starred Jude Law as a Russian sniper.  Very good, but harrowing as well! Of course, I've no idea what it was called, but you wouldn't really expect me to, would you?

Back to present-day Luxor, where the revolutionaries staging the sit-in in Abu Al Haggag Square, seem to consist of 4 or 5 adult males, accompanied by 4 or 5 boys. Sorry to disappoint, but the Moulid is getting far more attention from the locals than the revolution ever did. I cannot comment whether that's the right way for things to be, as I'm not Egyptian, and can have no influence whatsoever on the politics of the country, even if I wanted to!

Anyway, here's some of the photos I took while hunting around for unrest:

This one was taken just past the Egyptian Exchange on Sharia Karnak, and shows some of the traders stalls going up. I think I'd just passed the bigger tent which is used for the Zikrs.

This next one is a bit farther along towards the

square and next to the Temple coach park, and is
another tent for some traders, I believe, isn't the tent
fabric a lovely pattern?

A few paces further and we have the Horus Hotel on our left and an abundance of stalls on our right, between the big Mosque and the roundabout at the bottom of Station Street (Sharia Mahatta) including a monkey nut stall, how would UK food hygiene regulations fit in here, I wonder?
 

I particularly liked the running Egyptian, something you rarely see here, where it's too hot for such foolish exertions!

Next point of real interest was the 'Sit-in Encampment', situated directly opposite Snack Time, on the small piece of grass, among the picnicking families.

As there was obviously nothing going on that was worth bothering about, we made our way up Station Street and turned right onto Mansheya Street. There is always a good crop of temporary sweetie shops along here, no matter what the festival is!

  

This last picture is of one of the new shops towards the new Mosque on Mansheya Street, if you look closely, you'll see another one going up right next to the Mosque as well!

I think that's probably enough revolutionary hunting for one night, don't you, Dear Reader?

Idiocy!

When I was younger, I could quite truthfully say "I'm not very clever, but I can nor'alf lift heavy things!" Well, now that I'm knocking on a bit, I can't lift very heavy things any more, so where does that leave me?

I'm broaching this subject as a prelude to, hopefully, giving you some good news. As you are already aware; I've messed up the blog, losing the Followers and the Feedjit gadget, and heaven knows what else. But, in my searching around for ways to either correct my folly or to disappear the Blog altogether, I came across something entirely different! With a fiddle here and a diddle there, I think I have made it easier for you to post a comment! Although it will not appear immediately, as it comes to me first so that I can 'yea' or 'nay' it.

I just thought I'd put this pic in, as I used to be daft enough to be a member of the North Shields "Tent" of The Sons of the Desert".

Please, someone have a try, to test it out, so to speak?

Who remembers Andy Stewart?

"I've just come doon frae the Isle of Skye" and all that jazz!

We'll come back to that in a minute. Last night, for a change, we had a mosey down to the Sonesta St George. It feels like going up-market from the Nile Palace, but I think that that's just 'cause we're not really used to it. Although it is also a lovely hotel, I think that the Nile Palace might just have the edge over it.

For our purposes (i.e. Tourist watching) the Nile Palace offers more scope, and possibly a bigger variety. But not last night!

For the first time ever in Luxor, for us at least, we came upon a real Scotchie, wearing a kilt! Here's the proof: 

Maybe I shouldn't actually name the gentleman, but I will say that he's called George, and while he's not from the "Isle of Skye" I can confirm that he is "no vary big and he's awfy shy"! We had a word or two with him and his son, and they are definitely enjoying their holiday in Luxor. Although he only had time for the photo and a few words, I didn't get any sense that he and his family had come across anything untoward in the town. So, that seems to be another visitor who thinks he's safe here in the "Badlands"! Maybe you should come here yourself, to check it out properly?

I cannot leave the matter of the Nile Palace and our spotting activities, without telling you who we saw there the other night, I didn't feel able to take a snap, but I'm sure it was Rod the Mod's Mam! She had exactly the same hairstyle as Mr Stewart (Rod that is, not Andy lol) had in the 70's, it was amazing! On the same evening, we saw a Desperate Dan lookalike too. He was only young, maybe 25/30, but all he needed was the cowboy hat and gun to complete the effect!

I'd better get back to pulling nails out, no not finger nails (although at times I feel like doing that to some of the people I have to deal with here) nails in wood, off the roof!

I'm a Winner!!!!!!!!!

I just thought that you'd be interested (well, hoped, actually) in the news that FlipKey (with whom we have our property advert) have awarded us a winner's badge as a 'Top Vacation Rental'. I wanted to display it on our two adverts (FlipKey and TripAdvisor) but neither site allows it. So, I thought that I'd display it on here, down the right hand side where all the little bits and pieces go. But, I ended up losing my Followers and my Feedjit thingy, and not being able to get them back!!!!! So, eventually; I'm going to try and place them in the body of the text... here goes........................

Find Luxor Vacation Rentals on FlipKey

Find Luxor Vacation Rentals on FlipKey

That's better! Let's try someting else?

• Luxor Villas

And, something else?

Find Luxor Vacation Rentals on FlipKey

I see the moon, the moon sees me.

That's the first line of the first song I can ever remember! Although I could be very wrong, I seem to remember my Mam and our Susan singing it when I was quite little. Anyway, the last demolition picture brought it to mind. (If you blow it up by clicking on it twice; you can see the stars as well.)



"Please let the moon that shines on me, shine on the one I love." God willing, we'll all be under the same moon in 17 days time. I'm not really counting the days, or anything like that you know. LOL.

Well that's the end of the Shady Corner project for the minute, until we get some money, at least. Now I've got the lovely job of taking all the nails out of the laths, which will probably take me 17 days anyway!

Keep popping in, and I'll see what I can find which might be of interest. (Or might not!)

Destruction at Our Luxor!!!!

Well playmates (yes, still on that Arthur Askey kick, I'm afraid) the second night of dismantling went well, but I couldn't be bothered to blog it, so it's getting bunged in with the third nights work.

Just to remind you where we started:


And this is where we finished after the first night:



The second night was where it started to get a bit on the heavy side, and VERY dirty and dusty. There's four years of Mummy Dust up there, blown over from the West Bank. (The Side of the Dead) Here's the pictures, the first one is where the plinth for the central support was mounted:


Next comes the front main cross member, which with it's Christian cross motifs and the triangular fascia board, made up the front section of the roof, the bit that everyone sees. It looks easy enough to take to bits, but the inch square laths which are fastened to the four cross members are each nailed with four nails of about two and a half inches, and there are a great many laths. I haven't had the time nor the inclination to count them.


So this is the end result of two nights work.


By the third night, I had realised that Mummy Dust isn't very good for the chest, and as I was working actually under the timber whilst knocking it to bits, I thought some protective head gear would be appropriate, so out came my trusty Egyptian head protection and a dust mask from good old Blighty. Some cheeky bird got a snap of me!


I nearly got my own back on her when the head flew off the rubbishy Chinese hammer!!! But it missed and she scuttled back indoors, with that evil chuckle that only women can perfect! Anyway, bit by bit and with the odd cuppa to help me along; it's now just about down altogether. Here's the pictorial progress:




I can hear you complaining, "Why has he left it like that, when another 20 minutes or so would have seen the job done?" Well, Dear Reader, I'd had enough! And when you're fortunate enough to live here in Luxor; when you've had enough, you stop. We mightn't have any money, but we can do as we like. LOL! It reminds me of the words of a piece we used to sing in the chapel choir at suppers and things, called Linden Lea. "Let other folks make money faster in the air of dark roomed towns". Well, God has looked kindly on us, and here we are in our very own little Linden Lea, but we call it "Our Luxor".
And now, we're going to watch the second half of the 'Special Edition' of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and we might even try some more tea.
Maybe I'll do some more tomorrow, we'll see!

Two little matters.

Firstly, fresh pasteurised milk! It's really only been available in Luxor fairly recently, well for the past 4 or 5 years anyway. From what I've seen and heard from Egyptian friends and neighbours; they prefer the fresh milk from the travelling milkman. He rides around on his motorbike festooned with milk churns of various sizes, and various jugs and funnels etc. Of course this is straight from the cow! Or buffalo, perhaps, and entirely untreated. Maybe that's why there's so much TB here? I know that our neighbour Mr Fawi was feeding it to his 6 month old son (whom he calls Mr Ugly), but that was about 4 years ago, and little Tito seems to have survived OK, indeed thrived, he's a ton weight!
But, being soft I don't want to catch TB at this delicate stage of my life. So, I prefer the Pasteurised variety. At first there seemed to be only one supplier; Labanita. It was mostly OK, and bought originally from the Omar Market on Medina Street. The Omar Market have a reputation (rightly or wrongly, I don't know) of turning off their fridges and freezers during the night, in any case; the milk wasn't always good!
Then, only last year I think, Arkwright's started to sell fresh milk from Dina Farms, also their 'milk with dates' drink which was lovely. Before long, all the larger supermarkets were stocking the Dina products. Then came the revolution, and the problems began! Angie at Arkwrights told us that the Dina Farms wagon was hi-jacked on the way from Cairo to Luxor. We expected the supply to start up again after a while, but it didn't, so it was back to the old Labanita!
Labanita milk doesn't actually smell very nice, and the Dina tasted better too. So it's rather annoying to not be able to get it any more. Nevertheless, this morning, I just finished the last of a bottle of Labanita (8th July) which was produced on the 20th June! That's pretty good, I think. Trouble is; I haven't been able to find any more for the past week or so, maybe the Labanita cow has dried up????

Secondly, I'm constantly amazed at the variety of search keywords which direct people to my blog! I know that I've bored you with them on two occasions before, but I've just got to let you see some of the more recent searches which have come up with the "Discover 'Our Luxor' Apartment" blog.

luxor key words 08/07/2011

Www.nothebuses.co.uk 07/07/2011

HOW TO I GET THE TOP OFF AN OLDIE WORLDLY MIXER TAP 06/07/2011

usual suspects apartment 03/07/2011

bed "footprints on the wall" 30/06/2011

female escort online Luxor 28/06/2011

"jane mackenzie" "private eye" 27/06/2011

commonwealth office uk -filetype:pdf -filetype:ps -filetype:dwf-filetype:kml -filetype:kmz -
filetype:xls -filetype:ppt -filetype:doc -filetype:rtf -filetype:swf 23/06/2011

maglia imdiana aladino 22/06/2011

wonder lamp savoi 11/06/2011

winters gone and summers calling 01/06/2011

the humper 31/05/2011

taha el bess Luxor 26/05/2011

breaking eggs with sticks 24/05/2011

what is winston smith's apartment number 21/05/2011

Haverigg 12/05/2011

buzz lightyear and Luxor 10/05/2011

There were quite a few more, but I think this selection represents the quirkiest, what do you think?

Making one's own amusement!

Hello playmates! That was Arthur Askey's line, and that's who I felt like tonight, with Freda taking the role of his ever present straightman Stinker Murdoch. One of our Alice's favourite films, when she was little, was Arthur Askey's "The Ghost Train", and her favourite line was "There bein't no more trains through 'yer tonoight!" Askey was his usual irrepressible self, and Stinker Murdoch was the suave love interest for the ladies, of course.

"What made Edward feel like Arthur Askey?" I can hear my Dear Reader saying. It was the feeling of hopelessness one gets when there's nothing to do, and no money to do it with, and your beloved gets that gleam in her eye! Like a lot of the films of Askey's era, where they all muck in and have a laugh and a sing-song, and 'hey presto' the world's all right and proper again. And the friendly Copper smiles and slaps you on the back!

In other words: Freda has a new plan! A new list! And we are going to do as much as we can without spending a brass razoo!

You remember the 'Shady Area' on the roof terrace, if not here's a couple of pis just to freshen your memory. The first one was taken about five years ago, when it was first built, with a trellis type of covering.


This next one was after we'd decided that too much sun was penetrating through and we filled in the gaps with plywood covered in tent fabric, very effective, I thought.


But now; it's all COMING DOWN!!!!!

While serving our delightful (and now quite famous) breakfasts on the roof terrace, we are increasingly having to use the parasol to shade either the guests and the table, or the breakfast buffet. But at only three metres in diameter, it cannot cover both! We've tried shifting the buffet table around the roof terrace, but it's best where it is, so drastic measures are to be taken! A completely new 'Shaded Area' is to be built. It will also provide some much needed shade for our A/C unit, so we'll be killing two birds with one stone!

It's now 02.48, and I've just finished a cup of tea (don't snigger at the back there, tea is very important!) after having another shower, after doing away with all that work we put in those few summers ago, again, during the night if I remember correctly.

Here's tonight's work, in a before and after format:



And here's some of the muck which came down on top of Yours Truly:



I think I've earned my rest tonight, it took about one and a half hours to dismantle what was three nights work in putting up!

I'll keep you up-to-date as I go along. Don't worry, you won't miss anything important!

Life without socks, time without a watch. 68 countries and counting!

The title of this post just shows you how busy and interesting life in Luxor is at the moment, with so few tourists! It's actually a 'signature' line lifted straight from a post by someone calling themselves craigt3365 on the Thorntree (Lonely Planet) Egypt forum. I hope that craigt3365 doesn't mind me borrowing his signature line, I'm sure that it's unique to him and he can have any credit for it's composition. He and I have been having a little bit of a tizz going on Thorntree about safety in Egypt and the fact that I have, what he termed, a 'commercial interest', and implied that therefore what ever I wrote must be skewed. Cheeky beggar!

But it's socks, stockings, hose or whatever you like to call them, that concerns me tonight, Dear Reader.

I've always liked stockings, always preferred them to short 'men's' socks in all the colours of the rainbow, or with 'Deputy Dawg' or those vile 'Simpsons' creatures woven into them! Freda actually grimaces when she sees men wearing socks with sandals, (if you close your eyes, you can imagine her look af distaste) but if it wasn't for her, I'd probably do the same, to be perfectly honest. It's a comfort thing, you know. Since as far back as I can reliably remember, I've really enjoyed the simple pleasure of putting on new stockings for the first time, only with good quality stockings which actually fit your feet, mind you, none of this 'one size fits all' nonsense. The snug comfort of a pair of nice soft warm stockings protecting those feet which have served you well for all of your life, don't they deserve a bit of pampering? Mine have to carry almost 16 stone around all day, in this heat as well!

I hate being without stockings, in fact, I'd even wear short 'socks' rather than go barefoot! Even in the house, I have to have something on my feet, M&S sheepskin lined moccasins being the current favourite. "Life without socks": it's unthinkable! Freda, bless her, searches the internet for me, to come up with those which really fit the bill. Here they are:


Now then, are they a lovely pair of legs, or what?

Seriously though, at my time of life I want some comfort! And one way to be comfortable is to start off with comfortable feet, decent shoes and decent socks are the answer, cotton for comfort and durability in all weathers. These particular ones are from HJ Hall, stocking makers of distinction, I believe. They are a real 'treat for the feet'.

I well remember when I was about seventeen, and having to wear wellington boots because of the deep snow that year. From somewhere (cannot remember details any more) I got a pair of 'welly socks'. They were woolen and thick and strong, and were obviously meant to keep your feet warm while wearing said wellingtons. But they had no heels!!! I thought, at first, that they were for people with deformed feet, for heaven's sake! I did wear them though, to the point where my mother-in-law actually darned them a few times. Uuugggh, the very thought of them repels me now, darned or not!

Anyway, while craigt3365 enjoys not wearing any socks and developing hard skin on his feet in 68 countries, I thoroughly recommend HJ Hall's long cotton rich TOT (Turn Over Top) golf stockings for your visit to Egypt, forget those awful Terry Towelling things which are worn with 'trainers' (how I hate those monstrosities as well) and get some quality around your feet.

Lucky Bags?

Who remembers these? In hindsight, they were (of course) just another way of boosting profits, as the contents might have retailed at 2d, but shoved into a labelled bag; they sold for 3d. Happy days, when the mention of a profit made us think only of Moses or some other character from Sunday School!

Anyway, seeing as there isn't a huge lot of news or scandal lurking about, I've only got the meagre contents of my "Lucky Bag" to share with you.

The other night, we went up to the Nile Palace to meet a couple of new friends whom I mentioned the other day. Well, on the way we both noticed a newly illuminated building down an unmade side road, on the Winter Palace side of Salah el Din Street, as we flew past on the 'bus. Here it is:

Of course, we only had a glimpse, in the dark. I saw the words "Black Horse" and the prancing horse logo, and thought "Ah, Lloyds Bank getting into Luxor as well now, and with their estate agency business?" But the following day we also saw this, so stopped and took the two pics.


I've got to say that it seems to be a very queer place for a supermarket? I cannot believe that the proprietor has done much in the way of market research. I mean, apart from the school which is farther along, I cannot imagine that there is much trade locally, and virtually no passing trade at all! Never mind, we do, of course, wish them well.

A bit of "Frustration.

Have you ever noticed that Egyptians don't seem to see you when you are walking in the street? (Unless they are the people whom you wished couldn't see you at all, lol.) How they walk right in front of you, and then seem genuinely surprised when you actually bump into them or (what I do purposely, on occasion) stand on their toes.
Well, we were idling down Madina Street intent on getting some decent bread rolls from the baker just down from Ahmed Hashem's big bathroom shop, when I saw this lovely old wagon lumbering towards us. It's a 6D Ford Thames Trader, from about 1962 or thereabouts. I remember them well, as I used to maintain and repair a small fleet of them for an explosives transporting company. I loved them at the time, with being forward control (i.e. the cab being on top of the engine and the steering wheel being in front [forward] of the axle) the seat was on the floor, with the pedals directly in front of you, like in a little sports car. The major difference (apart from the speed and size, of course) was that the steering wheel was very large and almost horizontal. Anyway, out came the camera, positioning myself as still as I could manage I clicked. Just then, these two young women hove into the viewfinder, as if on cue! It was too late to click again as the wagon had gone. The picture is, otherwise, of my usual quality (lens not wiped!).

I can hardly believe that they didn't notice this old, fat, white tourist positioning himself to take a picture.

Further Political Activity.

That same night, we noticed what looked like a small concert going on on the stage behind Luxor Temple, I could see an electric keyboard, and several white shirted men on the stage, in a line. A bit like the Four Tops of yesteryear!
Then yesterday, we were asked by a friend, who lives out of town a little way, what was going on behind the Temple, so we went to have a look after dining at the Jamboree, in the souk, with our two new friends from Tunbridge Wells. Couldn't get much info from the people hanging about, although we did get a few "Welcome to Egypt/Luxor" comments, proving that they weren't locals. I don't think it was the dreaded Muslim Brotherhood though, as there were a good number of women in evidence, both on and off the stage. I would guesstimate the gathering at around 250 altogether. But no sign of any animosity towards anyone or anything, the specially arranged seating, looked about half occupied, while a good few families were seated on the grass playing with their children while cocking half an ear towards the speakers. If anyone can read Arabic, and can make out the banner in the distinctly wobbly picture, then maybe you could enlighten the rest of us? Click on the picture to enlarge it, or click twice, to go to the full size.

That's me worn out now! I think I'd better have a little lie down.
T.T.F.N.

C'est la vie!

Well, that's the last of our guests away this morning. 07.15 flight from Luxor to Cairo, and then onto their home in Holland. They were a mother, father and daughter and very pleasant, no trouble at all. They seemed to enjoy their stay, and Luxor in general, it was the father's 7th visit.

Our next booked guest isn't until September some time, it's Derrick the plumber, from London. He's currently on another adventure in some wilder parts of Africa and is writing a blog about his travels. It's here:

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/derrick241/1/1308257806/tpod.html

But you'll probably have to copy and paste it into your browser. I expect that he'll find poor old Luxor a bit tame after those exploits!

So, now all we have to do is fill in our time for the next five weeks or so until we go home to Windy Nook to see our family. (Unless one of you lot fancy a visit in the meantime?) It seems an age since we were last with them in December last year.


Little Izzy won't be quite so little any more, and so much will have happened which they will all want to tell us about, but couldn't bring to mind while they were emailing, we can't wait! When you're kept busy, it's not so difficult, but it's very easy to become quite emotional when you haven't got enough to keep your mind occupied!

Our favourite son is off to Glastonbury, and he's taking his nine year old daughter AND his nine year old nephew! Now that's courage of the first order, in my book! He's got a new job to start at the end of the month, so I hope he really enjoys his adventure with the children before he has to get stuck in again, I'm sure he will.

Meanwhile, we have some new friends to meet on Thursday. They somehow found this blog and say that they enjoy my ramblings. (As we say in our family, "There's nowt so queer as folk!") They are obviously a kindly couple, as they emailed us asking if they could bring anything over for us, out of the blue! Isn't that nice? Especially as I'm beginning to tire of the poor quality ginger snaps which we can get here, I'd even thought of getting some McVitie's from Arkwright's, but when I saw the price, I had second thoughts! It amazes me why certain manufacturers have to fiddle about with recipes etc. when they are generally accepted as having the best product available? I believe that this was the case as far as McVitie's gingers went, I used to love them, but now find that many of the cheaper brands knock spots off them for taste and "afterburn".

Isn't this fascinating, Dear Reader? The stuff of which history is made? Here's some more slop just to keep you interested.

Every night, I like to go to bed with a smile on my face! So; I changed the background picture on the laptop (is it the "Wallpaper"?) to this picture of my collected girls, which I look at as I close the laptop down as my last action before I jump into bed. I can't help but smile when I see them all altogether.


Left to right, they are Kezia (who's going to Glastonbury), little Izzy (who's five)and Charlotte and Alice, my beautiful daughters.

Who's a lucky Edward?

Safety in Luxor?

Hello again, do any of you keep up-to-date with the lives of the 'celebrities'? I'm asking because I obviously don't, when I see the news headlines on the laptop screen; I haven't a clue who most of the people are. During the American elections, I kept seeing "Palin this, and Palin that" and was dumbfounded to think that my hero was getting involved with American politics, but it actually wasn't Eric Oldfield (with or without a 'lovely shovel') after all, it was some woman!

"Why should he want to know about the inconsequentialness (like that one?) which is the celebrity world?" I can hear you ask. I don't! But I do want to know if there have been reports of David Schwimmer dropping out of the limelight.

You see, he's actually here in Luxor at the moment, it seems that he has taken a position as a Tourist Policeman, and is doing the evening shift at the front entrance to the Etap!!!!!!


But that's not really what I'm writing about here and now. I'm sure he'll make an excellent Tourist Policeman, but he wouldn't help to make me feel or be safe in Luxor.

"What does then?" again, I hear you ask! Well, the fact that I've never felt anything other than safe during all the times I visited and also during the four years that we have now been living here, without once coming across any situation which I found to be at all 'threatening', for a start. Another reason is that, although the locals will bleed you dry while selling you some 'genuine' artifact or providing a 'special' service; they tend to be less likely to actually steel from us or each other than people in most of our home countries (the crime rate being exceedingly low here). As alcohol consumption is reported to be a factor in 75% of criminal activity in Great Britain, and very few Egyptians (in my experience) drink alcohol at all, never mind get anywhere near 'fighting' drunk; that's something else which is not in the equation here. No marauding gangs of hooligans as high as kites on 'Snakebite' or 'Jorney inta Spayce' (Newcastle Brown Ale).

(As you might imagine, I keep up with several forums which centre on Egypt and Luxor in particular. The question of safety has been done to death on these forums over and over again during the past few months, with one or two ex-pats coming up with a similar cry of it actually NOT being safe at all! [I've been struggling with editing the rest of this portion of the post for the past three days. I don't want to upset anyone unnecessarily, but I really believe that the point has to be made!] Of the problems they have reported, I believe that many of them can be attributed to the fact that their lifestyle [in particular, 'overt' displays of sexuality, alcohol consumption and a liberal use of foul language] is grossly offensive to many of the locals, and therefore they are being increasingly treated as undesirables, and with the scorn which many locals believe they amply deserve. I have to stress though, that while their behaviour scandalises the 'ordinary' Egyptians, it is not they who are actually doing the abusing. It's the uneducated [uneducated, that is, except for the rabid indoctrination which they seem to receive in one or two of the Mosques and on the street] youth who have never been disciplined, and with their new found 'FREEDOM' want to rid their country of [what they see as] 'these rubbish people'! I'm not saying that it's right, or fair, but as an objective observer and listener to the opinions of 'typical' Egyptians from different backgrounds, I believe this to be true. Married ex-pats who are more inclined to live a quieter life, and keep themselves to themselves, are judged to be more 'respectable' and therefore do not seem to come across this level of unpleasantness. At least that is how it seems to me, but I'd hate to have to actually define their idea of 'respectable' lol.)

So, now we get to the crux of the matter. The 'burning question of the day'! Is it safe for 'tourists' to come to Egypt or (more importantly as far as I am concerned) to Luxor, that bright star in the Egyptian firmament! The answer is the same as it has always been, YES, YES, YES. As from the other night, the military government have even lifted the curfew! We haven't experienced any animosity towards tourists or tourism here in Luxor, throughout the whole of the revolution! I have heard reports of an increase in criminality in general, but this needs to be looked at comparatively, in my opinion. And it's nothing like that which is apparent in my home town or country.

Our current guests are a family consisting of parents and their grown-up daughter. As usual we took them out for a familiarisation stroll, but were shocked at the reaction of some of the carriage drivers whom we have known (not well, but who know my name and with whom we have a 'nodding' acquaintance) for a long time. "Ah, Mister Edward, you must ask your guests to use my carriage, I have no money, I cannot feed my horse. Please, Mr Edward?" It's very sad to have people pleading with you, and very embarrassing when you cannot do anything to alleviate their distress.

From what I can see, it's all very well for the 'revolutionaries' up in Cairo, with their government or multi-national company jobs in offices and factories etc., but they seem to have forgotten about their lowly Sayidi cousins, 500 miles away here in Luxor, where industry is not allowed and there are few jobs which are not wholly reliant on the tourist dollar in one way or another! Where the children are increasingly going to bed hungry, and where people who are normally like you and me are becoming desperate just for the means to survive!

Everyone can, quite innocently, turn the other way and say that it isn't their problem, and they would be right, of course! It's a problem for the Egyptian people. But for many many people, Luxor has a place in their heart and I would appeal to that love for the place and it's people.
Come back to Luxor, the local people will welcome you with open arms. You know that they don't forget a face, and they will be overjoyed to be able to say "Welcome back!"

Yes, Mother!

I'm sure that there must be other men out there who occasionally have the same trouble. Although I love my wife of nearly 40 years dearly, there are times when I feel as though I have two Mothers!

Tonight, we decided to have a slope down to the Etap for tea and Nescafe, it was rather early for us, but we thought that we might see something a bit different. You never know, do you? It being still rather hot, we jumped on an Arabiya outside the door and got off just before the Savoy Bazaar, where we walked through onto the Corniche. As we passed the complaining shopkeepers, ("Where are the tourists Mr Adward?") I noticed a couple ahead of us who were walking quite quickly. Then I noticed a small boy (Egyptian) keeping pace with them, and it became obvious that they were trying to get rid of their shadow! I'm quite adept at noticing things, so I then also noticed that the lady was wearing rather elaborate headgear. It looked like a bee-keepers hat!

At this point, it occurred to me that the couple must be Japanese (or from some other Oriental country) as the Oriental females often wear the most outrageous things on their heads. (I suppose that they don't see them as being outrageous, or they wouldn't wear them?) The fact that the bloke was wearing shorts and was not too tall, also strengthened this opinion. Nevertheless, when we got to the Corniche end of the Bazaar, there they were, actually talking to the little boy who seemingly wanted them to adopt him. They weren't Oriental at all, so much for me trying to stereotype people, I should know better.

Anyway, being this close up, I could see that the bee-keeper's hat was just about a spot-on description! It was wide brimmed with the ladies face shrouded in a fine gauze netting, which swirled all around her hat and her head altogether, and finished up wrapped around her neck. Quiet strange, I thought. Strange enough to warrant a photograph!

As I took out the camera and raised it to get a good look at the picture on the screen, the lady bent down, from the waist, as if she were giving the little lad a kiss. She was also wearing a mini-skirt, and when she bent forward; she exposed nearly all of her knickers, much to the amusement of the soldiers outside of the Council Offices.

This was when my second Mother piped up, "Put that away, you can't put the ladies knickers on the Blog!" Spoil sport!

So, we ambled along to the Etap and had a rather uneventful pot of tea and Nescafe. We actually sat there for an unusually long time, as there was a lovely breeze coming off the river which had a gentle cooling effect. Long enough to have an apple shisha, while Freda had some 'extra lemon, extra sparkle' Sprite. They often have this on the can or bottle, and I sometimes wonder how much lemon and how much sparkle they can actually squeeze into the drink before it becomes just fizzy lemons?

Count Your Blessings!

Helloooooo!

We've just had our supper while watching an episode of 'Jeeves and Wooster', starring Fry and Laurie. It's getting quite hot hereabouts, the weather people reckon that it would be 41c today. But, as you know,we have our own thermometer which is usually kept in the shaded area of our roof terrace, and here it is, pictured when we got back this afternoon.


As you can see, it reads 46.3c!

No prob. one would imagine, just get in among the A/C, why don't you? We don't actually have A/C in our living room, so we tend to use the bedroom for more than just sleeping! In fact, we only really use our little living room when we have visitors. It gets quite warm in there as well.

We have a rather nice cabinet where we store our guest breakfast requisites (crockery, cereal and the like) and it has a good solid granite top. Freda likes it for when she is rolling out pastry for her fabulous mince pies, stone tending towards being cool, and therefore good for rolling pastry upon.
Well, this cabinet stands off the wall a little and is at the back of the room where the sun never shines. This evening, I happened to lean on it to reach down to the floor (to pick up something I'd dropped) and was surprised to feel that it was actually hot to the touch! So hot, that I decided to 'take it's temperature'. Here is the result:


Yes, that's right 40 degrees Centigrade! And, that was at about 8.30pm. As I said, it doesn't touch anything around it; so the heat can only have been transmitted from the air, now that's HOT!

Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed Wooster and chums whilst slurping our supper:


You should have guessed, it's Swiss Roll with lashings of steaming Birds Custard. Lovely and just the ticket (as Bertie Wooster might say)!

New Egypt.

Yes folks, New Egypt is into recycling!

When you're putting your little ones to bed, after they've had their bath, and probably a hot drink and a bedtime story: give a thought to this little lad as he drives his cart around Luxor recycling cardboard to save the world. Heartwarming, isn't it?

Who remembers Dave "Big Head" King?

There's a queer'un for you! Does ANYONE remember Dave King? When I was just a little boy, and we got our first telly (about 1955, I would guess) I was transfixed by a serial called "Precious Bane" The titles ran over a film clip of coins being poured out of a purse, as I recall. I loved to take the coins out of my little purse and count them, everyone said that I would grow up to be a miser. Little did they realise that I would grow up to confound them all; by being skint!!!!!

Just a minute, this is getting off the plot! I remember Dave King as an hilarious comedian on the telly, probably during the late fifties/early sixties, when I was easy to please!


I suppose if I "Googled" him I could tell you exactly, but it isn't all that important, his Big Head attribute is what is important to tonight's tale. It's certainly one of the "Tales of the Unexpected"! (Haha!)

After a tea trip to the Nile Palace (not many tourists, so not a great deal of entertainment) we got home to find a new referring URL on the blog. It was the VERY famous luxortraveltips.com! Freda clicked on it, and there we were, among all the well known important people, like Mrs Akshar on the West Bank, and Indiana Hawass up there in Cairo, along with the British Embassy and the Supreme Council of Antiquities. I don't mind a bit of "virtually hobnobbing" with all these posh folk.

Well, as you can imagine, my neck is now aching with carrying around this Big Head, which our newfound importance has bestowed upon me. After all these years, I now know what Dave King must have felt like.

I just know that some of you will doubt my word, so here's a link to the very page.....

http://www.luxortraveltips.com/links/linkfrontpage.htm

You'll probably have to copy and paste it.
We're at the bottom of the page, below the link to the Islamic calendar.

Are you happy for me? All we need now is for the site owner to mention that we also offer an exclusive accommodation for the discerning tourist, and we'll be "made up".

Anchors Aweigh!

When I came across the above scene, I thought it was very spectacular and it reminded me of something I'd seen once before!

This is the new building next to the Emilio Hotel, where the Rameses Restaurant used to be. Rumour (well, this is Luxor!) has it that it's going to be either a Metro store, or a warehouse for the Kheir Zaman store on TV Street. Time alone will tell.


As I took this next pic (the building looks like it's straining at the anchor chain, doesn't it?) I suddenly remembered.....it was yet another Monty Python sketch! I'm 99% positive. Can anyone put me right here?

You see? This is what living in Luxor does to you, beware!!!!

Books?

Being the cheapskates that we undoubtedly are, we don't buy many books. Although I have bought several over the years that we have been in Luxor, they are mainly tales of olden day Egyptophiles like Edward Lane and Amelia Edwards, and have been bought in order to find out more about the very strange and very different lives of the people and the place!

Nevertheless, since we have moved to Luxor, I have become a "reader", maybe even an "avid reader". We use the hotels as our libraries, mainly the Etap where the stock of books are to be found outside at the corner of the main building, on the way to the pool.

Also, some of our guests leave their "holiday books" behind when they leave, as they wouldn't fash to take them back home. (fash: to "be bothered", as in "'e wadn't fash te carry it 'yem; so 'e hoyed it doon the well". From the NE song "The Lambton Worm".) These also usually end up at the Etap. Tutti Frutti also usually have a selection of reading material, what magazines Freda gets either go there or to our friend Alison at the Nile Palace. Very little is wasted here, it all gets used again and again!

I've no idea why, but I've had three books off the trot about things Shakespearean. The first was called "The Revenger" (cannot remember the author) about court killings and stuff in Shakespeare's time, I found it enthralling and couldn't put it down, really great stuff! The next one was entitled "The Shakespeare Secret" written by J.L. Carrell.(Lauded as an "International phenomenon"!) This was a good story, basically about a modern-day quest for this "secret" by very learned and famous Shakespeare academics, jumping at times between the two time zones. (The story, that is. Not the academics.) Quite thrilling at times, and rather gory, but spoilt by having a Shakespeare brainbox quoting "All that glitters is not gold", which as all my readers will immediately recognise (as did I) is a misquotation of Mr Shakespeare's "All that 'glisters' is not gold". Another unforgivable faux pas was the bit where she likened a certain situation to when Pharaoh's daughter 'hid' Moses in the bulrushes!

Never mind, the story was OK!

The one which I am busy with at the moment, is another by J.L. Carrell, "The Shakespeare Curse" much of the same, with one or two characters revived from the "Secrets", but this time set mainly in Great Britain (mostly Scotland, actually). Still quite gory and fast paced, but it puts in a few minutes here and there in between cleaning and shopping. (And blogging, haha)

Don't worry, I've no ambition to become a literary critic! I know that I make loads of factual errors here in my own little world, but the difference is that nobody is paying me to write this stuff, as well as the fact that very few actually read it!!!

Where are the "Ab Fab" or "Python" fans?

Never mind that, for the minute!

It's funny how your tastes change as you meander through life? Have you ever thought about it? For instance: Freda had me drooling over pictures of a "20 Compartment Twinings Tea Chest", with drawers, this afternoon. I never thought that I'd come to that! As you know; we don't have a TV, so we make our own entertainment. More often than not, it takes the shape of tourist viewing at one of our "chosen" hotels. Tonight was the turn of the Steigenburger Nile Palace (or Meridien, as many locals still call it).

After much consideration, I think that this hotel must be the ultimate venue for tourist watching in Luxor. Yes, it's certainly five star!

As I've told you before, Dear Reader, we've seen real Geishas, Mr Dick (from the pen of Charles Dickens), Buzz Lightyear, Omar Sharif and Indiana Hawass, plus a host of other quite notable visitors. The other week, we saw a real "skinhead" he was about 50, but with the turned up jeans (complete with clip-on braces (suspenders for you Yanks) over steel toed Doc Martens, white T shirt, almost shaved head, about six feet tall and as skinny as a rake! He was striding across the floor as if he were wearing "7 League Boots". He could have been a walking cartoon figure, really!

Tonight, we saw a charming couple made up of Charlie Chaplin and Joanna Lumley (when she was made up as an ancient "Patsy" once on Ab Fab) While the lady's face wasn't Patsy (actually she looked very sweet), the rest of her could have been the body double used in the show especially with her shuffling walk! Her "Beau" (cannot say husband, as I know so many wrinklies who live "in sin" nowadays) had all the mannerisms that I would have expected Charlie Chaplin to have in real life as opposed to on film.
As we sat, waiting for our next victims, while drinking our tea and Nescafe, I took a few snaps so that if you ever stay there you will know where I can see you. we always sit in the same seats, unless some interloper gets there before us, that is. From my seat I can see all the way through to the main entrance, it's a great position. Then turning my head I can see right out to the rear terrace, overlooking the pool and the Nile. See..........





This is a lovely hotel, with some lovely staff. Here is a pic of one of the very best waiters in Luxor, Mr Ayman. I just love to have him serve us. (I don't really know, he might hate us. But he is a perfect gentleman, who serves without being servile or over friendly or pushy. I love him.)


The problem with all the hotels at the moment is that there aren't enough tourists in them to watch! You could fix that, if you really cared about us! Get yourselves over to Luxor, before it gets too hot.

As you also know; I love drinking tea! Dilmah, it's heavenly. That's another reason why the Nile Palace gets top marks from us; they also use Dilmah tea, and their pot of water is always VERY hot. Tonight, I have over indulged with it and am fit to burst. I feel like Mr Creosote, and I'm just looking for a cleaning lady with her bucket!
You can see him (and the cleaning lady) on this link. (But not while you are eating, please.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aczPDGC3f8U

Goodnight.

More Search Keywords!

Just another selection of search keywords which have led people to this blog:

escort girl cairo phone 00201 09/05/2011

Arabesque, actually أرابيسك

hugh laurie Wooster 08/05/2011

rat catchers in Luxor 05/05/2011

13 daze Luxor 04/05/2011

majesty's pleasure our love call 02/05/2011

joy Luxor 29/04/2011

flat in luxor sall 2011 28/04/2011

apartman buzy 28/04/2011

coffeeshop adam 28/04/2011

I was a bit taken aback by the first one, as it also had a picture of the birthday do of our good friend Marriane!
Anyway, I was amused by a few of them, and I hope some might tickle you.

Did I Ever Say That Luxors Local Buses Are Safe?

No, nothing very exciting today I'm sorry to say. Unless, that is you know what or who VOSA is/are!
If you don't, and you've nothing better to do for a few minutes, I'll tell you. Are we all sitting comfortably?

VOSA stands for the Vehicle Operator Services Agency. It's actually a bit of a misnomer as (depending on which area your operating base is situated) sometimes vehicle operators have more of a sense of VOSA being the "Devil Incarnate" rather than a "Service Provider". VOSA's staff carry out the inspection of trucks and buses and coaches, as well as controling those who carry out your annual MOT inspection at your local garage, on behalf of the Area Traffic Commissioner, who works for the Queen, as opposed to the government.

In the North East Traffic Area, where we used to live and operate trucks and coaches, there was usually a fairly benign Traffic Commissioner, and his VOSA staff were reasonably fair and sensible. They knew who was trying to pull the wool over their eyes and who was trying to keep their vehicles as safe as possible. Many of the "old school" vehicle inspectors were ex-forces gentlemen, who would judge your character and expertise before even setting a foot inside the garage to inspect your vehicles and/or maintenance records. These were good men, who weren't frightened to take responsibility, because they were mature enough to trust their own judgement. But some of the latter ones, before I ceased trading, were officious and over zealous to the point of actually often being offensive, always seeming to suspect that you had "something to hide". Most unsatisfactory, and typical of the mindset of a government which needed to minutely control every facet of its elector's lives! Orwell's 1984 wasn't all that far from the truth, with Tony Bliar cast as Big Brother!

Just a minute, I'm getting away from what I wanted to show you!

"Did I Ever Say That Luxors Local Buses Are Safe?"

Probably not, I should think. However, as I ride on them nearly every day; I must have some sort of confidence that the driver doesn't want to become an RTA statistic any more than I do. Actually some of the buses are very poor, like having 40 minutes of free play on the steering wheel (that's taking the whole wheel as a 60 minute clockface), or the body sides and roof swaying to and fro while the floor stays still, or as still as is able with the back axle bound solid to the chassis! But, in general, they don't go fast enough to cause a great deal of damage if things did come apart!!!!!! Here's one which I'd like to have a go at, it runs around Beamish Museum in County Durham, and an old mate of mine drives it! (My brother sent me the picture just tonight.)


I was on the wander the other night to Mr Romani's friend who does the upholstery stitching etc. with his heavy duty sewing machine. (Mr Romani is the foam man across the way from where we live.) The stitcher was reinforcing some blackout curtains we had been given by one of our rich friends here (Marianne actually), but he didn't have them finished when he said that he would do. "Egyptian Time", remember? Calm, calm calm! Anyway, there was a local service bus parked in the street on the other side of the school, one of the bigger ones (based on a Toyota Coaster chassis judging by the size of the wheel studs and nuts) with about 20 seats. There are only a few of these knocking about as most of the buses are little, van based, mini-buses.

"Old habits die hard", or so they say, so as I walked past, I noticed a very slight problem with the left hand front wheel, which any bus or coach driver would notice on his/her "daily 'initial use' walk round check" before getting into the driver's seat. What do you think Her Majesty's Vehicle Inspectors would say about this?


Perhaps an "Immediate Prohibition", do you think?

I went to see my old mate Mr Aboudi in his new shop in Passport Street this morning. After that I was making my way to Tutti Frutti for a cup of the Amber Nectar (Tea, of course) when I came across another victim of the lack of "Elf N Safety" here in Egypt.


If you have a gander at the break in the trunk, I think you'll see that it's rotten! If the Council "Tree Man" had been inspecting trees for safety; he'd have found that, and had the tree cut down before it fell and caused some damage. But, being Egypt, it wasn't picked up. So when the strong wind (Khamseen?) got up last night, blowing sand everywhere and rattling everything which wasn't well fastened down, the old tree was toppled.


It was opposite the Sonesta St George Hotel, and fell right where they park their limousines etc. I was amazed that there hadn't actually been something parked there!


I've just remembered something else, which I actually noticed before, but that was before I was doing the blog. Mr Romani's stitching friend (I'm sorry, but I don't know his name, so that's the best I can do) is on the other side of the school, and up a little cul-de-sac which seems to end at a gate, in a high wall, leading into a garden of sorts in front of the new church. It always seems to have people sitting around outside their doors, talking, clipping kids, and drinking tea (so not all bad, eh?) but there is always a bit of a smell there too! Something like a butcher's shop.

Although I had my camera with me, I didn't feel able to take a picture with so many people sitting around. But there were large tins (maybe about 2 gallon size) lying on the other side of the small street containing.........empty hooves!!!! That's right, just the hard outer part of animal hooves. I cannot imagine what they do with the insides, which I suppose to be of a softer material, or how they actually get the stuff out? I'd forgotten about these, as I haven't been up that street for quite some time. The last time I used this stitching man, he'd not made a good job and charged me too much, so I have been reluctant to go back to him, until now that is.

What do you think? Is this what they make glue out of? What?

Who are you?

Sometimes, when the phone rings, I don't know who is calling. When they don't say something like "Hi, it's Billy here" (or Bahaa or Montgomery or whoever) I often say "Who are you?" This becomes a problem when it's an Egyptian on the line, who then invariably replies with "I'm fine, hamdulillah, how are you?"

So, let their be no mistake here today, the question is definitely "WHO are you?"

Ever since I got the "feedjit" thing on the blog, I've been wondering who all these folk are from places far and wide. I know that the person from "Barry, Vale of Glamorgan" is Karen (aka Tutankaren) and that the one from "Gateshead" is (99% sure) our son Benjamin (aka one-ear) but the others? Well I'm not at all sure!

There's "Preston Lancs" the only people I know there are Richard and Margaret, is that you Richard or Margaret? And then there's Walsall, that could be one of the "Wenches" Glen or Mar, is it? How about "Green Bay Wisconsin" Is that Debra, who stayed with us last year? "New York" could be Mary Pat another past guest, with her BIG husband. Yes, no? There are a good number of places to which we have no connection whatsoever, like Burundi, and Tajikistan, they must have just been unfortunate to stumble across this blog, lol. We've had a guest from Russia, mind you, a place name which often crops up, so is that you Viktor?

Honestly, ever since I got the feedjit, it's driving me crazy! Please please, let me know who you are? If you cannot manage to leave a message on the blog (I know, it's a bit difficult) then you could always drop us an email, please?

Mistake!!!!! I've just realised that it's not Debra who's in Green Bay, it's the Bluels (aka Motor Mike) Sorry about that, both of you! Debra, how's the Mexican house going?

Recycling and Blue Peter.

I think I'll not write about all the recycling which goes on here in our little backwater of Luxor. (Mainly 'cause I don't have the photos I would like!)

Never mind, we are not altogether backward in the recycling game! Just for those who don't know:

Our household rubbish is meant to be placed in one of two skips (dumpsters) just a few metres away from the entrance to our little alley. Our good friend Rashad (the cleaner) usually takes our bin bag, which I give to him when I go downstairs to pay him each day. (Well; each day that he turns up, that is!) But then; most of what goes into the bin bag couldn't be recycled anyway, at least not here and not easily. But...whenever there's anything else to go, it's a different story!

Any old bits of wood, or plywood, never get as far as the skip, "Ah, meester Adward" yes, someone has a use for it, if it's not Adam from the coffeeshop, it will be Girges the doctor's assistant or Mr Ramadan the electrician. Failing either of those three it would be Mohamed Saber, our local scrap and general dealer, who is a couple of shops away to the left of our alley.

It's good, in that it means that I never have to carry heavy things very far, but Adam just wants to leave stuff lying in the street for a year or two, till he finds a use (or maybe even a buyer) for it, which is no good to me at all! What Adam does take, though, is empty water bottles. He uses them in the coffeeshop. Whenever a customer orders a tea or coffee, they also get a drink of water. Adam has a fridge full of my old bottles, which are full of Egyptian (tap) water. If you're a stranger, or at all posh looking, then you might get a glass for your water, but most likely you'd just get the bottle on the table next to your glass. He also likes the fabric conditioner bottles with the wide opening, it's good for throwing water all over the street to "keep the dust down". In actual fact, it just turns the street into mud!

A couple of streets away, I was curious about a high (maybe 20 feet or so) pile of great big black plastic bags behind a wall of about 15 feet or so high. I eventually asked Ahmed the caleche man about it, and then was delighted to actually see the man and his family doing what they do! They were soaking the labels off plastic water bottles as they sat in their home with the front door wide open. Once the bottles are clean of labels and glue, they are put into these giant sized sacks and allowed to pile up until there are enough of them to warrant a truck coming to take them away. I was quite amazed, to hear that this family make a living out of just this!

Anyway, while we were visiting the tombs at Al Kab last week, on our dahabiya trip aboard the beautiful Zekrayaat, we were approached by two young girls from the village through which we had to walk. They were selling small baskets and plates, like this. (Of course, this is one which was made earlier!!!) Do you reckon that they would have deserved a "Blue Peter Badge" for this?



If you read Ruby Tuesday's blog (http://orangesbythenile.blogspot.com/) you might have seen the large bowl which her sister-in-law made for her. They are made from the plastic foil of crisp packets! Ours had a handle on, which Freda didn't care for, so she took it off and investigated the construction.



As you can see, apart from the skill involved in actually doing it, it's simplicity itself! A few "woody" type fibres from a common plant, for stiffening, and wrapped in strips of crisp packet. It's very effective for a nice little conversation piece and so much better than throwing them away in the street, or canal, or onto the roof across the street, wouldn't you agree?
As we walked back to the dahabiya and passed through the village, we saw some women sitting at their door actually making some of these items. One, was a great big platter, it must have been nearly two feet across, and she was arranging the packets so that it had a perfect "swirl" pattern on it, a work of art!

Lighting Up Time?

When I were a lad: you had to have lights on yer bike!

Now we've got them back on our mountains!!!!! It was the first thing I noticed last night, when I got to the top of our stairs and turned onto the roof terrace. What a pleasant surprise to come home to, even though I was tramping through a weeks worth of accumulated dust.

It was getting tedious to have to explain to every new guest that the lights were "temporarily (insh'Allah) off, but that when they were on, we had a cracking view of them." It sounds so hollow, and worthless!

Abdullah the Egyptologist and Guide.

I really cannot sing this lad's praises highly enough! He was excellent, on time every time, never glum or petulant, and always ready to talk about Egypt, ancient or modern.
At Kom Ombo it was pretty crowded, but it wasn't a problem. If we couldn't get to where we wanted to be next, Abdullah just turned to the wall next to where we were and started to reel of an explanation of the writings he found there, carefully pointing to and pronouncing each syllable to make up the words, and then following the changes in pronunciation up to the modern idiom. When the place we wanted became free, we then just moved on. Not many guides I know are this able to leave their learned text.

Abdullah's email is essamyosef@hotmail.com and I recommend him to anyone whose language is English. He also has a website (which is quite old, and possibly a bit out of date) which is http:/Nubiantravel.wetpaint.com

That's all for tonight folks. Goodnight.