Recollections and writings on four holidays in Egypt in 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023. Exploring the ancient sites, and a doing a bit of meeting the locals, with my views on a few things.
I really should be doing more than I am but Egyptians are so chatty and on my morning walks they do like to stop me and show me around their gardens which of course does interest me and they always want to know what I grow in my garden..
This is a very elderly vine planted by Imad's grandfather... At the moment all the leaves on it are dead because it's winter, during the summer it will provide shade but I can't help feeling that it could do with a prune.
I will try and get a photo of Imad because when you look at him you see an Egyptian as depicted on the many carvings and wall paintings in the ancient temples.
Elsewhere in his garden he has citrus trees, avocado's, tomatoes, onions, and a henna tree which is much prized for its scent as well as the colour!
And he grows gardenias too... Except he doesn't know the name of them...
During the course of an hour he lets drop that he also owns the hotel next door, and that he has two feluccas on the Nile, and he cannot leave because, like many others, ''The Nile is in my blood''
Not so far away and nearer into 'town' we find today's bread being made using a method that probably has not changed for thousands of years in a traditional oven plonked on the side of the road.
And on the main road a car accessory shop selling fluffy dice..... And flashing lights that no motorbike or took took can be seen without.
And I am pleased to see the bridal shop has changed its display... I think I might go for the Guinevere look in the middle,
Returning to the banks of The Nile for the all important morning coffee we notice that the buffalo has finally been moved from its island because of the new height of the water level...
AS usual there are a couple of cats in attendance. Don't bother trying to make friends with them because Egyptian cats are even more up themselves than normal cats and they are bad enough.
Clearly modern cats have not forgotten that they were once revered in ancient Egypt.
AS you can see everything went completely wrong with the alignment there but i will soldier on..
So walking back to my apartment through the back streets gives a chance for a bit more local architecture..
I am not sure of the significance of the writing or pictures on the outside of the houses...
Aircraft seem to be a popular theme on many buildings...
The pink building is one of the many hotels tucked away in the back streets... I have had a look at some of these and they are actually quite nice once you get inside, don't be put off by the surroundings!
And I am going to leave you here with one of my little videos that was taken in the El Gezira Gardens hotel in Ramla, bearing in mind I have been here three times I had never been in here until the other night, and I must say I was impressed with the garden.
Just in case you thought that Arabic was difficult to read, this picture proves otherwise, clearly you can read what is says!
And below.... This is dried tamarind, seeds, stalks, leaves, the lot I am told. These balls cost the princely sum of 50New English Pence each so I am taking some home with me to see if I can use them for making curry!
We have done noises in the night,
so here are some noises during the day.
In any Egyptian city and even in the middle of nowhere you will get the 'prayers' at certain times of the day.
This particular lot of prayers sounds more like a speech at a political rally, but the again maybe it is just that!
Certainly you can here it above the sound of the traffic...
And now a bit more about Egyptians... Egyptians always have something for sale, exactly what it is they are trying to sell is never quite clear... You know how it goes, you have just come off the ferry from the East Banks and immediately somebody will try to sell you a taxi, very cheap, very good price, Egyptian price... Having refused the taxi you will then be offered a boat to the East Bank, even though you have quite clearly just come from there... But it will be cheap, you know how much?
No I don't know how much but you are about to tell me.. And if i refuse that I will be offered a felucca for a 'sunset hour' or Banana Island cruise...
If you keep on refusing various modes of transport they will usually run out of options and in the end offer you a cotton scarf...
Much the same happens with property, they stick a for sale sign up but nobody knows what it is they are trying to sell... And even if you ask you will not find out! And naturally they are having to sell it because they need the money, well actually they don't and this is another similarity with Greeks, many Egyptians own more than one apartment block.
Of course there are some that are as poor as church mice, but many are not, so we don't believe the sob story either!
And then there is the man that wants to sell the family silver for no apparent reason. Or at least a faulty reason... Take the man that has three apartments and wants to sell one of them to buy a new car.
Why does he want a new car?
Well at present he has a car provided by one of the tour companies and he is at their beck and call to take people from Luxor to Hurghada, (and other places), for which they pay him the sum of 200 EGP....The going rate for the trip is 1700 EGP but this man thinks that he will make a lot more money than 200 EGP by buying his own car... Wrong of course because apart from the cost of the car there are all the associated bills so unless he is going to do three trips a day he is not going to make anything, and in the meantime he has lost the cash flow from the apartment he has sold...
This same man is currently doing a bit of building work on one of his apartments and he needs 1500 EGP, (why is it always 1500EGP they need?), very cheekily he has asked me if I would like to make a future booking and pay in advance the sum of 1500 EGP... Why he needs the money I do not know but he could have saved quite a lot if sign writing because he has put his name and phone number on the outside of my apartment... Except that nobody is going to see it because there is a high wall between the building and the street...
Decoration I can understand but he could have saved the cash having his name and phone number written!!
This sign writing can't be seen from the street either....
And even more amusing the table in the top photo has LED lights inside the top and lots of holes drilled in the top... Why????
Meanwhile elsewhere in the 'garden' he has constructed a 'puddle' for producing is own bricks and plaster for his buildings..
Egyptians are naturally noisy as well...
Down by the ferry there is continuous shouting going on since they moved the arrival point for the public ferry on the east bank, an enterprising band of locals is now running an almost scheduled service across the river to the old arrival point by Luxor Temple, and many are using it because it saves a long walk!
And Egyptians are incredibly cheeky if you let them get away with it, this one (below) seems to think we are ''one''.... Which means it is quite ok for me to buy him lunch on a daily basis...
And we will finish off with a bit of Egyptian music and a belly dancer...
And Egyptian men always seem to have enormous feet....
At this point I should tell you that you are not going to get a blow by blow account of the entire 7 night cruise, somethings have to be left for you to discover by yourself. It is enough to say that after going to the West Bank at Luxor the ship sails upstream and through Esna lock so that the following morning you visit the Temple of Horus at Edfu and later that day the Temple of Haroeris and Sobek. The latter visit was a bit of a change because it was evening when the temple is floodlit.
The trip from the ship to the Temple of Horus is in one of those horse drawn carriages, which because of the height off the ground and the not too good roads, gives the impression that at any minute it is going to tip over. I think I would rather ride in a took took. There is much to see at Edfu as it is one of the best preserved temples and second largest after Karnak.
Edfu is probably where you will first come across a ''Nile-o-meter'' the device used by the priests to levy taxes on the local population. Basically it measures the height of the Nile during flood season. The higher the flood, the better the harvest, the higher the taxes. Today the tax man has invented even more ingenious ways to separate us from our hard earned cash.
On the voyage upstream it becomes clear that the Nile forms a formidable barrier between the east and west banks being quite wide in places. If you are interested in wildlife then there are opportunities for bird watching along the way, and a chance to view the construction of new bridges across the Nile.
Arriving at Kom Ombo at dusk brings a new perspective...... And again there is much of interest, those who are observant will realise that as you visit various temples the style of carving changes over time, indeed, the quality of the carving in the hieroglyphics also changes. Also among the carvings here are some depicting ''medical'' instruments and also a ''recipe'' curing ED, or so the guide tells us, but then he could tell anything.
We also stopped in a local ''cafe'', where we caught a bit of the local culture. Many of these cafes, and indeed restaurants have dirt floors. You get used to it after a while, some are the same even in the middle of Cairo. Back on board ship we are about to have the inevitable ''fancy dress'' night. I think it was about the only time the on board shop actually did any business.
I got mine late so stocks were limited, and obviously my djellabah was meant for somebody of more magnificent proportions than me. My keffiyah on the other hand was too small and took two of the ''boys'' in the restaurant to fix it. While this is going on we are heading upstream to Aswan.
You will note that we are on the ''Poirot'' route.......
Arriving in Aswan we are let loose on the unsuspecting locals, there are various tours organised but feigning illness I get a note from the teacher to say I can have the day off, and anyway I am coming back to Aswan....
There is also the trip to Abu SImbel, and as I have already said I am not getting up at 3am...
So I have the day spare to have a wander, and Abdul's cousin is going to meet me and take me for lunch, which means I am paying. And also there is a trip to Kitchener Island with myself and one other of the English contingent. My co-traveller has organised a trip on a felucca, at least it is a big one, for himself, and asks me along. But because there are two of us now it is going to cost more, well of course it will, extra wear and tear on the hull, more wind needed to move the felucca. But it is ours for as long as we want it, so we are going to Kitchener Island, and the around the serpentine rocks and back to the ship.... Kitchener Island is a delightful spot sometimes described as a botanical garden. Well it is in a way but few of the plants are rarities but it does have some delightful corners and some rather eccentricities. I recommend it!
The pictures do the talking, a leisurely stroll from one end of Kitchener Island to the other, and then picked up by our captain, who isn't doing a lot because my colleague is driving. We pass the mausoleum of the Aga Khan who was a regular visitor in the winter months, and then sail around the serpentine rocks, a black granite outcrop that gets a mention in ''Murder On The Nile''!
The mausoleum of the Aga Khan, built from pink limestone.
Our captain.... He was very impressed when I wrote down his phone number in Arabic characters!! One tries to do one's best, except that everyone has the numbers on their phones in normal characters!
To the right, another example of a Nile-o-meter... And so back to the ship.... Where we find that they have been trying to cook Brussels sprouts... Now as I said before with the green beans I am all for 'al dente' when it comes to veg, but to be honest these sprouts were sufficiently hard that if they had used them as foundation stones for ancient Egyptian temples they would still be standing today.. The steak was fine though! And perhaps my favourite picture of the trip................................................
