Egypt Part The Third 2022 - A Trip To The Market.

I have given u trying to catch up on the blogs that were missed for now, so on with the current stuff and then the rest will follow out of chronological order and you will never know!

When i said i wanted to go to the market everybody thought I just wanted to get the ferry cross the River to the souk to buy a bit of fruit and veg and maybe some spices...

No I want to go to a proper market where they sell camels and horses and animals..

Really??      Yes really.

I don't know why anybody should think it strange that I can milk a cow, or that I want to know how much a camel costs.

Or why I should even be interested in farm animals, but surely I am not the only person who has lived on a farm for a few years, or indeed there must be many that own farms in other countries who might be interested.

After a bit of discussion it seems that the best/nearest livestock market to go to is at Armant about 20kms south of Luxor. For a really big camel market you need to go down to Aswan which is a bit too far... In fact the market is not in Armant at all but to the west almost in the hills and right on the edge of the agricultural belt.

Armant is about centre in the map with the little blue marker..

Map courtesy of Google of course...

So I am up bright an early to leave at 6 am, I should have known that not a lot was going to happen going to happen at that time of day except breakfast...

A couple of wrong turns later and we finally got there, and the easiest way to show you is with a bit of video
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And it was just what I expected... In a lot of ways it was just like an English livestock market with lots of farmers sitting around drinking tea, (instead of beer), and more than likely discussing the weather and the price of oats and note the almost total lack of 'western' clothing, out here not a lot has changed for a thousand years, except of course they now have a lot more water for crops....

Exceptionally though there was not an auctioneer, everything is sold by battering for it....

And how strange the breeds are compared to the ones we see in Europe... Some might say the cattle are underfed but you see them chomping their way through food and realise they are not underfed it is just the way they are.

Donkeys there are aplenty, at a price...

Camels are worth a lot more than donkeys and indeed horses so a man's wealth can genuinely be calculated by the number of camels he has!

Junior here wanted to demonstrate that he can milk a cow..... But as it was a heifer I don't think he would get a lot out of it.

And in aisle 3, we have these... And I don't think these are donkeys... I think they are either mules or hinnies.

In the absence of any form of pens except a low row of rocks to keep the animals off the carpets nearly everything is 'hobbled' which looks a bit cruel but they don't use rope and it does solve the problem of the animals wandering off!

Goats and sheep are in aisle 1...

Titch on the right has just been sold along with one of his siblings for a total of 3200 EGP about £80 each, which I thought was quite expensive... The 'boy' tells me this is a sheep but it isn't, it's a goat...

And some very cute goats here as well, quite ornamental in fact. Oh dear admiring goats means I have lived on Crete for too long....

Get a camera out in Egypt and you are never short of a subject, this one on the right should go far, he seemed to think his picture was worth 10EGP, but all he got for his trouble was a clip around the ear from his father for pestering the tourist.

       

And some people, below, do not look too thrilled by the idea of market day...

And finally the ''tea tent''.. An important place for meeting friends and chewing the fat over a cup of tea and a shisha...

The Weather Turns Against Me, and The Egyptian Experience Begins A Day Late.

I just know this is going to make you laugh.

I drive to the airport on the first leg of my journey to Cairo via Athens.... In a snow storm following the tracks of the car in front through slushy snow and water... 

Yes a snow storm on Crete. You see we do have a winter.
There are no flights going from Heraklion because the incoming flights coming from Athens have been delayed by snow in Athens. Eventually two aircraft arrive, the 8am flight leaves 4 hours late, mine doesn't go anywhere because there is a problem with the aircraft as well as the snow. No problem as I had a four hour wait in Athens, three hours later it is clear that I will not be in Athens in time to get my onward flight. No problem they say, we will put you on the night flight from Athens to Istanbul, a good one hour flying time in the wrong direction, and from there you can pick a flight to Cairo and you will only be 12 hours late. No thanks.



So I am spending the first night of my hols in Athens, and then onward to Istanbul and then Cairo the following afternoon, except that at 7.30am they decide that the flight from Athens to Istanbul has been cancelled due to snow at Istanbul airport. Finally I am put on the direct flight from Athens to Cairo to get me there a day late.

Which is well and good, but I have a hotel booked, and I have an airport transfer booked, fortunately the transfer company got the message in time to re-arrange the transfer, but I have lost the hotel booking because it is not refundable. 

(Notice there that I said I had booked an airport transfer? I almost always do that unless it is somewhere that I know. It just saves all the hassle of getting taxis, airport buses etc. after a day travelling, and in this case the transfer rep even meets you before you go through immigration and carries your bags. The Egyptians are wonderful).

And at the airport is where your Egyptian Experience begins...

The first job is to get an Entry Visa and you can buy this from any of the banks/exchange booths when you change some money into Egyptian Pounds (EL for short), and whatever you read on web sites to the contrary you are going to need cash to buy bottles of water, cups of coffee, and above all to pay tips to everyone that does something for you, and that includes the toilet attendant who gives you a bit of toilet roll to dry your hands on. 

And you might well need it for ''baksheesh'' which in a way is a bribe, for instance I managed to get photos of the inside of Abu Simbel for the small ''consideration'' of 5 EL (about 25 pence in English money).

You might also read of beggars and children approaching you for money as well, although this is not as common as some web sites would have you believe, if you are approached then do remember that giving alms is one one of the tenets of Islam. More often the asker will actually be offering you something, a pack of tissues is not uncommon with children for instance. It is up to you whether you actually take them or not! This type of baksheesh is quite rare in my experience.

The biggest problem you will have here is having any coins to give! You just don't see them that much although they do exist, even 1 EL coins and notes are a rarity and you have to be really insistence with shop keepers (who want the odd 5 EL from you so that they can give you large notes for your change), that you do not have any small notes!

Tour guides always seem to have quite a stock of coins which is a very good reason to take guided tours and you will often see them give odd coins to security guards at archaeological sites for no apparent reason.

Having got your visa sticker and stuck it in your passport, you will then pass through immigration where they stamp it and take the boarding card you filled out on the aircraft and then it's time to get your baggage.

After that you get your passport inspected once again as you leave baggage reclaim and you are out in the big wide world where you will be mobbed by taxi drivers and their helpers (who will want a tip for carrying your bags).

Welcome to Egypt!

On the way from Cairo airport into the city you will realise why you do not want to rent a car, if there are supposed to be two lanes on the highway, the Egyptians will make three, if there are three lanes they will make four. Indeed in many places there are no road markings at all and you need a pretty strong stomach to sit in the front passenger seat of a car!

Surprisingly there seems to be very few accidents although a lot of cars seem to have rounded corners!

On your way you will get your first sight of security measures as there are frequently check points manned by army and police, both armed, and that ''sentry box'' that looks empty probably isn't because there is the barrel of a machine gun sticking out of the window. Sometimes the inspection is cursory, sometimes the boot is opened and they will check who is in the car.

And when you arrive in your hotel you get the second sight... Every hotel has an X Ray machine and the good old metal detector arch just like in the airport.

My hotel receptionist is delighted to see me and finds it very amusing that 
I am a day late due to bad weather..... I ask about a refund for the first night as it was not my fault. ''No'' is the answer, ''but I have upgraded your room to a Nile view suite''! And quite right too, after all it is a Novotel, and they are part of Accor and they own Raffles in Singapore where I have stayed twice and paid a fortune for the pleasure!

Early night called for after something to eat, and my tour guide for tomorrow has sent me an SMS to say he will be picking me up at 6.30am. Well actually he won't because I am on holiday and I tell him that it is going to be 8.30am and no earlier, but when I get downstairs for breakfast he is already there so I take him for breakfast.... And the Egyptians certainly know about breakfast, a buffet with virtually everything you could want (except bacon of course, but then they do do that wonderful smoked beef), and while we are at it we discuss the day's plan.....

And we are not doing that either because there is not time for coffee anywhere in the schedule.

Adjustments will need to be made!