Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Port Said Egypt
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(1822-1863) Egyptian viceroy 1854-1863 under Ottoman suzerainty.
Said’s reign was a liberal one, involving many reforms inspired by trends of contemporary Europe. He introduced important reforms for landownership, taxation and even tried to abolish the slave trade.The land reforms promoted individual landownership and reduced the influence of the shaykhs, who had exercised a local power of almost feudal character. Said taxed the big landowners directly, taking away a burden which rested hard on the peasants. Some of the land of the largest landowners was also confiscated.His attempts to end the slave trade was unsuccessful; there was too much wealth and important people involved. 
The origins of Port Said is that of a working camp founded in 1859 by Said Pasha to house men working on the Suez Canal. By the late 19th century, it was an important port where all the major maritime powers had consulates. Much of the city was built on a section of Lake Manzala which was reclaimed by landfill.
The City was damaged during the Suez Crisis, and again during the wars of 1967 and 1973, but the city has largely been rebuilt and today is a pleasant city of 400,00 people. It is also considered a summer resort by Egyptians and the beach is lined with vacation bungalows. The main street, with most commercial enterprises, is Sharia Palestine.
This is where the huge ships wait to enter the Suez Canal, and it can be a sight to behold.
But also often missed, but of interest is the colonial architecture of the 19th century in the town center.
There is also a Military Museum located on Sharia 23rd of July. Along with some small displays of pharaonic and Islamic wars are artifacts from the Suez Crises and the 1967 and 1973 wars.
Across the Canal from Port Said is Port Fuad, which is really only a bedroom community to Port Said. However, if time permits it is a very pleasant place to take a stroll among the gardens and sprawling residences located there.
So what does New York and Port Said, Egypt have in common? Originally, American’s very own statue of Liberty was to be placed not in New York but at Port Said. The Statue of Liberty was really inspired by the huge statues at Abu Simbel. Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the statue designed the American Lady of Liberty as ‘Egypt carrying the light of Asia’. However, the Khedive Ismail decided that the project was too expensive, so the ‘Light of Asia’ was sent to the US instead, where she became the Statue of Liberty.
.Port authority building
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there are seven no toll ferry boats that cross to Fort Fuad
.just a few of the old colonial houses some are in good repair but most sadly enough are unusable
he hotel I stayed in was in fine order one street back from the Suez canal
,One can not go too far in Egypt without being reminded that this is the land of the Pharaohs,
,and the cats have reign,
the promenade towards the end of the Suez canal is in an elevated position that gives fine views of the local fishing boats and the traffic that use the Suez canal.
.Port said station
.Port Said police station
‘sleeping barrow boy
.waiting for the queues for the ferry.
.THIS MOSQUE IS NOT FAR FROM THE BEACH.
.NOT A BEACH FOR RUNNING ABOUT WITH NO SHOES ON
PORT SAID IS THE INLET FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO THE RED SEA
,ONE OF THE POINTS THAT DOES GET NOTICED APART FROM THE RUBBISH AND SMELL, IS THIS NEW STRUCTURE IN THE SHAPE OF A CRUISE BOAT.THAT IS BEING BUILT HALF WAY ALONG THE BEACH.
‘
.WITH ALL THE SUMMER SEASONS RUBBISH ON THE BEACH THE SWALLOWS HAVE A GREAT TIME CATCHING THE FLIES AND ARE HERE IN THEIR NUMBERS.
THESE ARE THE BARN SWALLOWS
.THE HOOPOE WILL ONLY BE SEEN WHERE THERE ARE GRUBS TO BE FOUND.
AS WILL THE PIED WAGTAIL
.ISABELLINE WHEATEAR IN NUMBERS ON THIS BEACH
.FELINE Felidae, NEVER SEEN CATS OPENING AND EATING RAW SHELLFISH BEFORE,
BUT THEN A FEW DAYS LATER I WAS WATCHING CATS WITH FISHERMEN IN ALEXANDRIA
.
.SHARING BREAKFAST
SHARING THE BEACH
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,
,THIS PICTURE SHOWS THE DEVIDING BARRIER OF THE SUEZ CANAL
THE NEAREST SHOP TO THE BEACH WAS THIS LOOK SEA, SHOP.
IN PORT SAID EVERYTHING IS LOOK,
NEVER DID SEE ANYONE DRESSED IN THIS COSY.
OR MAYBE THEY ARE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES. AND I HAVE TO WAIT.
shooting egyptians now.
a few nights with a woman in these garments, and i would not need to go to no exhipition.
.once they have been produced after the exhipition.
the will be allowed to shoot them,
‘blind justice for all they should exhibit the three wise monkeys outside the courts. hear no evil speak no evil and see no evil
modern egypt boulevard, suzuki
,someone has bought themselves a nice shiny bike
A Suzuki boulevard, not for showing off your lady or male companion its the first time I have seen a posers bike. look at me and my bike. I bet he sleeps with it,
.
.sun up over the docks in Port Said
.Port Said Port authority offices
,another very modern state of the art pleasure boat most likely heading through the Suez canal for Saudi Arabia.
A White carriage most are black. this guy wanted 5 euro for a trip along the cornish,
the wheel rim bank
‘lots of these plants growing on the beach.
yellow hibiscus flowers, come across quite a few new plants on this trip,all are on the plants in Egypt blog
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Mohamed the flyer
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,OK Mohamed you have pictures on the web This is a guy who was wind surfing on the Mediterranean sea in Port Said this morning. asked me to e-mail some photos, post a comment if you want me to give the name of your hotel in Dahab Mohamed,
,The tern diving for fish
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.Shells this beach in port said had plenty of shell its seems they are periodically scraped up and piled on the end of the beach near the entrance into the suez canal,
My last holiday in Egypt, siwa, oasis, shali
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Siwa oasis Egypt
So one sits downin a coffee shop makes friends with the waiter and he will usually pointme in the right direction for a small tip on top of the price of a cupof tea, On this last journey around Egypt most of the hassle came fromthe police!! Suez, Ismalia, Port said. and Alexandria police being themain culprits every one of them if I gave them some money it was OK forme to go on my way and take photos.
In Suez, Mercure hotel chain has taken over one of the Islands on the canal, a must visit place in the birding book.
do we as birders go to just look or do we have a camera to take photos?
Iwalkedpast the security guards WHO SAID ITS OK FOR ME TO TAKE PHOTOS OF THEWILDLIFE,and headed in the direction of the canals edge. when a secretpolice man followed me
(how did mr tony know its a secret policeman, well they are about as secret as an elephant in a flock of sheep)
so Itook a photo of a whoopoe bird, not a photo I needed as I havemore whoopoe photos than what I need , no photos he shouted. OK” asI packed my camera and headed back to the road, then he put hisarm around my shoulder and said feluse ,(money) as I reached in mypocket to give him 5 le. chamseen (50) he said . and I gave him 50 frommy wallet. I am not like that usually I usually take the money inthis case 5le back and leave them with an angry look on the face, butI had traveled a long way to see the Suez canal and the birds thatare supposed to be on this particular Island,http://nilelife.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-post.html,
soIgave the guy 50le I traveled about 100yards and another jumped outofthe bushes, most likely got a tip off , a rich tourist was aboutto enter his patch, enough of this I thought put my finger in the airand high tailed it back to the hotel.
the reason I did notblog about the police on my travels, was the regime in power monitorthis web site and I did not want more hassle than necessary on myplaned route around Egypt.
Ismalia, I had 2 cops ask for money,then the same in Port Said so I headed for the beach area ontheMediterranean side off the canal area. they can use the excuseno photos because of the large container ships heading down the suezinto the red sea where Ismali pirates opperate, and if thats what Iwas doing I would book myself into the Mercure hotel who have allthe balconies facing the canal, each time a boat passed phone myIsmali pirate pals up and give them the details of the vessel headingtheir way,
Or is there a secret police man in every room of the mercure hotel that faces the canal, NO PHOTOS???
the train from port said was a journey of eight hours as it returned half way to cairo before changing lines to Alex. alex blog is on http://nilelife.blogspot.com/.
I metWael Ayaya in the Capsis hotel cairo Capsis hotel 120le per nightand was an ok hotel clean and had a good restaurant,
he toldme of the cleopatra in Alex and how it was only a short walk from thestation but he never said which of the 2 stations, so I got a taxi andof course THE DRIVER rather than go the direct route went halfway around Alex to make up for his 30le fare,(should have been 5le)the hotel was actually 10 minutes for me to walk direct to the promtwo blocks.
I stayed in the Cleopatra hotel on the cornish for 4 days one of the best hotels I stayed in on this journey .http://nilelife.blogspot.com/2010/10/room-with-view-alexandria.html.
(apart from Klaus’s apartment)
while in alex I visited the roman arena, pillar and catacombs, biblothea library is a must visit as is the Fort at Quatbey,http://nilelife.blogspot.com/2010/10/day-with-romans-looking-at-bath-tub.html,
thenstayed with a freind In summer city for almost a week just torelax before departing for Marsa Matrouh and Siwa, 4 times I went toenquire about transport for Marsa Matrouh none with a positive time orfrom where I should catch such transport apart from the train but thatcan take up to 8 hours to get to my destination so I was told.
On mylast day staying with Klaus I went for a walk outside the summercity of 6th October, went to see if I could find the blue kingfisheralong one of the Nile water canals.but with no luck;
on the way back from the canal there where some micro buses parked opposite the Ramses 6th October toweroneguy was shouting Matrouh, so I stopped and asked if these buses go everyday to Marsa Matrough. yes all day he said when one is full it leave,7 in the morning I asked aiwa (yes).
.All alongthe Mediterranean coast to El Alamein there are hundreds of summercities . with thousands if not millions of apartments for sale.and whobuys these summer houses and flats that they will use for 2 maybe 4weeks of the year?
the guy who hassles me and you on the street,and that carriage /taxi driver who said 5 and charged 5 sterling/dollar/euro’
.Hacienda bay 1 -2-3 and four are complete so I wonder is this going to be the ORIGINAL Hacienda bay or no 5.
Arabian nights also have 5 summer cities. as I am sure 6th of October has more than one
Alexandria,6thof October summer city is 10 kilometer outside of Alex on theEl-alameinrd there are hundreds of summer cities on this 80 kilometerstretchalong the Mediterranean sea, so why are there police who needmoney forphotos. AAGH” I have answered my own question.
LeftAlex at 7.00Marsa Matrough after hearing stories of Klaus,s visit ofits aque andclean sea and beach I was looking forward to a few days inthat part ofEgypt,the bus station was about i kilometer from the towncentre and wasquite an interesting walk each rondabout had finetilled mosaic’s ofwhat was in the town or what the town wasrenowned but the touristicpart of town was closed for the winter,one hotel facing the sea wasopen, so i walked in and asked how muchfor a room , 120$ she said and what is included in the price. justa bed she replied , clarify Iasked . pardon misure she said, what do I get for 120$,
we aresupposed to be closed was the answer . we have no water. so you wouldlike me to pay 120$ for a bed in a room with no water and no food IEbreakfast, she may of said “yes please” but I had my back turned toher as I was leaving, go for a swim I thought and yes the sea was soinviting with its shades of aqua and light blue. no entry as there waspolice on the beach no money,maybe there was sharks in the water orthe sea had been invaded by killer jelly fish.
Portuguese man-o’-war, in the area of Marsa Matrouh. so that put paid to a dip in the sea, halas” finito
jumpedin the first taxi and for a princely sum of 5le. I headed back tothe bus terminal,the taxi driver dropped me off , pointed, said ticketoffice, pointed to the road and said bus for Siwa
.
asluck had it there was a bus in the terminal leaving for Siwa in5 minutes no hassle got my ticket and boarded the bus and headedforSiwa. a place I have wanted to visit for the past seven years,
arrived in Siwaat 16.30 lovely journey, the drive was mostly desert with tracksleading off to villages. the bus stopped to drop what must have beenguys who maned the Mobile phone arials or masts each of these andthere was maybe a dozen on route had there own solar electricitypower.I suppose the relieved worker caught the next bus heading back toMarsa Matrouh. saw quite a few birds mainly kestrels and buzzards toofar off to get a proper look and id. also herds of Camels muchdarker than the camels here in Luxor,
one man flagged the bus down near a checkpoint just outside of Marsa Matrouh.
lookedlike an Arabian Gulliver in stature, he needed 2seats once in acomfort possession promptly went to sleep with the loudest snore Iever heard, and slept passed his stop got real annoyed with the driverfor passing his get off stop. insisted the driver turned back . lots ofconfusion with the people on the bus;-then one guy said there is a busin a few minutes back to your stop. all went back to quiet as the giantgot off the bus, and we got on our way. another 20 kilometer to Siwathe sign said. a few minutes later the bus heading for the giant wasflagged down by the driver a few words exchanged, I suppose after thegrief the giant caused on this bus , he told the other driver not to pick him up. and if there was tourists on the bus they can use that excuse for not stopping.Siwa Oasis Egypt
The Siwa Oasis (Arabic: واحة سيوة Wāḥat Sīwah, Siwi Isiwan) is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, nearly 50 km (30 mi) east of the Libyan border, and 560 km (348 mi) from Cairo.[1][2][3] About 80 km (50 mi) in length and 20 km (12 mi) wide,[1] Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt’s isolated settlements, with 23,000 people, mostly ethnic Berbers[1] who speak a distinct language of the Berber family known as Siwi. Its fame lies primarily in its ancient role as the home to an oracleof Amon, the ruins of which are a popular tourist attraction which gavethe oasis its ancient name Ammonium. Historically, it is part of Ancient Libya. Its modern name Siwa, first attested in the 15th century (earlier Arab geographers termed it Santariyyah), is of uncertain origin. Basset [4] links it to a Berber tribal name swh attested further west in the early Islamic period, while Ilahiane,[5] following Chafik, links it to the Tashelhiyt Berber word asiwan, a type of prey bird, and hence to Amon-Ra, one of whose symbols was the falcon.
Agriculture is the main activity of modern Siwi, particularly the cultivation of dates and olives. Handicrafts like basketry are also of regional importance.Tourism has in recent decades become a vital source of income. Muchattention has been given to creating hotels that use local materialsand play on local styles.
The ancient fortress of Siwa, built of natural rock (inselberg), made of salt, mud-brick and palm logs and known as the Shali Ghadi(“Shali” being the name of the town, and “Ghadi” meaning remote),although now mostly abandoned and ‘melted’, remains a prominentfeature, towering five stories above the modern town.
Other local historic sites of interest include: the remains of theoracle temple; the Gebel al Mawta (the Mountain of the Dead),
a Roman-era necropolis featuring dozens of rock-cut tombs;and “Cleopatra’s Bath”, an antique natural spring. The fragmentary remains of the oracle temple, with some inscriptions dating from the 4th century BC, lie within the ruins of Aghurmi. The revelations of the oracle fell into disrepute under the Roman occupation of Egypt.
Another attraction for tourists WAS Fatnas Island, which became a palm-fringed peninsula located on the edge of a saltwater lake.The lake had been partially drained in recent years because of a plan to limit the effect of rising water levels in Siwa due to agricultural runoff from uncontrolled wells (a major problem affecting the entireoasis); Fatnas Island is now surrounded mostly by mud flats.
‘Surveying the endless expanse of deserts of northeastern Egypt, theOld Mosque of Shali Fortress, completed in 1203, is perched peacefully atop a small hill in Siwa Oasis, a remote village 185 miles (300kilometers) south of the Mediterranean Sea. The location was chosen for its elevated position in case of attack from nomadic raiders.
The old mosque survives today as the oldest monument built in Shali as well as the oldest mosque in the world constructed using karshif,a unique earthen material produced naturally through the calcificationof earth mixed with salt from the soil. The rough, undulating textureof the façade still bears the handprints of the original builders.
As Shali has evolved, the mosque has remained a perpetual and unremitting symbol of the history and community of Siwa Oasis.Devastating floods in the early and late 20th century, bombings inWorld War II, and modern developments in the town beginning in the1980s have destroyed many ancient structures. Concrete has replaced the vernacular karshif building materials, threatening the historic and architectural integrity of Siwa Oasis. Despite its small size and state of dilapidation, the mosque remains an important symbol of the community and a place of religious rituals and celebration.Preservation of the site will help to engage the town in the karshiftradition and conserve and protect a vital icon of the region.
.Shali from my balcony in the Elkelany hotel
There are lots of links from my travels with this post.
Once the bus arrived in Siwa. all the hassle started again there are no taxi’s or horse and carriages in Siwa only the new carry motorbikes. these are rigged out with a piece of wood with a carpet to sit on.
and 4×4 carts the 4×4 being the donkey that pulls it, this one guy with his new motor bike was very persistent and knew all the hassle to get a customer on his bike. it ended up with free travel to the hotel and of course I jumped at the free travel bit ;-he showed me the hotel brochure of the palm trees hotel, and goddamn I should know by now not tobelieve brochures or drivers, especially when the brochure is 5 years old.Trees grow and so do houses , the hotel it seemed was along way from the bus terminal. well it had to be so I could not find my way back if the hotel was unsuitable. which it was;- first I was shown a room on the first floor;- opened the window and sure enough there was palm trees , not sure if the palm tree was there first or they built the hotel walls against the tree but it was claustrophobic.
as I headed back down the stairs .a voice said;- we have more rooms Mr. and then showed me another one;- with a view, he said .
yes”another palm tree. grabbed my bags and sat in the bike, where to said the driver. el-kelany I read it somewhere and remembered the name as the hotel I use in Aswan is the Kelaney.
no good that hotel ;- worse than this, I said , yes,
OK take me to a hotel near the El-kelany, as his face dropped
we headed direct to a hotel of the drivers choosing. first I said” I need food and refreshment I had not eaten since breakfast in Klaus’es apartment at 6.00, as we past a coffee shop, stop here, I said. as I was sitting in the coffee shop I saw the sign El-Kelany hotel. and told the driver OK now I see the kelany it has A fine view of the Shali Mountain fortress and open views from the roof .
took my bags from the vehicle as the guy asks for 10 le. you said free. and this is the hotel I choose.
during this 20 minutes on the back of his bike I found out he worked in Hurgada and moved here to Siwa a few months ago, asked a few questions on what I want to see and came back with ;-I do all this will cost 50le to see this 50 to see this etc. 15 miles to the dead mountain he said, how for to the sea of salt ,I asked ,35 miles he said I will see ;-Isaid; meet me here at 9.00 in the morning,
then I met the owner of the coffee shop Adham, a young man of about 25. spoke good English that surprised me a little as its the first time I have met an Egyptian that can, and this is Siwa miles away from anywhere, I asked him where is the palm trees hotel, about 100 meters to the back of the coffee shop. . ah I said, and how far to the bus terminal. he looked at me rather puzzled. and said just around the corner. must be a bloody big corner I said its taken that guy on thebike 20 minutes to get here, no good this man he said, with no fear, first time I hear an Egyptian say about another,
the 35 miles I walked two days later in one hour stopping to photograph anything and everything that took my interest, the 35 miles was actually 5 killometers. where I saw the flamingoes. during the next few days I found out a lot about these people. they are Sewian not Egyptian and speak the barber tongue,, I asked about why there are no police, and found out the Sheik runs Siwa, if they have a problem they go to the sheik if any one wants to reside in Siwa they first go to the Sheihk,that way they do not have problems like I had with conmen in the westbank of Luxor,
Siwa4x4′s have their own parking places, the El-Kelany hotel is the far pink building. if you decide to go to siwa and have any back problems like I have do not take the motor bikes even if you do not have a back problem, you will have after riding and sitting in the back of these three wheeler bikes you feel every little bump in the road, there seem to be more sleeping policemen in siwa than any other town I visited.( bumps in the road) you also have to climb in these contraptions, notice the donkey cart is made to step in and the seating is cushioned, its not far to any of the places to visit so do not feel sorry for the donkey,
‘even the locals use this mode of travel,
the other mode of transport isthe bicycle 20le per day one shop has the franchise on bike hire,
in the local shops Olives and lots of them .next to the bike shop on my way to see SHALI there is a new build building with its hotel sign ! siwa style
this is not a hotel I think its someones dream all I saw in the hotel was a whole load of virgin bottles, oil that is,
Siwa is a producer of olives that extra virgin and olive oils are squeezed out of and lots if it. then I passed a
few shops that sold local arts and weavings.
.another new build
hanging baskets made of palm leaves
.and a few areas in need of a complete overhaul
as they are doing with this building one person said it was going to be an olive press exhibit, I say they should build it properly if they want tourists to visit the inside of the building Top photo they are putting quarry waste soil on the roof the next time I went to the top of Shali it looked like the wood poles holding the roof soil was about to colapse under the weight, these 3″ poles are all that holds the roof up and already bowed a good 8″
OPPOSITE THIS NEW BUILD ARE THE FIRST STEPS TO GET INTO WHAT WAS THE FORTRESS OF SHALI’
here too one can perchase hand made dollies and crafts
this early morning visitor does not get the welcome handcrafts on the first steps up into the fortress. and what is the old mosque.
here on the second flight of steps the stairs split one leads to the old Mosque the other to the top of the Shalli fortress.
I would have liked to go inside the Old Mosque but on my 2 visits it was not open. another time maybe I shall go see inside,
here I am half way up or half way down not a place for the faint hearted,
the steps are made of rope and palm tree trunks,
‘
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fromthis the highest point of the fortress there is a 360 degree view ofthe whole of the Siwa oasis with its lakes and mountains
‘the village to the base of hills in the background is where Siyaha festival .is held each October for 3 days.
go to this link for a very informative site on Siwa
http://www.saharasafaris.org/discovering-siwa
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‘
looking towards the El-Kelany hotel and the town square
On my return from the top of Shali there was not a soul in sight the dolls and handcraft had reapeared and after my visit of the fortress one wonders if its true about fairies,dungeons and dragons.
.looking up the old mosque minaret
‘the mountain base of the mosque the entrance looked a bit crumbled so I did not enter
Unlike me these chickens have no fear of making good use of another hole in the mountain.
this house was constructed using a vehicle chassis.
.the following day I went atop this hill next to the fortress of Shali. with its spectacular view of the surrounding area
.
.
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looking down on another old part of Siwa the graveyard
.Not so long ago the dead where placed a few inches in the ground covered with palm leaves then a thin layer of soil on top and wood of the palm tree on top.
.‘
The centre of Siwa
‘some hotels have their own 4×4′s
Its carnival time and too many people for the cart . so why not load them in the lorry to do the 5 kilometer to the fairground
breakfast time in the high street
groceries heading for on of the hotels
.no work today for this donkey
‘horses get to pull even bigger carts not sure how the ladies climb in these carts,
one of siwas main export! dates
‘another group off to the carnival
‘the dogs of shali
;greengrocers and coffee shop
the best restaurant in Siwa
‘kebab halal. bbq.
‘donkey dates and cockerel, the days washing all in a demolished house
People from around Shali have to bring in their own water from the springs
.this cultivator needs a new engine
.
‘
.village near the Oracle of Alexandria the Great
.one of three fruit shops in Siwa this one having the best of fruit and fresh vegitables
every two days it had a vehicle bringing in fresh supplies
‘lots of olives here in the oasis. I had never seen olives on the tree. this one looked ripe and was the only one left on this tree and me nevert asted an olive direct off the tree decided to taste this one , I picked it walked a way until I came to one of the many fresh water springs washed it and ate it. the worst thing I ever tasted, left my mouth needing water to get rid of the awefull taste. not sure if the fruit had over ripened but its no wonder it was left on the tree to rot.
This tree is just about ready to harvest it also seems the fruit is an all year round harvest some trees had been harvested while others are full of fruit the same with the palm trees
.In public, all married women wear a foot-length, bluish shawl and completely cover their faces with a black gauze.
‘IF THIS A TRUE DESCRIPTION OF SHALI IN 1900.
ITS SEEN A LOT OF DESTRUCTION OVER THE PAST 110 YEARS
.GREY LAG GEESE ROAM THE STREETS EARLY IN THE MORNING,
.
STRANGEWAY OF BUILDING A VEHICLE CHASSIS IN ONE BUILDING AND A JERRY CAN IN THE OTHER, I WONDER IF THATS WHERE THE TERM JERRY BUILDERS COME FROM.
A jerrycanis a robust container made from pressed metal. It was originally designed in Germany in the 1930s for military use and holds 20 litresof fuel.
,
..In public, all married women wear a foot-length, bluish shawl and completely cover their faces with a black gauze.
‘IF THIS A TRUE DESCRIPTION OF SHALI IN 1900.
ITS SEEN A LOT OF DESTRUCTION OVER THE PAST 110 YEARS
.GREY LAG GEESE ROAM THE STREETS EARLY IN THE MORNING,
. STRANGEWAY OF BUILDING A VEHICLE CHASSIS IN ONE BUILDING AND A JERRY CAN INTHE OTHER, i WONDER IF THATS WHERE THE TERM JERRY BUILDERS COME FROM.
A jerrycanis a robust container made from pressed metal. It was originallydesigned in Germany in the 1930s for military use and holds 20 litresof fuel.
,.
.The date packing factory near Fhatnas Island.
Picking the datesthey put sheets on the ground
‘then the palm dates are cropped and let fall to the ground
;
.
‘Here on the road because of passing traffic some will get trod into the tarmac thus making a new face layer on the road.
,
the date road surface
once the dates are picked they are spread out to dry on a sandy surface
here the white -crowned black wheatear, is making a meal of the dates ‘
.
another batch ready for collection
.I loved Siwa not sure if its the month I went but I never saw one mosquito and they where one of the reasons I had reserves of going to Siwa, two things that I did not like aboutSiwa as like the rest of Egypt some of the donkeys are misstreated look at the stick this guy has in his hand, while bathing my sore feetin one of the water outlets. I saw this donkey whose cart was beingway overloaded with water containers. all the containers where loadedto the front of the cart then the three stoges boarded the cart by thestaves, then the little, I say little because it was quite a young ,the donkeys legs gave way to the weight, then the one stooge procededto kick the beast until it got to its feet once on its lege it wasbeaten with the fist, then the donkeys legs gave way again, and two menon a passing donkey and cart stopped to get the donkey back on its feet.
the donkey was unharnessed. I left because if I stayed Iwould have got involved and beaten the guy with his own stick, and knowing these guys they would all have turned on me,
.
Open sewage was onother dislike of Siwa this photo was to the rear of Shali where a few houses have modern facilities such as washing machines and bathrooms, mabye six houses they do not have mains water its brought in by donkey and pumped to water tanks on the roof of the building,
the others I saw was to the rear of Siwa Paradise Hotel and the siwa safari gardens,
the water is pumped direct from a spring in the grounds.to the hotels services ie wc etc then flushed into an open sewer to the rear of the chalets.
and thats my nasty bit about Siwa,
;The canals here in the oasis are so clean if one was thirsty one can drink direct from the canal the polluted sewage water does not as yet get into the canals, unlike Luxor and most of Egypt particularely El Fayoum link.
there is some large catfish in this canal
An old olive press
‘A backyard full of scrap water heaters and fridges
.
‘hand made floral pattern whatever shawl or bed cover?
.An old corn chaffer can also be used for chick peas, rice threshing etc.
.there are 300 water outlets in the oasis mostly springs’ some have been capped with a pipe and a tap to realease the spring water when needed. no mechanical pumps only the ones near hotels etc.
‘after a long walk there is nothing better than to sit on the edge of one of these pools and give the feet a good soaking in the cool water that come straight from the ground,
‘Some pools are quite large and upto 20ft deep so clear one can see the bubbles of the minerals leaving the bottom of the pool. there is one pool called the cleopatra springs that most tourist go to bathe in,
.This is all that is left of fatnas Island, no one around so no cup of tea and waterpipe before I head back to see the flamingoe’s and what other birds are on the salt pans,
‘the pool on fatnas island looked very inviting but I had no towel or change of shorts next time I visit I will use the pool.
‘the salt pans with the new road into what was fatnas island.
‘They have started to quarry this area for its multy coloured flat stone its too soft and shaley to use for walling so its used as cladding to cover concrete,
.another spring this one is irugating the crops
‘most of the olive groves have this type of fence surrounding it made from palm leaves
‘lizard footprints
‘In this pool well out of sight and no one around I had a skinny dip wonderfull cool bath
‘with an open view to the Shali mountain
Siyaha festival
;they are heading for the festival and so am I
;
A sign I passed on the way to the festival not sure why one would sit besides a fire
‘brave young girls showing me how slippery it is to go any higher up the mountain.
.one of the reasons for this festival the bedhuoin can come once an year to air greviances and desputes over land etc they come here and have open air meetings in front of the old mosque
.Now this one was one sod of a boy, I had to call on one of the elders to deal with him.
‘a good view from the side of the hill
;
‘The oracle mountain
‘Shali mountain
;mountain of the dead
A CART THAT WILL NEVER MAKE IT TO THE FESTIVAL’
‘and these little ones are not bothered if they go or not.
pigeon lofts in Siwa
;
Birds in Siwa
‘The flamingos about a dozen or so where way out on the salt flats
they say the best time to see them is in March
‘
the Grey lag geese have taken over the square in Siwa
.barn swallow
.White-crowned black wheatear, Oenanthe leucopyga. males
.female,
.Kestrel
.Glossy Ibis
.pigeons are everywhere
.Muskovy’s
.turkey male
.Cockerel in fine plumage
pied wagtail.
.
Bar-Tailed Godwit, limosa lapponica
photo taken 20th October 2010 at lake Amoun Siwa
the dragons and damsels ore on herehttp://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/2010/10/damsel-and-dragons-of-siwa.html
a cute frog that seems to eat leeches
.and holds one down for later
A mushroom in the tiny flower bed next to the water channel I saw the frogs in.
Oracle temple of Alexandria the Great
meaning of Oracle;- The sanctuary, or Most Holy place in the temple; also, the temple itself.read up and a few photos on this link http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/templeoforacle.htm
the temple and mountain from Shali mountain
The Temple of Umm Ubayda
at the Siwa Oasis in Egypt
.this is all thats left of the temple
.Gebel al-Mawta (Mountain of the Dead)
The Mountain of the dead is a hill side full of tombs which wereunknown to 19th century explorers. The huge limestone structure wasdeveloped during the 26th Dynasty and during the Ptolemaic period, andapparently was well known to locals. During WW II when the battlesaround Siwa were raging, they often hid in the tombs, and for monetaryconsideration, often sliced sections of the walls off for soldiers assouvenirs, but the Romans also plundered the tombs and often reusedthem.There remains a number of interesting tombs. These include:
TheTomb of Si-Ammon, who was a rich Greek and who’s tomb dates to the 3rdcentury BC. Here, there is a image of Nut, with a halo of sycamoreleaves (just to the right of the entrance.) There is also an image ofSi Amun himself making offerings to Egyptian gods.
The Tomb of Miso-Isis, which is unfinished, but retains the owner’s skull.
TheTomb of Niperpathot, with inscriptions and drawings using apparentlythe same red ink currently used by Siwan pottery artisians.
The Tomb of the Crocodile, which includes a painting of a crocodile.
but on my visit the tombs where locked so no entry also its a no photo area
go to this link to see photo of the tombs
.even today there are some living in the tombs
.Shali and siwa town from the mountain of the dead
.A climb up Shali mountain
‘photos from my climb up the Shali mountain
.the only steps on this mountain the last step was 3 foot.
.once on the top of the mountain I sat to survey they 360 degree view,
and to catch my breath the climb was very slippery under foot and had to be climbed by winding ones way around the mountain
Cairo Egypt, steam museum
in Wild about Wales Tags: Alexandria, Alexandria library. biblothea, Cairo Egypt, cats, egypt, Fort Qaitbey, steam museum [Edit]
MY LAST ADVENTURE AROUND EGYPT
2 October 2010 travels from CAIRO. SUEZ.PORT SAID. ALEXANDRIA. MARSA MATROUH. SIWA OASIS AND SHALI FORTRESS. EL FAYOUM. total of 3500 miles give and take with all the walking I did,
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Cairo
Thursday, September 30, 2010
I went back to the steam museum today just to get another 3 photos the museum was open but again no electricity the workmen had also put dust covers over the outside of the windows, so it was even darker inside I tried taking photos with flash but the glass casing gave a reflection so only one or two shots came out half decent to keep,
the rest of the day was spent walking around Cairo down town part of the city where I came across quite a few different kinds of old machinery so you ladies will have to be happy with a boys toys blog today with a little bit of my other interest of buildings,
after climbing over a pike of rubble and a few other things in the busiest station in the world I came upon this sign. Not sure what language its in
‘And this handsome fellow is the late Mohamed Pasha founder of the Egyptian railway in 1948.
not sure how true my guide today was. so I shall read up on that later.
This a model of a french steam engine. the train itself was only in service for 4 years before the boiler packed in,
,These tiles “right”are being clad with plaster reliefs “left” not nice but that’s my opinion
,above looking out of the station
below the interior of the station from the museum.
.
‘Modern day Cairo still has horses doing deliveries here its delivering diesel oil unloaded into 5 gallon plastic containers, this is just outside Ramses street station.
,dust covers over ramses station the museum is far right
.Opposite the station is the El Fathi Mosque reputed to have the tallest minaret in Egypt
.no comment,
vw caravanette, I owned one like this in 1971
.vw car
Steam museum Cairo
.SHE ONCE HAVING TOLD ME HER HISTORY WAS QUITE THOROUGH IN TELLING ME THE HISTORY OF THE PIECES ON DISPLAY. EVERYTHING WAS BY THE BOOK, THAT I BOUGHT ON ENTRY AND SIGNING INTO THE MUSEUM NOT KNOWN THIS BEFORE, signing to go into a museum,
TIME;- DAY;- MONTH;- PROFESSION;- ADDRESS;- AND PORT OF ENTRY;- ANY ONE WOULD THINK I WAS MOVING IN TO THE MUSEUM,
THE GUIDE BOOK WAS VERY INFORMATIVE ON EGYPT’S RAIL HISTORY BLACK AND WHITE PICS PHOTO COPY ONLY, SO THE PICTURE ABOVE BLOGGING PROBS WILL ONLY LET ME PUT ON IN THIS SIDEWAY VIEW AND MORE ???? FOR GOOGLE BLOGGER WHY. I AM NOT GOING TO DO A TEASER ON WHAT IS IT,
THIS IS THE FIRST TICKET MACHINE AND A WONDERFUL PIECE OF MACHINERY LOOKS VERY COMPLICATED JUST FOR A PRINTED TICKET TO RIDE ON WHAT WAS THE FIRST STEAM TRAIN IN EGYPT, THAT TOO WAS UNDER WRAPS AND HAD ITS OWN PRIDE AND PLACE IN ANOTHER PART OF THE BUILDING UNDER LOCK AND KEY THIS IS USUALLY A WAY TO GET MORE MONEY FOR THOSE OF US STEAM ENTHUSIASTS ,
ONE THING SAW OF INTEREST WAS THE DRIVE , THIS WAS UNDER AND IN THE CENTER OF THE MAIN BODY AND DROVE THE 2 MID WHEELS ONLY, THE TRAINS SPRINGS WHERE ALSO IN A STRANGE POSSISSION ABOVE THE WHEEL GUARDS, IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS FOUND GIVEN A QUICK LICK OF BLACK PAINT AND WHITE TO SHOW THE MOVING PARTS WITH NODDY BLUE BUMPERS,
we had three all running taxi then father died and we loose the taxi license, and we sell 2 and now we need to sell this one. i told him i ave no license to drive. and was not interested in buying , as i proceeded on my journey to Ramses square i saw the honda motorbike and that too was in good condition.
.
.Madi shopping centre chaos at its best, here we have a fun fair in the middle of the centre best trade is coffee shops this coffee shop started with 20 chairs then started to expand as they realized swings and roundabouts was for the kids and cost money while the kids where on the swings and roundabouts plus magic planets cuddle bugs, the parents needed a place to sit by the end of 1 year the seats had over taken the funfair now kids and parents have to have a coffee and drink while waiting for room in the funfair, money money money, chaos while the kids have tantrums waiting to get in magic planet.
why are the cuddle bugs all stacked up. they can not move for the tables and chairs that are overflowing out of the coffee shop. oh to be a kid again ;-sit down shut up and eat your crisps and look at the pretty lights on the funfair.
and me I just take photos. like this from my room in the Capsis hotel
this is next door to the office and printing factory of the daily paper al gezzira.and I have a larger than life photo of Egypt’s beloved president Hosni Mubarak.
and watch the pretty lights of the chaotic traffic in this major city of Egypt
Posted by Life in Egypt at 3:04 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
arrived in Cairo at 20.20
My deciding to do the day journey to Cairo was a good move I thoroughly enjoyed the scenic route,
did not sleep all the way to Cairo , apart from the 2 hour sauna, there where no hiccups as one usually gets on journeys here in Egypt. on arrival in Cairo’s busy Ramses street station , reputed to be the busiest station in the world, I thought so too after getting off the train and having to literally climb over bodies strewn on the platforms. it was dark and seemed that most of the place was under a massive refurbishing job.
I went back the day after and found the whole of the station was being re vamped and I mean the whole of the station is draped in mesh dust covers,
On arrival at the hotel I tried to transfer the photos on to the computer and sods law the card fits the slot but will not read the data, but not all is lost there is a good computer outlet in the next street to this hotel which leads me to another nice find,
the name of this hotel is Capsis its 5 minutes walk from the station and its a rather nice place for the money 120le per night including breakfast thats 11 sterling or 22$,
cheap but not in quality. my room is a single room with en-suite and I am chuffed its got a bath that I am about to wollow in as soon as this writing is done + a down load of a few pics from the moving train so please forgive the Quality. as I said most of the pics will be on tomorrow as soon as I get a usb connection line
talk about the old lady who lived in a shoe, not sure if its an orphanage or a brothel. what with the red light and all them kids clothes hanging to dry, or maybe the railway children,
my new eee com has another suprise it has a built in card reader ….and. its only for the card in my olympus so you lucky lot will get to see my pics on todays blog,
,
did not sleep all the way to Cairo , apart from the 2 hour sauna, there where no hiccups as one usually gets on journeys here in Egypt. on arrival in Cairo’s busy Ramses street station , reputed to be the busiest station in the world, I thought so too after getting off the train and having to literally climb over bodies strewn on the platforms. it was dark and seemed that most of the place was under a massive refurbishing job.
I went back the day after and found the whole of the station was being re vamped and I mean the whole of the station is draped in mesh dust covers,
inside the station
the name of this hotel is Capsis its 5 minutes walk from the station and its a rather nice place for the money 120le per night including breakfast thats 11 sterling or 22$,
cheap but not in quality. my room is a single room with en-suite and I am chuffed its got a bath that I am about to wollow in as soon as this writing is done + a down load of a few pics from the moving train so please forgive the Quality. as I said most of the pics will be on tomorrow as soon as I get a usb connection line
CANAL CLEANING near EL MINIA,
,sacks of corn and GRAIN SILOS Asuit
This guy got on the train in El minia sat next to me and ptomptly went to sleep after a while I thought the guy had died, then the snorring started deep and loud even nudging him made no difference after an hour I had enough of this noise and woke him up on the pretence of needing to go to toilet,
Posted by Life in Egypt at 10:29 PM 0 comments
Cairo here I come with problems
the main problem started when one of the men on the train opened the outer door to let some air in this refrigerated box no windows open so a bit of air from the doors would not go amiss, but along came a stroppy young train worker :-Its against the rules to open these doors while the train is moving????? and then we had another elder gentleman in eris uniform shouting the odds, at this speed we may get to Cairo in time for opening the steam museum at 7.30 in the morning, tarra for now from a steam bath on the Aswan /Cairo train,
.
cats in egypt
‘The tree cat wondering what is that man doing.
,
‘more food for the cats
,this kitten managed to catch her own dinner, a rodent
I LIVE HERE AND THIS IS MY CHAIR OK” YOU MAY STROKE ME IF YOU LIKE,
‘LION AND LIONESS FROM ALEXANDRIA ZOO.
‘KIND PEOPLE PUT OUT LITTER TRAYS FOR SOME CATS IN ALEXANDRIA
‘SOME EVEN HELP THE FISHERMEN
.AND SOME JUST LIKE WATCHING AS THE SEA POUNDS THE RETAINER WALL.
‘AND OTHERS ARE JUST PLAIN NOSY
.CLEANING UP AFTER THE TAKE-AWAY FISH MEAL
.THEN THERE ARE ALLEY-CATS
.BEACH CATS AFTER THE SHELLS
plants an things from my travels
Becoming a beach bum,
.peach coloured hibiscus
‘
one of the plants on the beach
‘just off the tide line there was a lot of these small holes they varied in size from 1/2 inch to 2inches in circumference , could be crab?
‘
/
.high sand cliffs! no not really just a trick of the camera placed on the sand in the lower shot.
‘PREPARING THE NET. HE IS NOT A FISHERMAN, HE IS A CRABBER.
The American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)
.last night Klaus and I went out for a chicken chicken spitroast. and had an eat in meal half a bbq fresh chicken each
with babaganou and humus with salad, you cannot beat fresh Egyptian food the way they use spices to bring out the flavours.
.spices by the bag or barrel full
.a whole island of my favorite fruit;- Pomegranate,
This government spends billions on advertising for people to come here on holiday or to invest in Egypt then once we (the foreigner) get here we are told by people doing their job no photo, what is wrong with taking a photo of a well laid out spice store in a huge supermarket like carrefore, just like this morning on the beach, no camera.no photo are there military weapons hidden in our food is my pomegranate really a hand grenade. is the cheese some kind of plastic explosive are the shells on the beach really shells.
beach bum
children at heart,
life near and on the beach in alexandria egypt
Lifes a beach in Alexandria egypt
and I am taking a respite from my travels for a few days, just to relax and do a bit of swimming and sunbathing,
there are more crows here than people as the summer season for the Egyptians finished 2 weeks ago the birds are left to clear up anything edible in the mass of garbage left on this paradise beach,
once one has waded through all the rubbish on the beach and got to the waters edge of the Mediterranean sea with its clear aqua water and white sandy beaches, its quite pleasant and one can dream of being on a clean beach on some distant Island,
.my pal Klaus having a day dream, he is becoming quite a beach boy.
Another dream of a net full of fish
one man and his dog does not make any difference if the dog has a drop on the beach to add to the bottles babies disposable nappies etc
‘
Peach coloured Hibiscus, another colour to my collection on another one of my blogs
http://egyptplants.blogspot.com/
.lots of jelly fish washed up on the beach ,plenty of dogs roaming on the beach
.and crows everyhere there was rubbish
.
‘shrimpers casting their nets out
lots of these on the beach, what look like balls of fibre;
plenty of cans on the beach
just outside of the apartment block there is more wildlife
.wildlife even inside the apartment.for those with arachnophobia switch off now,
,
and bird no 78 I have photos of,
I have seen a few more that have eluded the camera. one being the the white-breasted kingfisher,
Klaus saw one on the sea breakers while swimming late this afternoon. I was asleep on the beach, drat;-
‘plenty of shells on the beach I was hoping to find one big enough to adorn one of my shelves in luxor.
plus lots of gas pipes,
.a yellow spider better photos on this link
‘a ruddy darter
‘and two on the beach teasers
‘
.its nothing rude,
‘all that work catching a fish then finding and cleaning a bag to put it in and he leaves it on the beach,
i waited half an hour for him to come back for it.
.before deciding to pick it up ,
.sundown and the end of the day on the beach.
.once back in the flat I gutted the fish descaled it and cooked it for my diner Klaus did not want any because of the smell from the guts I opened by mistake while cutting ;a foul smell filled the apartment..
I very much enjoyed the fish with brown bread .
I way overdid the walking yesterday I got up at six made a cup of tea then went back to bed a rose for the day at 1030, and today all I need do is get a decent photo of the yellow spider,WHAT A HARD LIFE I HAVE!!!
one hours walk in 6th october alexandria
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
foody
Once the pomegranate was finished I had a full belly so the green orange will be for breakfast,
LAST NIGHT IN ALEXANDRIA
My last night in Alex and we went to a fish restaurant just outside the village,,ordered the food by sight squid and shrimps bought by the weight then sent to the kitchen for cooking,first we had sea food soup any normal person would have said that’s enough for me;in the soup there was pieces of squid prawns and half a crab/ all i will say it was yummy
.
then the main meal was served with metzas;-.tomato and cucumber,spiced chick peas, sliced beetroot,babaganu, tahina and tuhrsi, (mixed pickled veg) and fresh baked bread,
the squid now calamari was in a spicy tagine, and the prawns had been grilled,not going to show what was left, nothing to show only a plate full of prawn heads and tails,
and thats it from alexandria, will be heading for Marsa Matru in the morning. masalama from Alexandria,
.
then the main meal was served with metzas;-.tomato and cucumber,spiced chick peas, sliced beetroot,babaganu, tahina and tuhrsi, (mixed pickled veg) and fresh baked bread,
the squid now calamari was in a spicy tagine, and the prawns had been grilled,not going to show what was left, nothing to show only a plate full of prawn heads and tails,
and thats it from alexandria, will be heading for Marsa Matru in the morning. masalama from Alexandria,
Birds in El-Fayoum/ Siwa
20.00 last night I departed Siwa and arrived in Lake Qarun after a tiring journey of 14 hours. again i have chose another wonderful location to take photos this being one for birds, already i have taken 10 different species 4 being first time sightings,I have so much to blog And so many photos to sort, I do not know where to start.the internet was off more than on over the past few days , So I will leave Siwa out for now when I get back to my flat i will make a new site just on Siwa and Shali. these next photos are from lake Qarun,SLENDER-BILLED GULL,LARUS GENEI.
I CAME TO LAKE QARUN TO FIND SOME MORE SPECIES OF BIRDS, AND I GOT JUST THAT ,
TODAY’S BIRD IS THE SLENDER-BILLED GULL, LARUS GENEI. .
they say there are 2000 of these birds on lake qarun this photo was taken in a small area. as I travelled about 5 kolometers along the lake I saw 7/8 flocks as large as this. my estimate is double what they say.
TODAY’S BIRD IS THE SLENDER-BILLED GULL, LARUS GENEI. .
they say there are 2000 of these birds on lake qarun this photo was taken in a small area. as I travelled about 5 kolometers along the lake I saw 7/8 flocks as large as this. my estimate is double what they say.
Bar-Tailed Godwit, limosa lapponica
from the lake Amoun Siwa
This little beauty is not mentionen in my book of birds in Egypt.
can anyone name it please,
Little White EgretBar-Tailed Godwit, limosa lapponica
Marsh Sandpiper.Tringa stagnatalis
hooded crow chasing the kestrel
2 Little stints and a Little ringed plover
hooded crow and a little stint
shells on the lake beach
and pebbles brought in to stop the shore line taking land
Sugar time for the house sparrows
PIED WAGTAIL
The cattle egret has found some fish in the fishing net.
Lake Qarun (Birket Qarun) in the Fayoum of Egypt
ONE of the reasons I have come back early is because I have been travelling around Egypt the wrong month to see the birds, not that I did not see any but most of the birds that come to Siwa oasis and the Lake Qarun migrate here in the winter and from what the local people told me in both places the best time to see the birds is in February /March ,
The Lake qarun has become such a cesspit that many of the birds do not go there any more the numbers have been dwindling over the past several years. one reason and the main reason is the pollution,
most of the surrounding villages including the Town of El Fayuom deposit the sewage in the lake Fayoum is 27 kilometres from the Lake, there are some people in Egypt who care about what is happening to the lake its supposed to be a wildlife protected area , the reason I left there was the police on the lake, On my second day in the Helnan Hotel, where I stayed after being told by yet another lying Egyptian taxi driver,this is the only hotel open near the lake. what he should have said was:- this is the only expensive hotel in the area:-
many other hotels and retreats have been closed by the powers that be
many other hotels and retreats have been closed by the powers that be
This next piece is taken from a eu page,
The condition of Lake Qaroun has deteriorated rapidly, since inlets and outlets are sealed off and drainage from approximately 482 million square meters of surrounding agricultural land filters into the lake, said Wafaa Amer, chairman of the environmental conservation division of the Ministry of the Environment. The drainage then evaporates and settles on the bottom of the lake as salts and nitrates.
Amer delivered her statement yesterday during a meeting of the agricultural committee within the People’s Assembly in response to an information request filed by Hasan Abdel Ghufar. She asked for an inquiry into the declining fish levels in Lake Qaroun and for an investigation of threats from nearby industrial projects and wastewater.
An enormous amount of wastewater has found its way into the lake during the last year alone, said Amer, emphasizing that the pollution was due to poverty in the surrounding area and the harsh penalties imposed on farmers for committing infractions. “If I wanted to punish these people I would first give them an alternative way to make a living, instead of fining them and increasing the severity of the penalties, seeing as they have no other source of income,” added Amer.
Egypt could meet the fish demand of the entire Arab world by establishing fish farms on the Mediterranean coast, ( this is what the laid off factory workers of Fayoum were told before mking the fish farms in Fayoum) she said, arguing, “We could emulate Cyprus, which uses helicopters to harvest the fish from its farms. After the fish are frozen, the helicopters could bring the fish back to other countries.” She added, “It does not make sense for us to eat fish taken from waters in which we dump our sanitation and agricultural wastewater.”
Kuwaiti businessman Nasir el-Kharafi has proposed seven projects to make use of the lake’s water, and two factories have been shut down for polluting the environment, Amer confirmed.
IT DOES NOT MENTION THE BIGGER PROBLEM OF OIL POLLUTION :- MOTOR BOATS ARE NOT TO BE USED ON THE LAKE Many local people have boats with outboard engines that have not been used on the lake for several years these are tucked away in backyards and front gardens of the owners,
for fear of the police confiscating the boat + a heavy fine .
while walking along waters front where all the fishermen have their sail and rowing boats. I saw some police chasing each other in inflatable dinghies on the lake I asked The guy I was with what was going on and was told they do this all the time. Has the sail boat done something wrong I asked, he said no. do they stop the sailboats for money, like the do in Luxor and Aswan:- I asked. sometimes he said depends if they have small fish. What do you mean I asked again: the fishermen can only take a certain size of fish from the lake, some abide by the rules others do not. because we local people prefer the smaller fish for grilling. they also taste much better because the longer they are in the lake the more pollution the take in,and this makes a bad taste on the fish, after seeing the murky waters of the lake its quite audible that the lake is polluted to quite a high content, also the salt levels are very high. this I found out before I read up on the last article.
So I asked again if you the locals cannot have motorized boats what are the police doing with seven ,
Surely they can inspect catches as the boat comes to shore. all they need then is one police man in a patrol vehicle in each area of boat landings. this is Egypt Mr Tony. they make the law and they break the laws. no matter if the yanks or the un. or Our minister of environment make the laws. laws in Egypt are meant to be Brocken. and another man became quiet knowing he had said too much, its so sad that the Egyptian people cannot do anything to protect their living and livelihood, and being lied to by guvornment officials. that they can grow and feed fish to the whole Arab countries.
.
.
I had decided to stay for another week, the previous day I met the owner of a fish restaurant and after a very nice meal of local shrimps and local veg Etc, we had a talk and one thing led to another and the offer of a flat was brought up. , I went to see several of the flats in the vicinity of the restaurant an the Lake front.
and after a lot of bargaining and telling him I was almost an Egyptian etc, I got the price down to 60le per night no further negotiation on a weeks rent, and of I went to enjoy my rather expensive last night in the hotel. I used all its commodities like a free swimming pool and a free bird watch from its terraces overlooking Lake Qaroun, I got down to do a bit of blogging and downloaded my photos of the day from the camera. Close to the phone was the dial for this and that, . why not I thought spoil myself one time:
On the dressing table there was also a cuisine price list, pot of tea with milk , lovely, 10le. Then I came to my favourite sweet, crème caramel. yummy yummy, price 20le.
and again I thought why not, picked up the telephone dial 2 for room service. Hello room service,
Ana ais wa chai hallib wa crem caramel. bait 107,shukran’
easy one would think in a all Egyptian staff hotel.
say again please,
then I tried English.
Please may I have a pot of tea with milk, and a crème caramel, in room one hundred and seven.
say again:-
ok so i asked in my native tongue.
Gai cwpaned o de a creme caramel. os gwelwch un dda.custudle cant a saith,
and again the room service said say again please, and I wondered if I was talking to a robot,
put the phone down and went to the reception to order.
He must of understood what I said even though it was in Arabic, because he asked for my room number.
and off I toddled back to my room,
half an hour later my order came, with the bill of 44le. one cup of coffee, and crème caramel with a blob of synthetic cream and a cherry on top, the cherry was on the cream not the cream and cherry on the crème caramel, The cream may have filled half a teaspoon so the cream was dwarfed by the glazed cherry.
Did not make a fuss I thought maybe the rich always get coffee and a blob of cream with their creme caramel makes up for the price they have to pay in their everyday life, and by this time all the anger had gone and I paid the man. one thing that put a smile on my face was the amount of sugar sleeves they gave there was sweetener, white sugar, cream coloured sugar but no brown sugar, and that to me as a very rare coffee drinker is an offence. and the coffee was the worst I have had while living in Egypt, and I did not even order it.the following morning still in Enjoy my money hotel mode,
I was up at first light. taking a dip and watching the birds coming in to eat whatever was left over from the night people,s food. bits of bread some nuts maybe, usually plenty of nuts about.
and the hooded crows taking advantage of the wind coming from the lake. they seemed to be playing king of the castle but this was crow of the spike on the spire,
then the kestrel came in landed a stones throw from the pool, and here I was in the pool where my canon was not allowed, even with my underwater camera by the time I got out of the pool for a position shot of the kestrel behind the flower bed it would have flown away. then the sun rose from its nights sleep beyond the horizon. and it was time to get a shower and a hot bath , preen myself for breakfast in case the pretty young Chinese girl who was full of complaints about the service the day before breakfast, might be waiting for me to join her.
The day before she waited 15 minutes before I CALLED A WAITER OVER, THOUGHT I MAY HAVE IMPRESSED HER WITH MY MASTER OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE EVEN THOUGH MOST WAS IN SIGNALS LIKE GET OVER THERE NOW A YOUNG LADY IS WAITING TO BE SERVED, I MEAN ,I MEAN SERVICED, NO I MEAN SHE WANTS SOME BREAKFAST, breakfast the first day was chosen from the menu. I was unsure of what to order as I had never been in a hotel with a full breakfast menu, I once ran a hotel here in Egypt and we have a B&B in Wales. so know from experience some of the food will not be fresh. so first I ordered 2 boiled eggs. thinking that they will boil while I have my cup of pure orange Juice and cornflakes with a pot of tea,
and with my boiled eggs please may I have some toast, yes , and off he went to the kitchen area or was it the fridge. five minutes later he emerged with all my offerings on a silver tray , well stainless steel anyway,
the boiling water came in a flask with all the trimmings to make tea, ie sugar and tea bags, the milk came with the cornflakes , they where not really cornflakes but looked like large round white rice crispies,
then there was quason and sweet cake with two white bread rolls all stale the fool was foul not even any spices in it only olive oil, beans and olive oil do not go well with each other fool needs some spices, so that was left after the first taste, eggs seemed to have been warmed up from the day before, as the yellow was stone cold, but no prob as I like eggs whatever as long as they are cooked, boiled eggs with toast I like a bit runny same as a fried egg I like to see that a chick has not started to form,
The tea making was the reason I thought I would spoil myself and order in my room six cups for 10le,
the second days breakfast was a running buffet type,
nothing that impressed me! no boiled eggs? so I ordered 2 with toast as there was a loaf of bread on the buffet table, no toast he said, ok i will have the quason, two slices of bread and the eggs came luke warm with cold yellow. but there was seconds of everything as I was the only person up at a stuppid hour of 6.30.
I could have had a lie in breakfast was on the go from 6.15 till 930. god knows what the breakfast would have been like at 9.30. but at 6.30 the crepes and the quason where fresh the tea was hot but not the eggs, and there was proper cornflakes, like the day before the pure orange juice was from a carton thus it was maybe 50% juice so I had the local drink of hibiscus that is always good as long as its not diluted to much. as i was leaving the breakfast room the young lady appeared looking very just got out of bed, well at least she said good morning. Or was it what you looking at,This next bit is taken from Helnan foyer brochure. and to my mind cost me 340$ .
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HELNAN AUBERGE FAYOUM HOTEL
The Auberge was built as a hunting lodge by King Farouk in 1937, and has seen many famous personalities cross its threshold,mostly for hunting parties.
It also became a favoured retreat for political figures.
Today the hotel is a first class hotel, with many amenities that can only be found at the auberge while visiting the fayoum area and Karoun Lake, on which the hotel maintains its own port.
——————————————————————————————————–what port are they talking about if its this one in the above photo its not a port there are no ports on the lake
and the place is very well maintained with its crumbling walls even the defence walls have crumbled away.
One of the amenities is so polluted the only thing you will get for free is dysentry if you decide to go swimming outside of the hotel boundary walls.
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HELNAN AUBERGE FAYOUM HOTEL
The Auberge was built as a hunting lodge by King Farouk in 1937, and has seen many famous personalities cross its threshold,mostly for hunting parties.
It also became a favoured retreat for political figures.
Today the hotel is a first class hotel, with many amenities that can only be found at the auberge while visiting the fayoum area and Karoun Lake, on which the hotel maintains its own port.
——————————————————————————————————–what port are they talking about if its this one in the above photo its not a port there are no ports on the lake
and the place is very well maintained with its crumbling walls even the defence walls have crumbled away.
One of the amenities is so polluted the only thing you will get for free is dysentry if you decide to go swimming outside of the hotel boundary walls.
the internet in fayoum was very limited it worked in the garden but not very well in the room, so i just did a couple of spots , packed my gear and headed off to my what i thought would be my new flat for a few days,
on arrival in the village there was not a soul about so I had a walk down the lakes side to where i saw the police playing about the day before,
took a few shots of the fishing boatsand one of the police boats.all spanking new with the best yamaha 55 engines available,
took a few shots of the fishing boatsand one of the police boats.all spanking new with the best yamaha 55 engines available,
as I was heading towards the end of the what is the cornish a rather nasty policeman confronted me . yalla imshi yalla, I just stood and stared him out who the f******* hell are you swearing at I said in English., yaallaaa, he said again. I want to visit the mosque I said in Arabic, then he got really pissed. thinking I could speak arabic, he then called for another cop, as I walked back the way I came he was shouting and being very offensive,WELCOME TO THE TOURIST. WE NEED YOUR MONEY BUT NO PHOTOS.
The only place on my travels I had no problem with the police was in Siwa, and as one man said we have no problems here, the Sheihk runs Siwa the police only come when we have the bloody yanks staying in the paradise hotel .tomorrow we have a bus load of C I A people coming, and 2 lorry loads of bloody shirta to guard them,
HERE ON THE OUTSKIRT OF THIS SMALL VILLAGE BY THE LAKE THE GUVORNMENT HAVE CLOSED A NICE HOTEL CALLED THE PANORAMA,AND ITS SISTER THE PANORAMA VILLAGE, THEY SAY ITS NOT UP TO STANDARD FOR TOURISM.EVEN THOUGH ITS JUST BEEN BUILT????????? WHO PAYS THE PIPER. its also mentioned in touregypt.net as a good hotel to stay.
The only place on my travels I had no problem with the police was in Siwa, and as one man said we have no problems here, the Sheihk runs Siwa the police only come when we have the bloody yanks staying in the paradise hotel .tomorrow we have a bus load of C I A people coming, and 2 lorry loads of bloody shirta to guard them,
HERE ON THE OUTSKIRT OF THIS SMALL VILLAGE BY THE LAKE THE GUVORNMENT HAVE CLOSED A NICE HOTEL CALLED THE PANORAMA,AND ITS SISTER THE PANORAMA VILLAGE, THEY SAY ITS NOT UP TO STANDARD FOR TOURISM.EVEN THOUGH ITS JUST BEEN BUILT????????? WHO PAYS THE PIPER. its also mentioned in touregypt.net as a good hotel to stay.
THE PANORAMA HOTEL AND VILLAGE TAKEN FROM THE LOCAL VILLAGE
, THE GUVORNMENT OR SHALL WE SAY A GUVORNMENT OFFICIAL IS BUILDING A 20 MILLION POUND HOTEL IN THE CENTER OF THE VILLAGE FOR TOURISTS, SO WHAT WAS THAT POLICEMAN HIDING.? HE I WAS TOLD LATER WAS THE GUARD FOR THE BOATS HE KNOWS THESE BOATS SHOULD NOT BE ON THE LAKE. THIS NEW HOTEL IS OPENING IN MARCH AND STRANGELY ENOUGH THE BOATS ALSO HAVE A NEW DOCK SOME TWENTY KILOMETERS FROM THE VILLAGE,
that morning my back was really playing up its had three weeks of carrying bags from Luxor to Cairo then Suez, Ismalea,Port Said , Alexandria, Marsa Matrouh, Siwa then the Fayoum. that was going to be my final stop anyway another week would have been nice to see the obelisk and the pyramid of Medium. but if I stayed it would have been more back pain . the final nail in the coffin as to my decision to head home was not the police they do not bother me, I am used to their bad behaviour of trying to frighten people, if I offered him money as Alli said they would have let me take all the photos I wanted, and gone back into his piss stinking hide hole.
Remember I made a deal for the flat? As I arrived back in the coffee shop the deal had gone up to 150le per night, the sheroot driver had told them he dropped me off the night before in the posh hotel,
and like most of these Egyptians the price had gone up. so I told him the deal from last night or I go back to luxor, and you can leave the flat empty for six months. no he said . I will rent the flat, to who I said a local fisherman for 250 per month. then he too got aggressive because I know to much about Egypt.
Just as I ordered a cup of tea before heading off to luxor. I met 3 guys, they are in the previous blog
They had come from Cairo 92 kilometre for some Lake Qaroun fish, they had bought the fish when they to decided to have a break before heading back home, then they where asked by the restaurant owner if they wanted him to cook some of the fish they had bought from his uncle,
when i had finished my tea i turned my chair to sit facing the lake, and the three guys had started to tuck into the fish they had twoo types of fish cooked seven of each they affered me to eat with them i told them i had a big breakfast, and was not hungry. then i asked if i could take their photo , as in the last blogspot,
then when the meal was almost finished they ordered another seven fish to be cooked, by this time we had learned a bit about each other. they asked what was I doing;-I said I was on my way to luxor. no train till 12. midnight so no rush I said. 3 hours later they said we need a sisha, come with us we will take you to fayum from there catch a bus or taxi to Beni Suef for a train to luxor. one of the guys not going to mention names . .
had been to fayuom a few years ago and remembered a nice retreat place by the lake some 20 kilometres from where we where,
but before we left the cool box had to be replenished first with some ice seeing they are not getting back to Cairo untill late, and there was need to buy more fish, scince they had eaten most of the first buy,
then we headed off .on arrival in the retreat all was derelict. and a face appeared in one of the windows,
welcome welcome then we had a story on how the governments bully boys come around and demolish a few walls and then close the place or as in this case have made concessions of making the place up to European standards, the owner had one of the retreats chalets facing the lake and we all went an the roof, what a fine view across the lake and along its shore lines, then I was told of the days they had birds in cages and a couple of shetland ponies drawing a cart with tourists on board, they had paddle boats in a man made lake off the Qaroun lake. all gone he said but today his aim was to take our money he only had one sisha pipe no tobacco so we are offered tea on his fine balcony, while one of the guys takes the owners work boy for some tobacco and tea to a nearby shop. the nearby shop was 30 minutes 15 each way using our car,
it was nice sitting up on the balcony just the place to be a retreat no mosques within hearing just peace and quiet, I was going to ask the owner if I could stay a few days . untill he gave us the bill for one sisha and four cups of tea, not forgetting we had to go for the stuff, and we headed off disappointed into the rather nice sunset heading for Cairo, Al Fayuom, on arrival in Fayoum we stop in a coffee shop to have some food, and a sisha, there one of the guys made it his business to find out how to get me to beni suef, one hour later I was in a service mini bus, PHOTOS OF THE POLLUTION,OF WHAT THE PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH NEAR LAKE QAROUN.
Originally named Crocodilopolis, then Arsinoe, Medinet El-Fayoum, often quoted as the “land of roses”, was the main place of worship of the crocodile god, Sobek. Apparently, during the ancient time, crocodiles were adorned with gold and fed honey cakes and meat by the priests of interest are the huge wooden waterwheels.The waters of the Bahr Yusef are distributed throughout the oasis from Medinet, the capital of the Fayoum. Approximately 200 of the great waterwheels are located throughout the oasis. The Seven Waterwheels, a Fayoum landmark, are surrounded by mangos, palms and willows. A great stone obelisk was erected in honor of Senwosret I in Abgig during the 12th Dynasty.
Located about 80 Km to the south west of Cairo, Fayoum emerges on the map as a bud blooming from the stem , Fayoum has played an important role during the different eras of the Egyptian history , traces and remains can assure these facts from different periods like “ geese of Maidum” Hawwarah pyramid from pharaonic periods “ Fayoum portraits” from Graeco – Roman and different Monasteries from the Coptic period , Fayoum is well – know for its unique “ Sawaki “ which means “ water wheels” as it has many water stream and that explains the name “ Fayoum “ which is derived from word “ vium” which means water in ancient Egyptian language
(The Citadel of Qaitbey) Alexandria, egypt, Fort Qaitbey
Fort Qaitbey (The Citadel of Qaitbey) Alexandria, Egypt
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Tuesday, 30 November 2010
A day with the romans looking at a bath tub= modernn toilets to go with it
I will wait to get back to Luxor before I put all the 200 photos on this blog but you can read up on the 3 places I visited today on the links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_of_Qaitbay
The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (meaning ‘Mound of shards’ or ‘Potsherds’) is a historical archaeological site located in Alexandria, Egypt and is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages no cameras allowed in here so go to this link. .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Kom_el_Shoqafa.
These tombs were tunneled into the bedrock in the age of the Antonine emperors (2nd century A.D.) for a single wealthy family still practicing the ancient religion. As a privately financed project, it is an engineering feat of some magnitude. These tombs represent the last existing major construction for the sake of the old Egyptian religion. They are alone worth the trip to Alexandria. Though the funerary motifs are pure ancient Egyptian, the architects and artists were schooled in the Greco-Roman style. Applied to the themes of Ancient Egyptian religion, it has resulted in an amazing integrated art, quite unlike anything else in the world.
A winding staircase descends several levels deep into the ground, with little chapels opening from it, furnished with benches to accommodate visitors or mourners bringing offerings. There are niches cutout to hold sarcophagi.
Vestibule and Central Tomb Chamber
These are the main chambers. They are lit by a single electric light bulb that throws the chamber into green, a perfect staging for that composite art. In the center of the facade, the familiar solar disk is carved below frieze of serpents. Left and right are two serpents wearing the crowns of upper and lower Egypt. These are not the lithe cobras of Saqqara or Thebes. They seemed to be designed as modern book comics. In the Tomb Chamber, the dead lies on a lion-shaped bier attended by Horus, Thoth, Anubis, and other familiar funerary deities and funerary equipment: Canopic jars, the priest in his panther skin, and the king making an offering to the deceased in the form of Osiris. These figures are rendered in Greco-Roman style. To the traditional scenes are added bunches of grapes, Medusa heads, and a variety of Greek and Roman decorative devices. The overall impression conveyed is not easily analyzed and yet is unmistakable.
http://www.touregypt.net/alpompey.htm Pompey’s pillar, from the road
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/romantheatre.htm I do not need to show my photos at the moment go to this link
first there was a street with chairs and sofas,then the toilets and suites to go with the old tub,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_of_Qaitbay
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a modern memorial to sailors the back is more impressive than the front view
These tombs were tunneled into the bedrock in the age of the Antonine emperors (2nd century A.D.) for a single wealthy family still practicing the ancient religion. As a privately financed project, it is an engineering feat of some magnitude. These tombs represent the last existing major construction for the sake of the old Egyptian religion. They are alone worth the trip to Alexandria. Though the funerary motifs are pure ancient Egyptian, the architects and artists were schooled in the Greco-Roman style. Applied to the themes of Ancient Egyptian religion, it has resulted in an amazing integrated art, quite unlike anything else in the world.A winding staircase descends several levels deep into the ground, with little chapels opening from it, furnished with benches to accommodate visitors or mourners bringing offerings. There are niches cutout to hold sarcophagi.
Vestibule and Central Tomb Chamber
These are the main chambers. They are lit by a single electric light bulb that throws the chamber into green, a perfect staging for that composite art. In the center of the facade, the familiar solar disk is carved below frieze of serpents. Left and right are two serpents wearing the crowns of upper and lower Egypt. These are not the lithe cobras of Saqqara or Thebes. They seemed to be designed as modern book comics. In the Tomb Chamber, the dead lies on a lion-shaped bier attended by Horus, Thoth, Anubis, and other familiar funerary deities and funerary equipment: Canopic jars, the priest in his panther skin, and the king making an offering to the deceased in the form of Osiris. These figures are rendered in Greco-Roman style. To the traditional scenes are added bunches of grapes, Medusa heads, and a variety of Greek and Roman decorative devices. The overall impression conveyed is not easily analyzed and yet is unmistakable.
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/romantheatre.htm I do not need to show my photos at the moment go to this link
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.and for those of you who think Queen Victoria invented the Victorian bath tub think again here is one that’s over 2000 years old
Alexandria Egypt
A room with a view ,Alexandria.
the view from the 11th floor room superb, that’s all I have to say after a 7hour train journey that also was superb.
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after a couple of hours sleep I woke up to this
then there was the sunset over fort qutbey, after the bright sunlight this afternoon the uv lens was on the camera, the next shots where taken with the 100×400 lens,
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fire engines this and that
I Try and avoid taxi’s its not that I cannot afford it ,its just the hassle one gets as soon as one enters their domain,
its like you are at the mercy of a con artist, I knew where the roman arena was its just a few blocks from the Cecil hotel where I stayed on our first visit to Alexandria 2003,
but I am 5 kilometers from there way down the promenade rd so me with my knowledge of egypt and its cheap ways to travel caught a minibus to the Cecil hotel and get a taxi from there to the roman pillar once in the taxi I showed him the map” yes ” I know by this time we where on our way and it soon became clear we where on a detour of this fascinating city of Alexandria and before long we are touring the harbour are as if we are looking for a naughty house.
Do not get angry stay calm and raise the voice only when being made to look stupid.
We pulled up in front of one of the harbor gate entrances my English speaking taxi driver knew that here there would be someone who speaks English?
Ah my good man I said as a head popped through the drivers window, first words he asked! you are german yes? Why are you insulting me I asked and went into my Welsh language mode,
and pulled the map out once again, ah you look for cat combs, no I said I look for a cat scratch post,
another head cocked to one side, where you go? my taxi driver know where I go? he said he knows where I go. the naval guy pointed to the map and said you are here, Yes I know I am here. this taxi brought me here, to the dock yard, yes said the sailor, ok now we know where I am can you show this blithering idiot taxi driver where I want to go, OK its about 10 kilometer from here yes I said As I looked at the map . so Alexandria is 500 kilometers long, no no said the port guy, 35 kilometers, so its only about half k from here looking at the map. yes he said something to the taxi driver and off we went, as I said my, shukran, shukran, and Masalamas, must try to act like an English gentleman at all times!!
15 minutes later I was outsine the catacomb
Re leaved that it was a place I wanted to visit today, all 3 of the Roman places are within one kilometer of each other,
100 pounds said the taxi driver. as if it was my fault he had to go out of his way to the docks to find out where I wanted to go. I handed him ten pounds and gave him a few words in Arabic. If you do not accept this gift I will report you to the police for unwanted aggravation. its a good job I got my bag and myself out of the taxi first. he left in a really bad mood, I guess he was angry been outdone by a tourist?.
After the visit to the catacombs;-by the way it was a very interesting place and a well worth the visit for 25 le.I managed to get a few pics underground on my mobile, that I will share once I finish my this journey around Egypt in 3 weeks.
by the time i had seen and left the catacombs i had already done Fort Quatbey, and was getting rather tired, so I stopped for a rest in a coffee shop had some coke and a water pipe. the guy there said the arena was just 1/2 kilometer from here walk about 10 mins taxi about the same because one way street,
i asked how much 5 pound. so decided to take a taxi, as i got in the taxi a cop from the catacomb entrance came over and had a few words with the driver, and there was a verbal disagreement going on then the cop asked how much i pay ,, 5 pound i said,, he said no twenty, ok ten i said and the driver gave the cop 5le,
i got out of the taxi. said i would walk in Arabic, much to the disapproval of the cop. and here I was on the way to the pillar and all it is, is a pillar standing on a mound,
with police shouting no camera, again that’s because money was not on offer
then I came across this fire station first I thought ,cannot be a fire station with doors that do not open or would be very difficult to open to let the fire engine out.
There was seven of these doors the last two where open and they housed two fine specimens of a by gone era. one Izuzu fire tender,
THIS FIREMAN WARDER WHATEVER WAS VERY RELUCTANT ABOUT ME TAKING PHOTOS, I managed to get several and the guy had enough of this enthusiast, but as leaving still had the word baksheesh on the end of his tongue,
this looks like a Dennis it had steel wheels with hard rubber tyre,
.looking a bit neglected this iawa motor cycle combination.
.now that the beaches are privatized along the cornish here in Alex there is no place to rent these water motorbikes like all else they will be left to to rot
‘the latest in police mobility.
.I also saw Michael Jackson in town with his bald minder.
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Alexandria library. biblothea
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Alexandria and zoo
Sunset from A freinds roof in 6th October Alexandria
Here we are on the beach some 300 meters from his Apartment,
Here I am in the Mediterranean sea being thrown about by the waves
.It was overcast but the water was nice and warm, hopefully I will get some sun tomorrow and go and play again in the Med
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thought I would try one more time to see if I get the right answer, so on leaving the hotel I showed the male receptionist the map and pointed to the zoo, Ah yes, he said with a broad smile on his face, get a taxi I call you one be here in 1 minute,no thank you I said from my looking at the map its no more than 3 kilometers from here. so I will walk if you point me in the right direction, or I can catch the tram to sidi geber.
then it is two streets from the main train station. OK he said. pointing the tram is that way and you need to go that way. great,it was one thousand yards to the tram there was 5 carriages. and I got on the first one, no no said the tram driver. and said a few words that I caught the jest of, ladies only in the first two carriages, and headed off to the third carriage these carriages each have a ticket collector ;-why they call him a collector of tickets is beyond me he gives tickets, pay 25piestas and get a ticket Sidi Geber ; I said as he gave me a piece of paper. then the problem with the tram stops is there is no name on the stop so only regular users know which stop to get off at,, I decided to get off at the 4th as I knew or had a bad feeling I was going in the wrong direction. Its also Friday and most shops are closed til 1.30, most shops have someone that speaks English or a little English. as i got off the tram there was three young ladies chatting so I asked! speak English? yes and i had a second smile of the day. How far to the zoo. what zoo, house for animals:-
oh you need taxi!! no I have very strong legs as I pointed to my hairy body parts. and the smiles turned to a giggle, you very pretty, ( its strange how the ladies here think I am handsome,) yes I know I said very bashful.
so how far my pretty legs have to go before I get to the animals house. why you get tram to here, the geber is one stop from where you get on, the other way, now you have to go 3 kilometers. thank you and good day to you, as I headed off back the way I came, then it started raining, just what I needed not seen rain for 3 years and it starts now, not to worry its a treat walking in the rain after 3 years dry hot weather, five minutes later my treat it was gone. and I was near Sidi Gaber station this is the station I got off after the train journey from Port Said unrecognizable as I got off the other side of the station, then I went under the railway bridge and the road split in 4 directions. not a place to go eeni mini mini mo, down which road do i go. so I stopped in a florist .
get a taxi he said. no I will walk. how for is it and down which road. down here to the square straight across and maybe 100 yards is the zoo entrance we do not call it a zoo we call it the park. ah” that’s why I can not find it, 10 minutes later I was in the park, the park photos are on me and my camera, strange the way they put things here, sorry, what for, that you brake a limb while climbing over the rubble, or did the station have limbs that moved the station to one side.
.island of dreams
.even the feral cats have litter trays,
.the musicians have the sheets on the wall
Thursday, October 7, 2010
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Tuesday, October 5, 2010
ALEXANDRIA PARK ZOO.
.behind the zebra
.sheep
.peacock
‘goat
‘Andromeda
.and another with two flat humps
‘brown bear
‘\African elephant
.ram
.flamingo
Chinese geese 
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.ailsbury duck
.black winged stork
;pelicans
.lioness
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,shetland ponies
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;- Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus (Asiatic)
/Lawrence’s first novel is set in the Eastwood area of his youth and is narrated in the first person by a character named Cyril Beardsall. It involves such Lawrentian themes as the damage associated with mismatched marriages, and the border country between town and country. A misanthropic gamekeeper makes an appearance, in some ways the prototype of Mellors in Lawrence’s last novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. The book includes some notable description of nature and the impact of industrialisation on the countryside and the town. Its provincialism may be compared with the novels of George Eliot and Thomas Hardy.
billy goats
Suez
941 The Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge-DeSoto Fluid Drive.
.1941 DE SOTO , http://www.allpar.com/mopar/fluidrive.html,
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. crow on my balcony at 6.30 this morning acted as my wake up alarm
.then the skies started to cloud over as I was leaving for Ismalia,
O K it was a cheap room , but the only other hotel was the red sea hotel, and they wanted 110$ for a back room. or 120$ for a Suez canal view, I only want to sleep in it;- not buy it I said and left.
the room i spent the night in was 95le could have had a room for 45le with no air con, so opted for air con. not until I lay on my bed did i see the ceiling above my bed was caving in but seemed ok at the moment. then started to look around at the rest of this room I had rented for 95le
paint peeling off the walls from damp , rotting door any way this was a palace to the one they wanted to rent me in my next stop Ismalia,
.you can rent this room for 35le per night, but they do not tell you about the hassle from the cleaners, at first look this place seemed OK at 35le , I was all enthusiastic about getting to see 270 species of bird to stay, just leave my backpack and get off with my cameras.it was rather a pleasant walk along the canal mostly it was parks with e few shelters for courting couples even foursomes as is the way here unmarried girls cannot go out on their own always with a friend so the friend does the same. and its a foursome.
‘there was also some bees and wasps in the park and as usual it was only I who took any notice of them. on one of the splendid water fountains there was this potters wasp nest. even thought I was within a few inches of them I had no probs,
ONLY PROBLEM I HAD WAS WITH THE SECRET POLICE, It seems that mercure hotels have taken over the Island on the lake, II can understand the signs no photos because the suez canal runs through Lake temsan
no photo in this area as there are naval warships on the lake no entry here either but I paid a secret police 50 and he let me through, next thing 100 yds down the road another one jumped out from nowhere, he must have had a call from his pal there is a meal ticket coming, so I put myself in reverse and headed back to the hotel, one does not argue with these pricks just back off its the best policy. the only birds I saw was a whoopoe and a bulbul. on leaving thge island I saw a fan tail crisolis
too far to get a good shot,
,two species of the jacanoinse tree in bloom
.all this beauty and man has to spoil it this is the fresh water canal fed from the Nile river here there is 2 locks before it enters the lake Tamsen , there is a huge bottle bank here
then on entering the hotel more excitement. excuse me mister your room is 50 le per night.
do not try doing a Luxor on me:- I said” and marched upstairs already I was in a bad frame of mind after the fracass with the police, first thing on entering my room was a filthy moggy on my bed, and i needed a toilet bad,
on lifting the loo seat up it was full of crap and urine, the water cistern was none functional;- no water, so i packed all my stuff and left the filthy place, on leaving the hotel to go birding i asked if the cleaner could clean my room. yes , but left it till i came back. I know someone had been in my room as they left the cat in there, good job i took all my kit with me. camera computer etc.
all she did was throw a bucket of water in the bathroom as there was water still dripping off the door and walls including the mirror, i just put my hands in the air and said my good buys. to the hotel and Ismalia
SUEZ CANAL ,PORT SAID, EGYPT
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the new road bridge over the canal
container vessel on the canal
.this is the suez canal rail crossing bridge its as close as i could get to it with the police restrictions in the area,here is a model from the steam museum Cairo.
one of the villages near the railway tracks
tak-taks this form of transport is not allowed in the cities,
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‘Rice fields near Ismalia
new orange grove being planted
tell you about my hotel later
Another crow and a raven
I LEFT CAIRO AT 5,15 THIS MORNING ON THE ONLY TRAIN THAT LEAVES RAMSES STATION FOR SUEZ, ALL THE TRAINS AFTER THIS LEAVE FROM ANOTHER STATION ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF CAIRO,
| Cairo (Ain Shams station) | depart | 06:30 | | | 09:20 | 13:10 | 16:15 | 18:45 | 21:45 |
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IT WAS ANOTHER PLEASANT TRAIN JOURNEY EVEN THOUGH IT WAS 3RD CLASS WITH WINDOWS OPEN OR NONE EXISTENT AND PLASTIC SEATING TAKE A PIECE OF CARDBOARD TO SIT ON WAS THE ADVICE I WAS GIVEN BY A GUY IN THE HOTEL. NOT FOR COMFORT BUT TO STOP MY CLOTHES GETTING DIRTY, AND HE WAS RIGHT,
THE FLOOR HAD A GOOD LAYER OF DUST, NO SOIL ENOUGH TO GROW SPUDS IN.
TOWARDS THE END OF THE JOURNEY IT BECAME APPARENT WHY THERE WAS SO MUCH DUST/SOIL. THE LAST 40 KILOMETERS INTO SUEZ THE TRAIN PICKED UP SPEED ALSO MOST OF THE DUST FROM THE TRACKS THAT CAME IN THROUGH THE NO GLASS WINDOWS AND OPEN CARRIAGE DOORS.
THERE WAS ONLY A FEW MEN AND ONE WOMAN IN THE TRAIN UNTIL WE GOT TO THE NEXT STATION, THERE IT FILLED UP TO STANDING ROOM ONLY. MOSTLY SOLDIERS HEADING BACK TO BARRACKS IN ISMALIA. THE ONE SITTING BY ME KEPT A CLOSE EYE ON MY CAMERA, HE SAID NOTHING UNTIL I PULLED THE CAMERA TO MY EYE AS WE ARRIVED ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE TOWN, THEN WITH A SARCASTIC VOICE OF NO CAMERA CAME FROM HIS NO SMILE FACE, WE WHERE IN THE MILITARY ZONE BARRACKS TO BOTH SIDES OF THE TRAIN, ARMY LORRIES PARKED IN ROWS AND LOTS OF TANKS, NOT CONTAINERS BUT MACHINES WITH LONG GUNS ON THEM,
STRANGELY ENOUGH NONE OF THESE GUYS CARRIED ANY WEAPONS AT ALL NOT EVEN THE ONES IN UNIFORM.
AFTER 5 HOURS TRAIN JOURNEY WE ARRIVED IN SUEZ,
the train I traveled on is the longest one,with now window its what they call fully air conditioned. as luck was I went from one carriage to another
to get on the platform.others had to get off by jumping from the static carriage.
.these two women make the one on yesterdays blog a dwarf, they where lifting and carrying 500kg on the head when boarding in Ismalia , but now the poor donkey has to carry them and the goods,
NO WONDER EVERY ONE THAT WAS GOING TO SUEZ TOWN GOT OFF WHEN THE TRAIN STOPPED ONE MILE FROM THE STATION. THEY EVEN HAD TIME TO LOAD UP THE DONKEY AND CART WITH FRUIT THESE FOLKS GOT ON THE TRAIN IN ISMALIA LADEN WITH GOODS ON THEIR HEADS,
ONCE I GOT OFF THE TRAIN AT THE STATION IT WAS ANOTHER 6 KILOMETERS BY MICRO BUS BEFORE I ARRIVED NEAR THE CANAL ITSELF. (SUEZ TOWN CENTRE)
QUITE A PLEASANT TOWN BIG CHANGE FROM ALL THE HASSLE ONE GETS IN LUXOR.
AFTER MY TRAVELS I MAY THINK ABOUT MOVING FROM HASSLE CITY.
AND GET SOME NORMALITY IN MY DAILY LIFE.
AS MOST OF MY FOLLOWERS KNOW I PHOTOGRAPH BIRDS AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT MOVES. AND SOMETIMES EVEN IF ITS DEAD,
I HAVE PHOTOS OF 77 DIFFERENT SPECIES OF BIRDS, AND TODAY I HAVE ANOTHER 2 FROM THE CORVUS (CROW) FAMILY AND ONE DRAGONFLY. THIS TRIP IS MAINLY TO PHOTOGRAPH EGYPT’S WILD LIFE AND ADD TO MY PHOTO COLLECTION THAT I ENJOY SHARING WITH YOU , ITS A PITY THAT GOOGLE IS NOT AS AMENABLE, MAKING THINGS AWKWARD DOWNLOADING PHOTOS FOR THE POSTS!!! SO I WILL GET UP EARLY IN THE MORNING AND BLOG BEFORE I HEAD OFF TO ISMALIA WHERE I SHALL TAKE AS MUCH TIME AS I NEED TO SEE AND PHOTOGRAPH WHAT WILDLIFE THERE IS THERE.
;THIS SCOOTER SEEMS TO BE PURPOSELY MADE FOR THE CROW.
EVEN FOR A GUY DOING A BIT OF MICKIE JACKSON MOON WALK
THE SHOT WAS OF CROW. STANDING ON THE WALL.
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.TUG BOATS IN SUEZ ,SALEM 9, IS WITH A BUOY CRANE THESE BUOYS ARE THE CHANNEL GUIDES FOR THE LARGE SHIPS THAT TRAVEL UP THE CANAL FROM THE RED SEA, SALEM3 IS BELOW
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THIS HOTEL IS 400 METERS FROM THE CANAL.AS I WAS GOING DOWN THE HALL STAIRS OF THE HOTEL I SAW THROUGH THE WINDOW THIS HUGE CONTAINER VESSEL. MOST HOUSES HERE ARE 6 FLOORS AND I COULD SEE THE LAST 5 TIERS OF CONTAINERS,
Looking towards the end if the canal to the red sea.
one of the parks along the canal
,THE acacia flamboyant tree this tree by the Suez canal;-has blossom and pods at the same time,
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.ruddy darter male above and female below
.cattle egrets in the acacia tree
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and another strange photo from the myegypt photographer.
too much salt in it,
.sunup from the train
.there are lots of rice fields between Zagazig and Ismalia some being planted others ready for cutting and some already cut ready for threshing,
,there is also a lot of chick pea grown in the same area
cacti and mango in abundance along the railway line
many people grew the lufer plant over their homes this plant is featured in my plants of Egypt blog,
the most modern of bicycles have reached Egypt
cattle egrets in the park
Crested duck, mallard
in Wild about Wales Tags: Crested duck, egypt, Mallard ducks, Nile pollution, Rainbows, topadstools [Edit]
Getting quite tame this crested duck, The Crested Duck is a breed descended from the mallard . It has its appearance because it is heterozygous for a genetic mutation causing a deformity of the skull. As a result, when a pair of crested ducks breed, the young sort out in the usual 1-2-1 ratio:-does this mean the duck is quackers:- the rest of the photos are from 2010 when i lived in Egypt’
- where the name toadstools come from is a bit of a mystery,
toad fair enough, looks like a frog:of various tailless stout-bodied amphibians with long hind limbs for leaping; semiaquatic and terrestrial species.
then we have stools ! as a child I had a stool it had 3 legs and was used mainly for Milking the cow, sorry lets rephrase, I had to sit on the stool to milk the cows,
I also used it to sit in front of the old farm range open fire to make toast (elf and safety put paid to kids poking the fire to make toast)one thing thats gone out of fashion now is the toast fork, this had 3 prongs and was extendible save fingers being burnt, best toast was made on an open oak log fire, spread with a dollop of home made butter . and if the foster parents had done the monthly shopping maybe some Robertsons marmalaid ,brother being older than me had first choice of the badge that came with the Jar. cant call them goly wogs anymore. its called racist,” Jees” any way I had the gollies bruv did not want, click to see gollywogs
November the fifth the fork was used to roast chestnuts on the embers of the dying bonfire, “oh to get my childhood back”
then there is the meaning of stool as I knew as a child’ I was not allowed to swear or use any of the naughty words not that I knew any any way
, apart from tits, cows had four of them and they was refered to as tits. the animals shit was refered to as “no two’s” or human “no two’s” refered to as a stool and I am not going to take a photo of my stool to show you, we all shit even the flies shit. I know its not talked about, but if you do not want shit, you will have to stop eating.
so the definition of toadstools. a kind of frog that sits on a stool . or a kind of frog that looks like shit. so lets refer to them as a fungus having an umbrella-shaped pileus.
better explain what a pileus is, its the umbrella shape that sits on the stem.
now you will will have to go to www.nilecruise.wordpress.com</a> to see my version of toadstools in Luxor Egypt,
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its 16.00 and time for a cuppa been at it all day. I mean looking for a place in cyberspace to park my nilelife blog and for the time being I have made one with an old entry I did in 2008 with wordpress, so I go on the balcony with my tea hoping to see the swallows flying about on the thermals. I think at this time of day the flies also go up there and fly on the thermals, that’s why the birds do . but instead of seeing lots of swallows there was a rainbow very strange one may think in an area that has not seen rain for God knows how long and for that matter only he knows when it will rain again , not only was this rainbow above me but it had no beginning or end on the ground, so it was pointless me going out there in my t shirt shorts and flip flops looking for the elusive crock of gold.
doubt very much here in egypt whether it would have gold in it anyway. more like donkey shite,
the whole sky was blue apart from this vapour trail from one of the airplanes vapour trails that the thermals have caught and spread it out, so me being brainy and that?
have worked it out that the rainbow is the wfect of the sun in the gasoline that the vapour is made from you know the plane runs on high octain fuel the engine eats the fuel( not eats it but this is one big airoplane with two turbine engines that eat fuel 3 air miles to the bucketful) so is bound to leave some of the fuel in the trail,
so not only is the air above Luxor polluted but the nile is too. hence all them nice colours the police made in the water yesterday,
and seeing I have now used up all my space with yet another photo. and writing only taktarget=”_blank”>es up a teeny bit of space, you will have to go to. here Where you can see todays visit to the market with the christmas turkey goose and rabbits that i did not buy not even tempted s I said a pigeon will suffice stuffed with rice it will make a real paupers xmas dinner , the reason i did not go for a bunny was there are not enough days left to fatten the ones I saw. leave off , I will be going to the roof restaurant for my xmas dinner, 20 egp they wanted 50 for a bloody skinny rabbit, then I need another 2 quid for rice then theres the gas to cook it,
then i have to clean up all the mess. not on for xmas! its supposed to be a holiday, ooh nearly forgot I saw not one santa but 2 on my walk to the market. you can also see him on the wordpress link.
Happy days,
- After just one week of blog with Blog.co.uk I am out of space again thats 20mb in 5 posts, WELL THEY SAID BEFORE I JOINED I WOULD GET 20MB FOR THE FIRST 2 MONTHS, ???
Select the files (photos, audio, video or other) you want to upload from you computer. Attention: You only have 288 KB disc space left. Click here to expand your disc space from 10 MB to 1000 MB (1 GB). 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Add another file Add another file.
and we want 40 euro for more space, , bollocks
I will have to teach myself how to blog with wordpress give me a couple of days I have nothing else to do.and i iwll be up and running again, did i say i had nothing to do?
Oh yes I do! I need to go get some photos from the Market today its Tuesday last one before Xmas its cold enough with a lot of wishfull thinking we may have some snow so it looks real festive like Dickensian times and I can act like scrooge and just take photos, as i have no need for a turkey maybe a pigeon or for the first time ever skin myself a nice little bunny rabbit,
and seeing I cannot put any more photos on here you are going to have to wait for the results of todays play. and if I do not learn how to self blog . something like nilelife.myegypt.co.uk. would be nice well easy for me to remember.
you will have to wait till after the festive season but if you are so intent on seeing past blogspots, you can spend you festive season looking through MY LIFE OVER THE PAST 18 MONTHS. SOME GOOD STUFF IN THE POSTS EVEN THOUGH I SAY SO MYSELF,
THIS IS ALL i CAN MANAGE FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON A FEW BALLOONS,
HAPPY XMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR
my blogs are nilelife/1/2/3/ 4 and the latest http://www.nilelife5.blogspot.com/ Click on the photos to enlarge http://skywatchegypt.blogspot.com/
http://egyptplants.blogspot.com/
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/ myegypt bird blog
http://egyptwildlife.blogspot.com/ birds of Egypt
http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com/ birds of Egypt
http://www.nilelife.blogspot.com/ photos from around Luxor Egypt
http://www.nilelife2.blogspot.com/ photos from around Luxor Egypt
http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/ Dragons and damsels
http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/ butterflies and bugs
http://myegypttours.blogspot.com Tombs and temples of Egypt
http://mydeserttrip.blogspot.com/ new in the process of building lots of photos of the white desert already on. 30/11/09 http://reflectionsofegypt.blogspot.com/ A trip down the Nile
http://tonythevolunteer.blogspot.com/
all the last weeks posts are now onhttp://nilecruise.wordpress.com/
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Luxor temple from the west bank
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chasing fish into the net
Camel on the run West bank of Luxor.
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I CUT SOME HASHISH FOR THE CAMEL, Camels love hashish so does the cow,
Garbage along the Nile
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The Nile river is so low the farmers have been told not to use the pumps to water the land not as if they can anyway,the Nile at this time of year is where the pump is standing
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carting a load of hashish for the camels.
these two are quite content eating whats left of the mallow plant,
Back yard farms are common along the Nile,
two donkeys that have been tethered here for the past month,
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Police boats that pollute the water these are found all over Egypt
Egypt, Luxor Temple,
in egypt Tags: ANTHUS PRATENSIS, balloons in Egyp[t, birding in egypt, Common snipe, COMMON TERN, Coot, egypt, Felica atra, Gallinago gallinago, glossy ibis, grey heron ardea cinerea, Luxor Temple, MEADOW PIPIT, nile life |, RAMASES111 STATUE, RING NECKED PLOVER [Edit]
looking at egypt through my lens
life in egypt
ALLOONS ON CHRISTMAS DAY
THE TOP OF THE OBOLISK AT LUXOR TEMPLE 
PYLON WALL lUXOR TEMPLE 
egypt, Luxor Temple, nile life RAMASES111 STATUE
The back of Karnak
http://www.touregypt.net/karnak.htm
history of the temple
Boy was I pleased to see the back of Karnak,,see my pics of Karnak temple , here, click on the pics to enlarge
ITS THE BEST THE HOTEL COULD COME UP WITH ,I HAVE ADDED A BIT MORE SNOW TO MAKE IT LOOK AUTHENTIC, 
As I left the area where all the toadstools where growing in large numbers,
I headed over the bridge in the direction of the airport first I had to cross the avenue of the sphinx,
looking towards Luxor Temple
the half way point looking towards karnak temple along the new dig of avenue of the sphinx last digs will be the two roads that bring the traffic into Luxor Town Centre. the road I am
building the mud brick walls along the avenue of the sphinx not many sphinxes have been found so they will make them up out of cement or what they think the sphinx looked like 3500 years ago. on at the moment will be diverted around the back of Karnak .
there is a lot of work still to be done on the avenue mud brick walls some as high as thirty foot the mud brick will give the pedestrian walking in between the sphinx that old feeling (Been conned Again) as they walk the three kilometer stretch from Luxor too Karnak that has cost 50 million euro up to date, and will cost another 50 million before completion i guess. the Egyptians have strange ways for abstracting money from let us say the USA, who yesterday gave a list of cities going bankrupt across the states, but here we are in luxor spending some of the 2 billion dollars aid. they can afford to spend 20 million on a heritage centre 17 million on a ROWING CLUB AND PULL THEM DOWN 3 YEARS LATTER,
just to show you how high some of the curbs are off the road this one is almost 2 ft high, so me I walk on the road as I start to walk over the new bridge I am joined by the road cleaner who moments earlier was cleaning the horse and donkey droppings off the tarmacadam, he thought I would give more than what his employers give as wages, so stayed with me until I stopped to take photos of a scene that I do not suppose others have taken, that being the rear of the famous Karnak Temple, from this angle I can see both the precincts of Mutt and the temple itself,
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that’s it for today’s post more on the avenue of the sphinx later,.
history of the temple
Boy was I pleased to see the back of Karnak,,see my pics of Karnak temple , here, click on the pics to enlarge
ITS THE BEST THE HOTEL COULD COME UP WITH ,I HAVE ADDED A BIT MORE SNOW TO MAKE IT LOOK AUTHENTIC, As I left the area where all the toadstools where growing in large numbers,
I headed over the bridge in the direction of the airport first I had to cross the avenue of the sphinx,
looking towards Luxor Temple
the half way point looking towards karnak temple along the new dig of avenue of the sphinx 
building the mud brick walls along the avenue of the sphinx not many sphinxes have been found so they will make them up out of cement or what they think the sphinx looked like 3500 years ago. there is a lot of work still to be done on the avenue mud brick walls some as high as thirty foot the mud brick will give the pedestrian walking in between the sphinx that old feeling (Been conned Again) as they walk the three kilometer stretch from Luxor too Karnak that has cost 50 million euro up to date, and will cost another 50 million before completion i guess. the Egyptians have strange ways for abstracting money from let us say the USA, who yesterday gave a list of cities going bankrupt across the states, but here we are in luxor spending some of the 2 billion dollars aid. they can afford to spend 20 million on a heritage centre 17 million on a ROWING CLUB AND PULL THEM DOWN 3 YEARS LATTER,
just to show you how high some of the curbs are off the road this one is almost 2 ft high, so me I walk on the road .that’s it for today’s post more on the avenue of the sphinx later,.
balloons and ibis
Posted on December 23, 2010 by tony myegypt
balloons and Ibis above the Nile river in Luxor Egypt 
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Little green bee-eater,merops-orientalis
Posted on December 22, 2010 by tony myegypt
Little green bee-eater (merops orientalis), Four sequence shots of the Little white egret
Little white egret (Egretta garzetta), ok so its a photo of its legs cant get them all right.Little white egret (Egretta garzetta), thats a better shot 
Little white egret (Egretta garzetta), 
Little white egret has landed 
,ALL IN A DAYS WALK
WILD LIFE HAS TO PUT UP WITH DIRTY PEOPLE 
MIRROR IMAGE 
THE CANAL NEEDS CLEARING 
THE PLASTIC POOL BANK 
Hooded crow(corvus corvone cornix), 
Hooded crow(corvus corvone cornix), 
moorhen 
Grey Heron (ardea cinerea),IN FLIGHT 
MOORHEN AND SQUACCO .HERON..
COMMON TERN 
RING NECKED PLOVER 
COMMON TERN 
Little white egret (Egretta garzetta), 
MALE House sparrow (passer domesticus), 
MEADOW PIPIT,ANTHUS PRATENSIS 
Pair of crested larks ( galerida cristata), 
crested lark ( galerida cristata), in flight 
grey wagtail 
Coot,Felica atra
my 83rd bird species is the Coot,Felica atra ,first sighting of a flock on the Nile in Luxor Egypt 18.12.2010
coots on the Nile 
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coots on the Nile 
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Father Christmas is in town
I get many an admiring glance from the people as I walk along the Cornish with my equipment , not that I show it all the time usually its kept out of view, in case some one gets jealous, from the body its 8″ when not in use, then if I see a bird it will extend to a full 11″. so you can see why I get so many curious looks even frowns from passers by.
to see my equipment go to the last 2 photos on today’s blog.
father christmas in disguise Today I only took a short walk down to the promenade along the Nile in Luxor, A walk I do quite regular when I need to stretch my legs, for me jogging is out of the question as I have 3 slipped discs to take care of , so I try and keep a little healthy by doing a walk every day, so today’s blog is a mixture of what I saw on my walk, the father Christmas is or should be the last photo, as he was the last photo before heading home after my beer stop. Must replenish the system in my quest to keep fit. what happened in the garden pub. is another story of spoiling ones day.
http://nilelife.blog.co.uk/2010/12/16/the-muslim-community-in-luxor-10195651/
the hibiscus flower this is an unusual veriety as it is red and white there are several colours of hibiscus here click here to see more of the plants in egypt.
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the Acacia tree with its new growth
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the base of the kopak tree shows signs that the sparrows live here.
the colours of the Welsh flag in the bougainvillea and leaves,
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the pied kingfishers on the look out for a meal on the guy ropes of one of the cruise ships.
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tying up the sails on the mast ,
tying up the sails on a felluca 
the pigeon on the mast what one might call the poop deck
pied wagtail catching flies and certainly plenty of them here
I wonder if there is some seven up left in the can,
The little white Egret
and an exercise on tight rope balancing,
double exposure of the gull billed tern passing a felluca mast
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Cormorants in flight,
DID NOT LIKE THE TASTE OF THAT PIECE OF BREAD. they will eat the turds that come from the cruisers toilets not many about when most passengers have the runs,birds taste first and do not know tampons are not edible.
now I know who is polluting the Nile
I see no land captain
me either ! just some bloke with big equipment.
AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WONDERING HOW I GET THE BIRDS TO PERFORM, I DON’T THIS IS NATURE AT ITS BEST.
And to finish the day a spectacular sunset over the Nile and Luxor Temple taken at 18.00 from my roof balcony. see more sky watch egypt on here.
My equipment for those of you thinking dirty sorry to dissapoint,
but I am talking photography here not pornography,
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA with 100×400 lens 
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA with 100×400 lens fully extended
to see my equipment go to the last 2 photos on today’s blog.
father christmas in disguise http://nilelife.blog.co.uk/2010/12/16/the-muslim-community-in-luxor-10195651/
the hibiscus flower this is an unusual veriety as it is red and white there are several colours of hibiscus here click here to see more of the plants in egypt.
‘the Acacia tree with its new growth
‘the base of the kopak tree shows signs that the sparrows live here.
the colours of the Welsh flag in the bougainvillea and leaves,
‘the pied kingfishers on the look out for a meal on the guy ropes of one of the cruise ships.
‘tying up the sails on the mast ,
tying up the sails on a felluca 
the pigeon on the mast what one might call the poop deck
pied wagtail catching flies and certainly plenty of them here
I wonder if there is some seven up left in the can,
The little white Egret
and an exercise on tight rope balancing,
double exposure of the gull billed tern passing a felluca mast
‘Cormorants in flight,
DID NOT LIKE THE TASTE OF THAT PIECE OF BREAD. they will eat the turds that come from the cruisers toilets not many about when most passengers have the runs,birds taste first and do not know tampons are not edible.
now I know who is polluting the Nile
I see no land captain
me either ! just some bloke with big equipment.
AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WONDERING HOW I GET THE BIRDS TO PERFORM, I DON’T THIS IS NATURE AT ITS BEST.
And to finish the day a spectacular sunset over the Nile and Luxor Temple taken at 18.00 from my roof balcony. see more sky watch egypt on here.
My equipment for those of you thinking dirty sorry to dissapoint,
but I am talking photography here not pornography,
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA with 100×400 lens OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA with 100×400 lens fully extended 
panorama view of Luxor Temple Egypt my camera is always at the ready to shoot sometimes I only get one shot. but I see all these birds And i feel so blessed i can share them good or not so good photos
enjoy the 27 species of birds I saw on my way home from photographing the Glossy Ibis display , names of all these birds are on my birding in egypt blog.
the other photos that I took donkeys etc. are on the www.nilelife.blog.co.uk
- house sparrows
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Cow and cattle Egret 
Hooded crow(corvus corvone cornix), 
.- female yellow wagtail
- Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus
- fan-tailed cisticola. cisticola juncidis
Glossy ibis
CARRIAGES IN LUXOR EGYPT
. http://www.nilelife5.blogspot.com/
glossy ibis,Common snipe,Gallinago gallinago,
This is a very small bird (not much bigger than a thrush)and a rare visitor to the upper delta of the Nile,
. after a few shots it went and hid behind some rubbish i moved around the pond to get a better shot. got one shot in and tried to get closer then it flew off,
At 5.30 this morning I set out on my quest to photograph the Ibis that I have seen on my past walks coming in to feed in the wetlands on the west bank of Luxor, many times i have been in the wetlands watching the birds only to scare them away as i tried to get closer for some decent photos, so today i went before daybreak and sat in an area close to where they usually come in to feed, the only birds i could see was a couple of squacco herons, http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/squacco-heron-ardeola-ralloides.html as dawn was breaking the little white egrets came in in two’s and three’s. then a couple of grey herons landed, then 4 glossy ibis it was still too dark to get decent photos but it was a lovely experience watching all this wildlife, as soon as it was light the ibis came in hundreds of them some came to feed in this area and some flew off to feed further up river on the sand banks .photos are in sequence of the day breaking, first the farmers bring the water buffalo to the wetlands to graze, I am about 200yards from the path the 1st photo was taken on the 11.12.10 
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click above photo for link to gossy ibis close up shots. 
link to http://www.myegypt.co.uk/index.php?f=data_home&a=7 
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/little-white-egret.html more on my next post , the 15 species of birds I saw on my way back home,
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- p
Egypt wildlife
in egypt Tags: Bluethroat. Luscinia svecica, Crested lark, Gelerida cristata., Graceful prinia, Great Cormorant, phalacrocorax carbo., prinia gracilis. [Edit]
help in id of this bird please
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
birds along the nile
My thanks go to Anton Perez http://biologoybecario.blogspot.com/ for help in id of the birds.Names of some of the wild life in Egypt
The Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) is a small plover.
help in id of this bird please
Avadavat, Amandava amandava
The Red Munia, Red Avadavat or Strawberry Finch (Amandava amandava) is a sparrow-sized bird of the Munia family. It is found in the open fields and grasslands of Egypt and is popular as a cage bird due to the colourful plumage of the males in their breeding season. It breeds in South Asia during the Monsoon season. The species name of amandava and the common name of avadavat are derived from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat from where these birds were exported into the pet trade in former times.Common Snipe ,Gallinago gallinago ,
.A snipe is any of nearly 50 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and cryptic plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution,
Red tailed dragonfly, this species has a veriation of 12 and is found all over Egypt,
The dragons and damsel blog has over 30 different species
About half a dozen species of damsel flies occur in Egypt. Called “bluetails,” the common species is Ischnura senegalensis, which is found abundantly all over Egypt including the Western Desert, but not in Sinai, The eyes are prominent and the colored tail is distinctive. Their legs catch insect prey in flight.
‘http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/little-white-egret.html
The making of an egrets nest
The Little white egret (Egretta garzetta),lots of photos of this Egret on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/
There are 76 species I have photos of just in the Luxor Egypt Area,all the birds on here are on my birding in egypt blog, click on the link on the side panel,
just a few Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus straglers this time of year.
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in the winter they are here in the hundreds
main food is the abundance of water snails.
Cattle egret (bubulcus ibis), I call it the minder as its always catching the flies on the tied up Animals, donkeys, Cattle water buffalo,
2 herons species in one shot. little white egret and a juvenile squacco heron,Squacco Heron(Ardeola ralloides) the greyish heron is usually around the cruise boats the polluted nile has turned the plumage grey . I did do a blog on the nile pollution but the powers that be told me to take it down;harming the tourist trade is what they said. never mind the enviornment! money comes first. in this police state.
Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), and the little white egret,
Graceful Prinia, Prinia gracilis I see these little beauties almost every time I go on my walks
craw fish
potters wasp.
Black Headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)
Lesser Kestrel, Falco naumanni
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/02/htmlt
Striated heron (butorides striatus),
Black-winged stilt Himantopus himantopus.
honey buzzard ,Pernis apivoris.
Pied kingfisher (ceryle rudis), ready for the catch these never miss the fish target,
Down in one
Senegal Thick-knee ,Burhinus senegalensis.
.These are nesting on one of the government buildings opposite the Nile river near Karnak Temple.
Laughing dove , streptopelia senegalensis
Nile valley sun bird(Anthreptes metallicus
Kestrel falco naumanni. 3 nest 100 yds from my flat.click here for link
.pied wagtail
The tern I am quite confused with,,, this bird I first said it was the Caspian tern then a follower said it was not!! But now I see it quite close it sure looks like the Caspian . Any way its a tern and its beautiful
and another one has a meal will try and get the name of this wasp?
Oleander Hawk-moth
Brown-and-yellow Flower Beetle
(Pachnoda sinuata)
spiecies i do not know yet
Argiope bruennichi spider,
fly having a ride on the praying mantis,Archimantis latistyla
name unknown
o
striated heron
young night heron, same page as striated heron
Just thpought I would put this little pup on its from last December blog on my life living near the nile,
butterfly
one of my skywatchegypt. blogspot photos
white stork
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/whoopoe-upupa-epops.html 2 links
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/hoopoe-upupa-epops.html
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/common-bulbul-pycnonotus-barbatus.html.
cattle egret
common sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper, Tringa glareola
common kestrel, Falco tinnunculus!
yellow-billed kite
little green bee eater.
sedge warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
2 aylsbury ducks and a mix
Purple gallinule (porphyrio porphyrio),
common moorhen, Gallinula chloropus
Gull-billed tern Sterna nilotica
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/house-sparrow.html
willow warbler Phylloscopus trochilus…
grey lag geese common in egypt
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/hooded-crow.html
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/pied-wagtail.html
chifchaf Phylloscopus collybita,
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/
Laughing dove Streptopelia senegalensis
Grey flycatcher Muscicapa striata
Crested lark , Gelerida cristata.
Cyprus warbler, sylvia melanothotax
Black-winged Kite, Elanus caeruleus.
Yellow wagtail male
femalehttp://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/yellow-wagtail.html
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/scrub-warbler.html
fan-tailed warbler (or zitting cisticole) Cisticola juncidis
Bluethroat. Luscinia svecica male
Even if “white throated”, it’s also a bluethroat; a female one…
Graceful prinia, prinia gracilis.
Great Cormorant, phalacrocorax carbo.
cormorants and Terns
![[IMG_0232.JPG]](http://wildaboutwales.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/img_0232.jpg?w=300)
grey heron
Black winged Stilt, Himantopus himantopus
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/01/collared-dovestreptopelia-decaocto.html
.http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/06/hooded-crow-corvus-coronecornix.html
hooded crow,Corvus corone cornix 2 links
Kestrel falco naumanni
nile valley sun birds 2 links
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/nile-valley-sun-birdanthreptes.html
night heron
steppe buzzard
spur-winged plover
spur-winged plover
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/06/crested-lark-galerida-cristata.html 2 links
crested lark
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/06/swallows-in-shade.html
barn swallow 2 links
Lesser whitethroat,sylvia curruca
,Sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaeus
Water pipit, Anthus spinoletta
Tree pipit Anthus trvialis
Wryneck, Jynx torquilla
My first sighting of the Wryneck, Jynx torquilla 8/4/10
http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/04/fishing-on-nile.html
.http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/09/squacco-heronardeola-ralloides.html
little tern
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/european-bee-eater-merops-apiaster-and.html
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/black-winged-stork.html
Thrush Nightingale,Luscinia luscinia
different birds in one hours shoot
Little bittern. ixobrychus minutus.
olivacious warbler. hippolais pallida.
Kestrel hunting in the fields
Blue-cheeked bee-eater,merops superciliosus,
Clamorous reed warbler , Acrocephalus stentoureus ?
Egypt blog 2009/10
in Wild about Wales Tags: a close shave, grey heron ardea cinerea, Little white egret.luxor egypt, pied kingfisher, pied kingfisher.graceful prinia, Purple gallinule (porphyrio porphyrio), stilt, stint, Wallace and Gromit, west bank Luxor, YELLOW WAGTAIL [Edit]
This is from my NILE LIFE BLOGSPOT ALL 52 POSTS,, THIS IS NILE LIFE PRE THE REVOLUTION 2011. SINCE THEN EGYPT HAS BECOME UNSAFE FOR CHRISTIANS TO LIVE IN, I LEFT IN MAY 2011 AFTER MY LIFE WAS THREATENED SEE THIS LINK AND BEING STONED 3 TIMES ON MY WALKS.
The rat trap + 00.30 update I have put this on first. looking back and reading it 18 months later . it made me smile.nile life
The humain rat trap .
.As you can see by the feathers on the cage this is a well used trap that I was loaned by the owner of my flat: It stops the rats eating the pigeons and the chickens on the roof he said, and was very reluctant to borrow me the cage .
so last night I set the trap with a fresh piece of duck meat (cooked) as it seems my new friend likes the duck bones, all set I patiently waited for the little fellow to come from its hiding place under my wardrobe. that is situated near the computer. this my bedroom is the only room in the flat with air condition, and seeing its been so hot over the past 2 months I have moved my office into the bedroom , it also seems the little fellow likes the air con and has made home under the wardrobe, for it: its only a few paces to the kitchen.where he has made the kitchen a place to find food. for those of you who have not been in my blog before. go to the old post, as to why I do not like mice in my flat, click here
at 12.30 I had enough of waiting and thought maybe the the little guy had gone to sleep on a full belly, Just as I was falling asleep the trap sprang with a loud crack. no mistaking the trap had sprung , I jumped out of bed switched the light on and sure enough the little guy was in the trap. not bothered about being trapped it was just nibbling at the tasty morsel I had put out for food, now to take a photo I thought as I went about setting the camera on flash and macro. to take a photo of the mouse. it was so small and cute, I thought once I get a photo I will put it out on the balcony, maybe the owl is about and it will be a nice meal for the owl. may even get a photo of the kill. but to my dismay as I set my focus on the trap the mouse was so small it scurried off between the wires and went back under the wardrobe. this was a rat trap not a tiny mouse trap, ah well no worries will go in the morning and buy a proper trap .
.OK” nothing can be easier there are several hardware shops in the vicinity of my flat.
“WRONG” this is Egypt first there is the language barrier. OK look in the book find what is mouse. no mouse only rat, farah, OK the first shop . the young girl came from nowhere , how can I help. ah you speak English ,
of coorse;
I need a mouse trap!
looking blank she passed me a fly swat.
.No I said. for a mouse,
Then I realized this girl only knew the words yes ,no, where, how and can I help you.
so I had to refer to my new learned Arabic word for rat,
farah, I said,
still looking blank I made gestures of a rat with my fingers 4 legs long tail and she said wait ,
as she scurried off and brought a Friend speak good English she said,
OK” I need a mouse trap. then the first girl said “faraaah” yes I said small farah,spreading my fingers 2″ apart .
ah” moose . no I said not a moose, moose live in Canada. not Egypt, why you want catch moose in Canada,
OK I said, do you have a moose trap,
no only for Far aaah,
and as I had one of them I left the shop.
Mistaa, Mistaa, This boy take you to shop for moose trap.
And back we came towards my flat.
and here I was in a tee shirt and scarf place in the market just around the corner to my flat.
the boy had gone off to get me a moose trap. and the owner of the scarves/tee shirts was doing his best to make a sale on his wares. no the mouse is too small for them I need a tee shirt this big making a point of 1/2 ” with my fingers you need one for a faraah he said joking. yes I said when I catch my mouse I will put a bright red tee shirt and a white scarf on it so I can keep a check on where it is in the flat. a few minutes later in walked the boy with a rat cage trap.
and me, I went back to my flat. the local grocery shop is just below my home. now here is another surprise the guys name is Alfred. Alfred the shop.
why you look so worried Mr Tony. well I said not knowing his name . I am Alfred,
how can I help You. well I said I need a moose trap. why do you need a moose trap.
because I have one eating my bones in the flat I said,
How did you get a moose in your flat, not sure I said ! I think it came off the roof down the stairs and under my door, you mean a mouse Mr Tony. Alfred the great, I said putting my thumbs in the air. where I get a mouse trap.
as he pointed down the road . he said bottom of television street, the plastic alley shop.
Of course I said , after breakfast, of coorse said Alfred.
And its now 15.37 so have 3 more hours to wait before I set off for a normal mouse trap before this tiny moose. eats all my bones.its now 12.30 and a new twist to the mouse game. i walked all the way to the other part of town known as TV street some 2 kilometers going about winding streets, getting a minibus during the breakfast is a near impossibility unless its a Coptic driver,
and my dire needs where a must to get this mouse trap.
plastic alley as I call it is a large 3 storey shop off the main tv street that sells almost anything for the home. from tooth brush to a tv. on entering the alley I had to weave my way through a new delivery of Safes big ones small ones even tiny ones.
no camera on this trip to show you this show if safes. one thinks maybe the whole of the luxor people are coming into a cash rebate from the tax office take that as a Joke: that’s what tax is here a joke!
passing all the plastic containers wheelie bins to wc brush and the containers I headed for the hardware floor as a mouse trap is classed as hardware. or so one would think.
and rather than go through all the rigmarole I put up with this morning decided to find the blasted things myself, I found the cage rat traps with no problem as there was a whole stack of them some 6ft high, hm, I thought must be a plague of them rats in Luxor.
not a mouse trap to be seen Humane or a normal kill trap, so I took one of the traps back downstairs to the guy who takes the money, to ask if he had a mouse trap small faraaah,
yes he said how many you want, one as I only have one mouse, but knowing my luck and the amount of time I have taken to get a mouse trap I may need a dozen, and a big beam came to his face, 12 he said , and the $ sign lit in his eyes, how much for one . but first where is the mouse trap, which one you want the trap no kill or the trap to kill. the no kill is 50egp and the kill is 3egp. but where are they, over there just come in with the safes, He sent a boy to get one of each for my inspection and I gave him the 3 pound. no he said 3 is for 12, 36 pound.
oh I said as I grabbed the trap and gave him a fiver. no receipt thank you. I do not need to get my tax back. and off I headed back home joyfully clutching at my mouse trap.
On return into the flat I left the entrance door open as I had some kitchen refuse to take down stairs to the bin area, as I was carrying the bags out guess what, the mouse also scurried off and went up the stairs as fast as his little legs could carry him. I suppose he preferred the chicken food more than my duck bones.
but just in case it returns I have set the trap with a tasty morsel of duck: who knows it may have gone to tell the rest of the family about the place for cooked duck some guy feeds to the ants,
as I was cleaning the knife after cutting tha tasty morsel for the mouses return. I cut my finger.
No clean rag so the only thing handy was a clean pair of underpants. cut a shread off doused it in dettol to clean the wound and a wrapping until the blood clots and stops bleeding .
so my advice is this,, if a mouse comes into your kitchen kill it with whatever but forget about a mouse trap, or just leave it be and it may go away,
a link for those thinking of going to Egypt and what to expect. ,http://www.bloodylyingbastards.blogspot.com/.
Purple gallinule (porphyrio porphyrio),and The Little white egret
.Monday, December 20, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
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Sunday, September 26, 2010
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Saturday, September 25, 2010
Hoopoe (upupa epops),
Hoopoes are distinctive birds and have made a cultural impact over much of their range. They were considered sacred in ancient Egypt and symbols of virtue in Persia. In the Bible, Leviticus 11:13-19, they were listed among the animals that are detestable and should not be eaten. cos they live on the grubs in dung,
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Young hoopoe
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Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday prayer day
Is it for real , Now this gentleman farmer saw me coming its not prayer time, and neither has the gentleman had a wash or laid out his prayer mat;-. but, he has seen an atm walking by and its a must that he asks for money. while he was in prayer I made a quick turn and headed back the way I came.
.After 10 minutes I turned back and walked along the Nile shore line the gentleman farmer by now had given up on the atm idea or so I thought, He hurriedly grabbed a rope that happened to have a heifer on the end of it, and ran across my path into the Nile water. good day I said, he turned with a big beam on his face.
money, he said.
I had decided that I knew no Arabic. and said
yes please;-
at this the mosques had put out the prayer call.
Time to go and pray, I said, and made the gestures for prayer,
as the smile went from the gentleman farmer’s face.
23 september walk
.
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harvest moon
harvest moon at 18.00 from my balcony and what a good show it is this evening.
harvest moon Over Luxor Egypt 21/9/10 and sunset
Teusday’s sunset
and a lovelly sunset
Sunsetting between Ramses111 pylon Luxor Temple Egypt
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Labels: harvest moon, luxor egypt
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Oh what a gay day. I had today.
Its 3 years since I moved from the west bank of luxor, to this the main part of the now city of luxor. This is the new Coptic church the belfries dominate the skyline of the city centre.
the church backs on to the main rail line where there seems to be a bit of work being done to improve the road system http://nilelife2.blogspot.com/2010/09/railway-crossing.html
my walk today took me on a detour to find out what inconvenience the closing of the rail crossing
caused the locals, and from what I found none;-UNLESS THEY LIVED NEAR THE ACTUAL LEVEL CROSSING. as seen from this shot from atop the road bridge there is a road each side if the rail lines the far end of the photo is the rail station that has an underpass, leads to the platforms and the salem salem square, between me and the crossing there is a footbridge,see the nile life 2 blog, halfway to the footbridge there is another pedestrianunderpass. and bellow me under this bridge there is another level crossing.
my walk about for some reason has brought unwanted attention to the bum boys.
now who in his right mind goes to the top of a roadbridge in a Muslim country and says, yoohoo
a need some serviceing, this nice young man most likely his bike has been bought by a european queer, even offered me a banana. did he mean an oral job like:- eat a piece of fruit I wonder, should not think bad of these people Mr Tony, well not all the time!!
steel workers shop
and a shop that sells viagra, tampons and disposable nappies maybe the steel shop used to make chastity belts.
road training a horse
and another one that sank
no work for this horse and carriage today
as i reach the top of the bridge i get a good view of the tallest water tower in luxor
the best bread shop in luxor
some old houses that are in the demolish me stage,
some homes whose owner could well be a far distant relation to Cleopatra
with a new touch, the owner of a coffee and bubble pipe shop
a grand view of the market street it seems they have done all the paving but the tarmacadam is a late arrival again,
A date with a three wheeler. or is that a date on a three wheeler,
O K now I can understand tying a donkey up with twine but not a motor bike
the donkey is tied with a rope to the trike??
snooze time
its ok just come to pick me dad up
best use for a fire hydrant.keeping the dust down
Shoe shop and repairs while you wait
pots pots and more pots in the back room
done them shoe repairs yet.
chickens only three scrawny ones left.
lots of fish and flies on the stalls today
the luxor temple collumns in the evenings
A few more fruit for Dave beta fruit,
All the lemons are this size one lemon will make a litre of juice mixed with water and sugar.
not many houses like this one. with no balcony.
sheep pen just off the main highway
grapes today are 3le per kilo I wash them and then freeze, the guava are not so good lots of over ripe ones
snack time for this working donkey,
one of the many pump houses for land irrigation
Not sure what has happened to the guy who used to solder here, lots of sisha pipes waiting to be fixed.
home made invalid trike for sale two good tyres needs a few new parts like a seat and pedal drive chain
One of the many carriages that needs fixing,
door to door milk donkey
door to door scrap man.
door to door rag and bone man
could smell this from half a mile away, phew eeee.
if there is no balcony for the washing hang it up in the street
breakfast time for the feral cats lots to eat in the streets,
newly painted abode love these old houses with the solid wood doors shutters on the windows an beautiful balconies
someone setting up a furniture paint shop
ready to paint furniture for sale
nice abode in need of some TLC.
the main street has a couple of tyres as a manhole cover for the sewage drain
This is a freebee. well according to the sign,
FREE METHODIST CHURCH,
hello dear put the kettle on am just turning into the street.
mobile furniture paint sprayer, even has on office phone
this photo i took last year near maritem island resort. not allowed to fish near here anymore.
yesterdays sunset,
breakfast bar is closed for the day.
if you do not have a donkey use a bike.
hooded crow. having a good old craw.
this evenings sky watch egypt
a blast from the past.Om Kalthoum,
While on my walk about yesterday I stopped in a coffee shop on the outskirts of the city there was all kinds of photos adorning the rather grubby walls, lots of spiders webs that seem to be the norm here.(keeps a check on the mosquito’s I am told)the newest of the photos was one of Prince Charles and his new bride Diana in the carriage on their way to the marriage ceremony 29 July 1981. Prince Charles and Lady Diana married in St Paul’s but this photo collage took my attention i could name the famous buildings from Cairo,
but only one of the faces
Umm Kulthum (Arabic: أم كلثوم, born أم كلثوم إبراهيم البلتاجي , Umm Kulthum Ebrahim Elbeltagi; see Kunya; Egyptian Arabic: Om Kalsoum). (circa 1900; February 3, 1975). Various spellings include Om Koultoum, Om Kalthoum, Oumme Kalsoum, Umm Kolthoum and Ümmü Gülsüm . She was an Egyptian singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Tamay ez-Zahayra village that belongs to El Senbellawein, she is known as the Star of the East (kawkab el-sharq). More than three decades after her death, she is still recognized as one of the Arab world’s most famous and distinguished singers of the 20th century. Umm Kulthum is widely regarded as the greatest female singer in Arab music history. she is the only female in the collage.
so for any of you followers , CAN YOU NAME THE OTHERS,
THIS WAS ANOTHER PHOTO ALL THE PICTURES WERE IN BLACK AND WHITE SO ONLY THESE 2 SHOTS CAME OUT.
ON THE WAY BACK TO MY FLAT I CAME ACROSS SOME MORE BLASTS FROM THE PAST SUCH AS THIS D7 BULLDOZER,
1979 Rhodesia officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in Southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979.this dozer was part of a fleet of construction plant used in the copper industry then run by Sir Robert Mc Alpine,
at the time I was the stone mason building the face stone to the bridges of the first phase of the A55 Old Colwyn to Abergele by pass,when it was raining and laid off the stone work, I had the opportunity to drive some of the machines on the road construction, loved it and often thought about giving up the stone trade. during my working life I have had the opportunity to drive many construction vehicles, this was the only d7 the other dozers were the more famous d8′s
rb 22 cranes these are the most challenging of machines especially when loading lorries from a drag line some 50ft to 100ft away one mistake could demolish the vehicle or at worse kill the driver.
OK that’s my walk down memory lane.but sometimes walking around this city of Luxor I feel I am still in the sixty’s
where we are all waiting to come int0 the twenty first century.
it seems the sign is trying to say fire station lots of civil protection dotted around the city of luxor. and looking at the way they hoard all the rubbish on the roof tops they need them.
I mean fire service,
wonderfull place to walk around full of antique building curiosities
chuff chuff is a cumin
Do not ask! all I know is I am pleased to say I am on foot and heading in the direction of the airport on foot. 100 yd from this sign I found the Praying mantis
there is a train coming!! what train?
train No 6435 is a loca train heading to Aswan
no room in the bin for this minibus,
lets make it 1940s style.
street seller ,,,, grapes seem to be in demand at 4 le per killo
bananas are 7 le per killo and guava at 5le
all grown localy.
A rebar cropper, what a find, never did I think I would see on of these in a backstreet of luxor. ha ha.
a typical farm yard on the dumps of luxor,
food brought in for the horses and working animals of luxor,
a stray pup being rounded up by the boys , another day another toy, no point in my saying anything. neither is there any point in phoning the animal welfare here. A C E or BROOKS .
ok now I can do some wildlife photography olong the canals that cross the fields,
all of the photos will be on the blogs side bar,
claw fish
.I have seen a lot of these dead after the kingfisher or herons have eaten the main body,
then In May I saw what was a hole of the fish , yesterday I came across what was a whole fish looked as if it had just died then while alking further into the wetlands there was a lot of them that seemed to be eating in the weed that was laid on the banks of the river
Any one know if they are edible. and if so can I cook them like I cook prawns??
Blog 21
Thursday, September 16, 2010
BUFALLO WITH ITS MINDER
THIS ONE HAS HAD IETHER A THORN OR A STING IN ONE EYE
HEY HOW ABOUT TAKING MY PHOTO
DO YOU LIKE MY EARS
BETTER SAY YES OR I WILL CHARGE YOU
blooms of the nile
Flower of the Nile
Mallow flowers
A bit of this and that on my walk to the wetlands Luxor.
a bit of artistry with the stair windows that lead to my flat
above, the window in fish eye lens
below, normal shot
both windows in fish eye,
Water bufallo heifer almost coming into calf.
Snack time. for this hard worker.
the dove keeping the donkey company.
one of many old steam housboats on the Nile
not sure why this dead tree was carted to the nile, but looks great as a piece of driftwood?
an old sump of a well
humus all sheathed up ready for the harvester
festive of Eid
Friday 10th September 2010 here in luxor was the Eid festival. so Me and my wife went over the Nile to see what was so special about this festival.
On the ferry going across there was a lot of youths male and female all with the same greeting “HELLO” and the same question “WHATS YOUR NAME” my name is Achmed or Fatma or Mohamed. my answer was “WHY”, so now we have a bunch of youths who now know me as “WHY”
Problem with these youths is, if you answer them and say and what is your name, they do not know what is said so the next word from them is another word they have learnt off by heart is “I need Money” ,,,, don’t we all?
On arrival at the jetty we are greeted with a fountain of water and lots of kids enjoying a cool spray of clean water. I guess this was a newly made fountain (VANDALISM)
and not before long there where many people enjoying the newly acquired shower unit
After making a short detour around the spray, we now needed a place to watch or shall I say wait for the special Eid festival to start, and headed for the Nile valley hotel roof restaurant to get a grand view while having a beer, on arrival we are told no beer until after the festive occasion. and had to make do with a cold hibiscus drink , very nice it was too,
then as we where the only 2 on the roof, we ordered a meal , we used to come to the Nile valley quite regular between 2003 and 2007, a great place to watch the Nile, and as Pam often said “people watch” and today it was another case of people watch. I only had my new
U TOUGH OLYMPUS camera with me and it was set at “unknown to me “at fish eye
even the panorama was set at fish eye, but quite surprised the photos came out OK,
This shot is made up of 3. in the camera and shows a grand view of the 60 million $ marina
nearest the camera. over the river is the city of Luxor and my flat is dead centre of the panorama view,
ooh” look camels
and more camels a whole camel train, heading off to the Sahara?
no just a half hour ride along the main road to the Valley of the Queens. but the charge was more than i would pay to go sahara safari.
from here we also had a good view of the fountain the youth had made to cool themselves down
and across the river to the new dig , The new promenade;
on our way home I had a choice of configuring the new camera or getting these shots of the luxor temple pillars with my mobile phone camera.
THE ARROW IS WHERE MY FLAT WAS
Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى ‘Īdu l-’Aḍḥā) “Festival of Sacrifice” or “Greater Eid” is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God, but instead was able to sacrifice a ram (by God’s command).[1] Eid is also about spending time with family and friends, sacrifice, and thanksgiving for being able to afford food and housing. In traditional or agrarian settings, each family would sacrifice a domestic animal, such as a sheep, goat, cow, or camel, by slaughter (though some contemporary Muslims do not sacrifice an animal as part of their observance, it is still a very popular tradition, even in Muslim communities in Europe). The meat would then be divided into three equal parts to be distributed to others. The family eats one third, another third is given to other relatives, friends or neighbours, and the other third is given to the poor as a gift. WHAT THEY DO WITH IT IN MECCA IS ANOTHER QUESTION, AS ALL WHO GO ARE WEALTHY. the part I like is when the kids ket to play football with the goat or sheeps head, not the testacles. the Sheihk of the kill gets to eat them no guessing as to why,.
kapok-ceiba-pentandra
these old booths are about to be demolished and 3 kilometers of booths will replace them once the new promenade is finished.
There are about 20 of these trees about to be destroyed on the Nile front. the old Promenade is being lowered by 3 metres. no one knows why, only that they must have too much money.
This page has the trees in flower from this years season.
now they are just about to blossom again.
http://egyptplants.blogspot.com/2010/01/kapok-ceiba-pentandra.html
these are one tree that one cannot hug.
One of the best restaurants in Luxor is the roof restaurant situated on the top floor of the Quick time restaurant, the view is directly at the Luxor Temple and across the Nile River and the mountain range of thebes home of the valley of the Kings and Queens + over 100 tombs and Temples of the Pharonic era, the Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was founded in 1500 B.C.E.
Known in the Egyptian language as ipet resyt, or “the southern sanctuary”, the temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut, and Chons and was built during the New Kingdom, the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from nearby Karnak Temple (ipet-isut) to stay there for a while, with his consort Mut, in a celebration of fertility – whence its name.
The earliest parts of the temple still standing are the barque chapels, just behind the first pylon. They were built by Hatshepsut, and appropriated by Tuthmosis III. The main part of the temple – the colonnade and the sun court were built by Amenhotep III, and a later addition by Rameses II, who built the entrance pylon, and the two obelisks (one of which was taken to France, and is now at the centre of the Place de la Concorde) linked the Hatshepsut buildings with the main temple.
To the rear of the temple( the part in the photo nearest the camera) are chapels built by Tuthmosis III, and Alexander the Great. During the Roman era, the temple and its surroundings were a legionary fortress and the home of the Roman government in the area.
Down by the river nile
I USED to enjoy living in Luxor, Egypt. every day I could go for a walk, often along the Nile, especially when the Nile is at a certain level with the mud banks showing.There are two places I can walk, the West bank: this walk will take me to the wetlands where most of the birds on the blog birding in egypt have been shot,
then there is the walk on the east bank, where the City of luxor sprawls along the Nile river with its hotels cruise boats and the tourist attractions and for 50 piestras I can take a bus to the outskirts of this bussling city to my favorite places the reed beds and banana island these are 200 meters from the bus stop.
as I get down to the River I usually come across a guy in a fishing boat, who will always ask if I want to go birding in his boat, from this point I can get to the mud flats if the Nile is low.
here I can see the birds, photos that are on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/cormorant.html
all todays dragons are on
http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/2010/09/september-dragons-and-damsels.html
,This must be one of the smallest wasps in Africa I do not know its name as with most of the small wildlife here in Egypt. this little wasp is about 1/4 ” and is much smaller than a fly,
Lots more bugs etc on my blog http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/
another small bug usually bright colours means its a warning sign.
and another kind of wasp all three are about the same size,
u tough olympus. Under water and tony proof. unlike my canon.
Pam wanted a camera, and bought me a new one make a swap she said your old one for my new one , always a bit of a catch with my darling wife; You can show me how it works; fair enough and the deal is made. here are a few shots of today’s blog seeing I am housebound with my back again, going up the last two flights of stairs to my roof was OK coming back down was agony.
this is the block across the next door Mosque roof to the rear of my flat, from the roof I have a 360 degree view with the Nile river and the Thebes area to the front,
to the back I can see the far off hills and the aeroplanes land in the Luxor airport sides all I see are roofs, these next few photos are of the neighbours roof and the one above me
across the ally I have the nice old house pre 1900s this guy has a furniture shop on the ground floor, does not actually make the furniture, just paints or varnishes the pieces before a sales,
the empty tins are all put on the roof
our roof has a clothes shop down on the ground floor every day the rag and bone people come to collect , but now it must have a use so up on the roof it comes, with all the other rubbish, they also have a large cupboard on the ground floor that too is full of rubbish,
the flat opposite has a balcony with a great view of the Temple of Luxor.
and a great place to hoard the rubbish.
This is the apartment block on the 5th floor opposite my flat. I think its about 1930s
The roof apartment was never completely finished as is common practise here in Egypt,
Notice the rubbish over flowing the unfinished balcony; directly below this 5th floor balcony is the local tourist market street.
After putting in a new shower unit in the 4th floor flat the old cast iron bath has been put out on the balcony,
it seems no one here likes to throw away anything of monitory value such as scrap iron.
Even if the bath has some monitory value, the scrap boys will want more to take the bath to the ground level than the bath is worth, so stick it on the balcony …. no room on the roof.
Half of this bread may end up on a roof to feed the chickens or whatever,
these cartons will be given to the rag and bone people,
The five hens on our roof, get to have a good scratch in the rubbish
not only is the rubbish on the roofs but in the alleyways
this is special rubbish of great monitory value I asked as a joke how much for the cooker.
500le a new one is about 1000le. and jokingly again I asked how much to put some new knobs on. 600le, ????
these handsome feet in 2 months will be 67 years of age the sandals are 2 years old.
As I was counting the cow hooves on the floor behind the meat vehicle,
wondering how come there was only three legs on the dead water buffalo or if indeed it was a two legged beast , when this begging hand took up most of the view, money it said; one dolla
what for I asked? I only take photo of my shoes and my little pinkies, just as luck had it I had a shot of some cows legs in the frame. and walked off leaving the guy baffled as to what I said pointing to my legs, but this is not rubbish the legs will be sold and boiled and put on someones plate as a delecasy on some poor family floor mat.
Bubbles in the Nie
A bubble from the camara lens when switched on under water. taken with my old rough u tough underwater olympus Tony proof camera, this camera has a new proud owner as a swap with a newer model. lucky ol me. the canon maybe my first choice of camera but its not a Tony proof one neither can it be used underwater,
This is the prompt for an underwater shot of the dragonfly it kept coming back to land on this piece of reed , but its sods law that when I got close enough it went to another landing place,
the blue damsels where much more obliging got to within 6″ to take the next shots while I was up to my chest in the Nile river
Laying its eggs just below water line
more dragons and damsels on my http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/ blog’
,Periplaneta americana, American cockroach
I know its not the kind of thing people blog about,but Its one of my pastimes looking for and photographing our insects on wings
and the cockroach is one of many winged insects.
and seeing this one was dead in the hall of the ground floor and looked like it had just been exterminated to its next life. I brought it to my flat to be macro photographed before the ants finished it off.
my blog on insects is on here .http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/
Killing these in egypt is almost not the done thing. the place is crawling with this abundance of willdlife especially the Nile where they have 350 cruise boats to play on. the worst for roaches is the most expensive one the ss Sudan noted as ss Karnak in the film death on the Nile.
not only donkeys can be rode bare back
The field full of birds as I approched to take photos,
The cadgers
I had been sitting near a field that had a little bit of water left in it where the birds come to catch whatever fish is left after the waters of the Nile flooded the fields. these fish are trapped in a few days the field will be dry, when a human goes near all the birds fly off and land in another field in this case they went on the sand dune close by::
the sand dune is the reason why the fish cannot escape to the flowing Nile river, I was patiently waiting for the birds to come back after they flew off on my arrival within 1/2 an hour all the Egrets came back and had got into the fishing game,
I was hoping the little stints and other birds that flew off would come back,
just as one was circling the area and about to land, these two little boys went past on a camel. one of them could not get off the camel quick enough once he spotted the tourist with the camera,
Now this field has been submerged in 3 ft of water for the past 2 months so the 3inch or so of water is a cover for 6 inch of mud the birds are ok in it very light and can land on the grass area before wading in the water to catch the fish,
but so eager was this little bugger for some money he jumped down off the camel and ploughed into the field on such speed he was half way across before realizing he was in the mud and sinking, all the birds scattered and so did I before he had a chance to get near me. then came the verbal. you take photo of my camel I need money.
After moving on from the Egrets all in all I had a good days photos,
Glossy ibis 4 birds today and got quite close,
.ducks and drakes and farm things.
next blog on pied kingfishers.
Farm fowl. or is that a foul farm,, Grey lag geese. male and female.
Cockerel male chicken.
Female turkey
Muskovey,s
Drake and Little white Egret
That noisy female again
Male turkeys goble goble.
slurp slurp
dirty little ducks.
Ducks and drakes on the wetlands Luxor these are young uns.
how do I know? the big uns have been eaten by the Egyptians.
Hooded crow(corvus corvone cornix),
One of the unoticed birds here in Luxor mainly because there are many of them . they tend to hang about wherever there is rubbish and ony scraps of food about. the one reason there are so many on my walk on the Nile bank is the Cruise boats Refuse is brought here by boat and loaded by hand on lorries to take to the dump in the desert lands some 10 kilometers from here,most is dumped a few yards away and set on fire once a week last fire burnt a sugar cane field and the farmer got fined. its called corruption. every thing and every one is corrupt in Egypt As was proven after the the revolution. problem is its worse now than it ever was before with people trying to cover up for each other. and the Army is just as corrupt, why? because its still the old “mubarak”regime.
catch me if you can, Laughing dove , streptopelia senegalensis
There are no Hides to go birdwatching here everything is out in the open only patience gets a good photo then its mainly by luck.
the first shots are one off’s on todays walk, very rare do I blog from archives. only referals to past blogs on certain birds. like this Common bulbul there are 20 or thirty good photos of the bulbul on the birdininegypt blog. one on here I rescued after hitting a car.
The grey Heron
chance shot at the noney Buzzard some call it the Steppe buzzard. native to Egypt nile delta
cattle egrets the birding blog has hundreds of these
the full list of birds I have photos of are on the base of todays blog. birds in Luxor alone tally 76 and counting
Little stint, Calidris minuta
Black-winged stint, Himantopus himantopus,
Hooded crow will be featured tomorrows blog.
Little white egret
Nile valley sun bird Female
Black-winged stint,
not done a blog on the laughing doves all are todays photos.
this wire ballancing is thirsty work!
Hang on dear,
morning has broken.
A walk at 5 in the morning
I know for most there is no such time as five in the morning but here in Luxor I need to get out on my walk while its cool. by the time I get to the ferry sunrise is already waking the wild life up even some human form is taking place now its The middle of Ramadan the sales of dates are at an all time high most sellers get to the street corners as the people get off home after the last meal before sun up, good time to sell fresh produce for the days sunset breakfast. dont ask everything is upside down in Ramadan.
even the what is the busiest street in Luxor is deserted at this time of day,
in the market street with all the bunting up some stall holders where just locking up.
all year sale but at what starting price and how much discount can I get?
as a tourist just the normal 20% the big reductions are only for the locals who can well afford to pay full price.
Sunup in the wake of the ferry boat,,
sand barges travel up and down the nile day and night. the ferry boat accross the nile has its landing in front of the Temple of Luxor.
one of the old cruise boats tenders its been here for years someone must sink it every time the nile is high,, as it seems to hold water. therefore if the water is taken out it will float???
this area usually has lots of dragonflies there were a few + a rather nice few bugs they are on the new blogspot http://egyptwildlife2.blogspot.com/
This is an unusual sight not often is a balloon seen this close or low down to the Temple.
this one also seems to have a problem Landing on what is the new Marina area,
.
seems one of the tourist was taken ill in flight,
or they are trying to cut out the middle man by landing near the boats, ha ha .
this little donkey got to stay in the field all night its owner may have had a few to many hash smokes and decided to sleep it off in the corn field.
Nothing new here people sleep wherever they can a nd want to. its a nice life,
One of the balloons landed in a very awkward place with the muddy fields all around plus the smell of rotting carcass nearby. never mind they got to have a drum dance far a safe landing.
Its not like there are no clean places to Land. gives the local kids a bit of baksheesh anyway.
keeping the balloon out of the mud.
all the photos of the birds I saw on this walk are on HERE later. time my dears 140 of todays shots to sort out of; crows,sparrows ,nile valley sunbirds male and female juniors. whoopoe , ducks , black winged stilts, little stints, white egrets, night heron and a juvenile squacco heron some say its the green heron but the green heron is not in the book of birds who visit egypt,
so its a squacco,s baby.
On arrival back to my place there was a lot of arguing in the street the cops had pulled a local sheroot up, a gun was pulled out and the whole thing ended as people hurried off away from the scene, its too hot people go with no food and water all day and tempers are easily fraid,
oh to be an egret,
‘Making ramadan noodles.
Making noodles on the high street in luxor. not so magical as watching the guy making them in the twylight on an open wood fire last ramadan. this hotplate is gas fired and the rest of the year is used to make 4″ round pancakes.
27-Aug-2009
I have been here in upper Egypt for 7 years now and this is the first time I have seen the egyptian noodle bread beeing made, this is the traditional way of making the noodle and is only made in ramadan, there are many ways to serve this dish but here in upper Egypt the traditional way is with milk and stoned dates with or without cane sugar, and its a yummy .
noodles Arabic nahgla
Preparing the wood for the fire the hotplate is just a piece of steel oiled each time a batch is made once the plate is hot enough the batter is poured on with a special fine multi holed device that is large enough to do one batch, so the mix has to be prepared thin enough to run out of the holes,
after about 20 seconds its ready to pick up and usually its sold straight away, people come at a certain time as not to have to long to wait by the end of ramadan the baker will know who comes and in what order. the noodle is usually prepared for tomorrows supper not with the main breakfast meal. we had to wait, by the time we had a tea and water pipe, 0ur batch was ready and it cost 3 egp per kilo. that is like 35pence sterling enough for twenyy servings, so I was told He also said some people like it more than others, they do not say things like the, greedy person,
The Egrets off to roost for the night almost full moon.
.
Sunset over the Nile and the temple of Luxor
Sunset over the Nile in Luxor Egypt. with no comment
.Nile cruise, and sails
Today the Nile is as busy as ever with thousands of different types of boats
Here in Luxor the main use of the boat is the Cruise ship Here in Luxor the boats only travel to Aswan due to the building of the river regulating barrage at Quena the Canal lock was not built wide enough for the cruise ships the only boats that can go through are the sand and stone boats that go as far as Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast.
Before the locks where introduced. the cruise ships such as the ss Sudan and ss Karima would travel the length of the Nile from Aswan to Cairo
Here the Karima is berthed next to then newer generation of cruisers, both the paddle ships have been converted to Diesel power. the SS Sudan is more famous for its part in Death On the Nile (Agatha Cristie)
the ss Sudan is known as the ss Karnak. and from the photo you can see how much narrower the ss is to the cruisers. (lock).
.The local people who travel from The West bank To the East Bank of the Nile in Luxor have three new ferry boats.Came into service June 2009. all three of the old ferry boats are still here in use on the night crossing. good job they kept them as one of the new ferry boats has been put out of service due to engine problems,
From 6.00 till 24.00 midnight they work in a 3 rotation here the boats are one week in Service and I had to make a crossing. tourist 1 egp with a nice new sign put up bit hid under the guys galabia hung on the wall.
locals some pay nothing most pay 10 piestas. 100 of those to one egp. so its a cheap service for the locals or Egyptian. now I get to cross for 25 piestas, not bad eh after 7 years of arguing I live here. but you are not egyptian ****.
.These boats work in a ten minute rotation And are always full of people do not ask where they all come from or go to as I do not know and neither do I care.
.Now one of the new boats is out for repair the old ferry boat is used in the service rotation.
,Its not so bad getting on the boat when the Nile is High. this plarform will drop down 2 metres on low Nile.
Makes it awkward for the elderly and women with kids and shopping.
.Then we have the cruise boats they come in all different sizes, even double length they have to cut half off to get through the locks. there are over 250 cruisers on this part of the Nile only half are in service. but all have to keep the engines running to keep afloat. thus causing a lot of pollution to the Nile.
here they are 10 abreast so any tourist on the furthest boat has a long way to walk from the jetty.
.two of themore modern Ships. passing the area known as banana island and the area I go Bird watching.
its quite comical watching the birds ballance on the flotsam in the boats wake.
.Most of the cruisers belch out this awfull smelly smoke that pollutes the Nile. this smoke means they have an egine problem , oil leaks etc. the oil goes into the bilge then gets pumped out into the Nile.
‘This is one of the smaller cruisers
,Help I am lost. how do I get reverse.
.One of the tug boats shall go get some history on these. and will blog on them on a later date.
.Next the Nile sail boats and fishing on the Nile. this is bout one of the pieces from the Tomb Of Tutankhamen
.The view of Luxor Temple from the ferry on crossing the Nile To the West Bank
A felucca (Arabic: فلوكة) was a traditional wooden sailing boat used in protected waters of the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean including Malta, and particularly along the Nile in Egypt,
all the boats here in Luxor and Aswan are now steel hulled.
The felluca 1942 this photo was taken by my Mother in Law while serving in the wrac as a wireless operator near Alexandria. she said it was laden with pottery . and the original use of the Felluca was for transporting goods.
‘one of the things I have wanted to do for the past 7 years is travel the Nile on a felluca . Now they are only allowed to travel from Aswan to Edfu
A depiction of a sail boat 4.500 year old hieroglyph
.Felluca in full sail Luxor from the west bank.
.Buffalo and felluca are all part of the Nile scenery.
,1990.Luxor Temple from the Nile not my photo
.the felluca with its own pollution trap.
.
‘Photo taken from the rock at the cataract gardens Aswan 2002
photo taken 14/6/2010
.These need some kind tourists money so they can have some new sails
There are over 300 fellucas on the Nile in Luxor half have been done up by some tourist been taken for a ride in more ways than one. the conmen are still looking for the rich tourist. to put some money in the boat and their pocket.
,
.Allthese boats here on what they call the cornish will soon be moved as they dig up the cornish and make way for the pedestrianized walk area from the corner of the Ibrotel to Karnak temple some 3 kilometer.
no horse taxi or buses all the cruise ships are being relocated berths 5 kilometer up stream.
And all the fellucas are going to be berthed on the west bank’s new 120 million $ marina
I did blog on the poster but for those who have not seen it here is an update on the poster that has cost 1/4 million $. and 2011 its still the same no new Cornish no two mast sailed boats and no martians to finish the job?
.Already 300 meters of the new cornish has been dug out to a depth of 3 meters. this is the first phase of the new 3 mile cornish. where everything in its path will come down including the Mumification Museum. and the new just finished 17 million $ rowing club.
Friday, August 13, 2010
The new promenade in Luxor all work stopped on this in January 2011
Here we are in 2010. its 40 years since the Chinese sent a load of convicts to build the Promenade in Luxor Egypt did a good job on it too. this in its hey day was the masterpiece to show off the two temples here in Luxor. the prom was a walk link of 3 kilometers from
Luxor Templehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was founded in 1400 B.C.E.
Known in the Egyptian language as ipet resyt, or “the southern sanctuary”, the temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut, and Chons and was built during the New Kingdom, the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from nearby Karnak Temple (ipet-isut) to stay there for a while, with his consort Mut, in a celebration of fertility – whence its name.
The earliest parts of the temple still standing are the barque chapels, just behind the first pylon. They were built by Hatshepsut, and appropriated by Tuthmosis III. The main part of the temple – the colonnade and the sun court were built by Amenhotep III, and a later addition by Rameses II, who built the entrance pylon, and the two obelisks (one of which was taken to France, and is now at the centre of the Place de la Concorde) linked the Hatshepsut buildings with the main temple.
To the rear of the temple are chapels built by Tuthmosis III, and Alexander. During the Roman era, the temple and its surroundings were a legionary fortress and the home of the Roman government in the area.To the Karnak Temple Complex—usually called Karnak—comprises a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amen and a massive structure begun by Pharaoh Ramses II (ca. 1391–1351 BC). An ancient sacred lake is part of the site as well. It is located near Luxor, some 500 km south of Cairo, in Egypt. The area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut (“The Most Selected of Places”) and the main place of worship of the eighteenth dynasty Theban Triad with the god Amun as its head. It is part of the monumental city of Thebes. The Karnak complex takes its name from the nearby, and partly surrounded, modern village of el-Karnak, some 2.5 km north of Luxor.And here we are in 2010 digging the whole thing up and lowering by 3 meters it seems Luxor is short of bazzars as its the only reason I can see for this extravaganza .
a walkway with 3 kilometers of bazzars and maybe a few coffee shops for tourists to sit and have a pricey beer coffee or waterpipe sitting looking at the Nile, there will be no cruisers to spoil the view as these are being moved 5 kilometers upstream ,
Luxor Templehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was founded in 1400 B.C.E.
Known in the Egyptian language as ipet resyt, or “the southern sanctuary”, the temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut, and Chons and was built during the New Kingdom, the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from nearby Karnak Temple (ipet-isut) to stay there for a while, with his consort Mut, in a celebration of fertility – whence its name.
The earliest parts of the temple still standing are the barque chapels, just behind the first pylon. They were built by Hatshepsut, and appropriated by Tuthmosis III. The main part of the temple – the colonnade and the sun court were built by Amenhotep III, and a later addition by Rameses II, who built the entrance pylon, and the two obelisks (one of which was taken to France, and is now at the centre of the Place de la Concorde) linked the Hatshepsut buildings with the main temple.
To the rear of the temple are chapels built by Tuthmosis III, and Alexander. During the Roman era, the temple and its surroundings were a legionary fortress and the home of the Roman government in the area.To the Karnak Temple Complex—usually called Karnak—comprises a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amen and a massive structure begun by Pharaoh Ramses II (ca. 1391–1351 BC). An ancient sacred lake is part of the site as well. It is located near Luxor, some 500 km south of Cairo, in Egypt. The area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut (“The Most Selected of Places”) and the main place of worship of the eighteenth dynasty Theban Triad with the god Amun as its head. It is part of the monumental city of Thebes. The Karnak complex takes its name from the nearby, and partly surrounded, modern village of el-Karnak, some 2.5 km north of Luxor.And here we are in 2010 digging the whole thing up and lowering by 3 meters it seems Luxor is short of bazzars as its the only reason I can see for this extravaganza .
a walkway with 3 kilometers of bazzars and maybe a few coffee shops for tourists to sit and have a pricey beer coffee or waterpipe sitting looking at the Nile, there will be no cruisers to spoil the view as these are being moved 5 kilometers upstream ,
.The new service area will be under the top walkway
not sure how they are going to put the sewage service in the bazzars but thats their problem
and one I am sure they will realize in due course when all the wc’s are in place.
or maybe they will have a direct pipe to the Nile to feed the fish just like the Cruisers do at the moment now all the pipes are dug up and all the sewage pumps are waiting to go to the new berths downstream.
‘So too are the fire pumps not that they where ever used and I hope they never will be as you can see the fire crew would have had to wear Bob the builder helmets (plastic) and bob the builder wellies. great” at least they could see each other in the smoke red hats and white wellies.
.And a few more in case there is a big fire.
.Looking down on the dig the waterline for the Nile is 1 meter below the new walkway
.They have had big excavators digging out the 3 meters and here I noticed what seems to be scalpings from the stones the spinxes are made from clearly seen are some smooth stone and carved stone the new avenue of the spinx dig is only yards from here behind what was the hospital so in years to come we will have some egyptologist digging in the area where all the stone scalpings have been dumped, Thinking they have found some more pharaonic treasures, and will dig the whole place up again.
‘This is the first phase about 3/4 of a kilometer.
behind me is the Museum.
the next part of this dig will be up to the Mummification museum .
and the other way up to the Nile police fire unit what will become of them with all the new fire tenders, no boats no fires.
.5 brand new fire tenders
.The military hotel this will have a nice panorama view of the Nile and its new promenade.
.Today the cruisers are still here and the only use the old walk ever had was for the tourist to get off and on the cruisers never have I seen the tourist using the prom and once all the cruisers have been moved who is going to use the new pedestrianised prom with is 3 killometers of bazzars luxor already has a new bazzar street. and a new bazzar presinct most of its shops have been taken up with the tour opperators offices and several hot air balloon offices. the only tourists who will see them or use them are the backpackers.
‘The newly fitted and 20thousand $ sign will soon be demolished as will the 17 million $ rowing club and they are still tiling the nile view roof.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Sandal sail boats and fishing boats.
The mooring area for the small cruiser type sail boats, on the nile there are 3 kinds of small cruisers the Dongola 12/20 person
this sandal was built in 1901 and converted to a sail holiday afloat boat in 2006 can sleep 8/12 person but a 7 day cruise is not recomended gets a bit smelly on board as the toilets are below water line and all water is pumped from the nile (direct no filtration )
.
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Dahabia 20/40 person. some of these boats are no longer sail boats they have an onboard engine and can be very noisy. some have their own tug for when there is no wind. and when there is a wind you can get a good lung full of exhaust fumes while having a beer on the sun deck.
.
,hurcules sandal boat showing off its new sails. 
.
.Some sandal boats are still in use hauling stone down the Nile this Quarry near Balana Aswan has been quarried scince pharaonic times most of the temples of the upper delta are built with its stone
.Then we have the fishing boys who only use this small craft.
For fishing,
.for making whoopee.
.The Little Egret has a good fishing view point for diving from the craft.
‘Mums table cloth makes a good improvised sail
these guys are on the canal near Edfu.
.Teaching the son how to be a fisherman. no doubt the Little white Egret could show them how its done.
.Lovely colours of the oil in the Nile
.And there are the tenders when not in use sink them/
,
Saturday, August 7, 2010
What was I going to do today
I was going to go out Early but it was too foggy, cant even see the balloons.
Then I was going out to do a blog on the boats that are on the Nile Here in Luxor,
but only Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun (Noel Coward) so eat your heart out Mary its
127.03999999999999 f here on my balcony in Luxor Egypt. 52.8c and this Welshman is no mad dog.
A few hundred yards up the Nile there is a date palm shaded area and the swallows make good use of the shade in between hunting for food.
The guy ropes make Ideal resting places, the sun was no a help in the quality of these photos,
But the swallows only use this area when the sun is starting to set that makes for a good shade.
,
,
,
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,
Donkeys that carry their own food home,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/arts/design/03chariot.html
This is the bit I like in the story a bit of truth for once.
The plan to send the chariot to New York — its first trip out of Egypt since its creation 3,300 years ago — was initiated by Zahi Hawass, the colorful general secretary of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, who is now the star of his own reality show on the History channel, “Chasing Mummies,” and a wily promoter of both himself and his country’s archaeological riches.
In a telephone interview from Cairo he said that he had decided to embark on the lengthy process of seeking approval for the fragile chariot to travel because he felt it was an important element in the story of Tut’s life and maybe his death, a kind of grand utilitarian artifact not seen in the legendary 1970s Tut tour. But Mr. Hawass added unabashedly that the most important reasons for its addition were attention, attendance and money, nice one the nytimes!
the thing that Hawass forgot to mention is the change in air conditions could damage the wooden structure of the chariot. and one of the reasons he has closed the Nefertiti tomb to the general public is our breath on the fragile wall carvings. just imagine the difference between NY and luxor. here we hardly get any rain and our humidity is almost zero. but as The guy says money is of importance.
I wonder if the Pharoes kept the horses harnesed all day every day,
But first I will tell of how the day began. with my being in front of a Judge yet again.
Thursday I was told to be in the Courthouse at 9.00 on Saturday where I will be taken to the hospital for my appointment with a doctor to have a medical on my injuries, as the time progressed I felt like this guy and wished I had stayed in bed
I sat in the court office for about half an hour before the little policeman turned up he took off his berret and put it in what seemed to be his office desk’ 3 drawers and one with a padlock, where he had put my paper to say I had the right to see a doctor. he then went off to what I presume was one of the Judges rooms to get further orders on what to do with the man that needs a medical examination five minutes later he came back said something to one of the ladies in the office , not sure if he addressed all 6 women and men in the office . but another key was produced and my case files where then taken out and the little guy headed back to where he had just come from, I was going to take some photos of the little guy and his office , but rather rudely I was frog marched in front of a Judge, where I was told I had to go to the tourist police station, no explanation nothing , and I had a word with the judge, asking why I need to go to the police when already we make arrangements with a doctor for the report. its what one calls lack of comunication. apparently last thursday the little guy was told he needs a report from the Police on the reason why I the englishman needs a medical report. but the little policeman had only just given the Judge the message, the Judge was quite sympathetic as to my concern and tried his best to explain with what little english he had,
go to shirta for report, then hospital for report, O K
It seems the judge cannot order a medical report, but they where doing their best for me.
So off we went with another official from the court to carry my case file and explain to the police that I need to get a medical report.
I had to make a short statement on what I feel is wrong with me since the beating Making sure I mentioned Mohamed achmed mohamed awad in person, WE the police need his full name on who did this last time he say his father did the beating his brother Achmed also is Mohamed Achmed Awad, so full name and we can bring the fox in the Jail after the report, Wow I thought and all this from the police seems to be a change of heart here, maybe its the knowledge that the sheihk is involved with the case???
after I wrote my mini statement the police man made a translation in writting it was then photo copied and taken to the tourist information office where both pices of paper was read making sure the translation was the same as my writting, then signed by the i c manager.
and off we went back to the Hospital. on the way this car went speeding past with a rather loud bang it came to a holt about 200 yards down the main road, it had gone into the back of the plant water feeder. a large trailered water carrier on the back of a tractor unit, the guy on the unit did not even stop he had been told to water the plants in the middle of the lanes, and thats what he does until his unit needs to be filled again.
By the time we arrived at the scene the cop tow truck had arrived and police where stopping anybody that saw the accident’ the cop with me was halted he waived the papers in the traffic cops nose and pointed to me and off we went.
we had to walk down this street in order to catch a bus to the hospital and the busses for some unknown reason only travel in the opposite direction passing the railway station , what happens is if you stay on a bus long enough it travels in a circle so will at one point pass where you need to get off in the town centre,
On arrival at the hospital yet again . it was as if I had never been there before, first they brought out the admissions book and like the last time I told them I was not in there because I have never signed any paper in any hospital ! and the same question by the same man ! Why? i then had to stand about in the corridor while the Secret police man (S P) did his duty in getting a doctor to see me . its like I was in another place
another time, Ah we are still in a movie???
Any way in this movie I was standing by the board that gives out the rules and it said we must respect the staff, along with other rules about them respecting our wishes. and me I just wished this whole film scene was over, and as the clock said , Pain free time.
Click on to enlarge
It also seems friday is a day where all the wheelchairs are braught back and the photo of todays wheelchair is one of the best ones I saw it had foot rests one hand wheel and one front wheel so the chair does not tip throwing the patient out of the chair.
After this short photosession I was huredly walked the length of the hospital to the i c u. where we had to make arrangments to see a dr Amed. by the time we got there he was in emrgency. not sure what emergency but thats what they said, come back again. and we had another tour of the hospital corridors by the third tour the cop was getting rather pissed off, raising his arms at all the ones who did not know anything, neither did they care in this over worked and understaffed hospital, only the local unit is understaffed, in the tourist unit there is a person to accomodate every chair and desk with its ultra modern computers with no leads to the power source.
getting rather borred myself I becononed to the S P follow me as we headed off to the office of the manager in the tourist section.. I want to see Samia and I want to see her now, I demanded, the cop looked rather puzzled at my prowess of demand in a managers office he as a cop had no such powers. A smile came to hhis face as he beconened me to lead him to Samias office on the second floor hold your nose I told him as we passed the filtration air system but today the smell of shit had gone. either that or the detol had taken over our sense of smell, Samia smilled as she saw the rather handsome Welshman, or is it they think I am loaded.
the later I think,
should not have said not our problem, my secretary say how you tell him off make him look small. you bring his head to size, bravo mr Tony, as she explains it in arabic to my S P.
and what can I do that you come to my office today, can I help you? Yes today you can help.
as you know how many times I come to get medical report, cocking her head to one side, you have no report ? no I said, but its 2.30 all be be leaving soon as she picks the phone up and made some rather stern remarks, go” go” she said Dr Amed doctor on call. oh yes I know where that is.
10 minutes later I was in Xray, but not before, first I had to pay 10le admission just like in the movies,
then 40 for x-ray, That I was allowed to keep hence the photo of my expensive ribs photo that I hung in my window to take this shot.
but only Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun (Noel Coward) so eat your heart out Mary its
127.03999999999999 f here on my balcony in Luxor Egypt. 52.8c and this Welshman is no mad dog.
blogging from the oven
West bank luxor egypt
The guy ropes make Ideal resting places, the sun was no a help in the quality of these photos,
But the swallows only use this area when the sun is starting to set that makes for a good shade.
,this is the flower of the Ocra plant
,The dates have another month before they are harvested.
,But some cannot wait these men are using stones to bring down the dates,
,Just across the road there is a tree that can be hand picked even I could pick these dates if they were ready.
.I am near the villiage of gurna across the sugar cane fields lies the Temple of Hatshepsut
Dating back 3.500 years
,The shaduf has been in use more than 5.000 years.
today its only used to irugate small parcels of land on the banks of the Nile or its subsiduary canals
,
.the donkey is the backbone of Egypt and has been for the past 4,000 years
today its numbers are decreasing as three wheeled motorbiks etc are taking over the work load but it will be a long time before the engines take over completely, money being the main factor. most homes here in the Nile valley have a donkey most have a male and female so the production line does not stop.
.Most of the farmers dwellings are made of mud brick occasionally there is one made of Mud brick and rendered, painted then murials painted on the walls this is the only one in this area the Nubian Homes In the Aswan area are all painted blue and just one murial ,
,Donkeys that carry their own food home,
.A donkey train
.The donkeys rubbing post
.Confined to barracks
.And all horses need a donkey freind
.Waiting for ? maybe tomorrow.
.The donkey waiting for the family outside the shop.
.Once upon a time even the Kaffir would have used a donkey to carry his 12 bore shotgun,
the police I suppose would have had camels. and the one thing that is realy needed here is the tractor here they only seem to use the tractor to haul a tanker about to feed the roadside plants trees and shrubs.
make it look nice for the tourists that travel to and from the Valley of the Kings.
.all the men get to smoke sisha and have chai before setting iff home before it gets dark.
Most are alabaster factory workers.
,The bridge over the canal for the donkeys to cross.
.The end of life and it ends up as fish meal
.Part two too follow.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Ramadan 2010
Ramadan in 2010 will start on Wednesday, the 11th of August and will continue for 30 days until Thursday, the 9th of September.
Based on sightability in North America, in 2010 Ramadan will start in North America a day later – on Thursday, the 12th of August.
Note that in the Muslim calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Muslims will celebrate Ramadan on the sunset of Tuesday, the 10th of August.
Although Ramadan is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Ramadan moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Ramadan may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not.
The dates provided here are based on the dates adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America for the celebration of Ramadan. Note that these dates are based on astronomical calculations to affirm each date, and not on the actual sighting of the moon with the naked eyes. This approach is accepted by many, but is still being hotly debated.
In a few days it will be Ramadan not sure what the people are going to do about the dates, I havn’t seen any ready yet i suppose they will import thus making the price even higher. I say even higher because all food prices go up during the month Ramadan. two years ago The feast was held in October and October is harvest time for the dates here in Egypt.
The sheep and others that will be kulled are all waiting , as Am I, Ramadan is the month where all Muslims fast during daylight hours, no water no food or anything past the lips. must be real hard on the devout muslim living in a country as hot as Egypt. not even a fag or sisha can be smoked.
all the Muslim cafes will be closed during the day Making for a time of eating etc in the nightime,
Not bothered me I am just a miserable Camel if you realy want camel meat You will have to go to the Camel market in Daraw.
.
Based on sightability in North America, in 2010 Ramadan will start in North America a day later – on Thursday, the 12th of August.
Note that in the Muslim calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Muslims will celebrate Ramadan on the sunset of Tuesday, the 10th of August.
Although Ramadan is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Ramadan moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Ramadan may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not.
The dates provided here are based on the dates adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America for the celebration of Ramadan. Note that these dates are based on astronomical calculations to affirm each date, and not on the actual sighting of the moon with the naked eyes. This approach is accepted by many, but is still being hotly debated.
In a few days it will be Ramadan not sure what the people are going to do about the dates, I havn’t seen any ready yet i suppose they will import thus making the price even higher. I say even higher because all food prices go up during the month Ramadan. two years ago The feast was held in October and October is harvest time for the dates here in Egypt.
all the Muslim cafes will be closed during the day Making for a time of eating etc in the nightime,
I am ok I am not big enough for meat
and mum is a milker.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
King Tut’s Chariot Arrives in Times Square
King Tut’s Chariot Arrives in Times Square
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/arts/design/03chariot.htmlThis is the bit I like in the story a bit of truth for once.
The plan to send the chariot to New York — its first trip out of Egypt since its creation 3,300 years ago — was initiated by Zahi Hawass, the colorful general secretary of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, who is now the star of his own reality show on the History channel, “Chasing Mummies,” and a wily promoter of both himself and his country’s archaeological riches.
In a telephone interview from Cairo he said that he had decided to embark on the lengthy process of seeking approval for the fragile chariot to travel because he felt it was an important element in the story of Tut’s life and maybe his death, a kind of grand utilitarian artifact not seen in the legendary 1970s Tut tour. But Mr. Hawass added unabashedly that the most important reasons for its addition were attention, attendance and money, nice one the nytimes!
the thing that Hawass forgot to mention is the change in air conditions could damage the wooden structure of the chariot. and one of the reasons he has closed the Nefertiti tomb to the general public is our breath on the fragile wall carvings. just imagine the difference between NY and luxor. here we hardly get any rain and our humidity is almost zero. but as The guy says money is of importance.
Michael Appleton for The New York Times
Amany Emiel Nashed, left, and Sanaa Ahmed Ali came from Luxor, Egypt, to supervise the installation of the chariot, which had never before left Egypt.
And today we have the modern chariots I wonder if the two ladies will notice the difference in the NY culture where the horse is not in use anymore to haul heavy loads about the city.I wonder if the Pharoes kept the horses harnesed all day every day,
.Or have a single horse pulling over 3 tones day in and day out
.This idiot was going at full speed . until he thought the guy with the camera would pay to have a photograph
and the poor donkey came skidding to a halt. no brakes on any of the carts here the only achorage is 4 hooves .
I was taking a photo of the new wall that separates the road from the new avenue of the spinx. where maybe 3300 years ago the golden warrior charriots held procession before the pharao or perhaps The Pharao Tut drove his own chariot up to the Temple of Karnak showing off his skills to his sister
,I also wonder if the donkey was in use 3300 years ago,
not the coca cola sign or the loadhailer modern times are fast catching up with Luxor.
.No more magic carpets this sixty ton load with its trailer parked a few yards away is in preparation for the month of ramadan so the people can show off thier wealth every day the custom of putting new carpets down before the food is put out on them .
.The most modern of things is this roadside kiosk here the egyptian can stop and have breakfast while resting his food on the tray provided by the Menatel telephone company.
seeing the kiosks are no longer in use now that all have the lattest invention the mobile phones.
and no fair play its not a stool left on the tray its a falafel the kiosk has been designed so the rats cannot get on the tray. squirrels could but there are no squirrels in Luxor.
.This the most recent modern contraption to come to Egypt , is taking the burden off the donkeys ” Amen” I here the donkeys say and about time too. these trikes are cheaper than the price of a working donkey.
I wonder if oneday they will invent a 4 seater open air car so they can give the horses a reat from lugging the carriages around in this heat.
.Overload or what ,
‘All in all Luxor has not changed much in 33000. but is catching up fast to modern times when I first came here in 2002. my mind went back 60 years and reminded me a lot of my childhood being brought up on a farm where all the work was done by hand or horse.
and luxor is 60 years behind the times its nice in one way. but this animal cruelty has to stop.
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‘
A Rant on Animal welfare in Luxor
First I will refer you to a blog I made in may, on brookes animal hospital.http://nilelife2.blogspot.com/2010/05/brookes-animal-hospital-luxor-egypt_08.html
For the most the horses are treated as well as can be expected in this heat. this A C E leaflet is exact copy of the brooks, leaflet just has a different name. every driver here in luxor has a mobile Phone some have 2/3
every one of these people can afford to buy a horse and carriage. most charge a minimum of 50le per hour.
if its working in the tourist sector. and here we have not one but two charities putting out rules on the use of the Carriages. who enforces these rules, no one as far as I have seen. no galloping that’s a laugh, most of these guys only know how to use the whip so he can be the first in the queue for the next pick up. every week one of these horses has an accident one reason is they have steel shoes on and no brakes on the carriage. how can they stop on a tarmac road to avoid some jerk in a vehicle who more than likely has no licence or insurance, but mainly the accidents are caused by the horse going to fast. even with a fare on board they gallop to get the trip over a quick 50le. never have I seen a cop pull them over . he is too busy making an easy life for himself. read the link find out what happened when I reported a case of cruelty to brooks.
The last page donations please, just like the E-mail I sent its referred to the UK. so how much does go to the welfare of the animals, I see they have just purchased a new twin cab 4×4 pickup please tell me what for, cannot put a donkey or a dog inside Ideal for dropping leaflets under my entrance door and picking up big macs, who have a free delivery as if they did not know.
.The sign is for the telephone number of brooks hospital.
This guy must think the sign says brooks animal centre here.
its 5.30
no one is with this horse and carriage so its been tethered here with a nose bag over its face all night,
every one of these people can afford to buy a horse and carriage. most charge a minimum of 50le per hour.
if its working in the tourist sector. and here we have not one but two charities putting out rules on the use of the Carriages. who enforces these rules, no one as far as I have seen. no galloping that’s a laugh, most of these guys only know how to use the whip so he can be the first in the queue for the next pick up. every week one of these horses has an accident one reason is they have steel shoes on and no brakes on the carriage. how can they stop on a tarmac road to avoid some jerk in a vehicle who more than likely has no licence or insurance, but mainly the accidents are caused by the horse going to fast. even with a fare on board they gallop to get the trip over a quick 50le. never have I seen a cop pull them over . he is too busy making an easy life for himself. read the link find out what happened when I reported a case of cruelty to brooks.
.Lets look at the rules or guidelines,
the only place a horse can find shade these days is on one of the shelters on the promenade but the horse is not allowed on the cornish And I doubt very much if one can train a horse to sit on a marble bench under a shaded area, the only shade that I can find these days for the horses is . a large one in awamea near the Sheraton, but all the tourists from the sheraton have pre booked carriage rides. on certain days and are taken by coach to the pick up points IE outside Luxor Temple and only six of these shelters are used by local drivers, who have there own stables so only use these areas to park the carriage to have a respvite from the heat the horse backs the carriage into the shelter where the horse remains in the sun while the driver has a sleep in the carriage in the shade. same thing hapens near the abru mosa mosque side street. this is for the horses serving the karnak area, all the shelters near the Luxor temple have been taken down the trees and the area the other end of the temple near the winter palace hotel has also disapeared since the cutting down of the trees seems a very important part of Luxor councils policy.
so where does the tourist find a horse that is parked in the shade.
the trotting part I have already done.
so over loading. does this only refer to the tourist couples ie man and wife or man and boyfreind,etc.
last night I saw 11. people on one carriage maybe they wanted to get all of one side of the family marriage on one carriage, followed by another carriage with blaring music and a group of youths wielding staves,
so I am to take it that the rules does not apply to locals.
what does one do when there is no licence plate or one thats been turned up so one cannot see it. . chosen a fine looking horse and carriage one has a row over the fare. I will report you. who to?
Oh lets take this horse it looks in better shape than that first one. you get on board and a blazing row even fisticuffs will flare up between the drivers because you chose one horse not the one who has been harrasing you for the past 200yards. none of the drivers Taxi or Carriage realize the tourist has a tongue he olso has arms that can call a vehicle driver if one needs.
How do you stop a driver using his whip he needs the whip to make the horse gallop to the next pick ,
the price!!! for those who have not been given a brochure or read my blog on scams in egypt
will not know what these guys get up to. they say 5 pound one hour. after the trip its english pound each. also be carefull giving these guys large notes. they will produce a 25/ 50 piesta note and say whats this, I said 50 pound unless you have the note number there is no way you can proove he has scammed you’
and the last one;
the guys who make the real money is the tour guide. he does not care about the condition of the horse all he is interested in is the money he can make by getting the horse and carriage as cheap as possible. all the way through your trip you will get verbal from the driver you know how much it cost food for horse I have large family and all the usual crap’ you will end up feeling so sorry for this guy and his horse rewarding him with a nice tip. and usually more than it cost for the carriage from the tour Guide.
My thermometer. has turned Egyptian
11.20 Its so hot again today even my little therm guy has put clothes on save getting burnt,
I put the thermometer on the Louvre door see if it was cooler than in my flat. notice the time we have another 6 hours of this heat so will blog again at 18.00 lets see how hot it gets today,
I have a great view of the Luxor Temple from my flat. there isn’t a soul about in the temple much too hot for the tourist but they will come, as they have prepaid for the trip first thebes across the river, can you imagine how hot it is in the valley of the Kings, no wind no breeze just the sun scorching the earth of the valley floor.
As I said yesterday I will get a close up of our only would be lady M P for Luxor. the elections will be held next month and its for the running up to the main elections to be held next year, when Egypt will have a new primeminister, some say its a fore gone conclusion that Gamal mubarak will be the next president making Egypt into a monarchy, so they say? all the male stop and stare at these manequins maybe daydreaming of a blond wife who knows, so maybe the lady mp would get a few votes if she showed a bit of flesh or just dressed a bit more inkeeping with the times.
I really do not know where the ladies wear these dresses but they sell a lot of stuff in this shop. ander the black dress I presume.
Breakfast will have to wait as this guy carrying a hot urn of fool (cooked beans) has a browse at the models in the window. gawped for a good 5 minutes daydreaming before making his way to the breakfast bar,
So leaving the would be mp’s for luxor district I will wish them good luck.
some of us carry a good luck charm such as a rabbits foot. not so lucky for the rabbit but thats life,
here in egypt they hang the dead animals above doorways. not sure if its a sign of prowess as to the hunter in the family, or a sign of what they catch for food. some homes have fish , some have the monitor lizard. even birds that get caught in the overhead pylon wires. and here in luxor I have seen many a doorway adorned with the horns of the sheep. this one as it happens is next door to the clothes shop and judgeing from the size of its hornes would have been quite old this would have been a tough old mutton.
the owner said the shop was once a butchers thats the reason for the horns,
.
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I put the thermometer on the Louvre door see if it was cooler than in my flat. notice the time we have another 6 hours of this heat so will blog again at 18.00 lets see how hot it gets today,
Breakfast will have to wait as this guy carrying a hot urn of fool (cooked beans) has a browse at the models in the window. gawped for a good 5 minutes daydreaming before making his way to the breakfast bar,
some of us carry a good luck charm such as a rabbits foot. not so lucky for the rabbit but thats life,
here in egypt they hang the dead animals above doorways. not sure if its a sign of prowess as to the hunter in the family, or a sign of what they catch for food. some homes have fish , some have the monitor lizard. even birds that get caught in the overhead pylon wires. and here in luxor I have seen many a doorway adorned with the horns of the sheep. this one as it happens is next door to the clothes shop and judgeing from the size of its hornes would have been quite old this would have been a tough old mutton.
the owner said the shop was once a butchers thats the reason for the horns,
.next door the other side of the dress shop there is another dress shop we sell before many dress now we have to sell hats no business in our dress shop now they open the new one.
.then across the aleyway there is the tailors shop as shops go in luxor its quite large sells all maner of cloth as the sign says but hhat do they sell or make is questionable’
the english sign reads.
FOR EGYPTION
COTTON CLOTHIS
GALAPIA
COFTAN T. SHIRT
READE MADE AND MADE TO ORDER
Not so hot on spelling myself so will have to work it out what they are selling.
and a motor bike made for three, driver has to wear a safety helmet under new law.
so bob the builder protection hats are handed out on building sites.
great free crash helmets and they come in all colours
.And dispite the heat my little flycatcher is still hunting on my balcony,
.Its a great time of day to have a shower now the cold water is teppid and just the right temperature.
and i will close today with the days temperature at 14.45 51.1c the computer weather for luxor says its 43c.
I have also just noticed the monthis wrong on my thermometer, dispite that its hot
and me I am off to my bed in an air conditioned room for a siesta.
I must go for a walk tomorrow early need some photos for my other blogspots. that you can find on the side bar, enjoy!!
blogging from the oven,
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Luxor international hospital.
On first view of this magnificent building with its sprawling car parking areas thet has a Helicopter pad one would think that the government is living up to the presidents speech of 1997, that began with this speech,
“As we approach the 21st century, it is imperative that we change our general
attitude towards the environment, “[We must]“…deal seriously with these problems
and enforce environmental laws and regulations strictly, without reluctance or hesitation.”
Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak (1997)
so lets build hospitals that can deal with pollution of the Nile, and from my visits over the past one month to the I H L, I think the hospital is well equipped for dealing with minor injuries caused by farmers who have to fight to keep there land.
tourists who get tummy complaints from the pollution of the Nile, etc etc,
http://www.myegypt.co.uk/index.php?f=data_home&a=1
there are plenty of new ambulances even river crossing ambulances for those who fall ill on the west bank of Luxor, but no helicopter, . not air ambulance anyway, maybe one day a rich tourist will have his life saved and he/she will donate a helicopter. who know,s.
today my visits to the hospital came to an abrupt end with a note to the police investigation team, that says we cannot deal with this man ‘s problems as we do not have the right equipment or doctors. and he will be refered to our Assuit hospital, the police asked if I realy need to go, yes I said, but that is 7 hour train ride with policeman. the papers you have from this hospital say you have problems after the hitting,
Not hitting I said, assault and this family could have killed me if I was not strong.
Sunday the 11th July.from http://nilelife.blogspot.com/
what started out as an examination day ended up as a piece of paper from a doctor to say that Mr Anthony has too many complicated problems caused by the beating and if He is still worried and needs to find out exactly what the problems are, He has to go to the hospital in Assuit because we do not have the facilities, to make any desisions here in the L I H.
and I and the sp went back to the tourist pollice office, to finish the paperwork for the court.
OK Mr anthony. what you want to do, we can send you to Assuit with a sc, or we can make the report here because the doctor say nothing can be done as to your loss of hearing or the trapped nerves in your spinel cord. thats all I wanted to hear and as long as that is what is on the doctors report, yes Mr all down here you can take the paper to the Tourism office and she will read it in english, thats OK, I said. he then said wait half an hour while I finish the report.
as he was writting he asked a few questions one being are you claiming compensation,
yes if I can, OH yes Mr Tony you can now claim Mohamed made a big mistake by hitting you now you have paper to go back to your home, you can now claim all ,
how much it cost for you being outside your home in 3 years all the money you spend you can claim now.
Lets not jump on the train while its still moving, I said.
what you mean,
well mohamed has not been found guilty of assaulting me yet,
Ah He said I see what you mean. but this report say Mohamed Guilty,
did not want to offend the man while the going is good,
so I kept quiet,
I have had this verbal crap for the past 3 years. 12/11/2011 and since then I have found out about This http://www.islam-watch.org/Warner/Taqiyya-Islamic-Principle-Lying-for-Allah.htm .
this is the foyer of the tourist part of the hospital
Just as I was taking these photos a group of what looked like hospital officials where admiring the spledour of the decor, pity they where not ill, and as I said in a past post they had put detol in the filtration system to hide the smell of sewage that filled my nostrils last week.
I feel the only thing they do not do now is the embalming. never saw any jars to hold the brains or the iners of the person to be mummified. so maybe the system has entered the 21st century, but are waiting for the gold to come in to buy the latest equipment to do such a simple thing as a brain scan ,
.
“As we approach the 21st century, it is imperative that we change our general
attitude towards the environment, “[We must]“…deal seriously with these problems
and enforce environmental laws and regulations strictly, without reluctance or hesitation.”
Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak (1997)
so lets build hospitals that can deal with pollution of the Nile, and from my visits over the past one month to the I H L, I think the hospital is well equipped for dealing with minor injuries caused by farmers who have to fight to keep there land.
tourists who get tummy complaints from the pollution of the Nile, etc etc,
http://www.myegypt.co.uk/index.php?f=data_home&a=1
there are plenty of new ambulances even river crossing ambulances for those who fall ill on the west bank of Luxor, but no helicopter, . not air ambulance anyway, maybe one day a rich tourist will have his life saved and he/she will donate a helicopter. who know,s.
today my visits to the hospital came to an abrupt end with a note to the police investigation team, that says we cannot deal with this man ‘s problems as we do not have the right equipment or doctors. and he will be refered to our Assuit hospital, the police asked if I realy need to go, yes I said, but that is 7 hour train ride with policeman. the papers you have from this hospital say you have problems after the hitting,
Not hitting I said, assault and this family could have killed me if I was not strong.
Sunday the 11th July.from http://nilelife.blogspot.com/
what started out as an examination day ended up as a piece of paper from a doctor to say that Mr Anthony has too many complicated problems caused by the beating and if He is still worried and needs to find out exactly what the problems are, He has to go to the hospital in Assuit because we do not have the facilities, to make any desisions here in the L I H.
and I and the sp went back to the tourist pollice office, to finish the paperwork for the court.
OK Mr anthony. what you want to do, we can send you to Assuit with a sc, or we can make the report here because the doctor say nothing can be done as to your loss of hearing or the trapped nerves in your spinel cord. thats all I wanted to hear and as long as that is what is on the doctors report, yes Mr all down here you can take the paper to the Tourism office and she will read it in english, thats OK, I said. he then said wait half an hour while I finish the report.
as he was writting he asked a few questions one being are you claiming compensation,
yes if I can, OH yes Mr Tony you can now claim Mohamed made a big mistake by hitting you now you have paper to go back to your home, you can now claim all ,
how much it cost for you being outside your home in 3 years all the money you spend you can claim now.
Lets not jump on the train while its still moving, I said.
what you mean,
well mohamed has not been found guilty of assaulting me yet,
Ah He said I see what you mean. but this report say Mohamed Guilty,
did not want to offend the man while the going is good,
so I kept quiet,
I have had this verbal crap for the past 3 years. 12/11/2011 and since then I have found out about This http://www.islam-watch.org/Warner/Taqiyya-Islamic-Principle-Lying-for-Allah.htm .
,Lokks very impresive this is the face the tourist see on admition into the hospital
just look what is here no need to worry we have all the rooms here, what they do not say is there is nothing in the rooms just like the pharaonic boat model if its put in the Nile it will sink,
.
.Dear mam Ive been stuffed again,
.16/6 —8/7/2010 fiascoTwo types of spider that dwell in and around luxor hospital,
You can tell they are in Egypt by the sun glasses, on the first spider, this spider does not make webs, it hunts its prey even though its only half the size of the fies it catches,
This long legged spider is typical of spiders that make webs inside buildings near the light openings such as windows etc,
One of the house flies that make the international hospital, international . this flie is found in almost every country, truly an international species.
,
there are some with strange coloured eyes
2 years ago Mrs Suzane Mubarak come to Luxor to open the new Luxor International hospital.
they need a name like international because of all the tourist that come to Luxor to see all the Pharaonic Tombs and Temples , take balloon rides that sometimes have accidents due to pilot error, such as been told not to fly in the wind , lots of people go to this hospital to be treated for the runs (shits from polluted Nile water) they have had for free on the Nile cruise,
and on occasions eating bad food in the modern Hotels, where all left overs where served the next meal and even the day after, The day after Mrs Mubarak left the marble facade of the hospital entrance fell down . and has recently been rebuilt because she may come back they need some royalty to stay here as they have named 40 rooms on the second floor the royal suite.???
while on my search for a doctor who was qualified to make an examination of my poor old body after the beating on the 16/6/10. I surely traveled 3miles down its corridors and stairs travelling with an acrid smell of diarrhea that ran through the filtration system of the hospital, what wheelchair was in use looked as bad as what I felt being held with pieces of string , ever pushed a trolley around the supermarket with a gammy wheel and a tick tick sound, well this had 2 gammy wheels so had to be pulled in reverse, and had a clunk clunk sound,
on the Locals entrance into the hospital there is a huge box stuck on the wall for complaints
I had no pen or paper so went to see the administration desk opposite the box. this is the International hospital, but only Arabic is spoken here, so made the sign that I need a pen and paper. and up went the finger with a la la ( no no ), OK just as small piece for a finger print.,Just joking I said , I have nothing to complain about have I? If you need to see a doctor you have to go to a hospital. if one needs a shit one goes to a toilet. Ah!! I wonder if that what the complaints box is for and why is it so big. do they have to post the tummy complaint poop in an envelope and stick it in the box leave a thumb print on the envelope so the police can ID the victim. and here we go again back in wonderland . Whats up doc!
I have not been out on my walks since the assault, much of my time has been taken up in the court or police station, the mentality here is so pathetic. IE, twice I went to the hospital to ask for a report on my loss of hearing and these severe headaches I am now getting, then the Judge has ordered I go for a full body medical report. and three times I have spent hours inside of a hospital that does not even have a computer,(day 3 I find the tourist section of this hospital has 20 or more pc’s but not for admin) Luxor International Hospital, the only thing international about it, it has spiders, spiders in the thousands who have made webs on the outer and inner walls ,And where there are spiders there are flies, the only place I did not see a spider was in the new hospital entrance lobby this is only here for the tourist who at first glance after an accident will put his mind at ease , ooh nice place??? You can Laugh! I do, I have too, here is this guy been battered and bruised and all he can think about is the wildlife, there was a beetle strolling across the entrance to the operating room but I was in too much pain to bend or get on my hands and knees to get some macro shots, Maybe I should have I may have got some attention in the mental hospital, the past 3 days have been spent sitting outside the judges office to ask why I have not been examined, docs on Vacation come back on the 5/7/10.
This is the face that greets everyone traveling through Luxor its on every bill board anywhere that has a blank space like the side of houses hospitals , looks like the end for us all. I think its the guy who is running for Parliament .
Well 4 hours. so the day has gone. I really thought i would get to see a doctor today, I set off at 8.00 to first go to the court to get the papers and the little police man so I could get to see the doctor in the international hospital Luxor, Have I lost you! OK shall explain rather than you go to another blog that explains why I need to see the doctor for a medical report.
On the 16/6/10 I went to my home in The west bank with papers from the court it has taken three years for me to get these papers to say I rent an apartment and I am allowed to go back to it. but the owner decided he does not agree with the courts ruling, (its a long and complicated story )
on entering the home I was set on by the whole family first Mohamed grabbed my legs and dragged me down 5 stone steps in the fall I was badly bruised on the buttock and was semiconscious from the bang to my head,
then the whole family set on me with sticks and feet. one hour later I was in hospital under police guard. making a police report on the bruises etc , unseen was the internal damage , a week After the incident I went to the court and asked for a proper medical report.
Since the beating. I have lost hearing in my left ear and I get severe headaches,
damage to my back on the fall has trapped nerves causing the leg muscles to cramp and my left foot big toe gets cramp this is very painful and sets in as I get to bed. now I take ibuprofen to ease the pain one hour before I go to bed, I have a severe pain in my left ribs caused by a kick from achmed Awad the brother. and the one who claims I attacked him with a knife.
This last incident is only one of three each time they get someone to beat them up and claim I did it. twice this court has given me 2 weeks in Jail. first one I had to pay 1000 to get out of jail.
Yes” a bit like the game monopoly,
the other is when the lawyer claimed I attacked him in his place of work, that case is now in Cairo and will take at least seven years before it gets in front of a judge. and that is the reason why the put these counter claims in. they play for time. or they think I will leave the country by the back door, and that will solve all their problems as I could never come back to Egypt, problem is I cannot leave either. so I am stuck in this country with its corruption.
Now i have some people on my side, I know its slow but once I get a proper medical that says this damage was caused By the assault. I may get somewhere,
Next port of call was the Tuesday Market as I entered the station I was greeted by a rather stupid police man, ticket office there, yes” I need ticket to go to the souk(market) yes. so I just barged past him telling him in Arabic I was going to the market. there is an underground entrance to the platforms they recently opened the other end to go to the market and bus terminal. so if I entered from the other side of the underground there is no cop to stop me, stupid is as stupid gets.
if you are a terrorist and want to get to the platforms there is no check. just come down these steps
I love the market and its people OK they will rob me blind if I let them but they are beginning to welcome the strange man that only takes photos, and sometimes buys a little. that’s fine with me, and they like a bit of a joke. You can see more on the Souk on this March post
day 3
I was at the hospital again at 8.45
as agreed yesterday to meet my little police man at nine in the entrance for the local hospital what we will call the I L H, international Luxor Hospital, and the place I waited 2 hours for a medical examination.
.
How do I bake bread, hot and how the oven before baking a loaf of bread,??????
Any way I get to the office in the nice new department for tourism all the signs are up and all in english= arabic not saying what some signs say, but they are understandable. like an arrow points to the I H L even here just walking down a corridor for 100 metres, the I L H, has changed to I H L.
and I see a sign for IHL managers office, where I have been accostomed to just walk into a room regardless of who is in the room before me, or you will end up standing outside the room where no one will take any notice, and there you will stay until the office is closed and all have gone home leaving the pollite gentleman standing waiting.
On entering the room I butted into a conversation and asked for the general manager. and was pointed to a very smartly dressed middle aged lady. ,
How can I help you. and from the way she spoke I knew she could speak good english,
first I discussed the problem I now had and asked for a proper medical. but like all she wanted to know all the details so as usual had to start the conversation from three years ago. we are in a movie, no I said this is real life and showed her my finger as the surgeons marks are still visable.
even after an hours talk. I was told to come back tomorrow and see Mrs samia, who is the general manager of the hospital here in Luxor.
So tomorrow. what do I do first, go back to the court and find out why my little police man did not come to the hospital today. or go to see Samia, and go through my story again, there will be no medical tommorrow as I have to have the little policeman from the court with me. so I think I will have to go to court Tonight find out what happened to the little man and go from there but one thing is for sure, I am still in wonderland and Maybe the nice middle aged woman is right I am in a movie, Just like JudgeMohamed Masoud who’s line was Shut the fuck up.
This clock was on the managers wall as I entered, its an advert from one of the pharmacetual companies.
the bottom line says, PAIN FREE TIME.
Don,t I just wish.
day 4
And as I said the only thing international about this hospital are the flies and spiders,
For those who are following my life living in Luxor Egypt. and anyone who wishes to have an illness in Luxor,
accident or not. don’t,
I have long ago given up on Egypt and its come day go day policy, like telling 20 people what is wrong before anything is done, thats if anything will get done, so even though this is quite serious as any ones health is,
I have to treat it in a humerous manor. and pick the funny bits out and what is real I have to treat as unreal,
as Nurse Samia said! its A movie!
8/7/10
Bright eyed and bushy tailed I hopped along to the International hospital again, in the hope of getting something done as for a simple thing as a medical examination.
I was going to meet the manager of the hospital in person, (the defenition of manager here in Egypt is any one who has a position even a hotel owner is manager, no mention of manageress)
where I could explain to her the details of why I need a full examination, Yesterday I met her secretary who wanted to know the full story, and as per usual she kept the story to herself as she made the appointment for me to meet her superior, when i arrived in the managers office I was told she was ILL, and was not in but they had her mobile no so I could speak with her on the phone, great ?? the number was then given to a guy in the managers office for him to call the manageress. he sat there in his arm chair and his face said it all. like what the hell am I supposed to do with this number. he sat there for maybe 5 minutes staring at this piece of paper, then got up and went out of the room, came back and made the gesture to follow him and we ended up in another room with 8 secretaries all with new computers in front of them but none was alive and the secretaries also looked like they could do with a charge of electricity to get them going, I sat in this room for another five minutes when one of the girls got up went out of the room and came back with the piece of paper with the manageresses phone number on. already I feel you are bored, just think what I had to put up with,
Come with me she said, this girl was heavily pregnant, and waddled from side to side as I followed her up the flight of stairs up to the hospital rooms called the royal suites 1-40. we trundled along its corridors with the suite names 1-20 a toilet block then the disinfectant room, through some swing doors that she let fly in my.
face. past the room I went for my ear inspection last Sunday, and we ended up in Samia nurse office.
so Samia the middle aged lady I told my story to yesterday is manager of nursing department. its what one might call multytasking,as it turned out apart from her manageress there is a lack of english speakers in this I L H, and here I was offered a chair while she got her secretary to phone the manageress who was at home ILL. I then spoke to her on the phone and her first words again where can I help you?
getting a bit annoyed or rather pissed off by this time, I said no not from your sick bed, I am not sick she said just a bit unwell, I am a lot unwell and I have come to the hospital, I said, I feel bloody real unwell as I reeled off through my list of complaints, you must feel quite ill she said. yes and that is the reason I came here today, not saying the obvious, If I need to shit I go to a toilet, If I need an examination of my body I go to a bloody hospital,, but I said , If I was an animal and had these wounds I would have been taken to an animal hospital the same day. not to A police station where they refused me any water or food, They would not even let me go to my flat for my painkillers.
Ohh I am so sorry . as she put the phone down. she must have realized she had to speak to Samia and phoned her on her mobile next thing I was frog marched back down the corridor and the stairs back to the managers office by a waddling pregnant lady, The baby must have thought it was having a bad dream as it was swayed around inside the womb, I sat down for half hour in the managers office then called into another office where I got to write down my complaints. he read it and said, do you need an examination,
um, no I need some coffee! no coffee here! well =” fancy that I said I thought it was a coffee shop.
Then the rules where laid down. and I knew what was coming next, first he said you need to see the ear doctor then the back doctor then! at that I put my hand in the air and asked and how much is this going to cost, do not answer I said. as I have no money, to pay for expensive doctors fees. not our problem butted in some well expensively dressed old fart sitting behind the desk.
and now I know why there are two faces to this hospital, the tourist part get paid by insurances and medical bills forwarded by the touristic casualties and people like me who need to use the hospital. even though this hospital has not even got anything more than an ex ray machine and a couple of stethoscopes the doctors pass to each other. while waiting in the entrance lobby yesterday I witnessed one doctor leaving and handing his white coat to another coming on duty.
The locals that needed tratment I noticed was 50 egp.
and its no wonder the locals think any none Egyptian has money and the hand is out begging all the time, I saw the look on some of the locals faces as I left the swanky part of the hospital . we can not even afford to pay 50 for our health. And I realy do feel sorry for the local people the way they are treated by there own people, they have this policy tread on someone before he treads you into the ground.
So today At 12 I headed on back to the court and Now I have an appointment at 9.00 on saturday to go with a policeman for a free examination a complete body exam. not my fault I got beat up . but I can only go to the local I L H. around the back entrance, must not show the tourist the real poverty in Egypt.
not only me think the hospitals in Egypt are crap, but the other guy could afford to get his treatment in a hospital in Heidelberg University Hospital “Mr. Mubarak is recovered well.” Germany.
Remember the clock yesterday . with pain free time,
here is another advert from the DURICIF Caladrexil pharmacy company,
… Like a generous tree ,
What does it mean??A tree is genorous if its looked after watered and fed, so now what does it refer too, does it mean buy our pills and I will grow
Then you have the workers who have good Jobs not that any job here in egypt is well paid apart from the ones living off the tourist what they call the touristic section. two days in a row I have been aproached yesterday as I left the hospital I stopped for a much needed cup of tea with milk, in my usual cafe, there was only one chair available, the guy next to me was a copt and he started his conversation with are you from america, no sir, I always try to be polite to the copts as usually they only want to practise the english language,
he said he had 3 brothers one lived in the us and the other lived in Cairo, he was retired one year and was a science teacher all his life in Cairo university. and to prove his truth he started to write down the equasions of water Ho2, as most fools know, is air. so I said ah you are using the equasions of air in the water.
at that the subject changed to his brother in the states and how he would like to visit him , thats going to cost you I said” then it came to the cost of schooling in England my children and on to university. school grades etc,
does your brother have children? oh yes , he said, and they are all ilitrerate? yes he said, not knowing what iliterate meant, all have very good schooling in the states, I know nothing of the states, and asked him where does your brother live, america! but where? you live in Luxor, Egypt , what state does he live. California, ah that Narows it down A bit, I said, changing the subject again after a few moments silence,
he asked how much is collage in England. and I knew what was coming next, so I said bloody expensive much much money, you have children in collage, no I said being truthfull, but you say your son is a teacher!
Yes my son is a teacher and he went to university, ah you play with me, no I said you asked collage,
then it came on to his children I have 3 daughters one finish university and it take all my money I have another just start university and now I have retired,, butting in before he could finish , I said why you have children when you are too old. he thought for a moment and said these my children children. well I said you go and ask your children for university fees, or your brother in the america, not me. you have much money he said.
I do , can you tell me where is all this money I have so I can spend some of it.
Then today another but he was a bit more blunt about the whole process of money. this was one of the Judges runners or bell boys. known him from the past 3 years in my court hearings, his story why he needed my money, the electric has gone up from 20 to 50 in the month, now I do wish these idiots would think before they open their mouths, in the last 3 years I have not paid my electric? the lecy bill is every 3 months and yes the lecy has gone up as has everything else , but not by 150% its gone up 3%. where I get this money how I live, not my problem ask you Judge boss for a rise, sorry you already have one last month, how you know that, well I said I remember A certain man coming in here with 100egp worth of twinkies chocolate and giving them to the Judges with thanks for the pay rise, and at that he went off with his tail between his legs, the policy, IF YOU DONT ASK YOU DO NOT GET.
You can tell they are in Egypt by the sun glasses, on the first spider, this spider does not make webs, it hunts its prey even though its only half the size of the fies it catches,
This long legged spider is typical of spiders that make webs inside buildings near the light openings such as windows etc,
One of the house flies that make the international hospital, international . this flie is found in almost every country, truly an international species.
,there are some with strange coloured eyes
2 years ago Mrs Suzane Mubarak come to Luxor to open the new Luxor International hospital.they need a name like international because of all the tourist that come to Luxor to see all the Pharaonic Tombs and Temples , take balloon rides that sometimes have accidents due to pilot error, such as been told not to fly in the wind , lots of people go to this hospital to be treated for the runs (shits from polluted Nile water) they have had for free on the Nile cruise,
and on occasions eating bad food in the modern Hotels, where all left overs where served the next meal and even the day after, The day after Mrs Mubarak left the marble facade of the hospital entrance fell down . and has recently been rebuilt because she may come back they need some royalty to stay here as they have named 40 rooms on the second floor the royal suite.???
while on my search for a doctor who was qualified to make an examination of my poor old body after the beating on the 16/6/10. I surely traveled 3miles down its corridors and stairs travelling with an acrid smell of diarrhea that ran through the filtration system of the hospital, what wheelchair was in use looked as bad as what I felt being held with pieces of string , ever pushed a trolley around the supermarket with a gammy wheel and a tick tick sound, well this had 2 gammy wheels so had to be pulled in reverse, and had a clunk clunk sound,
I had no pen or paper so went to see the administration desk opposite the box. this is the International hospital, but only Arabic is spoken here, so made the sign that I need a pen and paper. and up went the finger with a la la ( no no ), OK just as small piece for a finger print.,Just joking I said , I have nothing to complain about have I? If you need to see a doctor you have to go to a hospital. if one needs a shit one goes to a toilet. Ah!! I wonder if that what the complaints box is for and why is it so big. do they have to post the tummy complaint poop in an envelope and stick it in the box leave a thumb print on the envelope so the police can ID the victim. and here we go again back in wonderland . Whats up doc!
I have not been out on my walks since the assault, much of my time has been taken up in the court or police station, the mentality here is so pathetic. IE, twice I went to the hospital to ask for a report on my loss of hearing and these severe headaches I am now getting, then the Judge has ordered I go for a full body medical report. and three times I have spent hours inside of a hospital that does not even have a computer,(day 3 I find the tourist section of this hospital has 20 or more pc’s but not for admin) Luxor International Hospital, the only thing international about it, it has spiders, spiders in the thousands who have made webs on the outer and inner walls ,And where there are spiders there are flies, the only place I did not see a spider was in the new hospital entrance lobby this is only here for the tourist who at first glance after an accident will put his mind at ease , ooh nice place??? You can Laugh! I do, I have too, here is this guy been battered and bruised and all he can think about is the wildlife, there was a beetle strolling across the entrance to the operating room but I was in too much pain to bend or get on my hands and knees to get some macro shots, Maybe I should have I may have got some attention in the mental hospital, the past 3 days have been spent sitting outside the judges office to ask why I have not been examined, docs on Vacation come back on the 5/7/10.
This is the face that greets everyone traveling through Luxor its on every bill board anywhere that has a blank space like the side of houses hospitals , looks like the end for us all. I think its the guy who is running for Parliament .
.the next thing I saw was this horse drawn hearse, is it all a bad omen for the start of the day ?
,The tourists Entrance of the new hospital has lost its shine they have painted over the lovely Marble facade its seems the whole of luxor is going to be this sand colour.
.The side entrance looks like its a Jail.
.The rear entrance is for us locals, every available room in the hospital was taken up with patients
what happens here in Egypt as I found out while building the Eye Ear and Throat clinic in Daraw.
all the patients family will come to the hospital or clinic this maybe up to 50 person just for one patient.
as I entered the hospital they brought out a stiff on an open trolley , he will be buried within the next 7 hours.
if he died after dusk he would be in the ground first light tomorrow.
and here is me Please can I have a check up. maybe all they will say is well you are breathing , it means you are alive.
On the 16/6/10 I went to my home in The west bank with papers from the court it has taken three years for me to get these papers to say I rent an apartment and I am allowed to go back to it. but the owner decided he does not agree with the courts ruling, (its a long and complicated story )
on entering the home I was set on by the whole family first Mohamed grabbed my legs and dragged me down 5 stone steps in the fall I was badly bruised on the buttock and was semiconscious from the bang to my head,
then the whole family set on me with sticks and feet. one hour later I was in hospital under police guard. making a police report on the bruises etc , unseen was the internal damage , a week After the incident I went to the court and asked for a proper medical report.
Since the beating. I have lost hearing in my left ear and I get severe headaches,
damage to my back on the fall has trapped nerves causing the leg muscles to cramp and my left foot big toe gets cramp this is very painful and sets in as I get to bed. now I take ibuprofen to ease the pain one hour before I go to bed, I have a severe pain in my left ribs caused by a kick from achmed Awad the brother. and the one who claims I attacked him with a knife.
This last incident is only one of three each time they get someone to beat them up and claim I did it. twice this court has given me 2 weeks in Jail. first one I had to pay 1000 to get out of jail.
Yes” a bit like the game monopoly,
the other is when the lawyer claimed I attacked him in his place of work, that case is now in Cairo and will take at least seven years before it gets in front of a judge. and that is the reason why the put these counter claims in. they play for time. or they think I will leave the country by the back door, and that will solve all their problems as I could never come back to Egypt, problem is I cannot leave either. so I am stuck in this country with its corruption.
Now i have some people on my side, I know its slow but once I get a proper medical that says this damage was caused By the assault. I may get somewhere,
Next port of call was the Tuesday Market as I entered the station I was greeted by a rather stupid police man, ticket office there, yes” I need ticket to go to the souk(market) yes. so I just barged past him telling him in Arabic I was going to the market. there is an underground entrance to the platforms they recently opened the other end to go to the market and bus terminal. so if I entered from the other side of the underground there is no cop to stop me, stupid is as stupid gets.
.By the time I got to the market they were clearing up only all the rubbish was left and a few stragglers trying to sell what they had left to the beggars and people like me,
.One buddy and a pigeon buy one get one free how much for the baby pigeon 10 pound OK I get the rabbit for free yes” no rabbit is 40pound and pigeon is for free.
I love the market and its people OK they will rob me blind if I let them but they are beginning to welcome the strange man that only takes photos, and sometimes buys a little. that’s fine with me, and they like a bit of a joke. You can see more on the Souk on this March post
day 3
I was at the hospital again at 8.45
as agreed yesterday to meet my little police man at nine in the entrance for the local hospital what we will call the I L H, international Luxor Hospital, and the place I waited 2 hours for a medical examination.
.again I waited one hour
then two hours
.The three at this point I was about to give up and leave when the receptionist turned up. Can I help?
Hmmm. this is the young lady that made the arrangements with the little policeman to meet me here at 9.00 this morning,
Well yes I said” I have lost my little policeman who has the papers for me to see the doctor,
What Doctor? doctor who! told you its a movie,,
At this point I knew this girl did not have a clue what we agreed yesterday all she did was say yes. like all the others. say yes” keep the man happy. tomorrow is another day that will bring its own problems.
And tomorrow has arrived and I have another problem.
so with a gesture I got her to sit by me. First I said I am deaf in one year so speak up a little please,
you are hard of hearing she said, well yes I tell You yesterday what the problem is, I did not hear that from you, she said,
So we have two people hard of hearing, who is with you , she asked.
well I only see me and you.
I am not hard of hearing , at that point Another young lady was called into the conversation,
now she can speak very good English the first girl said, knowing these people and who can speak good English I asked her a simple question, is your English as good as your Arabic,
no understand I am From Egypt,
OK now we are getting somewhere I said sarcastically, is there any body here in this hospital that can speak English and converse in English, well that really put the kibosh in, our English no good?
yes very good I said if you are speaking to a fellow Egyptian.
Then I said I am not willing to spend any more time here I need a medical, and not from a witch doctor.
which doctor? who will give you examination,
I do not Know I said with my hands in the air as I was about to leave these two very smart very Nice young ladies,
Mr Mr And I was called back, You need to see the hospital manager, speak very good English.
where is this manager office?
in the INTERNATIONAL HOSPITAL,
oh I said and where is the international hospital.
not here it is in the other part for the tourist,
wow” You mean this is not the I L H’
Yes, but not for tourist.
so off I headed with an arabic note that said
Mrs samai nursing department.
Something that I have just found out, if I write my questions down before hand. and show them to whoever
its ok most can read english, but not speak it, an arab teaching another arab english is much different than an arab being taught by an english person.
what I have found out is go into google translate. type in a simple question like .
How do I bake bread and how hot should the oven be before baking a loaf of bread,
كيف يمكنني خبز الخبز الساخن ، وكيف يكون الفرن قبل الخبز رغيف من الخبز ،How do I bake bread, hot and how the oven before baking a loaf of bread,??????
Any way I get to the office in the nice new department for tourism all the signs are up and all in english= arabic not saying what some signs say, but they are understandable. like an arrow points to the I H L even here just walking down a corridor for 100 metres, the I L H, has changed to I H L.
and I see a sign for IHL managers office, where I have been accostomed to just walk into a room regardless of who is in the room before me, or you will end up standing outside the room where no one will take any notice, and there you will stay until the office is closed and all have gone home leaving the pollite gentleman standing waiting.
On entering the room I butted into a conversation and asked for the general manager. and was pointed to a very smartly dressed middle aged lady. ,
How can I help you. and from the way she spoke I knew she could speak good english,
first I discussed the problem I now had and asked for a proper medical. but like all she wanted to know all the details so as usual had to start the conversation from three years ago. we are in a movie, no I said this is real life and showed her my finger as the surgeons marks are still visable.
even after an hours talk. I was told to come back tomorrow and see Mrs samia, who is the general manager of the hospital here in Luxor.
So tomorrow. what do I do first, go back to the court and find out why my little police man did not come to the hospital today. or go to see Samia, and go through my story again, there will be no medical tommorrow as I have to have the little policeman from the court with me. so I think I will have to go to court Tonight find out what happened to the little man and go from there but one thing is for sure, I am still in wonderland and Maybe the nice middle aged woman is right I am in a movie, Just like JudgeMohamed Masoud who’s line was Shut the fuck up.
the bottom line says, PAIN FREE TIME.
Don,t I just wish.
day 4
And as I said the only thing international about this hospital are the flies and spiders,
accident or not. don’t,
I have long ago given up on Egypt and its come day go day policy, like telling 20 people what is wrong before anything is done, thats if anything will get done, so even though this is quite serious as any ones health is,
I have to treat it in a humerous manor. and pick the funny bits out and what is real I have to treat as unreal,
as Nurse Samia said! its A movie!
8/7/10
Bright eyed and bushy tailed I hopped along to the International hospital again, in the hope of getting something done as for a simple thing as a medical examination.
I was going to meet the manager of the hospital in person, (the defenition of manager here in Egypt is any one who has a position even a hotel owner is manager, no mention of manageress)
where I could explain to her the details of why I need a full examination, Yesterday I met her secretary who wanted to know the full story, and as per usual she kept the story to herself as she made the appointment for me to meet her superior, when i arrived in the managers office I was told she was ILL, and was not in but they had her mobile no so I could speak with her on the phone, great ?? the number was then given to a guy in the managers office for him to call the manageress. he sat there in his arm chair and his face said it all. like what the hell am I supposed to do with this number. he sat there for maybe 5 minutes staring at this piece of paper, then got up and went out of the room, came back and made the gesture to follow him and we ended up in another room with 8 secretaries all with new computers in front of them but none was alive and the secretaries also looked like they could do with a charge of electricity to get them going, I sat in this room for another five minutes when one of the girls got up went out of the room and came back with the piece of paper with the manageresses phone number on. already I feel you are bored, just think what I had to put up with,
Come with me she said, this girl was heavily pregnant, and waddled from side to side as I followed her up the flight of stairs up to the hospital rooms called the royal suites 1-40. we trundled along its corridors with the suite names 1-20 a toilet block then the disinfectant room, through some swing doors that she let fly in my.
face. past the room I went for my ear inspection last Sunday, and we ended up in Samia nurse office.
so Samia the middle aged lady I told my story to yesterday is manager of nursing department. its what one might call multytasking,as it turned out apart from her manageress there is a lack of english speakers in this I L H, and here I was offered a chair while she got her secretary to phone the manageress who was at home ILL. I then spoke to her on the phone and her first words again where can I help you?
getting a bit annoyed or rather pissed off by this time, I said no not from your sick bed, I am not sick she said just a bit unwell, I am a lot unwell and I have come to the hospital, I said, I feel bloody real unwell as I reeled off through my list of complaints, you must feel quite ill she said. yes and that is the reason I came here today, not saying the obvious, If I need to shit I go to a toilet, If I need an examination of my body I go to a bloody hospital,, but I said , If I was an animal and had these wounds I would have been taken to an animal hospital the same day. not to A police station where they refused me any water or food, They would not even let me go to my flat for my painkillers.
Ohh I am so sorry . as she put the phone down. she must have realized she had to speak to Samia and phoned her on her mobile next thing I was frog marched back down the corridor and the stairs back to the managers office by a waddling pregnant lady, The baby must have thought it was having a bad dream as it was swayed around inside the womb, I sat down for half hour in the managers office then called into another office where I got to write down my complaints. he read it and said, do you need an examination,
um, no I need some coffee! no coffee here! well =” fancy that I said I thought it was a coffee shop.
Then the rules where laid down. and I knew what was coming next, first he said you need to see the ear doctor then the back doctor then! at that I put my hand in the air and asked and how much is this going to cost, do not answer I said. as I have no money, to pay for expensive doctors fees. not our problem butted in some well expensively dressed old fart sitting behind the desk.
and now I know why there are two faces to this hospital, the tourist part get paid by insurances and medical bills forwarded by the touristic casualties and people like me who need to use the hospital. even though this hospital has not even got anything more than an ex ray machine and a couple of stethoscopes the doctors pass to each other. while waiting in the entrance lobby yesterday I witnessed one doctor leaving and handing his white coat to another coming on duty.
The locals that needed tratment I noticed was 50 egp.
and its no wonder the locals think any none Egyptian has money and the hand is out begging all the time, I saw the look on some of the locals faces as I left the swanky part of the hospital . we can not even afford to pay 50 for our health. And I realy do feel sorry for the local people the way they are treated by there own people, they have this policy tread on someone before he treads you into the ground.
So today At 12 I headed on back to the court and Now I have an appointment at 9.00 on saturday to go with a policeman for a free examination a complete body exam. not my fault I got beat up . but I can only go to the local I L H. around the back entrance, must not show the tourist the real poverty in Egypt.
not only me think the hospitals in Egypt are crap, but the other guy could afford to get his treatment in a hospital in Heidelberg University Hospital “Mr. Mubarak is recovered well.” Germany.
Remember the clock yesterday . with pain free time,
here is another advert from the DURICIF Caladrexil pharmacy company,
… Like a generous tree ,
What does it mean??A tree is genorous if its looked after watered and fed, so now what does it refer too, does it mean buy our pills and I will grow
Then you have the workers who have good Jobs not that any job here in egypt is well paid apart from the ones living off the tourist what they call the touristic section. two days in a row I have been aproached yesterday as I left the hospital I stopped for a much needed cup of tea with milk, in my usual cafe, there was only one chair available, the guy next to me was a copt and he started his conversation with are you from america, no sir, I always try to be polite to the copts as usually they only want to practise the english language,
he said he had 3 brothers one lived in the us and the other lived in Cairo, he was retired one year and was a science teacher all his life in Cairo university. and to prove his truth he started to write down the equasions of water Ho2, as most fools know, is air. so I said ah you are using the equasions of air in the water.
at that the subject changed to his brother in the states and how he would like to visit him , thats going to cost you I said” then it came to the cost of schooling in England my children and on to university. school grades etc,
does your brother have children? oh yes , he said, and they are all ilitrerate? yes he said, not knowing what iliterate meant, all have very good schooling in the states, I know nothing of the states, and asked him where does your brother live, america! but where? you live in Luxor, Egypt , what state does he live. California, ah that Narows it down A bit, I said, changing the subject again after a few moments silence,
he asked how much is collage in England. and I knew what was coming next, so I said bloody expensive much much money, you have children in collage, no I said being truthfull, but you say your son is a teacher!
Yes my son is a teacher and he went to university, ah you play with me, no I said you asked collage,
then it came on to his children I have 3 daughters one finish university and it take all my money I have another just start university and now I have retired,, butting in before he could finish , I said why you have children when you are too old. he thought for a moment and said these my children children. well I said you go and ask your children for university fees, or your brother in the america, not me. you have much money he said.
I do , can you tell me where is all this money I have so I can spend some of it.
Then today another but he was a bit more blunt about the whole process of money. this was one of the Judges runners or bell boys. known him from the past 3 years in my court hearings, his story why he needed my money, the electric has gone up from 20 to 50 in the month, now I do wish these idiots would think before they open their mouths, in the last 3 years I have not paid my electric? the lecy bill is every 3 months and yes the lecy has gone up as has everything else , but not by 150% its gone up 3%. where I get this money how I live, not my problem ask you Judge boss for a rise, sorry you already have one last month, how you know that, well I said I remember A certain man coming in here with 100egp worth of twinkies chocolate and giving them to the Judges with thanks for the pay rise, and at that he went off with his tail between his legs, the policy, IF YOU DONT ASK YOU DO NOT GET.
Just been reading this on the web this ties up with some of the bits on todays blog , and the reason for the massif tax increase on products such as cigarettes, the cheap fags have gone up almost 100% 2.50 to 4.50
tobocco for the bubble pipes has gone up from 8.00 to 12.00.Egypt’s president resumes duties after surgeryCAIRO — The Egyptian president resumed his duties on Thursday after recovering from last month’s gallbladder surgery in Germany, the state MENA news agency reported.
The report said Hosni Mubarak chaired a meeting of several government ministers in his first official appearance since the procedure.
The president “discussed a host of domestic issues” at the meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, it said. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, as well as ministers of finance, housing and economic development attended the meeting,Later Thursday, MENA reported Mubarak ordered all government employees be paid a monthly bonus equivalent to 10 percent of their paychecks, starting with the new fiscal year in July. The raise is likely meant to drum up support for his government, which is under criticism for its economic policies.
The 81-year-old Mubarak went to Sharm el-Sheikh to recuperate after the surgery. His absence from public functions had set off new speculation about his frail health.so maybe now the police and guvornment employees. will not be asking for backsheesh from the lower class,Tomorrow no court no hospital, A free day to go see the wildlife, whoora,
tobocco for the bubble pipes has gone up from 8.00 to 12.00.Egypt’s president resumes duties after surgeryCAIRO — The Egyptian president resumed his duties on Thursday after recovering from last month’s gallbladder surgery in Germany, the state MENA news agency reported.
The report said Hosni Mubarak chaired a meeting of several government ministers in his first official appearance since the procedure.
The president “discussed a host of domestic issues” at the meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, it said. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, as well as ministers of finance, housing and economic development attended the meeting,Later Thursday, MENA reported Mubarak ordered all government employees be paid a monthly bonus equivalent to 10 percent of their paychecks, starting with the new fiscal year in July. The raise is likely meant to drum up support for his government, which is under criticism for its economic policies.
The 81-year-old Mubarak went to Sharm el-Sheikh to recuperate after the surgery. His absence from public functions had set off new speculation about his frail health.so maybe now the police and guvornment employees. will not be asking for backsheesh from the lower class,Tomorrow no court no hospital, A free day to go see the wildlife, whoora,
and the final trip to the hospital.
Ok!! I had an x-ray so what, well its not bad going after being in pain for the past 3 weeks.But first I will tell of how the day began. with my being in front of a Judge yet again.
Thursday I was told to be in the Courthouse at 9.00 on Saturday where I will be taken to the hospital for my appointment with a doctor to have a medical on my injuries, as the time progressed I felt like this guy and wished I had stayed in bed
go to shirta for report, then hospital for report, O K
It seems the judge cannot order a medical report, but they where doing their best for me.
So off we went with another official from the court to carry my case file and explain to the police that I need to get a medical report.
I had to make a short statement on what I feel is wrong with me since the beating Making sure I mentioned Mohamed achmed mohamed awad in person, WE the police need his full name on who did this last time he say his father did the beating his brother Achmed also is Mohamed Achmed Awad, so full name and we can bring the fox in the Jail after the report, Wow I thought and all this from the police seems to be a change of heart here, maybe its the knowledge that the sheihk is involved with the case???
after I wrote my mini statement the police man made a translation in writting it was then photo copied and taken to the tourist information office where both pices of paper was read making sure the translation was the same as my writting, then signed by the i c manager.
and off we went back to the Hospital. on the way this car went speeding past with a rather loud bang it came to a holt about 200 yards down the main road, it had gone into the back of the plant water feeder. a large trailered water carrier on the back of a tractor unit, the guy on the unit did not even stop he had been told to water the plants in the middle of the lanes, and thats what he does until his unit needs to be filled again.
By the time we arrived at the scene the cop tow truck had arrived and police where stopping anybody that saw the accident’ the cop with me was halted he waived the papers in the traffic cops nose and pointed to me and off we went.
we had to walk down this street in order to catch a bus to the hospital and the busses for some unknown reason only travel in the opposite direction passing the railway station , what happens is if you stay on a bus long enough it travels in a circle so will at one point pass where you need to get off in the town centre,
another time, Ah we are still in a movie???
Any way in this movie I was standing by the board that gives out the rules and it said we must respect the staff, along with other rules about them respecting our wishes. and me I just wished this whole film scene was over, and as the clock said , Pain free time.
getting rather borred myself I becononed to the S P follow me as we headed off to the office of the manager in the tourist section.. I want to see Samia and I want to see her now, I demanded, the cop looked rather puzzled at my prowess of demand in a managers office he as a cop had no such powers. A smile came to hhis face as he beconened me to lead him to Samias office on the second floor hold your nose I told him as we passed the filtration air system but today the smell of shit had gone. either that or the detol had taken over our sense of smell, Samia smilled as she saw the rather handsome Welshman, or is it they think I am loaded.
the later I think,
should not have said not our problem, my secretary say how you tell him off make him look small. you bring his head to size, bravo mr Tony, as she explains it in arabic to my S P.
and what can I do that you come to my office today, can I help you? Yes today you can help.
as you know how many times I come to get medical report, cocking her head to one side, you have no report ? no I said, but its 2.30 all be be leaving soon as she picks the phone up and made some rather stern remarks, go” go” she said Dr Amed doctor on call. oh yes I know where that is.
10 minutes later I was in Xray, but not before, first I had to pay 10le admission just like in the movies,
then 40 for x-ray, That I was allowed to keep hence the photo of my expensive ribs photo that I hung in my window to take this shot.
Ok” now you have seen where my heart is but not any of the area where the bruise or the infected ribs are,
apparently there is no damage, very good, I said but why do I have this pain when I lie down,
Just as I am blogging , my darling wife skypes she knows nothing of what I suspect to be a broken or fractured rib as I did not want her unduly worried over a perhaps, she said that they do not do chest exrays in the uk as nothing shows up. as you can see from the exray nothing has shown up. and pain is of course unseen, unless i am inspected by an alien,
After the xrays and the all clear I was told its late come back tomorrow to finish the report on your head, O K. and now they have a problem,
Sunday the 11th July.
what started out as an examination day ended up as a piece of paper from a doctor to say that Mr Anthony has too many complicated problems caused by the beating and if He is still worried and needs to find out exactly what the problems are, He has to go to the hospital in Assuit because we do not have the facilities, to make any desisions here in the L I H.
and I and the sc went back to the tourist pollice office, to finish the paperwork for the court.
OK Mr anthony. what you want to do, we can send you to Assuit with a sc, or we can make the report here because the doctor say nothing can be done as to your loss of hearing or the trapped nerves in your spinel cord. thats all I wanted to hear and as long as that is what is on the doctors report, yes Mr all down here you can take the paper to the Tourism office and she will read it in english, thats OK, I said. he then said wait half an hour while I finish the report.
as he was writting he asked a few questions one being are you claiming compensation,
yes if I can, OH yes Mr Tony you can now claim Mohamed made a big mistake by hitting you now you have paper to go back to your home, you can now claim all ,
how much it cost for you being outside your home in 3 years all the money you spend you can claim now.
Lets not jump on the train while its still moving, I said.
what you mean,
well mohamed has not been found guilty of assaulting me yet,
Ah He said I see what you mean. but this report say Mohamed Guilty,
did not want to offend the man while the going is good,
so I kept quiet,
I have had this verbal crap for the past 3 years.
so I just said Insha allah,
AIWA the 3 said in chorus.
Meaning this time you will see what we say is true.
and so my hospital, court and police visits have come to an abrupt end, for now anyway
and I still have not had a medical examination. but I will heal but my hearing will not return I am not that naive to think it will. I will go in a few days to get a hearing aid for what hearing I have left. so I can hear the birds sing as I now know most by there call and song,
.
This is my zapper tray after two weeks of zapped flies.
The zapper is on the cupboard unit as flies tend to look for high places to rest. the light draws them the grill inside is electrified so when the touch the wire they explode with a bang.
and A bit more rubbish
.one of the three new ferry boats they run 24 hours a day.
,
2 new boats and one of the old ferry boats in use now,
After playing with the dragons and damsels I headed off to Medinet Habu. but first I went to see if the barrn swallows where in the reeds taking shade from the heat of the day
.
‘
Second
The base of the Obelisk and remains of the colossal statue of Ramses111
.
http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/
.
All today’s flowers are on http://egyptplants.blogspot.com/2010/05/last-day-of-may-flowers.html
Sparrows nest opposite my Kitchen window. both male and female feeding the chicks.
Female feeding the chicks
This Is the Little bee eater (merops orientalis), there are 50 photos of this bird on myegypt site
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/bee-eater merops-orientalis.html
Lacewing.
This one was photographed 7/4/10 and is over 9ft long its tail is over a meter
making it bigger than the one found in the Philippines
apparently there is no damage, very good, I said but why do I have this pain when I lie down,
Just as I am blogging , my darling wife skypes she knows nothing of what I suspect to be a broken or fractured rib as I did not want her unduly worried over a perhaps, she said that they do not do chest exrays in the uk as nothing shows up. as you can see from the exray nothing has shown up. and pain is of course unseen, unless i am inspected by an alien,
After the xrays and the all clear I was told its late come back tomorrow to finish the report on your head, O K. and now they have a problem,
Sunday the 11th July.
what started out as an examination day ended up as a piece of paper from a doctor to say that Mr Anthony has too many complicated problems caused by the beating and if He is still worried and needs to find out exactly what the problems are, He has to go to the hospital in Assuit because we do not have the facilities, to make any desisions here in the L I H.
and I and the sc went back to the tourist pollice office, to finish the paperwork for the court.
OK Mr anthony. what you want to do, we can send you to Assuit with a sc, or we can make the report here because the doctor say nothing can be done as to your loss of hearing or the trapped nerves in your spinel cord. thats all I wanted to hear and as long as that is what is on the doctors report, yes Mr all down here you can take the paper to the Tourism office and she will read it in english, thats OK, I said. he then said wait half an hour while I finish the report.
as he was writting he asked a few questions one being are you claiming compensation,
yes if I can, OH yes Mr Tony you can now claim Mohamed made a big mistake by hitting you now you have paper to go back to your home, you can now claim all ,
how much it cost for you being outside your home in 3 years all the money you spend you can claim now.
Lets not jump on the train while its still moving, I said.
what you mean,
well mohamed has not been found guilty of assaulting me yet,
Ah He said I see what you mean. but this report say Mohamed Guilty,
did not want to offend the man while the going is good,
so I kept quiet,
I have had this verbal crap for the past 3 years.
so I just said Insha allah,
AIWA the 3 said in chorus.
Meaning this time you will see what we say is true.
and so my hospital, court and police visits have come to an abrupt end, for now anyway
and I still have not had a medical examination. but I will heal but my hearing will not return I am not that naive to think it will. I will go in a few days to get a hearing aid for what hearing I have left. so I can hear the birds sing as I now know most by there call and song,
Trouble in the air. 4 out of 550 war planes in the egypt skies.
The moon just before sunup 6.00 from my flat I cannot get a decent sunup photo as we are in a built up area
and as the owner and his family sleep on the roof in the hot summer months I can only use the roof area from 8.00 till 21.00 by then its much too hot up there in the day time.
the balloons drifting over the Nile river in the winter months when the tourists are here in droves there are as many as thirty four balloons up in the space of 2 hours being between 6.00 and 8.00,
my balloon trip is on http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html
And seeing that The captain of the horus balloon I went up in, Captain Ragab was a liar and said he is only allowed to travel the base of the Mountain Range I E the antiquities area. I will have to do another balloon trip (my Fourth) to get photos of the Nile and the city of Luxor.
This is Luxor Egypt not the Gaza strip. the amount of thrust on these war planes could topple the already crumbling famous pharaonic temple columns.
.As I set out on my walk I heard these aircraft, nothing new here in Luxor as there is the international airport just a few miles out but this was a different noise , WAR planes Its a few years since I saw a war plane over the Luxor area its been at least 2 years since I saw the patrol helicopter, that makes a droning sound these make a freighting screeching noise, then there was another must be on maneuvers I thought, We had lot of planes on maneuvers when we lived in north wales often used to look direct into the planes cockpit as they came down the Ogwen valley pass, Why would a country always pleading poverty have the largest air force in the Arab world, with over 550 airplanes, these are Russian built planes they look like migs,
Half hour after the war planes flew over not sure why they where flying with the under carriage down.
but they were escorting this air bus, maybe the president of Egypt was on board??? who knows no one will know as not much news gets out of Egypt. unless the plane is attacked or falls out of the sky, the people of Egypt did not even know the president went to Germany to have his Gaul bladder opp. until a week after the opp and he was recovering, nothing is said on how he is nothing, all the speculation is now on His son Gamal taking over, then Egypt will be a sovereignty, the King Hosny has handed the prince Gamal the throne of Egypt. Many believe that his succession would mean a hereditary pseudo-monarchy (see also family dictatorship). all the people are talking about this now there is an air of uncertainty in the whole of Egypt. why cant we vote??, who do we vote for when the opposition is in the Jails, The presidents term of office is almost at an end the land of the Pharaohs on the brink of a revolution. Those of you who want to read on Egypt and its corruption can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosni_Mubarak
Or go to the library and ask for a book out Inside Egypt‘ 23 Oct 2008 … Egypt bans ‘brink of revolution’ book [ John R Bradley ] …. John Bradley: ‘
.And who suffers from corruption ? the ordinary people,
those in the tourist industry are all rubbing their hands while the money flows nice and easy through the fingers . then you have those who want some of this money they see the tour guide throw around as if its water, easy come easy go, get the money from the tourist before someone else does, that is the Motto here and its spreading like a virus, one man told me 500 people a month move to Luxor to get some of this wealth . over the past 2 years the number of vagrants and beggars has trebled, the police do not mind the more money people take the more in their corrupt pocket,Enough of the bad side of Egypt for now,
This field is being inundated ready for the next crop the Cattle and white egrets are there cleaning the field of bugs and what fish get pumped on the field from the canal. there is also a large number of hooded crows’
notice in the palm leaves a bit of yellow these are Cana plant, and I have been walking this route for 2 years and this plant always has a bloom on it ,
This field is being inundated ready for the next crop the Cattle and white egrets are there cleaning the field of bugs and what fish get pumped on the field from the canal. there is also a large number of hooded crows’
notice in the palm leaves a bit of yellow these are Cana plant, and I have been walking this route for 2 years and this plant always has a bloom on it ,
.The yellow cana flower
.As I was heading back home I was stopped by some Idiot in a new car I think he had a new horn for his birthday as he used it often to get my attention, I took no notice so he reversed back and his ploy to get my attention was and make some money was , I hear there is a donkey for Sale? and not like me to Joke with these A***holes. I said you will need a male ! why he asked, so you can play with its horn. we are secret police he said in a rather good English accent, yes I know I see your car registration is not for Taxi, and rather pissed off with these gunslingers, I asked why he does not work in the tourist police, the tone had turned serious, why did you say that, well I said the tourist police have no one that can speak or read English, how do you know that, so I mentioned my court case etc and then I told him who I was . they all know the man from Myegypt hotel. . I heard some screeching from the tyres as I waved goodbye to another pair of a***holes from the secret police Who would have wanted 50 to take me to my hotel in such hot weather, as I left the police crime scene, that’s what it was the police where committing a crime they are supposed to help the tourist not rob them, anyway I saw Achmed turning the field and as I have already got photos of him plowing before I just waved and started to walk on, then He changed the plough and put the chain harrow behind the cattle this is used to take the plough ruts out level the land ready for sowing. so a happy Achmed put a strut in his stride, thinking there was another 10 egp, coming his way, its a good way to make friends, and a quicker way to lose them if they see no money,
.The Hibiscus flowers where realy showy today so could not resist a few shots
.Lots of bougainvillea around in all different colours,
.This double red hibiscus was in full sunlight as you can see the colour has a glare,
This is the tiny flower of a creeper plant its amazing how big it gets when in seed, there is a show of it on the egypt plants blog somewhere will dig it out next time I am on the site and put a link.
.Ladies finger being harvested, here are several verities of the plant all have a different blossom.
.I kilometer further down the road I get another very inquisitive a***hole with a very strange pillion pasenger,
swerved across the road and came to a holt within inches of me, where you go, why? are you police yes he said so we have everybody today wanting to be a police man, the guy on the pillion was carrying a pick axe and an adze. . so I said you are police gardeners then, why you be so angry, the smarmy wise guy said. I am angry? you will not like me if I am angry. on seeing my camera he asked if I work for paper, no I said I do not work for paper. take our pucture he said , will you pay me for taking your picture? why,? well you ask if I work for paper. I only work for paper money preferably dollars. and off I went . they were having a real laugh watching me as I headed across the field to get a shot of the Kestrel on the lecy pole. so as requested I took there photo. it had to be 50 ft away as I had the 100×400 zoom lens on . and that is the nearest I could get 2 arse holes in one frame. so Maritem resorts here is the two arse holes that are skiving off work today
And here is the shot of the kestrel. better shot on the birdinginegypt blog.
This is the parcel of land that Samir Farag has stolen from the 3 coptic sisters with promises of keeping there homes near the Luxor Temple. the building that was rented to the Democratic party. was demolished within days of the agreement. then the human rights got involved and they were told to get out of Egypt, these human rights people also said they would help me , but just another promise,
this land was then given as a present to the Son of the president Gamal Mubarak. 29 fadan of land they could be growing crops on here as they have in the past, the threw 100 farmers off this land, with a promise of employing 80 on a plant nursery scheme, Think we are fucking sheep pull the wool over our eyes, was the tale I was told from one of the farmers, this land is also part of the Nile pollution problem read up on it on my website.
,Hoi! stop talking about my boss like that, what pollution?
I do not like green grass. me and my & bruv come here from the battered camel centre, we love it here, OK its not desert but soon will be if my boss has his way.
,
.Look, see me eyelashes beautiful aren’t they they are built for the desert storms dust and shit like that
.thats my sis up against the tree stuppid girl has wound her way around the trunk. no sense in telling her to go the other way to unwind herself.
,dunno what them two talk about all day. I remember you, you took my photo last year, I am the camel that came in with a big slash on my neck,
/As I headed on the last leg of my walk I wanted to call in the bank bit short of money. and needed some shopping, and I get more hassle I am used to these carriage guys but this one was a do not take no for an answer type first he followed me for about 100 yards and I could not be bothered to answer or even acknowledge him, Then we came to an area where a car was parked near the curb and there was motor bikes parked on the pavement so the only thing was to go into the road around the parked car and this carriage driver hemmed me in, then started on the abuse, why you no answer whats wrong with my carriage want an Egyptian ferrari. only five pounds. I took a few steps back wards and went around the back of the carriage to cross the road, then the fukin tourist English no good. and the usual crap came out of his mouth. until he saw the camera, already I take the no license. and pointed to the back of his carriage, then took one of him, you never seen anyone move as fast before he was gone and not another word said.
an article I wrote on carriage and taxi drivers, this is my web blog on scams and the cons that go on in Egypt
besides drivers there is another pain of Egypt, flies I like photographing them but I do not like them dirty things can never tell what they ate before thy landed on my skin,
.This is my zapper tray after two weeks of zapped flies.
.and finally for today’s blog tonight’s sunset over the Nile. lots of sky shots on my sky watch egypt blog
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Learning the hard way
My neighbour the young Laughing dove makes good use of this disused air condition housing,
.On the way to the ferry on my walk today I saw this green bea-eater catching bees or whatever around the new sphinx area,
.do not often see birds in the town center it was 13.00 and the hottest part of the day, what was I doing going out at that time? I had a phone call from my mate that he had grazed his leg while on a sightseeing trip yesterday, read yesterdays blog http://nilelife2.blogspot.com/2010/06/strange-people.html
anyway I was going to see if he was OK,
I also wanted to see if the Swallows where there by the canal (got some good shots today) I also did a detour down to the Nile on the west bank maybe the swallows will be on the boat ropes but nothing there,
only hundreds of damsels and dragons. that will be on my blog later,
before i can get to the West bank I have to take the local ferry across the Nile River. I know I keep harping on about Nile polution, this shot was taken from the upper deck of the ferry,streams of diesel oil flowing in the water.
and A bit more rubbish
.one of the three new ferry boats they run 24 hours a day.
.Just a few of the 250 cruisers on this part of the Nile
These new ferry boats have only been running 9 months and already one is laid up in need of a new engine,
,2 new boats and one of the old ferry boats in use now,
,Working on the new marina all the rubbish was put on the playing field, maybe UNESCO will come along and say what an eyesore Egypt needs more money to clear up the rubbish,
.Turtle beach
,Ever had that sinking feeling.
.only one mad Welshman and two feral pigeons go out in the midday sun.
.In this area there was hundreds of damsel and dragonflies. it was too windy to get a decent shot, until i came to a calmer spot in front of one of the Dahabeia sail boats,
.
By the time I got to my mates flat it was 15.00. he had a real bad fall and is limping, not to worry he said .will be out of this hellish heat in a few days and back in Wales. he was also packing going to spend the next few days in a hotel that has air con. the heat is too much, I could bake a cake in my bedroom I have to leave the door open and all the mosquitoes come just like these bloody Egyptians he said no one invites them they just Come. they touch whatever takes their fancy eyes everywhere, and if its not nailed down its in their pocket, where,s me mobile, some little twat was off with it wanted to phone his friend he said.
bullshit he was off down the road with it until he was called back. no point in being nice with these people the just muck you about . you think they are a friend . next minute they want something and these are all the same, well my friend I said, after 6 years you are learning now do you believe what I have been telling you all along, trust no one here, and I mean no one, all they see us as is money a walking ATM .
Friday, June 4, 2010
The ones who just give us dirty looks do not want infidels living here and that’s that, some the ones who know there is nothing in my pocket to give them , will even ask straight to my face why don’t you go back to your own country. a few have had there nose put out of shape literally! welcome to Egypt they say! they mean give me your money then fuck off back to where you come from.A friend of mine who usually winters here in Luxor Egypt from November Until the end of March, This year due to moving to a new abode in the UK was unable to leave until the end of February. he used to rent a mud brick house near Medinet Habu . I mean near , from his front door he looked direct at the Temple of Ramsis 111
The house was standing where the red cross is marked. he had been renting this little house for the past 5 years.
.
On Arrival here in the west bank he was shown by the owner to his would be new residence that was just a few yards away and out of the demolition area. or so he says and will keep on saying until the day they demolish it, all dwellings within 700 yards of any artifact such as Tombs and Temples have to be demolished, and the reason his nice little mud brick abode was flattened.
Not caring too much on where he slept that night after a long days travel, first from Pembrook in South Wales UK to Heathrow airport London. then to Cairo Egypt, and even though the flight from Cairo to Luxor is forty five minutes there is 3 hours wait before boarding and another hour on arrival in Luxor waiting by the carousel for ones baggage. so I am sure my friend had been on his travel more than 24 hours.
even though the landlord Machmood had made arrangements to pick him up from the airport, it is another 3/4 hour drive to the village of Medinet Habu situated on the West Bank of Luxor.nothing was said about money just that he can stay in Machmoods new home. what he meant was you will be staying in the animal shed that he had prepared ready for his paying guest. on arrival at the smelly place and seeing there was a bed in situate Phil just got on the bed and said see you tomorrow.
The following morning Phil was woken up with, ok Mr Phil , and of course knew exactly what was going to be on the agenda (money) so the first thing that was said I need tables . why? um
so the reason why he needed tables was explained I need one in Here by my bed for a lamp and a book
and proceeded into the other part of the abode where the smell of animals was worse. and noticed there was no table in there either , and said I need one in here to eat and maybe put my cup of tea on. next thing Machmood leaves and comes back armed with a stick, I see why you are angry, how big you want the table. this big as he outstretched his arms , and Machmood cut the stick accordingly at the length. and the small table, how big my friend Mr Phil, this big and again showed with his hands , and the stick was again cut to the proper length. all my friend said was at that point he just gave up at this guys mental Egyptian block and soon realized he was back with the Egyptian people. now Mr I need money to get . so if you pay me the rent I will get and you pay me after the pieces come.. at this point my friend was just about coming round from his long journey and really saw at first light what he had let himself in for. but he thought better the devil you know than go traipsing around looking for another place to stay, get rid of the smell and I will stay, then there was the few other things like the mobile that was left in their care while he was away in England,, I want my mobile and the mobile was handed back to him, it needs charging was the first thing Machmood said ok after a while on charge the mobile was needed first to call me to say he had arrived safe but not well. then he found out there was no sim in the phone back to more questions. where is the sim. and the daughter seeing the mood Phil was in said I found a sim a few days ago on the floor I think it is old one . and went to get it then it was found all of the numbers had been deleted. then found the phone was not working either. at that Phil really lost it , why you angry Mr Phil its only a mobile. you can get new one and of course they were really expecting Mr kind Englishman had already brought them one back from England, as he had done at other times over the past years. and during the past five years had gathered a few numbers that he used if he went somewhere and needed a taxi or all his mates numbers in Aswan and of course mine. All fakin gone” he yelled ” I am not angry why would I be angry, I am fakin livid.. On settling down and quietly smoldering away for the next few days he decided he needs some carpets to put on the dirt floors instead of the usual water the Egyptians tend to cover all their floors with , stops the dust don’t you know! OK Machmood” I need 4 pieces plastic ones will do how much ? not sure Mr Phill !
will 300 be OK? sure , and how about a new mobile you need one because you use mine all the time now! he had phoned me up twice. to say he needs to talk and was coming to get some money from the bank for the guy Machmood, who by this time had really got a bit angry that he had not received any money from the Englishman. banks are not open on Fridays and Saturdays, so we decided too meet over a beer in Hamees bar at 1.00 on Sunday. giving him time to get back to his new place so that Machmood had the money to get the tables carpet and whatever, it was at this meeting place I first heard all the story from Phil. on monday I again had a call and as the number was the same as the previous calls, I asked, no new phone then. then the next stories came out.
the plastic carpets have arrived , oh thats good I said. Don’t be fakin daft. he bought 6. . well,, he said machmood needed 2 , so I worked it out 300 divide by 6 is 50. God you are getting quick with your maths. I said! yep , so is fakin Machmood. you know what its like givin these buggers money its fakin theirs to keep. you tried getting money out of an Arab. only worth 20 Mr phil why I pay 50? cos I just paid 50 you daft bugger, then it dawned on the silly bugger, then M said , I give you two carpet from my room Mr Phil. so I need the two new ones instead. no need to say what my friend said to that but the old carpets are back where they came from. and they were originally paid for by Phil 4 years ago in his old place??.
then there was more hassle over the mobile where is the Mobile Ah Mr Phill Coptic Sunday no shop open but you just bought the plastic no! Yes” but not from Luxor cost to much so I get from here, Meaning a local cheap shop. But will go to get your new phone later. .
While in the uk M phoned his friend the Englishman up . we have a wedding and you are invited when you come back . bloody hell” I have only just unpacked Phil said , Leave off, up to you , so over the next one year before his return he was told about how they take his flat down and given all manner of choices on what the family would like as gifts for the forthcoming wedding, The machmood family thought Phil was coming in November, as he always had done over the past 5 years .and all the wedding was arranged for December. on the promise of presents and 500 egp for the bride and groom. This was written last March 2010.
as it happens my friend came back on the 24th of May and is here at the moment another week in hell as he calls it , its a bit fakin warm innit. well yes its too hot for my friend in the winter when it gets as warm as 35c today its 51c, so yes its a bit fakin warm, and the saga with this family goes on, no letup in the way they try and get that extra buck. there has been a few scrapes over the past week one being the smell from its open affluent pipe that comes straight from the ground its also a trap for breeding mosquitoes that invade his bedroom in the evenings twilight hours, and this is the next saga. why can’t we put a mosquitoes mesh on the window. good idea came the answer from the family. and a joiner was called for to do the job.
I then had a call from phil, when are you coming up, well not in this heat not all the way up to Medinet in this heat, but you need to come and see my new mesh and the craftsmanship I paid good money for, , Has it stopped the mosies I asked , NO, came an abrupt reply, so I made the trip up to the Medinet Habu kill two birds with one stone I took my camera to take shots of the sunset over the Temple.
on arrival I was shown the masterpiece what happened was the mesh was too short for the opening so it was stretched to fit thus making holes in the mesh big enough for a pigeon to get in, and the real craftsmanship was in the wood work to hold the mesh in place. never heard of miters these fakin people, comes here with a saw and hammer, ends up just using the hammer even chops the wood with the fakin ammer. and how much did you pay for the master craftsman, an arm an a fakin leg, meaning he was swindled again, problem with the Muslim we the foreigner can not be trusted and must pay up front , what they mean is why should I pay for something you want, and when asked why the job is rubbish, the answer is always the same only Allah is perfect, can not argue with that can we.
While I was up at my friends pad he was also having second thoughts about a shopping trip with the landlords daughter, she wanted a new dress for somebody s forthcoming wedding or engagement party.
Fatma had never been in an air conditioned tourist bus, so being the way Phil is he offered to pay for a bus to take her shopping, then the mother stepped in can not go with her on your own. I cannot come I need to look after the house father will come with you the bus was ordered (Abdul, another one of the crook family) was the driver and the one Phil always uses if in need of transport IE airport shopping etc , 9.00 the bus was waiting and the whole family had decided to go shopping for the dress. plus seeing mother was coming they will go to the supper market, Phil was not paying for the dress the daughter had saved her money, but at the end of the fiasco it cost another arm and a leg, then while in town he had decided to do a trip to El Kab seeing how nice it was travelling in an air conditioned vehicle, and another saga starts,
First he is told I need your passport to take to the police, that’s true only about reporting the travel route and name of tourist. how many etc, but it was 50. its a free service the tourist police need to know where the tourist is traveling to to have a paper to go through the road blocks. so 50 in Abdul’s pocket and that’s before he even puts a key in the ignition, I told him of the problems I had visiting this place and how an obnoxiouse secret police man followed me everywhere stopping me taking photos cos I refused to pay him,
and how it was impossible to get inside the high walls that contain nothing more than a few stone remains of a Temple, but me I just like to say I have seen it,
so my mate asked Abdul and he swore by Allah the place was open, I do not go if I can not see inside, I promise its OK, so off they went . 14.00 I had an Irate man on the phone guess what Tony , Can not fakin see inside the wall, guess what I told Phil, anyway he said I paid the cop, he said it was OK if I climbed the wall to see inside, guess what Tony there is fack all inside the size of two football pitches and fack all inside only some stones and lots of camel grass. then guess what I fell off the fakin wall and can hardly walk, and that’s the last I heard , so tomorrow I have to take another trip to Medinet Habu to see if My mate is OK. and guess what I really fakin do not want to go there in this fakin heat, and who is this family My mate has got tied up with, read about the cousin, onhttp://westbankhotel.blogspot.com/
water bottle banks
The trash bin With two policemen to guard it,
ah” another bottle bank, must be Bank de canal,
The perimeter fence at the temple entrance Medinet Habu temple photos are on http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/2010/06/medinet-habu-first-hall-inside-main.html
a reed bed in the desert there is no water this far up from the Nile and now they are draining the water table they will soon die making A bit more desert land 90% of Egypt is desert land
These hotels get paid 2000 per year from mobil companies to put a mast on the roof, easy money, they think, this hotel had a thriving business, until it got greedy and stuck this on its roof, just try and take it down the contract is for 10 years, but of course most of these greedy people are illiterate. rather go begging from the tourist than go to school. click on to enlarge you can see the old name of the hotel on what was the coffee shop.
then they change the name of the hotel to elphArAnA no one has heard that name before,
or wAs thAt elphArnA
Then they forgot to take all the old hotel name off the menus and over the entrance. ah well maybe no one will notice . or see the mast on the roof when they arrive in the dark,
A little sparrow that I rescued from its twine nesting material http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com/2010/06/myegypt-bird-rescue.html
And these wankers here asked if I wanted something, Like a banana, when I got angry they asked why do you live in MY country, the boy driving is A nephew of the dirty old man and crook Hamdy habashry, from the Medinet Habu alabaster shop, they forget I do not.
The flamboyant tree and another lot of boganvilla from the nursery,
The new area around the local ferry all the locals have to now walk 300 meters to the bus terminal. tourist get to bus right up to the Nile where they can get a locals motor launch at the ferry for locals its 20 piestras, 100 to the egyptian pound to cross on the national ferry tourist 1 egp, the motor boat is from 20 egp per person, depends on the tour company the tourist is with. the tour guide gives the boat owner 20egp for the boat where he can get up to 50 person on board, nice little earner and people wonder how is it that tour guides now have their own buses.
And snotty nosed girls who do not like infidels sitting near them on their public transport.
and these are the little missies that cause a lot of problems here,
I did not take this photo with my camera notice she is looking at me not the mobile, and this is the look I get from most of these muslim girls they have the same attitude as the boys why you live in MY country, I sure hope that ” Achmed ” the Grand Mufti”s nephew gets treated better in his kebab shop in Scotland than what I do here in Luxor Egypt.
I know they do not have much to live for, since these girls are all mutilated by the Sheihk Mohamed El-Tyeb. brother of the,
The house was standing where the red cross is marked. he had been renting this little house for the past 5 years.
.On Arrival here in the west bank he was shown by the owner to his would be new residence that was just a few yards away and out of the demolition area. or so he says and will keep on saying until the day they demolish it, all dwellings within 700 yards of any artifact such as Tombs and Temples have to be demolished, and the reason his nice little mud brick abode was flattened.
Not caring too much on where he slept that night after a long days travel, first from Pembrook in South Wales UK to Heathrow airport London. then to Cairo Egypt, and even though the flight from Cairo to Luxor is forty five minutes there is 3 hours wait before boarding and another hour on arrival in Luxor waiting by the carousel for ones baggage. so I am sure my friend had been on his travel more than 24 hours.
even though the landlord Machmood had made arrangements to pick him up from the airport, it is another 3/4 hour drive to the village of Medinet Habu situated on the West Bank of Luxor.nothing was said about money just that he can stay in Machmoods new home. what he meant was you will be staying in the animal shed that he had prepared ready for his paying guest. on arrival at the smelly place and seeing there was a bed in situate Phil just got on the bed and said see you tomorrow.
The following morning Phil was woken up with, ok Mr Phil , and of course knew exactly what was going to be on the agenda (money) so the first thing that was said I need tables . why? um
so the reason why he needed tables was explained I need one in Here by my bed for a lamp and a book
and proceeded into the other part of the abode where the smell of animals was worse. and noticed there was no table in there either , and said I need one in here to eat and maybe put my cup of tea on. next thing Machmood leaves and comes back armed with a stick, I see why you are angry, how big you want the table. this big as he outstretched his arms , and Machmood cut the stick accordingly at the length. and the small table, how big my friend Mr Phil, this big and again showed with his hands , and the stick was again cut to the proper length. all my friend said was at that point he just gave up at this guys mental Egyptian block and soon realized he was back with the Egyptian people. now Mr I need money to get . so if you pay me the rent I will get and you pay me after the pieces come.. at this point my friend was just about coming round from his long journey and really saw at first light what he had let himself in for. but he thought better the devil you know than go traipsing around looking for another place to stay, get rid of the smell and I will stay, then there was the few other things like the mobile that was left in their care while he was away in England,, I want my mobile and the mobile was handed back to him, it needs charging was the first thing Machmood said ok after a while on charge the mobile was needed first to call me to say he had arrived safe but not well. then he found out there was no sim in the phone back to more questions. where is the sim. and the daughter seeing the mood Phil was in said I found a sim a few days ago on the floor I think it is old one . and went to get it then it was found all of the numbers had been deleted. then found the phone was not working either. at that Phil really lost it , why you angry Mr Phil its only a mobile. you can get new one and of course they were really expecting Mr kind Englishman had already brought them one back from England, as he had done at other times over the past years. and during the past five years had gathered a few numbers that he used if he went somewhere and needed a taxi or all his mates numbers in Aswan and of course mine. All fakin gone” he yelled ” I am not angry why would I be angry, I am fakin livid.. On settling down and quietly smoldering away for the next few days he decided he needs some carpets to put on the dirt floors instead of the usual water the Egyptians tend to cover all their floors with , stops the dust don’t you know! OK Machmood” I need 4 pieces plastic ones will do how much ? not sure Mr Phill !
will 300 be OK? sure , and how about a new mobile you need one because you use mine all the time now! he had phoned me up twice. to say he needs to talk and was coming to get some money from the bank for the guy Machmood, who by this time had really got a bit angry that he had not received any money from the Englishman. banks are not open on Fridays and Saturdays, so we decided too meet over a beer in Hamees bar at 1.00 on Sunday. giving him time to get back to his new place so that Machmood had the money to get the tables carpet and whatever, it was at this meeting place I first heard all the story from Phil. on monday I again had a call and as the number was the same as the previous calls, I asked, no new phone then. then the next stories came out.
the plastic carpets have arrived , oh thats good I said. Don’t be fakin daft. he bought 6. . well,, he said machmood needed 2 , so I worked it out 300 divide by 6 is 50. God you are getting quick with your maths. I said! yep , so is fakin Machmood. you know what its like givin these buggers money its fakin theirs to keep. you tried getting money out of an Arab. only worth 20 Mr phil why I pay 50? cos I just paid 50 you daft bugger, then it dawned on the silly bugger, then M said , I give you two carpet from my room Mr Phil. so I need the two new ones instead. no need to say what my friend said to that but the old carpets are back where they came from. and they were originally paid for by Phil 4 years ago in his old place??.
then there was more hassle over the mobile where is the Mobile Ah Mr Phill Coptic Sunday no shop open but you just bought the plastic no! Yes” but not from Luxor cost to much so I get from here, Meaning a local cheap shop. But will go to get your new phone later. .
While in the uk M phoned his friend the Englishman up . we have a wedding and you are invited when you come back . bloody hell” I have only just unpacked Phil said , Leave off, up to you , so over the next one year before his return he was told about how they take his flat down and given all manner of choices on what the family would like as gifts for the forthcoming wedding, The machmood family thought Phil was coming in November, as he always had done over the past 5 years .and all the wedding was arranged for December. on the promise of presents and 500 egp for the bride and groom. This was written last March 2010.
as it happens my friend came back on the 24th of May and is here at the moment another week in hell as he calls it , its a bit fakin warm innit. well yes its too hot for my friend in the winter when it gets as warm as 35c today its 51c, so yes its a bit fakin warm, and the saga with this family goes on, no letup in the way they try and get that extra buck. there has been a few scrapes over the past week one being the smell from its open affluent pipe that comes straight from the ground its also a trap for breeding mosquitoes that invade his bedroom in the evenings twilight hours, and this is the next saga. why can’t we put a mosquitoes mesh on the window. good idea came the answer from the family. and a joiner was called for to do the job.
I then had a call from phil, when are you coming up, well not in this heat not all the way up to Medinet in this heat, but you need to come and see my new mesh and the craftsmanship I paid good money for, , Has it stopped the mosies I asked , NO, came an abrupt reply, so I made the trip up to the Medinet Habu kill two birds with one stone I took my camera to take shots of the sunset over the Temple.
Fatma had never been in an air conditioned tourist bus, so being the way Phil is he offered to pay for a bus to take her shopping, then the mother stepped in can not go with her on your own. I cannot come I need to look after the house father will come with you the bus was ordered (Abdul, another one of the crook family) was the driver and the one Phil always uses if in need of transport IE airport shopping etc , 9.00 the bus was waiting and the whole family had decided to go shopping for the dress. plus seeing mother was coming they will go to the supper market, Phil was not paying for the dress the daughter had saved her money, but at the end of the fiasco it cost another arm and a leg, then while in town he had decided to do a trip to El Kab seeing how nice it was travelling in an air conditioned vehicle, and another saga starts,
First he is told I need your passport to take to the police, that’s true only about reporting the travel route and name of tourist. how many etc, but it was 50. its a free service the tourist police need to know where the tourist is traveling to to have a paper to go through the road blocks. so 50 in Abdul’s pocket and that’s before he even puts a key in the ignition, I told him of the problems I had visiting this place and how an obnoxiouse secret police man followed me everywhere stopping me taking photos cos I refused to pay him,
and how it was impossible to get inside the high walls that contain nothing more than a few stone remains of a Temple, but me I just like to say I have seen it,
so my mate asked Abdul and he swore by Allah the place was open, I do not go if I can not see inside, I promise its OK, so off they went . 14.00 I had an Irate man on the phone guess what Tony , Can not fakin see inside the wall, guess what I told Phil, anyway he said I paid the cop, he said it was OK if I climbed the wall to see inside, guess what Tony there is fack all inside the size of two football pitches and fack all inside only some stones and lots of camel grass. then guess what I fell off the fakin wall and can hardly walk, and that’s the last I heard , so tomorrow I have to take another trip to Medinet Habu to see if My mate is OK. and guess what I really fakin do not want to go there in this fakin heat, and who is this family My mate has got tied up with, read about the cousin, onhttp://westbankhotel.blogspot.com/
water bottle banks
The trash bin With two policemen to guard it,
ah” another bottle bank, must be Bank de canal,
The perimeter fence at the temple entrance Medinet Habu temple photos are on http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/2010/06/medinet-habu-first-hall-inside-main.html
a reed bed in the desert there is no water this far up from the Nile and now they are draining the water table they will soon die making A bit more desert land 90% of Egypt is desert land
These hotels get paid 2000 per year from mobil companies to put a mast on the roof, easy money, they think, this hotel had a thriving business, until it got greedy and stuck this on its roof, just try and take it down the contract is for 10 years, but of course most of these greedy people are illiterate. rather go begging from the tourist than go to school. click on to enlarge you can see the old name of the hotel on what was the coffee shop.
then they change the name of the hotel to elphArAnA no one has heard that name before,
or wAs thAt elphArnA
Then they forgot to take all the old hotel name off the menus and over the entrance. ah well maybe no one will notice . or see the mast on the roof when they arrive in the dark,
A little sparrow that I rescued from its twine nesting material http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com/2010/06/myegypt-bird-rescue.html
And these wankers here asked if I wanted something, Like a banana, when I got angry they asked why do you live in MY country, the boy driving is A nephew of the dirty old man and crook Hamdy habashry, from the Medinet Habu alabaster shop, they forget I do not.
The flamboyant tree and another lot of boganvilla from the nursery,
The new area around the local ferry all the locals have to now walk 300 meters to the bus terminal. tourist get to bus right up to the Nile where they can get a locals motor launch at the ferry for locals its 20 piestras, 100 to the egyptian pound to cross on the national ferry tourist 1 egp, the motor boat is from 20 egp per person, depends on the tour company the tourist is with. the tour guide gives the boat owner 20egp for the boat where he can get up to 50 person on board, nice little earner and people wonder how is it that tour guides now have their own buses.
And snotty nosed girls who do not like infidels sitting near them on their public transport.
and these are the little missies that cause a lot of problems here,
I did not take this photo with my camera notice she is looking at me not the mobile, and this is the look I get from most of these muslim girls they have the same attitude as the boys why you live in MY country, I sure hope that ” Achmed ” the Grand Mufti”s nephew gets treated better in his kebab shop in Scotland than what I do here in Luxor Egypt.
I know they do not have much to live for, since these girls are all mutilated by the Sheihk Mohamed El-Tyeb. brother of the,
Egypt’s Sheikh al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb, Sunni Islam’s highest religious authority.
then put through religious studies so they can get banged up and teach the kids how to take the infidels money, beg steal or borrow, I have lived here long enough to know what these people think. doesn’t that look say it all,
June 1st walk west bank Luxor Egypt
June the 1st walk
Another month has gone and June is upon us once again. and life carries on with no change. the river police still patrol chasing after the small fry on the river, any small craft that looks like a few pounds can be made, its OK for the captain of the felucca or small motorboat, the tourist will pay.
,No Idea why they have such heavy artillery on this part of the Nile we are almost a thousand Kilometer from the troubles of the Israeli conflict, or maybe its to shoot any incurring war planes down. OR a felucca captain that tells them to piss off, no money today
.Only 2 balloons today the other was half hour later made for a good reflection photo.
,Today’s moon at 7.30
,The ladies off to Tuesday market,
.
,The Laughing dove just making sure there are no extra passengers on board,
.’
.Today’s shots of the squacco will be put on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/squacco-heron-ardeola-ralloides.html
.one of the tiny Damsels more on http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/
,
.Now the wetlands are flooded the buffalo do not go down to the land to graze and wallow on the pools.or the Nile river.
‘This is a farm working Camel.
.Tourist and camels, this is the end of the one hour trek they cross over the bridge
,travel a few yards then say oh the road has a problem
we can go back over the bridge and go another way this will be another hour they are warned , by this time the poor tourist has had enough of this camel and its out of this world comfort seat where his inner leg has been rubbing on the pommel and wood that secures the saddle to the camel. no lets go back any chance of taking it out of first gear?
.so Happy, no not the tourist me I get a nice reflection shot, the tourist really at this point look pissed , not to worry another 100 yards and they can get off
,He looks like he is thinking wish I never got on this bloody camel
.she looks very thirsty but no she thinks I can not take a drink and spill it down myself unless this camel stops going up and down, people will think I am pissed off.
.The wetlands land in full flood.
,Photo of the wetland from 2 weeks ago.
.This lot are stuck on the concrete foundation . the house was knocked down 7 years ago its built on Nile land.
‘Second
6.45 June 3rd 2010 this is Luxor Temple and the obelisk the balloons are the other Side of the Nile called the west bank of Luxor. and this is where I take a lot of my walks after crossing the Nile by local ferry
.Just thought I would show you a photo of one of our roof pigeons on the ancient stones of Ramses111 pylon
this stone work is over 4500 years old. I wonder if the pigeons shit on this when Ramses was ruling Egypt
,The moon at 7.30 all the last shots are taken from my balcony.
governing the flow of the Nile River through Egypt. before the 1900s all the area I am standing for todays photos would have been flooded there is a photo of a bridge 6 photos down, and the waters would have been to the top rail.
All today’s shots are taken on one of my daily walks, today’s photos are taken in and on my walk to the village of Esba, on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor
Under this path lies the pipes that fill the canal with water pumped from the Nile
.Good use is made of the pipeline Here the main pipe crosses the smaller of the canals and is used as a foot path twenty yards up the lane there is the main bridge that the camels and donkeys use ,
.The bridge to nowhere or fool the tourist bridge.
This is where the camel riding tourist are told oh they take the road away. we must take another route it will cost another 30 per hour or we go back. this bridge is one and a half kilometers from the start point of one hours trek. if the tourist decides to carry on with the trek it will take another two and a half hours to get back to the start point.
,These have just about had enough and are heading back I walked the same route in front of them I am the slowest walker there is as I look for scenes to shoot and I got back before them.the rest of the shots are on yesterdays blog including shots I took on the way back http://nilelife2.blogspot.com/2010/06/june-1st_02.html
,Busy making cages to carry poultry,
.That man with the camera is here must go to the toilet,
as he abandons his tools and cup of tea.
.
.the date palms are loaded with dates that will be harvested in 2 months time.
what was a herons nest has been taken over by the crows
.
‘A rather friendly cat insisted on having a rub against my legs. not often are cats so friendly.
,And a rather friendly dog but I do not want it rubbing up against my leg, especially after I saw what it had for breakfast and what it was carrying.
.
.The fool man. fool is what the Egyptians have for morning meal beans and spices cooked on the household rubbish over night. Fool and falafel is actually very tasty,
this guy also carries the tomatoes, cucumbers, Bread eggs and onions to make up the lunch time meal.
Has already done breakfast for the dog
.Evening sky 19.45 June 3rd
,Dove and sparrows keeping an eye on the tourist going to visit the temple.
1st June
All today’s photos will be on this blog. then moved to their respective blogspots. ie dragons will go to
.
.
.
‘
.House sparrows have been playing in the Nile again.
dragonflies and damsels blogspot http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/
.http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/
.
All today’s flowers are on http://egyptplants.blogspot.com/2010/05/last-day-of-may-flowers.html
Sparrows nest opposite my Kitchen window. both male and female feeding the chicks.
Female feeding the chicks
,Male feeding.
.
Taking a 360 degree view Nile cruise
.
.See all 76 different breeds of The Nile birds on my blog birding in egypt
.Link page
Solved the problem with picasa. I had to manually download 2000 photos some it will not delete. I have also deleted picasa every time I put a photo from my camera in picasa it was putting them in albums and that what the problem was with my quota. but i lost all the photos on this blog. its a good job I moved them to my website a few weeks ago. http://www.myegypt.co.uk/index.php?f=data_home&a=5 follow the link or go to any one of my other blogs each one is what is on the blogspot nameThis Is the Little bee eater (merops orientalis), there are 50 photos of this bird on myegypt site
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/bee-eater merops-orientalis.html
Lacewing.
Giant monitor lizard found in Egypt
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_philippines_giant_lizardThis one was photographed 7/4/10 and is over 9ft long its tail is over a meter
making it bigger than the one found in the Philippines
Egypt 2010
Egypts wildlife
One of my posts from 2010Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Five in the morning walkabout.
‘A sparrow with a beard, I Will not say its a Muslim. Because we cannot brainwash the wildlife.
Miss fluff ball this is a young one just waking up
, 
Its too hot these days to be out after 10 in the morning even the birds are out at first light,as it gets too hot for them. first birds today are the sparrows these are the ones who have made home on the ferry boat eating whatever the local people have spat out on the upper deck durring the nights crossings,
.
give us some seeds and we will sing you a song.
.
As I started the my walk I saw where a lot more sparrows spent the night some in the ocra plants and others in the palm trees the wind does not effect them as the branches sway too and fro.
waiting for the bees to start flying are the little green bee eaters not so many about now these are in groups from November until May,
whoopoe bird
pied kingfisher
crested lark
grasshopper
blue darter dragonfly
red darter?
Damsels not seen this one before
blue tailed damselfly
about the size of a fly one of the horned insects found here
This is a pea type flower the vegitation is only fed to the camels
Another type of beetle, as soon as its disturbed it flies off.
, 
Its too hot these days to be out after 10 in the morning even the birds are out at first light,as it gets too hot for them. first birds today are the sparrows these are the ones who have made home on the ferry boat eating whatever the local people have spat out on the upper deck durring the nights crossings,
.give us some seeds and we will sing you a song.
.As I started the my walk I saw where a lot more sparrows spent the night some in the ocra plants and others in the palm trees the wind does not effect them as the branches sway too and fro.
waiting for the bees to start flying are the little green bee eaters not so many about now these are in groups from November until May,
whoopoe bird
pied kingfisher
crested lark
grasshopper
blue darter dragonfly
red darter?
Damsels not seen this one before
blue tailed damselfly
about the size of a fly one of the horned insects found here
This is a pea type flower the vegitation is only fed to the camels
Another type of beetle, as soon as its disturbed it flies off.
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