Luxor Egypt

Looks idyllic. blue skies palm trees growing by the canal all the fruit and vegetables one needs to grow.
And a land so fertile it  has 3 crops an year.     BUT only 2.9% of this land called Egypt is arable  and yet here in Luxor Egypt. it is being taken bit by bit for housing roads new government buildings a present of 25 fadan to the presidents son so he can build himself whatever to sell on for Millions of dollars. while the poor people who get conned into leaving the land and get nothing in return only a promise of money for the land  that they have survived on for years,  and are so afraid of saying anything against these corrupt government officials, This liar Dr Samir Fawak  keeps promising on his tv interviews  no more houses coming down,  I have paid the people for the land. how many has he paid out of the 2000 he has made homeless. every day I get people with stories of this mans corrupt ways. they call him clefti.  (thief)  and say please do not say who tell you .

Yes modern technology is making it possible to farm in the deserts  but that is a very expensive way to grow crops not to mention it will take years to get a decent crop  in what was once a desert wasteland that will have much problems with drifting sands,   far to often farmers leave the oasis areas because of this natural problem of drifting sands  many people give up the houses they built  and come to places on the Nile to start farming again. This is what Happens in the desert.    If  shall we say I left a rock in the desert  in time the sand would be blown to the point of it stopping by the stone that is acting as a wind break and in a few days maybe after a good sandstorm this stone would be covered  imagine what happens when a wall is built  this is a photo of a pylon that acted as a wind break  in the desert area. taken from my blog  http://mydeserttrip.blogspot.com/

I as a foreigner would have no problem Building on desert land  after all 97.1% of Egypt is desert . +  we can have this land  as long as we build 3/4 of what we ask for within 2 years.  what chance do these people have of building on this free land, when they cannot get money from this greedy Council.  the arable land here in Luxor is 2 Kilometers from the Nile on the west bank  and 5 at its widest point on the East bank.  now here is a story that sums up Egypt its a story I heard today.
 This guy was given a forged 20Egp  Note  and wanted to take the person who gave it him in his wages to the police,  he was advised by the police to forget it . but he made a complaint and was arrested for being in possession of a forged note, while in prison his lawyer told him he would need 100 egp for his services.
the guy was released from prison the day after  and of course this case never went to court.   and that is the way it works here the poor get poorer and the rich get away with anything.

This lane I am walking on will have a new road across it within 5 years and all this land for 10 kilometers along the Nile will be lost forever  already 200 meters  from here there is a dual carriageway  and another 400 meters from here. most of these reed beds have already been destroyed   read my blog on pollution of the Nile
http://nilelife.blogspot.com/2009/11/nile-pollution.html

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A farmyard  this guy  owns  a couple of the tourist carriages.  but this is the way they prefer to live.
especially the ladies  no cleaning  once a house has tiles  and painted walls the spiders webs and dirt show and must be cleaned.
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A baby donkey  just a week old has to get used to a tether.

Flies ,flies and more flies no wonder ther are cobwebs everywhere
Another reason why they leave the cobwebs is because they catch the mosquitoes.  nature has its own way of getting rid of things. and spiders here are harmless I THINK or rather hope.

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Like the  hair doo or  is that  moohair
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 My friend the Egret fly catcher 

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The camel house  or sanctuary .

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 if these little donkeys were in the field  and allowed to graze the egrets would come and eat all these flies
 but they are tethered to the cart near the farmer  so the Egrets stay clear.  

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the egret will get a good meal here.

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 a typical farm wall mud brick mud plaster with palm branches on top to extend the height
 save nosy parkers like me looking over to see how much hashish they are growing  if you are a regular follower by now you will know what I am talking about.