who needs a pavement.

We need someone in Egypt to explain  why we have pavements and the reason why they are higher than the road . here in Egypt sometimes 2 ft higher than the roads. we have very nice pavements here in Luxor mostly made from concrete 9"x9" anti slip tiles  and in this modern age they have grinders that can cut a tile to any angle or size the master paviours need them to ensure a smooth surface. (Trip up points)

most of our pavements have posters i mean lots of posters  these the Egyptians think are anti theft devices for Bikes and motor bikes strategically placed so as to put a chain and lock on.   we have no crime in Egypt  that's official  according to the  Egypt tourist web site. so why do they lock their bikes on the pavements.

 
these the steps down or up,   deciding if you are boarding or disembarking from the National ferry'
are 2 years old well used as you can see by the wear and tare  curves in the stone. Even here there are anchor points for the bicycle chains, no one its saying its awkward for us oldies but we do need hand rails sometimes.
 also notice the strategically placed trip up points to the steel floating platform to the ferry boat.  well i sure will not wear any high heels  around here,

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Just outside my home and the Temple of Luxor we have a crater this has been here for over 5 months
 well viewed and photographed by many a tourist,    as its on the main pavement to the Luxor Temple ticket office  the only ones who do not go near this are the plastic tourists. who come in droves from places like the red sea resorts,  these lucky  or unlucky  people depends on if you like being treated like sheep  step off the bus and  are directly in the ticket office. even there,  there is a pavement with steps that go down to the new ticket office
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 a view from my balcony  of the ticket office pavement  one of the rare times ( Lunch time) there is no bus parked outside.



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The steps  going down to the ticket office level from the old entrance. the reason for the new entrance ,  they are taking the street level to the Nile down by 10ft  this is the next extravagant venture and will take 3 years to complete. this venture is already in progress. 300 yards towards the Karnak temple. where eventually we will have a new 3 mile long pedestrianized promenade,   wont that be nice  a pavement where we can walk on with no taxies or carriages hassling us.  whoopie"  
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The exit to the Temple  inside they have made another pavement cafe where a coffee is  the same price as the pavement cafe's in Paris.  but here we have a fire tender parked on the pavement just in case a fire breaks out.  
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And the other side of the Temple area we have the busiest street in Luxor here anybody who takes the ferry either to or from the west bank  has to walk,    this is 7.00 in the morning when there is not much  mechanized traffic such as tour buses.  so is quite safe to walk on the road  not that there is a pavement to walk on anyway.    we have many phone kiosks in Luxor  but the wires are not connected yet.  not sure if that's because everybody has a mobile  or they are only there so the tourists can say when they get back home ,  Luxor even has pavement kiosks.
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 Even advert boards  take preference   over us people who wish to go walk about on a pavement.

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and here we are on the far end of the village of Rhamla on the west bank of the Nile. the advert says it all.
a few more yards and I will be in the wetlands where I go to photograph the nilewildlife 
So what is this  individual henna tattoo then,  maybe they can only do one person at a time. 



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the new 60million $  marina this is where the national ferry works from.
 and even here we have a pavement cafe. serving breakfast to the hungry tourist who have just left the hotel.
without taking breakfast that has been paid for in the room tarrif ??.  crates are the order of the day making it look very authentic. as these poor people only usually eat off the floor, sorry they put a plastic mat down first. 
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and the Marine pavement is almost complete  thus making it a 6 year project. well that's when they received the us aid of 60 million $.

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Step off the pavement after a few yards and here we have the boats that take the garbage off the cruisers.
will not say it smells like channel no5  not even no1.  but it smells. remember the dog with the flies last blog. this is where it found some rotting carcass or corpse to roll in. 


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back to Luxor  city  and the hassle continues. as i passed the horses they were 3 abreast so I had to go into the middle of the two way traffic to pass  as I turned to take the photo the other horse and carriage is at the side of me giving hassle. you know how much?  and it goes on and on and on.   never mind!   I had a lovely time while photographing in the wetlands with the wildlife  makes up for the other wildlife  on the pavement less streets of Luxor  Egypt.


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the reasons they have such high pavements here.      A snooze  

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A shop.  
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A seat for the tiresome beggars. 
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 a street cafe. where parking is permitted on the pavement. thus ensuring the passer by knows there is a  pavement cafe. and can see it off the road he or she has to walk on. 
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selling live poultry . and parking the motor bike while getting the subsidized daily bread and waiting  across  the pavement

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Building entrances into  cheap hotels  and  a police  gun post here he has to stay for 9 hours  with tea brought up to him on the hour. hence he will have to piss on the pavement. well not Quite  it trickles down the pillar from the watch tower. not sure what happens to no 2s  I am sure they get a few parcels on the hotel  front pavement. 
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Its also used  by the transport police when there is a shade from the summer heat. 
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for putting concrete block weights from the barriers.   and the whole point here of a pavement is mainly for parking..