Booked myself a balloon flight for Saturday morning cost 350 egp roughly 40 sterling.
it will be my 3rd flight so I hope the sugar farmers do not make too much fog. so I can get some good photos to Share,
I went off this morning hoping to get some fresh beef. after watching the guy carry the carcass in what must have been the cloth they cleaned the floor with after the cull and men waiting for their cut joint, Meat that is! smoking and talking, spraying saliva all over the meat and generally a meeting place for a good haggle over the price of the meat they want to buy, I decided to have a coffee in my favorite coffee shop the new hom Kulthum Named after a famous singer kulthum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umm_Kulthum Situated in the center of the tourist market. and decided to buy my meat from one of the supermarkets. maybe it comes from a worse place than the butchers shop in Luxor. but who cares, at least it was not from the carcass I saw later floating in the Nile that must have been a stinker
been in the river quite a while by the looks poor buggers on the Nile cruisers have to have an intake of Nile water . see Nile pollution on my website www.myegypt.co.uk home page after the Nagaa Hamady murders.
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Here you can buy Camels and a bag to put it in maybe all of them, doesn't he wish .
The farmers friend the stick best known as a stave Ideal for hitting the donkey or could be of use in an argument. not to be mistaken for the sugar cane leaning against the wall of the next shop.
For the past 18 days I have been moving bit by bit two case of possessions each time I was feeling up to carrying, first down from the 4rth floor and then my new place was 4rth floor up stairs, not an easy task for me as each time I took one lot my back would play up the next day but me being, Is it out of stupidity or stubbornness could not be bothered to ask for help as it meant more hassle as I proved on the final leg of getting the removal guys to move my furniture and the heavy stuff such as the fridge freezer.
Across the alley of my new flat there is a furniture shop I have bought over the past 4 years quite a few pieces from him, so being mister wise guy I went and asked if he could move my things and I wanted a complete price, easy task so you would think! I told him exactly how many pieces and what they were. and where my flat was 2 kilometers away and the delivery was to my new place and pointed up to show him, Ah! You my neighbour, Yes I said enthusiastically thinking this would put a mark down on the price and the job would be done with the minimum of fuss..... He said 250 ... and I said 300 that will take care of any baksheesh (tips). and gave him 200 deposit leaving 100 after the job is finished. and arrangements were made for 11.00 the next day. time passes very quickly and the next day I was very prompt and met the removal men outside my flat entrance and off we went. up the first alley way heading in the right direction towards the Train station.
Halfway down the alley we made a turn that led down another alley that led to the main station road.
50 yards down the main road we turned again into another alley the across another main road. I was quite enjoying this seeing all the back alleys and its buildings. but why are we going so far out of our route! I asked? not allowed on the tourist roads Mr Tony ! no point asking too many questions first I had a job for them to understand the first Question.. so I thought, ah! well they know where they are going they know what they have to do. or do they! on the way we passed lots of horses and donkeys pulling carts Etc so all the four legged beasts of burden must have to stay off the tourist routs wherever possible.
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Eventually we came to Awameia easily recognizable by the pirouette's
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Did not take long before I realized these two guys although quite strong were going to be asking for some serious bakshesh First to be taken down from the flat was the fridge I had emptied all its contents to the last removable shelf the day before and I moved it out of the kitchen area and if not for my back and I already had made arrangements for removal i could have easily moved it myself. but these two strong men came back upstairs for the next lot to be taken down and the phew and gasps for air was a strategy I know for more backsheesh, after I made them a cup of tea the next lot got moved and the cart was loaded but only with the big stuff, bed and wardrobe had been dismantled that morning before I went to the 11.00 meeting place.
so all they had too do was carry everything down stairs ,
This photo from yesterdays last load and mare hassle.
On the way back they took a much longer route the reason for this was they could say, Oh Mr Tony long way to Awameia, and look how hard the horse work sweat was pouring off the poor animal. not the easiest of routs for horses because they have idiot motorbike drivers tarring up these alleyways so they have put sleeping policemen in the alley roads everywhere so the horse has to slow the cart down with no brakes and then take off again plus all the potholes in the roads, no tarmacadam on the alleys making it harder for the horse to pull.... the cart itself weighed 10 times more than its load. so there was no way I was going to ask these removal men to go back that day for another load. .
Just loved these back roads will go back on foot once I have recovered from the move and got my flat straight. good job my darling wife is here to help. she left her mum and dad in the careful hands of our son for a month. I think the main intention was to get away from the cold in the uk. she loves moving and doing new places up something we have always done... I used to buy properties do them up (renovate) and sell
14 homes in the UK in total, its our 3rd move in Egypt.
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Once we got back to the new flat they had to park two blocks away no horses cars anything on four wheels can get into the market area supposed to be pedestrians only but the odd motorbike sneaks in.
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once all was put in the flat the hand was out for money. so I had to go the furniture shop and give the guy his 100egp and told him they had to go back the next day to get the rest. all of a sudden he has lost his knowledge of English a common practice here in Egypt especially amongst the lawyers and shop owners who have complaints on purchases, so here I was with two rather aggressive removal men thinking I had only paid 100 for the job and refusing to give them baksheesh. the next day I was walking down the back alleys to take photos of the balconies and old houses when These two removal men pulled my up with feluse mr tony hard work and rubbing the forhead I started arguing with them when one of the stall holders came along to translate i explained I paid 3 hundred and only half my load was removed. the translator said , they say you only paid 100 , thats all they see me pay I said, and off we trundled back to the furniture shop. where a blazing row took place. and another shop owner intervened saying he kept the 2 hundred for dismantling the furniture and putting it back together. mish mikela, I said In your dreams.
I did all the work. all they do was carry they have no brain for engineer. (building the furniture)
the furniture guy went in his pocket and gave me the two hundred back, I said no you finish the job
I paid extra 50 for no hassle and job complete then all of a sudden its I no understand . bollocks i said and walked away. but I still had another load to move, and thats another hassle story for tommorrow.
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Bargains galore in the removal mens shop,
callashes can park and shit outside my flat
After my walk about this morning I happened to read this in a local mag, Luxor Times
It does not say how bloody obnoxious these buggers are and it also does not say that 99% all do the same thing.
but most of this problem stems from a greedy council who give out a taxi license to anyone who can pay 5000 le per year for a license. making a total of over 2500 taxis here in luxor all looking for money from the tourist, that is the ones who brave going walkabout in Luxor. the tour companies have also added to this hunger for money all the hotels tell the guests on arrival not to trust the Egyptians and offer their own limos or private minibus / busses to do the tours most have their own limos one small hotel has 10 new limos. I say limos all they are is cheap made in china or Korea cars in black. plus one top of the range Bmw for the more wealthy customers. this also applies to the calash and felucca sail boats that all have to be licensed. be wary not all the callashes are therefore not insured against accident check the license plate on the rear, some hide it to stop you reporting the license number to the police after you find out you have been conned. click on the photos to read
I beat Luxor Times to the horse and carriage con first blogged in 6/12/ 2009
These the drivers of the horse and carriage are the most obnoxious of all the people in Luxor even worse then the taxi drivers. for the most only half of the 500 or so that have recently moved from other places in Egypt have no License they are supposed to be a cheap form of transport for the locals and therefore do not need a license. but the police take their share of the carriage drivers income and its ok. until one loses a wheel or gets bumped by a tourist bus . then the tourist passengers realize that they have no insurance. soooo sorry says the driver and the police. and the poor horse is put under arrest and taken to the police station where the driver will be fined, if he has no money he and the horse will stay in custody until the money is raised.
so the police come off quite well by not letting these guys have a license, there is a reason and an answer to everything here. lies maybe but it is an answer and a reason.
Going on with the Drivers I did not have a photo of the the number plate. so At 1.30 I decided I need some groceries and I will get a photo at the same time, kill two birds with one stone so to speak. I caught the Microbus to town 1/2 an egp 18 of them for 1 English pound. and got off the other side of the Luxor Temple because that is where My shopping was taking me this day for my favorite meat "Smoked ham " pork is hard to get her since the silly Egyptian Health authority decided to cull all the pigs in Egypt. you can all guess why. when the chicken flue was here and still is . they hid the hens on the roof and that is where they have stayed just for the hens safety not to be killed before its time to go in the pot. not so easy to keep a pig on the roof. mind you if it was ok for a muslim to eat the meat they would be kept on the roof out of sight of the authorities also, If the Christians tried it they would soon get reported by his nice Muslim neighbor.
they keep sheep and goats on the roof so why not a little piggy. but that's the way it is here.
going back to my Ham. none in Until tomorrow so I ended up buying walnuts anton the shop owner knows I like walnuts , and said I know its early for Christmas Mr Tony but they are real nice and fresh as he was opening the sack. and I could smell the fresh aroma of the walnut.
so I bought 1 lilo. and already I have hade five . the temptation got to much as I was uploading tonights skywatchegypt photos. ( easily tempted me especially where food is concerned)
But there is enough for me in 1 kilo; for xmas only 1 month to go. and tomorrow I will have ham sitting in the fridge tempting the hell out of me, that also is for xmas, does not stand much of a chance being in the fridge for a month. never Mind there is always Chicken available from one of the roof top farms. and no worries about ploughing through snow and Ice to get there. lucky ol me,
As I left the grocery store I was spotted by a new carriage driver who braved the oncoming traffic up a one way street to get my attention, I had already spotted him before I even went in the shop. knowing full well he will be there as I leave. carriage mr. no thank you:
Maybe later. no thank you: and proceeded the whole 1/2 kilometer to my next stop
with! you know how much, I do not know where they have got this from but they are all at it the sail boat touts, the taxi drivers even had the shoe shine boy saying you know how much,
they think if they hassle enough maybe they will get a fare, even though I have been here now for almost 7 years I still get hassle even the ones who have seen me before and had arguments with but on no thank you is enough and they remember the man who got angry one day before,
I was on my way to Hamees restaurant, one reason a few days ago at that time of day I saw the Arabian warbler in one of the trees over the cafe seats. and the other for refreshment a cool glass of beer. I was not disappointed the arabian warbler turned up about 20 minutes after I got seated. and all through my time in the cafe the stupid carriage driver had also stopped as i got the camera ready to shot the bird the carriage driver put his hand up no photo he shouted . as soon as I took the photo he was gone . and so was the bird.
five minutes later the bird was back. and thankfully without the driver.
on leaving the cafe I was spotted again by the driver usually I can pick a microbus up from this point but I needed to go along the front whats known as the Nile cornish, to you who have not been to egypt its the promonade along the Nile all towns and villages on the Nile have one, some nothing more than a dirt track but its the village cornish. funny enough the places that have a sea front do not call it a cornish just the road name apart from Alexandria. we have two seas the Mediterranean and the red sea. even the village on Lake Qarun has a cornish. I have mentioned this because most of these carriages and drivers are from these areas no money there now they all have these little three wheeler phut phuts and of course no tourists to rip off. The towns with temples along the nile such as Edfu and Isna; Comombo tourists now see doing a Nile cruise. all in price busses are put on to take the tourist to see the temples along the way only three carriages remain in Edfu, the temple there is about 5 kilometer from the cruise berth.
so here we are in the largest open air museum in the world and all of these drivers need our money 500 carriages 250 felluca sail boats another 150 motor boats 2500 Taxis, limousines growing in number every day the busier the hotels get the more limos they have keeping the business to themselves. about 2000 buses includes mini and micro buses.
here we have a very heated argument over a tourist this one driver had followed a woman tourist for a few hundred yards, even though she wanted to take a carriage ride she did not like the hassle from this one guy and decided to go on another carriage just to get away from him. then this blazing row started telling the woman she had no right to do such a thing. the woman got off the carriage and walked into hamees where I had the story and these obnoxious people where still arguing outside right in front of the temple. poor woman was almost in tears. no sign of the tourist police when we need one not that anything would be done about it anyway. I often see these arguments turning into fisticuffs or rather stave fights. just as this ended a taxi came up the wrong way and hit a motorcyclist . as I always say the donkeys have more sense than the drivers, one of the scams with all these people is everything today is you know how much, next breath, 5pounds. now they have your attention and now is the time to be on your guard. as soon as they get you on board its, thats only to so and so or they will say one hour. then as you alight its, Whats this five genine I said 5 pounds thats 50 genine. even the taxis try this one. one just related to the carriages is never give them one hundred genine note,
it looks similar to 10 genine , as quick as a flash its swapped for 10 and unless you are certain you only have 100 notes or the note number. they will get away with it. they will even try it with a fifty piesta note. thats half of a genine. to us sometimes its not worth the hassle arguing over what is 5 £, to them its half a months wage for the labourers.
The street opposite my flat always crashes here between the idiots racing to get first to one of the cruise tourists.The safest way to travel here is the Little overworked donkey. they have more sense than all of them + they are allowed to go anywhere they wish to travel. they get arrested sometimes and have a 2 or 3 day rest outside the police station. some have a nice life especially the older farmers they know this is there bread and butter. unless they wish to carry the load.I love the way they ride these little fellows. no saddle just a rug and a piece of string . Yalla bina. Lets go.
The nearest thing I have seen to xmas yet this on the front of a microbus and yes the driver is Muslim well they do share xmas because it makes for a happy feast.
The grape vine growing on one of the villas by the main hotels
They never show prices on the tour boards. first question where are you staying , the price answer depends on the star of the hotel you are staying at.
This leaflet is being plastered all over the town make of it what you will I have.
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as i got the camera ready to shot the bird the carriage driver put his hand up no photo he shouted . as soon as I took the photo he was gone . and so was the bird.
one of the scams with all these people is everything today is you know how much, next breath, 5pounds. now they have your attention and now is the time to be on your guard. as soon as they get you on board its, thats only to so and so or they will say one hour. then as you alight its, Whats this five genine I said 5 pounds thats 50 genine. even the taxis try this one. one just related to the carriages is never give them one hundred genine note,
The street opposite my flat always crashes here between the idiots racing to get first to one of the cruise tourists.
The safest way to travel here is the Little overworked donkey. they have more sense than all of them + they are allowed to go anywhere they wish to travel. they get arrested sometimes and have a 2 or 3 day rest outside the police station. some have a nice life especially the older farmers they know this is there bread and butter. unless they wish to carry the load.
I love the way they ride these little fellows. no saddle just a rug and a piece of string . Yalla bina. Lets go.
