Luxor - The Sights

Karnak Temple, Luxor

Avenue of the Sphinx, Karnak Temple, Luxor

When we arrived, we took a walk up the Corniche. Our hotel was actually just next door to where we’d stayed nine years ago, so we were on semi-familiar territory, although after nine years, it really wasn’t so familiar any more.

As ever, we were stopped every minute by pleas for us to go on a caleche (horse-drawn carriage) or a felucca (small sailing boat). One guy was offering to clean my shoes for 1LE – it was quite sad to see how desperate they were for trade, now that so many tourists have been scared off from visiting Luxor (which felt perfectly safe). We ended up in a new area of greenery just by the museum and sat down for a while. Children came up trying to sell us water or cans of coke. The cruise boats were all lined up, but empty of tourists. We didn’t make it as far as Karnak temple.

The following day we met the organiser and our tour guide in reception and we set off to the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens while our guide tried to work out our plan for the day according to what we had and hadn’t seen on our previous trip all those years ago.

In the end, she compiled a good itinerary of three different tombs – one which was well preserved and near the surface; another one that was a bit of a climb to get inside; and a final one that was never completed. I got rather excited when she kept on talking about gods of prediction, but when I quizzed her about this, it turned out that she was saying “gods of protection”. My momentary hope of writing a book on the role of precognition in Ancient Egypt was thereby thwarted.

I can’t really give justice to the Valley of the Kings and photographs are not allowed – the etchings and drawings are magnificent and it’s hard to grasp just how ancient they are. It’s also the scale that is completely mind-boggling – over 65 are known about (albeit many are minor) and tombs are still being discovered; each individual tomb is huge with each King wishing to outdo previous ones (sadly, human nature appears to remain constant!).

We progressed from there to the Tombs of the Nobles, which are also impressive but have a different style from those in the Valley of the Kings, and then onto the little-visited Madinat Habu, where the paintings are better preserved even than in Karnak Temple.

Looking back, we should have skipped the trip to the Alabaster workshop (it was optional), as the explanation was very quick and even after Lena had bought a set of alabaster cups, the guy selling the items asked for a 20 LE baksheesh and then got into a right strop when we refused to give him anything!

The following day we visited Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple. Karnak Temple is amazing for its scale and the achievement of what seem like impossible feats when you understand when this was done, the amount of work devoted to it, and how much of it is still standing. The avenue of the Sphinx is continually being found to be longer than originally thought. I really love Karnak Temple. 

Luxor Temple is remarkable for its embodiment of various religions and it’s like walking through eras of history as you go. It’s situated right in the middle of the Corniche and has its own charm; historically it is probably the more interesting of the two (although my favourite is Karnak).

Every visitor to Egypt should go to Luxor!

Luxor - Getting There

Sunset on the Nile

Lena and I had originally planned on going on a five-day Nile cruise, but somehow the days came and went and before we knew it, there wasn’t really much time left. Oh well, next visit!

However, we decided we had enough time to do a two-night, three-day stay in Luxor. Fortunately, Safi was able to give us the names and numbers of taxi drivers to take us there (there is a bus, but it wasn’t recommended!), plus someone who would organise a driver and an Egyptologist to take us round the various sites.

The taxi arrived on time and Safi waved us off. You’d think that would be it, but as it turned out, the driver had problems finding his way out of Sahl Hasheesh, so 15 minutes later, we were pretty much still at base camp. We made it out in the end, though. I felt a bit like someone that had been let out for a day, as I suddenly realised that I hadn’t travelled out of Hurghada at all since I’d arrived here in October (ie, not travelled out of Hurghada within Egypt).

For some reason, I thought Safaga was only a few minutes away, but it took quite a bit of driving to get there. Eventually, we turned into the mountains (yes, mountains!) and even spotted a safari van there (no idea what a safari does!). We speculated that you wouldn’t really want to be driving along those roads with someone you didn’t trust as you could easily get lost in the mountains if you were dumped there and it would be a furnace in the summer months.

We’d been informed that the journey would take 4 hours, but our driver sped along (as Lena said, he didn’t like to be behind another car) and the roads were fairly empty, apart from when we got stuck behind a gritter on a bit of the road that had been newly tarmacked – our driver’s frustration was at a peak at this point. Nevertheless, his car was comfortable and had beaded seats which stopped you from getting too hot as you sat and he was a very pleasant guy. I would definitely travel with him again.

Half-way through, we stopped at a large diner for a quick break. It was in the middle of nowhere and presumably must only serve those travelling between Luxor and Hurghada (and vice versa). There’s no train between the two towns, so road travel is your only option (or a flight, I guess). As soon as we stepped out of the car, a guy came up to us to try to sell us his wares, but once inside the café, we were left in peace.

I guess they must get coach parties, since the dining room was huge and the washrooms housed quite a number of facilities. It felt strange to be the only two people sitting there in that huge space. There were saloon doors into the toilets. Fortunately Lena noticed that, weirdly, the toilet paper was hanging up by the washbasins (I was searching the individual cabins for paper to no avail and never thought to look anywhere else!). On our way out, we were suddenly informed that we had to pay 1LE each for their use (there was a box specially made for this, so I think it was probably true!).

We continued our journey. On our way, we passed through a number of check points (or even “chick point”), but the driver was stopped only as we entered into Luxor.

My main surprise on coming into Luxor was how green it was, given that Hurghada is mostly desert. In Hurghada, greenery is a sign of wealth. In Luxor, of course, they have the Nile, so there were many fields of crops, and the streets were lined with trees and flowers, I think mainly yellow compared with the pink and white that predominate in Hurghada. It felt very different in almost every respect from Hurghada; it could almost have been a different country.

We were expecting to be met by the main organiser at the hotel, but instead he joined us in our taxi on the outskirts of Luxor and immediately asked for money. We were alarmed at first, but it all turned out to be fine. After a small resistance from the organiser, we agreed that we would be met at 10am the next morning to go to Valley of the Kings (they are used to going a lot earlier to avoid the heat, but we wanted to avoid an early rise!).

We’d booked a twin room with a full Nile view – most of the hotels are nearly empty in Luxor and prices are reasonable – so on that first night we ordered dinner in our room (or, rather, balcony) so that we could take full advantage of the scene before us. There’s something very primordial about the Nile; it’s still a working river and something about it tugs at your heart. Luxor has to be one of the most amazing places in the world.

Sahl Hasheesh - First Massage

Massage Facilities on the Beach

As a thank you for her stay, Lena kindly offered to treat me to a massage (thank you, Lena!) at the Dr Fish / Sole Sensations spa in Sahl Hasheesh.

Lena had already received one or two massages there, so she was able to guide me a bit as to the procedures. Although there is a dedicated tent on the beach for massages, we went into the room at the back for ours.

We were tended to by two women; one was wearing a headscarf and so it felt quite strange to be almost naked and then massaged by someone who clearly believed in covering up. We couldn’t help wondering what it was like for this woman to have this job (did she find it weird, was it OK because we were foreigners and she could stay in her preferred dress, did she understand the benefits, etc).

As you might expect from a professional massage, our treatments focused on our individual needs (although somehow we hadn’t really expected this). Consequently, my masseuse focused strongly on my previously broken foot and my calf (which I had problems with many years ago), without me even mentioning them; in fact, she focused on it so much that I began to wonder whether any other part of my body would be massaged at all. At one point, I heard the other masseuse slapping Lena’s body (I was convinced it was her back, but it turned out to be her leg) and I began to feel quite envious that she was getting a full body massage whereas I was seemingly only having a single-leg massage. Meanwhile, it transpired that Lena was worrying that I’d been taken off somewhere because she couldn’t hear any noise coming from my couch at all!

Eventually, the massage did work up to my back and the masseuse was so strong that she almost winded me as she pressed down (Lena said she heard me grunting!). The two of them got up on the tables to ensure that they gave full pressure as they worked. Lena was obviously hardier than me!

Towards the end, we had a hot stone massage, which neither of us had ever had before. We heard the clacking of the stones as they prepared them (I thought it sounded a bit like castanets). I was completely shocked at how hot the stones were when placed on my body. For the first few – placed at the very bottom of my spine – they were extremely hot but just about bearable, but later I had to whimper a bit. Again, Lena was a lot hardier and was completely silent (I began to wonder if they had to wait for me to be finished before starting on her). All in all, though, it was a truly brilliant experience and I felt totally relaxed afterwards. A huge thank you to Lena!

When it was over, we did the Egyptian thing of accepting the offer of a cup of tea with the guy in charge. Although it appeared to have been a slow day, he mentioned that they were opening up an extra section, so the spa must be doing OK. Many Egyptians are very happy to talk about the political situation, which I find quite surprising. Despite the hard circumstances and poverty that many face just now, there is an underlying current of optimism. I’m not sure if this is based on the sense that the people have power to change things or whether optimism in the face of adversity is an inherent trait of the Egyptian people. Or maybe it’s a bit of both.

Sahl Hasheesh - Walking Around the Old Town

Old Town Courtyard

Ironically, the Old Town in Sahl Hasheesh is quite new. It’s designed to be a place of little streets where you wander through and look at the shops, with the occasional courtyard and fountain. When complete and full of visitors, it should be a very attractive place to be. However, at the moment, tourism is still down from the peak, developments in Sahl Hasheesh have stalled, and many shops are empty.

As in El Gouna, it’s a policy in Sahl Hasheesh that tourists shouldn’t be hassled, but this doesn’t mean that the shopkeepers won’t try to persuade you to come in their shops. For much of the evening, they stand outside in the warm night air, trying to entice customers in. I guess many of them are bored and looking as much for someone to chat to as anything else. Consequently, if you want to go to the Old Town, you have to make a point of it, and you have to be prepared to stop and chat with every single shop owner (but you can just say “no” and that’s OK!). It’s just how it is and you can’t blame them for trying to get business as they need the money in order to survive.

Anyway, Lena and I had set aside an evening for the purpose of wandering around the Old Town. I can’t even remember now all the people to whom we talked. Each time you get stopped, you also get invited in for a cup of tea. It’s part of Egyptian hospitality. I have no idea if I am being rude for virtually always refusing, but if I accepted every invitation, I would be bloated and not get home until 2am!

The most memorable shops for me were a tea shop that had some beautifully-smelling guava tea and that also sold a dried-up root thing that developed into a flower, I think, when immersed in water; another shop sold papyrus and the guy demonstrated how he had some special pictures that glowed in the dark; a third shop sold some very good quality leather bags of all colours and sizes. We went into one shop selling sandals. The poor guy there who was trying to sell us a pair was being watched by his boss, so when he was unsuccessful, his manager stepped in! At each stop, we were offered tea.

We also discovered a courtyard with a small fountain that I hadn’t seen before (pictured, but looks even more beautiful when the fountain is working!). There’s only one shop there just now (selling jewellery) and he’s finding it hard to get people even to know it’s there. If he speaks to people out on the seafront, they immediately withdraw, so it’s tough to do business.

The owner of a perfume shop claimed that I had promised to have tea with him the next time he saw me and he managed to guilt me into accepting the offer (“no hassle”) this time. Fortunately for us (if you look at it that way), two customers suddenly came into his shop just as we sat down, so we made a hasty and polite exit.

I hope that tourism picks up and the population of Sahl Hasheesh grows in time so that people can make a good living by setting up shop here. The Old Town is beautifully designed and will make a lovely place for a stroll and a shop. Actually, it already does, if only the people would come!

Sahl Hasheesh - Returning at Night

The Foyer at El Andalous

When Lena first arrived, there were mountains across the bay and a moon in the sky at night. As time progressed, the mountains disappeared (sand storm / heat haze?), as did the moon (total mystery!). The mountains did gradually reappear, but we barely saw the moon again. It became a bit of a nightly mission to try and find it.

Anyway, we mentioned the mystery of the disappearing moon to Esmat on our way back from Hurghada and he gave some kind of explanation, which neither of us caught, so I’m still just as clueless (please contribute to the blog, if you have an answer!). One evening, towards the end of Lena’s stay, we saw the new moon on its back, holding the shadow of the rest of the moon. Two hours later, the moon had disappeared again. It was truly bizarre!

Esmat drove slowly as we entered Sahl Hasheesh and commented that if he had some waiting time in the evening, he would often come to this spot as the stars were so much more visible there. It was true! Thousands of stars were above our heads. Occasionally, as we drove along at night returning from a day out, we would see a fox running across the sands, eyes gleaming.

As we drove towards the Entrance Piazza, Esmat remarked that he could see a ship in the distance and that it wasn’t normally there. It took me a while to latch on to what he was talking about. He drives the route often and so he knows what looks normal and what doesn’t – me, I don’t pay much attention to anything, and wouldn’t have a clue what is usually there.

Eventually, I saw something large and bright in front of us; it appeared to be above the Entrance Piazza, and I couldn’t really see that it could possibly be a ship and I wasn’t convinced that it wasn’t a shop or something that was there all the time. Lena then pointed it out to me to confirm that this was what Esmat was talking about. At first, I was convinced that Esmat was joking. It didn’t look anything like a ship; surely it was a shop that’s always there and he was having us on? However, he was right and I was wrong. It was a huge passenger ship docked at Sahl Hasheesh across the bay from El Andalous. It was bizarre to see its shape floating in the air as we sat in the car. It didn’t seem quite right.

After arriving at El Andalous and paying Esmat, Lena and I walked along the pier to take a closer look. The liner seemed twice its actual size because it was reflected in the water. As we turned back to return to El Andalous, I noticed that the glass-bottomed boat still had staff around, so I took the opportunity to ask when they sailed and how much it cost. After giving us the information, the guy invited us on board to take a look at what it was like.

I would have hesitated to accept the invitation, but to my surprise Lena agreed, and so we both stepped onto the boat. Lena said afterwards that she felt completely safe in so doing; my worry had been more that we would be charged or I would feel obliged to pay a baksheesh (and how much?). Anyway, I was very glad that Lena agreed and this taught me that I must take more opportunities when they are given and stop worrying!

We went down inside to the glass-bottomed viewing room and even though it was night (around 10pm), plenty of fish were swimming round the boat. We sat down with a full view of everything in the sea around us and the guy pointed out squid, tuna (?), and other sea life. The fish swam right up to the windows. Weirdly, you could hear the fish whoosh around outside as there were whole shoals of them. It was an amazing experience. The guy told us that the fish that appear at night were different from the ones seen during the day; apparently the boat goes up towards Makadi Bay every morning. I was never really very convinced about these glass-bottomed boats before, but now I think they must be great and will join every visitor that wishes to go!

We thanked him and left. Before we knew it, that was another day gone.

Hurghada - Fish Market

Fish for Sale!

Boat Making

My life took a fairly fishy theme once Lena arrived. Just behind the mosque, there’s the fish market. It’s quite an interesting place so we dived in there (not literally!) for a quick visit.

We arrived quite late in the day so, by the time we strolled round, quite a few stalls had packed up and the place smelled of its produce. Here, as pretty much anywhere in Hurghada, a few wild cats were strolling about or just hiding from the sun among the stalls.

There is a huge variety of fish for sale, including parrot fish (I provided a photograph of a live one in an earlier blog). I remember Brigitte reporting back from her trip to the market feeling distressed that people could kill and eat these beautiful fish. But there they were, rows of them, covered in ice, ready for purchase.

It’s hot and it’s open air, so flies were buzzing about. It’s a market, so you have to barter the price – I heard one local arguing over the price of a parrot fish. Towards the back, there’s even a place where the fish are cooked directly from the stalls and you can eat it at the counter. I believe it’s very good, but I’m not that brave. Similarly, there is a fish restaurant opposite the market, which is reputed to be excellent. If you are a fish person, food-wise, it would be a good thing to have this restaurant at the top of your list to do.

Also to the back of the fish market, at the right, is a small harbour for all the fishing boats. Presumably, they come here, offload the fish, which then go directly to the market stalls. You can’t really get fresher than that. However, these small boats make a stark contrast to the luxury liners in the Marina situated just next door.

You get a good view of the mosque from the fish market and at the back, to the left, there’s also a boat yard, where you can see boats in various stages of construction. The boats are all made of wood, on land, in the backdrop of the mosque to the left. It’s quite a sight and gives you an idea of how all the trades (fishermen, boat maker, market trader, chef) come together.

Hurghada - First Time in Mosque

Columns Outside Hurghada Mosque

Someone (hello, Holger!) misinformed me that Hurghada was the only mosque in Egypt that didn’t allow foreigners inside. Either I misunderstood or things have changed because, to my surprise, I discovered that foreigners, and even women, were allowed to enter the building.

I started off showing Lena the outside of the mosque, which I’ve seen now on several occasions, while we assessed whether the rumour that we could go in was true. The public square outside is huge and it’s good to wander round anyway and observe the impressive building, funded by the people of Hurghada. Anyway, as we were walking about, somebody stopped us and said that we had to wear a galabaya, obtainable from a cabin at the other side of the mosque. This was news to me, since on no previous occasion had this been required.

Not wishing to argue, we went over to the booth and dressed appropriately (although neither of us was skimpily clad in the first place). Now looking like two good Muslim women, we re-entered the square, taking photos of each other. A guy beckoned us to indicate that we could go inside if we wished. We took our shoes off and went in.

The mosque was clearly set up for tourists  as inside there was a model of the mosque and free brochures explaining various aspects of Islam in a number of languages. The large rug covering the floor indicated where the men needed to kneel to pray (women had a separate building). I believe any text on the walls was passages from the Koran. Once we'd finished looking, we returned to the cabin to hand back our galabayas. Again, the guy inside helped us and we did our best to ensure our t-shirts didn’t walk up our backs as the galabayas came off. I went in second and gave the man our baksheesh.

As I exited, Lena was waiting for me outside,open-mouthed. She informed me that a random guy sitting just outside the cabin had “got his tackle out” to show (wave at?) her on her way out! Right by the mosque and in broad daylight! So much for the women having to cover up! He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t end up getting his thing chopped off!

Hurghada - First Trip in Jac's Truck

Hurghada from the Sea

There’s a group called Lotus Ladies in Hurghada for women to meet up. There’s afternoon coffee in the Marina each Wednesday and then lots of other events are organised such as trips to Alexandria, fundraising for charity, Arabic lessons, etc. I’d heard it was a good way to meet other people and before coming here I thought I would join pretty quickly so that I could establish a social network for myself. But then I broke my foot and was housebound, so I never went. As it turned out, I ended up with plenty of social contacts in El Andalous, so I haven’t really needed Lotus Ladies.

However, Jac organised a trip for us to go to the afternoon coffee so that we could register if we wished. I was curious to go and Lena was happy to come along and see what it was like, so we agreed to join, along with Kathryn and Jac’s sister-in-law, Angie.

Jac and her husband, Chris, have bought an old landrover/truck for Chris to play around with and to do up whenever he feels like tinkering. They bought it off one of the shopkeepers in El Andalous and Medhat, bless him, is in a continual state of anxiety over Jac and Chris using it, because it is so old. He is convinced that it is dangerous. He did his best to dissuade Jac from using the “truck”, as they call it, for our journey, fearing that Jac wouldn’t be able to drive it (women drivers aren’t common in Egypt) and that it would be unsafe or would break down. Jac kept on reassuring him.

Anyway, we all piled into the truck to go to Lotus Ladies. After fiddling about with the controls to find out what was where, off we went, bumping along the roads in Sahl Hasheesh. However, before we’d even managed to exit Sahl Hasheesh, the indicator got stuck, making it look as if we were continually turning left. We rode on for a while, waiting for it to turn off; sometimes it would go off for a second or two but then it would turn on again. We tried all sorts of things but the light stubbornly continued to blink. So, barely two minutes into our journey, we had to turn round and go back to ask how to switch the indicator off! Oh the irony!

Chris said we shouldn’t worry and that the indicator would just stop blinking in good time; it was just how Egyptian cars were made. Medhat came out to have a laugh; we all joined in. With no resolution to the problem, we ended up having to drive the whole way with our indicator flashing. TIE (This is Egypt).

We stopped off for a coffee at the restaurant where I’d been to before with Jac and Nadia; we were provided with a complimentary ouzo each (I guess the owners can’t be Muslim!) and this was at 11am! The truck provided much amusement. Jac asked the guys there if they could sort it out, but I believe with no success, although the men then fretted about the battery running flat if the indicator continued to flash while we went away. However, the men clearly enjoyed being able to tinker about with the vehicle.

One of us – I can’t remember who – wanted to buy some sandals in the shop across the road. Well, can you imagine a load of women in a shoe shop? Jac bargained the price down to 35 LE and, of course, as one person tried them on with the rest of us having nothing better to do, it didn’t take long for us all to be crowding round and getting every sandal out in the shop as we each tried them on to pass the time. Before we knew what had happened, all of us had bought some sandals – I believe Kathryn bought six pairs and Angie bought around four pairs. We were all shouting out the sizes and colours we wanted in true Egyptian style. It ended up with the shopkeeper taking a group photo of him and us in his shop. It must have been his lucky day. He was happy and we were happy. That’s what shopping should be all about!

After that, we returned to the “shop” that the old man runs with all the hotchpotch of junk items. He’d recently tried to charge Kathryn 800 LE for a picture she liked, so you have to bargain hard or just walk away if he insists on a ridiculous price.

Surprisingly, he’d tidied the place up since the last time I was there and the cutlery was no longer all over the floor. As Jac said, if you only knew about these things, you could probably find some bargains amongst all these various items stashed everywhere, but unfortunately all of us are clueless. She bought a bangle for about 10 LE and resisted buying a picture until she’d had more time to think. As it happened, the chance purchase of the bangle turned out to be a pure gold bracelet!

Anyway, we eventually attended the Lotus Ladies meeting – not so many others were there on this occasion – and Jac and I signed up for membership. There’s definitely a lot going on should you get bored and be looking for something to do. The group got interrupted by an Egyptian guy wanting to give us his opinions on either Morsi or the Muslim Brotherhood; the organiser reiterated several times that political discussion was not allowed within the group and eventually the guy retired to the background. I never found out which side he was advocating.

Subsequently, we went back to the restaurant for a late lunch. Some of the men were sitting around on the bonnet of the truck, obviously feeling that they looked trendy and cool. Meanwhile, we all received another complimentary ouzo. Jac was summonsed to restart the Landrover to make sure that the battery was still charged.

Kathryn and I ordered fish and chips on Jac’s recommendation, but somehow we ended up with a different type of fish from the one we’d ordered since the owner decided we hadn’t ordered the right thing. This had also happened on a previous evening where we’d tried to order one thing and then were firmly told by the person serving that we would be much better eating a different dish. TIE! Although the fish wasn’t quite what we’d ordered, it was nevertheless still very good.

Those that know me may be feeling a little surprised at these recent blogs, because I don’t really eat fish. At the moment, I’m trying to develop a taste for it as it is good for you (and the fish here is supposed to be great). Just now, I’m starting to feel that I’ve overdone it!

After this late lunch, Jac had an appointment, so the others boarded the truck again wihle Lena and I waved them off and subsequently continued to explore.

El Andalous - Lena's Arrival

El Andalous

I’ve been blessed so far to have had a fair few visitors. So, the next one was Lena – we’d both studied German at university together and somehow we’d both eventually ended up in Zurich (although my 6 years in Switzerland was a temporary stay compared to hers!). Anyway, to my delight, she decided to come over to visit for 18 days.

I’d made a sign for Esmat to hold at the airport and, as requested, I texted him the night before to remind him to turn up. The pick up went fairly smoothly, although I was a bit flummoxed when he phoned to say that Lena wasn’t there and could I describe her to him. I’m rubbish at describing people. I could say fairly easily that she was the same age as me, maybe a little taller, and thin – I didn’t think any of these things had changed – but had to stab a guess at blond/brown hair that was short as I had no idea what her current hair style or hair colour was like. I tried to explain that her hair could have changed and may be completely different from what I was describing, but I got the impression that Esmat was feeling a bit bemused at my confused ramblings. I will maybe try to show a photograph next time if anyone needs to be picked up!

Anyway, it all went well in the end, apart from the fact that Lena arrived not feeling very well, so we postponed the inaugural dinner out until the next evening.

Jac had recommended the fish restaurant in the hotel next door (Pyramisa), so off we went.

My problem is that, unusually for a female, I’m not so good at multitasking. Consequently, my mind was so preoccupied with trying to get us a discount that I completely forgot to ask anything about the menu and what the fixed price truly entailed. I also got a bit confused because when they asked “Outside?” I thought they were asking whether we wanted to sit outside (which turned out not to be an option), but they were asking whether we were outside guests, ie, not pertaining to the hotel. But, never mind, amidst all the confusion, I did get us a bit of a reduced price as residents and I’m sure that’s what really counts?

Anyway, we sat down and only then realised that it was a set menu with fish soup for starters (not really my thing) and then fish or shrimps (as far as I could gather) for the main course. I’d thought there would be a meat option. Hey ho.

The food was actually pretty good, only I hadn’t realised that the shrimps would be huge things that I needed to tear apart (I don’t normally eat fish); in my mind it was going to be something like scampi and chips. Still, I munched my way through it, asking Lena for advice as to what I was supposed to do with these things as I went along. However, both of us were a bit distracted by the fact that Lena’s fish hadn’t arrived and we deliberated as I ate whether we were supposed to share one course of shrimps and one course of fish. If so, then whoops!

I watched the look of horror on Lena’s face as they brought her fish. It was huge and looked most peculiar – to me it looked black and knobbly, but I didn’t really inspect it that carefully. Its head was still on and was looking back at us. Again, this wasn’t quite what we were expecting. Lena respectfully covered the fish’s head with her napkin so that she didn’t have to face it. However, the fish itself, she said, was very good indeed, once she’d got over the initial shock.

We were the only non-Russians present. The evening also included entertainment of a whirling dervish (I got selected to do the group activity) and a cobra show (I fortunately sat out on that one). Weirdly, given that the entire audience, apart from us, was Russian, the performers spoke in English, although not much speaking was really involved.

One person had a birthday, so a delicious-looking chocolate cake was brought out for him. Lena and I eyed it greedily and our hopes raised as the guy went round all the tables to offer each guest a piece (the cake was too large for his party alone), but somehow he missed us out, even though we appeared to be the only people desirous of a slice.

Fortunately, his wife/girlfriend/friend noticed our disappointment (actually, I think Lena looked across and indicated our intentions!), nudged the birthday boy, who then came over to our table and gave us two huge slices. Freebies always taste better than anything else! I doubt the person is reading, but if he is, a huge thanks from both of us for that!

On our way out, it seemed that security was arguing with someone, but it’s always hard to tell in Egypt since their way of talking always sounds, to a British ear at any rate, rather excited. Anyway, it all made for an interesting and eventful evening!

El Andalous - Tipping Traumas

El Andalous looking Towards Beach

I’ve been here almost 6 months now but I just cannot get the hang of tipping. I’m an embarrassment to myself!

Let me give you some recent examples.

Yesterday, I did a big shop at Spinneys. As usual, I got back and the people at the desk helped me to carry my goods to my flat. When I first got here, I didn’t tip for this service, but then others told me they usually did, so now I’ve started. However, I’m a bit clumsy at it (this is an understatement!) and many times I don’t even succeed.

The time before last, we had a power cut as I arrived back, so Ahmed took my shopping to the door for me and carried a torch with him. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to tip because there was no light in my flat and I couldn’t see what money was in my purse. So, that was a failure.

The following time, the guy took my shopping to my flat, I went go get the money out of my purse, but he’d disappeared up the corridor before I had time to give him anything. I poked my head out of the door and he was hanging around, but then I felt too embarrassed to run up to him with the tip as it felt too clumsy. And I felt guilty afterwards, because he had clearly been standing in the corridor doing nothing so that I could give him the tip. No-one really won!

This last time, I thought I’d finally got it all worked out. I prepared myself in advance with the money in my hand, all ready to give it to the person who helped me. Unfortunately for everyone, I got completely confused because this time two people carried my shopping to the door instead of just one and I had a tip in my hand only for one person. And even then, the one that did most of the work still managed to run away before I had an opportunity to tip him. The second guy hung around a bit, but I didn’t feel I could give him a tip and not the other one and it was in any case the first guy that had done most of the carrying. I ended up giving neither of them anything. So, that was another failure.

Today, I finally managed to get Medhat and Mohamed to look at the wall in my bedroom to see if they could fix it. While they were there, I asked about getting the holder for my shower head fixed as well.

Medhat looked at the wall and asked me when I was next in the UK. I replied that I would be going in August and he asked if that was the month after May. In all seriousness, I answered that it was the month after July and said the word for “August” in Arabic. Only afterwards, on reflection, did I realise that Medhat was joking as he wanted to do the work while I was not around (due to the room being out of bounds while they worked) and he was really hinting in a jokey manner that he needed it to be sooner. I then got myself into a twist that what had actually happened is that I’d basically just insulted him on his English and had shown myself to have no sense of humour at all. I tell you, it’s a social nightmare here!

Medhat then got someone in to fix my shower for me. I prepared my tip in the background while I waited. They guy left the flat and I thought he said “finished”, so I tried my best to thrust my tip upon him. Nicole had said they always refuse first and you have to press it, so when he refused, I insisted, only to realise eventually that he was saying “five minutes” and not “finished” and that he hadn’t yet completed the job! I was very embarrassed.

Then he returned with another guy and they mended the shower (it always seems to take more than one person!). Again, Mohamed was on his way out when I tried to thrust the tip upon him again. Once more, he refused the tip, explaining that he hadn’t actually succeeded in repairing it. Again, I felt embarrassed and clumsy.

They returned a third time, having found the part they thought they didn’t have. This time, they repaired the shower properly. Yes, you guessed right. I finally attempted to thrust the tip on them, in a very clumsy fashion by waving it in the air as they were running out the door. The helper turned to me and said “don’t worry” or something to that effect. At this point, I was too embarrassed and wound up to remember to insist, so, after all that, I still ended up not paying anything and worrying that maybe I was even being insulting by doing it so awkwardly.

I really don’t know how everyone else manages to do it so smoothly and without getting all in a twist about it. My conclusion is that I’m not really adapting so well to the culture as I would like!