This is the balloon I went in 2weeks ago, unless they have changed the very strict rules aboutflying in the antiquities area of the west bank. I was told yet anotherlie by our Captain Mr Ragab. on the day of flight he told us ( thepaying public) , that he is only allowed by the airport police totravel in a certain area. I knew at the time he was telling a porky as I regularly get up and watch the balloons, some come down as faras the river Even cross the river and the very reason I asked if wewill be travelling in that direction. but today we the paying publicwho had been brave enough to venture out of the hotels to look for atour company, booked and paid direct with said tour company in Luxorfar less money than booking through the hotel tour companies, ( thatwas the reason for the short flight) and the reason he said ourflight was only 45 mins once we were up and landed we could not tellif the remaining balloons in the air took off the same time as us, buthe was the Captain and knew what he was saying. so no Argument. Ihad already had a real ding dong with the police over my telescopiclens. read more in the rest of the blog.
and the reason I took this last flight was to photograph IE Luxor and Karnak temples and my new home
andeven from the height this balloon is traveling in the photo I wouldhave had some good pics. so do I go back to the agent and get a muchreduced other flight .4rth hmmm" more chance of getting alift on the pink flying elephant methinks?? and just goes to showeven the more educated here are just liars, say things to keep usquiet. must learn more on the way a balloon is navigated the captainsaid we can only travel the way the wind takes us. that also wasanother load of bull the balloons travel in the same direction everyday and if our captain is not a liar it means the wind only blowsfrom north to east. why do they have wind flaps how was it he couldturn the balloon on take off to head in a northerly direction to showus our first temple Hatshepsut. ah well, I must learn toact like the rest of the tourists. and believe every thing these nicepeople say. especially the ones who work for Horus airship andballoon company. and of coorse the police.
Thisphoto was taken the morning I booked my flight in the hot air balloon,by 33/1 chance its the same balloon I took today's flight . balloon over hatshepsut.16/2/10
Sun up on arrival at the take off site in Gurna West Bank Luxor
ourcaptain Ragab was quite informative and said there are 33 balloons inthe area but only Eight can be on the take off area at one time,, (that was another one of his lies I happened to be on my roof againthe next day and I saw 15 balloons taking off at the same time) , the flights from first light then every 45 minutes the time of eachflight before landing. before I purchased my flight ticket Ispecifically asked if I can take the zoom lens to take photos of Karnakand the places that the balloons are no longer allowed to fly oversince the accident last May 09. of coorse why not! do you have anyinformation on what we are or not allowed to take on board, and thetravel agent got a bit pissed off with me asking such idioticquestions.
before the incident 09 balloons took off fromwherever they found a cheap enough plot of land to take off from andlanded anywhere including near the Luxor Airport where the pilot andtravelers got arrested and the balloon impounded, because its amilitary zone as are all the airports in Egypt. ( Police State)
butnow at this moment in time we have security police on the new take offsite in El Gurna this site is opposite the turn off for the funeryTemple of Hatshepsut why it has taken so much of the growing land isbeyond my comprehension when a few kilometer from here its desertland and always will be as is the now new landing areas of thesensible pilots who adhere to the regulations, some are still landingin green farmland
good for the farmer he gets a few bucks fromthe negligent pilot. or did I hear oh the wind changed, new regs say, if the wind is too strong no taking off! and that is supposed tobe the reason why we have such obnoxious police security such as theone who tried to stop me boarding with my zoom lens, leave it with me
hesaid,, not ******* likely I said, you think I am leaving a 2000.00sterling lens with a cop that takes 20 egp to close his eyes while Iget on board. piss off , and the argument went on whilst we wherewaiting to heat the balloon up for take off. in the end I promised Iwould keep it in the bag on the floor of the balloon basket. after hecould not show positive proof of regulations that he said was in force.and a mention of go fetch General Luwa Magrabi. I got a politesalute and a sorry mister.
oncethe balloon was inflated and upright 12 people boarded the basket hotair was blown into the balloon but first The captain had to go throughthe technicalities of taking off and landing positions. and we wereaway. heading to the nearest Antique Hatsheput Temple, I did wantto get a photo from the air of the carter house, http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/2009/08/howard-carter-house.htmland Seti 1st temple Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple but the sun was tostrong when pointing the camera in its direction. you will also noticeon some of the photos the fog caused by the sugar cane fires and theNile and Luxor town was almost invisible through the blanket of smoke
Oneof the many small Temples dotted along the Nile none are open neitheris there a guard but all have steel gates on the entrances this one ishome to the local wildlife birds Etc. I visited this site 5 years agoand photos are on one of the many discs I have
agood landing we had to wait in the basket until the ground wascovered with material before the balloon was deflated notice the bushin front of the next picture if the balloon came down on that it wouldbe full of holes, Agool or Camelthorn this grows everywhere inthe desert lands.
Two bedhouns I see in the distance, not here! these are the boys whofollow the balloons hoping some one needs a lift back to the Nile orbetter still a days trek to the valley of the Kings,
And a trick for the guy who looks like he has money.
Talking of Money , the Captain looks pleased with his tip
Doesn't it look nice the new look Luxor...... this is what one might call an expensive poetic license.
Photo taken day after the sandstorm'
I am a retired builder and unless they are taking all thebuildings down and rebuilding including the most famous Luxor templeit will never look like the image in the photo unless they really areexpecting the martians to do it for them.
thetwo martians they have in the poster and the only two who lookabsolutely knackered reading the daily newspaper amongst all the otherrobot workers with what seems to be knee problems, this is the posterthat has been placed outside the area where once the new winter Palacestood , demolished last year and a nice garden mostly green grass wasplanted in its place now hidden from view with an equally nice posterof what the future holds , gone is the local dress the galabeya. and all must wear a suite black with white shirt and black tie, office workers may take off the coat if needing a walk by the Nileduring break times, where they can mingle with the women of a differentculture. unless there will be a law passed that no one shall wear thescarf.
it will be very nice indeed if this plan comes to realityno taxis no touts for the fellucas or horse drawn carriages and nomore horse shit, but of course that is what the whole plan is aload of .
This is the Old winter palace I am standingas far back as I can as there is a rail like all promenades have tostop one falling on to whatever, that is a drop of almost 4 metersbefore I hit the walk way and its shopping arcades and Mr Edris groupof overpriced restaurants, then there is another 2 meters before I gofor a swim in the Nile that's if I survive the first fall.
Thisphoto is taken of the Old winter Palace from a meter above water linefrom one of the Jetties about 100yards out on the Nile the reason Icame so far out to take the shot was, if I stood on the watersedge IE where our architect has made the view of the poster all Iwould only be able to see a 4 meter high wall.
or in this case Edris restaurant.
Iknow the Nile at its highest point is at least three meters down fromthe xxx to xx so giving that! the artist Architect has forgot tobuild a 4 meter wall in front of the Old winter Palace steps unless heis going to make a dry ski slope with a 4 meter fall into the Nile Ialso see this architect is not native to The Nile area the famousfelucca only has one mast unless they are going to make a yacht clubas well as a rowing club that no one uses or is allowed to enter orventure on to its terrace with its finest view in all of Luxor of theNile.
This building by from what I can see is in need ofdemolition even though it has only recently been built but as I thinknot opened.
We are in the next few weeks going to see muchwork and lots of dust they say the plan is too take the whole of thepromenade down 4 meter all the 4 kilometers from Ibrotel hotel turn onthe existing promenade ( that the Chinese convicts built in the 1970s) to Karnak Temple and it will only be for pedestrian access. all isOK on paper as they say, the guvnor is coming again next week toopen the new section of the Avenue of the Spinx so all the boats willhave to go and hide again I am sure he thinks Luxor I a wonderfulplace to live no noise from honking cars no taxis no boats nocruisers belching out their pollution into the Nile waters nocarriages in Luxor. because they are all warned a day before he comesno horse droppings or horse urine smell on the tourist route PLEASE, see his last visit on this blog.
Today was a real blustery day again, 24 hours of sandstorm. and this is as much of the sun that was visible through the dust.
Andguess what else the wind did not like. I hope the new proposedbuildings stay up longer than the many thousands of dollars sign theyput up three days ago. I think it was a case of horse before the cart they put the sign up for the guvnor before they put up the steel support structure. ah well" its Egypt
Looks like a rocket launching site is in progress .
Itseems that the project was started well before the wind came, well atleast the steel had arrived and of course as all things here in Egypt bwkra is always the answer, Or is that manyana! but they got caughtwith there pants down or shall we say the wind blew their galabeya,sup, well they have a few more days yet to rectify the problem beforethe boss comes. and they can not say the poster was only put there as atemporary measure, looking behind the scenes the trees where cutpurposely to hold the poster in its place unless the idea was to havethem looking as if trees where growing out of the Nile when the posterwas finally Erected on its final place.
Weshall be getting notice on our air travel tickets only dark suites andblack ties, smartly dressed women with fat legs will be allowed toenter the front area of the banks and winter Palace hotel areas.
Unlessthey are the new secret police You will be able to tell the people fromanother planet look for the ones with a setting sun shadow.
even the wall is a meter High unless we are going to get an invasion of rather small people in three years time.
the next story is from my old residence, I moved 1/2/10
Not exactly a riot but near enough the uniformed police were not involved so it does not constitutionally mean a riot,
At 7.30 on the 9 January 2010 I went for my usual walk on return at 8.30 I had all the neighbors screaming and shouting at what seemed to be Council workers tearing down the hedges and anything they could lay their hands on. suddenly youths came with sticks the women were wailing in the usual frustrated manor as if it was a funeral. then It was reality time.
I moved here to this area in March 2007. I asked the headof Luxor district Dr Samir Fawak if this was a safe area., yes he said, once I moved in I was hearing rumors about the neighboring houses coming down so I asked my landlord and he said my flat was safe,
about a month later they started on the new cultural centre by this time I had begun to like where I was, a nice flat with open views of 360 degrees and I can put up with the dust of a building site as long as its not going to be a long job, as its turned out it is and the dust is sometimes more than I can cope with.
I then started to hear about other projects such as a new Cornish (promanade) AND ALL THE VILLAGE OF AWAMEI WAS TO COME DOWN SOON,
I was also told by Mahmood my landlord that they had been served with papers to vacate their properties that was October.09. he forgot to say that he also had been served with papers as he had no planning permission on this land. he says he has planing, he had forgot as all liars do what he was crying about 6 months ago, the case he was fighting came back from the high court in Cairo and after waiting 10 years for the decision from the high court he lost. so theoretically this land still belongs to the city council and is rented as is all the land around this flat that the buildings are coming down on to make way for Parking for this monstrous building
12 months ago they had already dug the foundations of the new Heritage centre next door and again I was told they are going to need this land for bus and vehicle parking. so again I asked my landlord . no Mr Tony your flat is safe. today they are moving in to demolish all in this area and unless my flat is being held up with invisible sky hooks it too will be gone by this time next week.
in the midst of the riot was a high ranking police officer and I marched over to him asking what is happening, once he realized I was a resident all the worked stopped and its been postponed for a week until I find another flat. but this landlord of mine has come back again saying see Mr Tony I tell you its safe.
the flat is only safe while I am in It he is using me and I do not like that I know these official Egyptians once they give the order the place is down no matter who is in it. just like they have done in the rest of the country. get out or be buried in the rubble . 2000 homes last year in the Karnak area. now its a massive tourist bus parking lot and gardens that no one uses. one part is a coffee shop that charge 10le to get in
I was upset my wife was here on one of her visits she was upset. and I went out to talk to the police pippsqueek, he told me all the people here and in the village next to the Nile where the Sheraton Hotel is situated have been served with papers to get out 3 months ago. and that is the first I heard about it I knew the village of Awameia had been given notice.... you see what a fly man my landlord is. last month my net went off because he did not pay the last 6 months bill.. no need to if he was moving, but I made a fuss and he paid payed the bill after I gave him the money, oh no money Mister Tony, last time I had a telephone problem I had to pay 1900 le these buggers where all using my line as it was inter connected to all the phones in the flats his daughters played on the net for all hours,soon put paid to that game when I cut all the lines going from my flat. You think you have a friend here and all of a sudden they turn. they are all the same.bloody money grabin liars.
Its like as if they tell the truth the whole of the Islamic world will fall apart
10/1/2010 they say this property is staying but the coffee shop downstairs has to close because they have no license to sell Sisha ( the bubble pipesmoke) they can sell tea soft drinks coffee etc but not sell the pipe. so I made a suggestion to the owner, sell the drinks at 1 egp more than before and give a free sisha, they where too thick to understand that.
11/1/2010 I was told by a spokesman from the council Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt has said that any homes with electricity and water are safe. and another hooray I heard from all the neighbors.
12/1/2010 that was short lived now we hear all is coming down but my landlord is adamant his home is not coming down, so I give up worrying wait and see,
Its ok now I have another place to move to if necessary, now I have to get my deposit from this man and I can hear all the lies he is going to come out with. AH well.
Reading a story on the cnn news
"3 dead in shooting"
Little information exists about the killer at present, described by thepoliceman as "an older white male, in good condition, in policecustody." or shall we say only in America. made me laugh after a bad day,
The front of the house 2006 before the start of the new building for the supreme council Luxor
Little information exists about the killer at present, described bythe policeman as "an older white male, in good condition, in police custody." and I knew it was not me the police were talking about or shall we say only in America. made me laugh after a bad day,
The front of the house 2006 before the start of the new building for the supreme council Luxor
These photos taken at 8.00 in the morning.of next doors roof farmyard. and the moon,
Theroof has had a good clean ready for making the sun bread and theanimals are supposed to stay in their own area. but life is lifedown on the roof farm
Once upon a time these oven plates were made from cow pats (shit) and soil. today they are made from paper mashe,
thenbefore the dough is put on the plate its sprinkled with the first flourremnants after its gone through the sieve. this stops the doughsticking to the mashe plate while rising in the sun. hence the name sunbread,
Givenup chasing the goat away she now has to concentrate on making the sunbread before it starts rising in the mixing bowl, and of course thereis plenty of the course flour not to make such a fuss as to the goateating some
Something thats not nice to see even though the place is smelly.andthey all use an open space as a dump- ing ground. Its 11.00 in the dayand this driver decides to stop for a crap in next doors garden.
Thebes from my existing flat in El gGezira Luxor . Thebes from Luxor Temple Luxor. you will find the reason for these photo's in due course.
All the crops are hand cut with this type of knife . Sugar season and lambing time there is no season for lambing.
Another family outing
. Best thing to do with the bills. these goats eat anything . All the flocks here seem to be goats and sheep I have never seen them separate . This was a house a few days ago the police came knocked it down andthe bricks are being carted off to build another house somewhere else. . Another hard day in the fields at least the donkey will get fed. . Jasmin grows everywhere here but not all the plants blossom and the fragrance only comes in the evenings .
And another load of donkey poo. for the rubbish pile at least the whoopoe bird will be happy . Not much to do for the fruit grower now all the oranges and mango trees have been cropped and the banana trees are almost ready to crop . l
l The Christmas decorations are still up and will be for the foreseeablefuture. seems like a different country to where I was a few hours ago but its only one and a half kilometers from here. . I arrived back to my flat in time to see the sunset. and the moon
This is a photo of my hand the reason I have taken this photo is to show that I do keep my nails in trim I manicure my own nails and always have done even my toe nails.notice the nail with the curvature or the one that's not growingstraight. this finger got smashed up Last year the nail was sent downthe finger up to the first Joint and had to be surgically removed byone of the butchers here in Luxor Hospital. I say butcher because hestarted removing the nail before the drugs to numb the finger set in. why was my finger smashed up ? well that is a long story but basically it was smashed up defending mywife from an attack by a cretin with a staff who calls himself anImam,he was a teacher of the Koran in Saudi Arabia and believes allforeign women are of the devil and he has a right to kill them, that'sbasically his belief, Mohamed Muhammed Awad. who was ordered by hisson not to let us back into our home, its a long story about beinggiven wrong papers for land. if you comment I will send you the fullstory that is on a blogspot. I know there are many in the samesituation here in Luxor and it is the fault of these corrupt Lawyersand Judges here, such people as Judge Shady and chief of upper Egypt Judge Mohamed Hassan Gamal, they have a saying here do not trust theliars (lawyers) if you shake hands make sure you have all your fingers. most of these people are the same. take the money before someone elsegets it. The wife of this Nice man Mr Awad is also mentioned in thecoming story on drugs.
And so on with my story on Village Life.Warmingup the bread oven these two women got real pissed off because I saidI had no money with me well I carry 50piestas and say no money only forferry,the rest is in my wallet in the camera bag, Last people I saidthat too picked up a stone and made out To throw it until I started inmy little Arabic, you will throw a stone at a Muslim. the wordpolice does not help that's like saying you will report them to thelocal vicar. Look at that angry face the word hag comes to mind, the oldest woman in the house is called Hagar. The orange orchard where I managed to get 2 kilo for 2egp. v Turtle doves this branch was behind the bread oven shed.
The road out of the village s The road into the village
A village woman having a hashish pipe They make these pipes themselvesplastic bottles are now being used as the are much easier to make thanthose made from an empty tin container they do not rely on the man tomake it for them A village woman having a hashish pipe They make these pipes themselvesplastic bottles are now being used as they are much easier to make thanthose made from an empty tin container they do not rely on the man tomake it for them they do not even rely on the men to get the hashishthis is an expensive commodity not the hash but the fines they get whencaught, so why should I give my hard earned money to a drug addict . I know the next one who begs for money only wants it to buy the samewhether for themselves or for the man. One woman from this area SamirAwad, the wife of an Imam is a drug carrier travels to Cairo everymonth to carry drugs no one will stop the woman in a hagib and theso called wife of an Imam (Muslim Priest) I know this because Itraveled the desert rd with her son Mohamed Awad a well known to thepolice drug addict he goes for his own supply of opium using thetourist as a reason why he is in that area. the drugs are then taken tothe hotel in this case it was Happy days hotel Cairo and divided upinto four parts and taken to Luxor, drugs is a big thing here in Egyptthey try to hide it prosecute the user, they won't prosecute thedealers because the police themselves make vast amounts even take thedrugs as backhanders and sell and have their own use of it. I know of 2high officials here in luxor one takes several pipes of hash in theevenings, while waiting to go to the council office he was smoking dopeI can smell the stuff burning. but the average Egyptian smokemarijuana that's much less expensive than hash . the governmenttolerate it because it keeps the population happy. a lot of thesepeople grow their own grass. easily disguised in amongst the animalfodder they call Hashish (grass)
The bread oven this is a great place to have a secret pipe the smell of burning the real shit cow pats, disguises the smell of the hashish especially if they are near a policearea, problem is once the fire is out they are that high they forgetabout the police and its quite often these women who get arrestedfined a few bucks Keeps the courts happy. but most do not get as faras the judge only if they refuse to give the police a backhander.
The bread oven the shepherds wife not sure what she is doing but he is lying on the ground in front of her. The shepherds as I was leaving
the crow gets all the pickings after the goats and dogs have finished.
The farmer spreading fertilizer by hand most of the shit comes fromthe mouth. so its best to keep a distance if you do not want aheadacke' Preparing to plough the field by tractor
Preparing lunch Saves cleaning inside the house.
All the women carry things on the head from groceries to the donkey and cattle fodder,
Buffalo tethered on the lane they lookfearsome but most do not even bother to get up when I pass them justlay where they are chewing the cud,
The sparrows eating what seeds are left over from the fodder. ( Animal food)
My neighbor has added to his roof top farm the goats have had a kid. and more goslings have been brought in.
The name for this type of water wheel is sagiya true history on whenit was first used in Egypt is unknown but some say 5.000 years I haveseen one being worked by a camel A donkey but normally its worked bythe Cattle that have many uses in farm life its used for milking, ploughing waterwheel turning , the one that I saw working in Daraw Had been blinded to stop it going giddy and I was informed it wasnormal practice to blind the Calf in preparation for the waterwheelturning, this animal was only used on the wheel and worked every daydrawing water from the Nile to the canal and in turn on to the land. this web site will give you a guide as to the wheels uses, not sure ifits still in use. http://sagiya-luxor.com/ before the mechanical pumps came into use most of the farms had thesetypes of wheels this metal one is a newer model but worked on the samesystem
the spiders have made one of the largest webs I have seen to datethanks to the modern electricity pylon that brings the electric to themodern electric pump house. some animals are well looked after itsthose who over load the carts and use the donkeys for a living thatabuse the animals such as the farmer who ploughs the fields with cattlethat story is on. ploughing with cattle on the side bar.
Wherever there is an animal in the fields there will be a cattle egret, Its purpose for what I have observed is to keep the animal from ticksetc it can take a fly from the cattle's eye without touching the beastwith its beak. watching the birds at work is such a pleasure , OK little things please little minds . that's ok I enjoy having a littlemind.
A happy donkey on its way home with its evening meal.
field full of Cabbage and lettuce some times the animals will have this as fodder but mainly its for human consumption.
Another amazing sky its not usuall to have a cloudy sky like thisusually its just blue with a cloud here and there or none at all. allthe best of Egypt skies are on http://skywatchegypt.blogspot.com/
The horses do not get a chance to be groomed by the Egrets as they are always worked but this is just typical of the flies here and its no wonder with all the garbage etc that's left about to rot & stink
cabbages for sale most are this size even the cauliflowers are big. He has just gone in for some water. This donkey looks like he needs some too. carriages been taken off the road maybe because they are unsafe always rubbish in the Nile and its not all from the cruisers the localsmake a good contribution to its pollution even though many get illafter drinking the Nile water. I have seen people washing the dishes inthe Nile a rotting donkey carcass 20 ft away from them .
I had a real chirp from the sparrow as I was leaving for breakfast . here its ramadan so breakfast is at sundown, then all the time I have spent trying to get a good photo of the young Lizards in the coffee shop. there was one waiting by the car as I was about to get in .
First stop was the Vinyard to get some grapes for our host Mamhoud's mum, She is diabetic I was told this morning, so I put off getting her some chocolates and seing that she likes grapes and they are in season. I got one lilo for me and 2 kilo for mine host . 2 kilo because I know the whole familly will dig into them, as soon as I have departed, and gran is a soft touch, just like my wife. Buying grapes is the mans place when its Ramadan, and seeing how late in the day it was there was not much choice left, so I left it to Mahmuod to do the haggling , and it seems that is all part and parcel of buying here, every thing has to be bartered for not where the tourist come so no prices are shown. the egyptians do not like prices on anything as there is no joy in shopping if they can not have a good argument over one bad grape,
by the the time we set off again the sun was setting and we were now close to the Nile. with an hour to spare before food would be on the trays, then I noticed a very strange looking plant that was next to the potted plant souk , we do not call nerseries a nursery, anywhere that sells is a souk(market), a shop that sells food no matter what size it is ,it is called the supermarket,
after we crossed over the new Bridge to the west bank we saw a field of sunflowers so we stopped again a good chance to get the sunset behind the subject. as I got out of the car we were standing in a field full of aborigines. they are one of my favourite vegitables,
. as I was getting back in the car after taking the sunflower photos I saw the Stork got one photo of him then he took off and landed on the lampost.
I am just waiting for food
Is this my diner a duckling getting to grips with his meal a scarab beetle. This Gander thought I was his meal, or was it angry I did not bring it any food. head down for the kill. The Male moskovi this is the daddy here and he has 3 wives that no one is allowed to eat. they would be too tough to eat anyway.
A gagle of geese they only esually act like this if they have young,
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 wayis with milkand stoned dates with or without cane sugar, and its a yummy .
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,
This morning I got up early and decided that I would have my first cup of tea on the rear view balcony, it is the first time I have opened the doors and shutters since My wife headed back to the uk too look after her parents almost 2 months ago ( doesn't time fly) there is enough dust on the balcony to water to grow my own veg. but will have to leave dirty for now. Because a more pressing matter came to my attention. Like photo’s .
The houses to the back are soon to be demolished to make way for a vehicle parking area for the new cultural centre, the building of said is the cause of my new maybe veg patch
And I see that the fly by night builders have put on new roofs even built walls to support the new roof these are the strangest of people its like nothing is real to them (lets put up a shelter for the night) its not as if they are the owners of the land. My Landlord has just had his ownership papers revoked after a ten year court battle with Luxor council and because he built this building without permission he now has to pay 3 times what he originally rented the land for / its something they all do referring to the fly by night builders. Its nothing to wake up in the morning to find a new mud brick building in the middle of a field. And if the police do not knock it down the next day it means they have been paid, corruption:
Also this new day they are working in the new Luxor district supreme council offices. To the front of my flat I must have missed the grand opening, but already they have moved from the old premises by the Nile,
As I peered over the side of my balcony I also noticed that the a kids are back in town.
First they are both tethered then 5 minutes later after taking a photo of the sleeping cat & next doors sleeping watchman and the other neighbours making sun bread. Photos taken On the front roof balcony of my flat. I went back to catch a photo of the sunrise through the date palm, and spent some time watching the Spanish sparrows ( not common ol house sparrows) eating at what is left of the dates.
Then there was a crash , one of the kids went for the dog and pulled his tether off. Now it has made a bolt for the green area behind the sunshine home, and it seems like these are the only kids we are going to see around the sunshine home , for the foreseeable future anyway ,( 12 months open & still no kids in there)
Too much for one new day and all this from my lovely flat in El Gezira , nr Banana Island. Luxor. Good morning to you too
the watchman sleepeth,
Making the sunbread ready for the first sun and bread to rise,
The sparrows having early breakfast, This new day the new council office is open to business,
Kigelia africana, Bignoniaceae, sausage tree. Notice the large, showy flowers, the 5-lobed calyx and corolla, and the didynamous stamens. The corollas are leathery, which resists shredding by the clawed wings of bats that visit and pollinate this species in its native habitat in tropical west Africa. The flowers and the large, sausage-like indehiscent fruits that develop from them hang on long stems below and away from the limbs of the tree. Although not edible, the fruits are used in Africa as an external medication. Taken from the web site http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/FACULTY/CARR/bignoni.htm
the tree is in the old Luxor Hotel Rear Garden entrance. click on my photos to enlarge,
this is an area where the tomb robbers houses used to be pre 2009 The hole has now been sealed with dry wall stone, the lighter brown is made up of reeds and straw that was the farm yard.or a place where a camel , donkey or hens were housed, the layer on top is the excavation rubble from the tomb, all this area where houses have been taken down is dimilar to this, 2 underground temples are found plus many tombs one woman was reluctant to leave her home, (a tomb) saying this is her familly home and has been for generations,
View from the hill Of the whole village and looking out over the old Coptic Church in the desert View Memnon the Nile and The new Coptic church Towers in Luxor Town
spices ! never buy spices or ciggarets that are in the sun. a sachet roll should be about 10 pounds they start to sell 10pounds per sachet.after you drop them down to your price, they say ,Agh ! english, then the fun has been taken out of the haggle, and its a few choice words like f***off they will always spoil your day they know how it anoys the tourist but it puts a bit of fun into thier borring lives,
view from the old hom calthoum coffee shop. situated in the centre of the visitors market area
View ov the Pramids the day was a bit hot and hazy Mochasan heights is a Plateau above the Citadel and the village of the dead in Cairo from here there is a panoramic view of all Cairo from the Nile entering and leaving the city, The Citadel Mohamed ali Mosque was built in the citadel King Tuts gold coffin in the Cairo Museum 2002 the mummy is now back in the sarcofigai in the tomb Valley of the Kings
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