My life living near the Nile in Luxor Egypt

Back to Wales

2011-11-13T11:57:00.000-08:00

I have moved back to Wales and started blogs to coincide to where I am you will now find me under the headings of wildaboutwales.wordpress.com and wildaboutwales.blogspot.com
Myegypt.co.uk in 2012 will change to wildaboutwales.org.uk

This is a very small bird and a rare visitor to the upper delta of the Nile, if you want to see the rest of today's bird photos.

Squacco heron

2010-12-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

20 birds in one visit

2010-12-07T02:08:00.000-08:00

my post's are now on http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/2010/12/6th-december-birds-along-nile.html,

fan-tailed cisticola. cisticola juncidis, Black-winged kite(elanus caeruleus),

2010-12-01T01:22:00.000-08:00

Black-winged kite(elanus caeruleus), http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/2010/11/black-winged-kiteelanus-caeruleus.html,

http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/2010/12/fan-tailed-cisticola-cisticola-juncidis.html

all my latest adventure photos are on
http://tonymyegypt.blogspot.com/

This week photos from port said Oct 2010

2010-11-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

sleeping barrow boy

http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/2010/11/port-said-egypt.html

HORSES LUXOR EGYPT

2010-11-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

http://www.nilelife5.blogspot.com/

nile valley sun bird

2010-11-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

Nile valley sun bird female juvenile.

my blogspot is now on.
http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/

another pipit

2010-11-09T00:32:00.000-08:00

find out which one ,
my blogspot is now on.
http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/

Follow me

2010-10-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Siwa oasis photos are on
http://www.myegypt.co.uk/index.php?f=data_home&a=9
my blogspot is now on.
http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/

blogs before 11 Sep/2010 are on.
http://nilelife.blogspot.com/

http://nilelife4.blogspot.com/

luxor egypt

2010-10-02T23:43:00.000-07:00

ring-necked plover

green ringed hawker

still do not know the name of this butterfly,

neclklaces of sand flies/bees

boats and balloons in the mist

2010-09-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

25/9/10 6.30 in the morning, Balloon over the West Bank of Luxor with the Ibis coming in to the wetlands

here I was sitting in the dew in the wetlands at 5.30 in the morning.

5.30 Dahbia sail boat with its tug being towed up the nile after a cruise to Aswan,

6.00 mooring up

Dahabia turning in to moor up

sand barge heading upstream

garbage boat heading out to service the cruisers

'
Ibis in the wetlands the rest of the Ibis will have a special page on birdinginegypt.

crossing over

2010-09-25T00:24:00.000-07:00

Very strange day today up at 4.30, cup of tea and realized my left foot was sore to stand on. what with my slipped discs and back probs its als a bit of an effort to look under my foot but I stood up raised my foot on the bed to see what the problem was . and sure enough I had picked a splinter up and it had started to fester. cut it open with the nail scissors and out came the puss, bandaged it up after putting some germoline on. drank me tea and off I went, hoping to get to the reed beds of the wetlands before sunup.first greeting was another puss. and its a wonder she does not get some bad cuts from the garbage. but she looked quite healthy and pleased to see someone else up and about, miow.

first shot of the moon on the Ferry crossing,
then later as the sun was about to come up. I got a night shot of the harvest moon

was not long before i realized it was going to be cloudy after a month of blue skies the one day I want a blue sky, its cloudy,

'
.its even to early for the nile flower to open

but its ok it was a treat being out so early we even had dew this morning, the birds had started to land even though the sun was not in the right place for decent shots, the phoyos are on birding in egypt blogspot click here ,

bird no 75, but need help with its id please,
back to the flat but first i wanted to see how the new crossing was coming along

went on the footbridge to get a photo. and there was a Coptic funeral. then one thinks how

short life is.

the new coptic church been in this build stage for the past 2 years,

Give us this day our daily bread. so we can put it out on the bench in the street.

railway crossing.

2010-09-21T07:07:00.001-07:00

Market day the busiest day of the week. and they close the railway level crossing
the busiest time is between 9 and 11, two hours,
its 10 minutes to nine and the narrow part was left open for bicycles and pedestrians,
just as I was about to cross when they closed the whole entrance,

barrier is built, thats to keep everybody out

the footbridge over the lines is 50yards away, and my usual way to the market area/

these signals always seem to be in the same position,,,
the road bridge is 200 yards away but to far for the cyclists,

work is under way on the crossing, and local people making a lot of noise arguing with the police wondering why they cannot cross to the market area with their goods to sell,

ok chuk not far to go

ducks,geese hens, rabbits and turkeys

dried bread for poultry food for sale

water melons 5 le per kilo one of them is about 10 killo.

little bunny wabits for sale

door to door milk delivery

woman heading off with the sheep to market.
wed the crossing is still clossed just like england,s fine rail network. there are more chiefs than indians,

and silly buggers that take no notice of danger warnings

view from the new road bridge towards the crossing

whats left of the steam era,

2010-09-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

As a retired builder,My interest vary and when I see a victorian construction like this water tank
I wonder how it came to be here in Egypt. I came across this rather interesting piece of architectural history on a walk I did behind the Luxor train station the railway was quite late coming to the nile delta of upper Egypt this dates back to late victoria so could be as late as 1901. there is a railway museum in Cairo, and a must visit for me within the next month of my travels around Egypt,

rail museum cairo link

This piece of engineering I know a little bit more about,
The old Victorian water tank that was used to fill the trains up with water, (For steam) by the late 1960s was to far from the railway line;- trains had to unhook and make a detour to the tank to be filled up adding a further 1 hour to the journey, so it was decided to build a new one on the main line where the steam train could stop and fill up from the new water tank. the tank was completed 6 months before the regions rail network bought new diesel powered trains, the steam trains and its water tanks became obsolete. The water tanks are of no use for domestic water storage as most buildings in luxor are more than two storeys high. in the lower photo there is a new water tower in the distance, and of course today's modern water plants are using electric pumps to pump water around its pipe system. so these night storage tanks are also obsolete. in the main towns that have updated the water supply system.

Even the old telephone poles can still be seen along the railway lines
only the top pots are used to hold the wires with the new addition on the topmost for the electricity power lines. a quite recent thing in this part of Egypt. now they have the hydro electricity Dam in Aswan, for those interested in the high dam here is a link,,,,here.

Posted by Life in Egypt at 11:11 AM 0 comments

19TH SEPTEMBER 2010

2010-09-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

Realy did not feel like a walk today. but glad I went,

YESTERDAY I WALKED ALMOST 10 KILOMETERS. AND STARTED TO SUFFER WITH MY BACK AS SOON AS I GOT HOME ,I TOOK A PIRITON AND MY 400ML IBUPROFEN TABLETS. AND SLEPT FROM 21.00 TILL 11.00. AND STILL HAD A BACK PAIN TOOK ANOTHER PILL.
BY THE TIME THE BACK PILLS STARTED TO CUT IN IT WAS ALMOST MIDDAY,
ANY WAY HERE I AM ON THE EDGE OF THE WETLANDS 2" under this land its a water table
of the Nile river in places I have to take my sandals off to walk in what seems to be grass.
today there is no smell of rotting whatever as the Nile has only receded over the past week.
the first 100 yards has already been ploughed and seeded with Maze. in a few weeks it will be cropped and corn planted ready for next year,

the red mark is where my flat is on the East bank of Luxor city Egypt.
today's blog is quite long with photos of what I saw as I walked in this area. first I went to the sand bank near the Nile river.

Dahabias moored along the Nile
PLEASE CLICK ON TO ENLARGE PHOTOS.

Two hoopoes taking shade from the sun its about 42c

these tourists having a real problem with the camel boys,

Water Buffalo's having a wallow with its cleaner , the cattle egret

ONE OF THE SMALL STREAMS I HAD TO CROSS, ABOUT 3" OF WATER

WATER BUFFALO WITH CALF.

LITTLE WHITE EGRET

GLOSSY IBIS COULD NOT GET WITHIN 100YARDS BEFORE THEY FLEW OFF.

STEPPE EAGLE COMING IN TO LAND ITS ABOUT 100YARDS AWAY

JUVENILE SQUACCO HERON

BLACK-WINGED STINTS

2 Little stint'S, Calidris minuta, 3 BLACK-WINGED STINTS

TODAY'S BEAUTY IS A GRASSHOPPER, AFTER MUCH CHASING IN THE GRASS IT FINALLY SUCCUMBED TO A PHOTO SESSION WHEN IT FLEW ON TO THE SAND BANK.

GREY HERON

SKINK IN THE SHADE OF THE FEVER TREE

BEE IN THE FEVER TREE

EVEN THE HOUSE SPARROWS FORAGE IN THE FEVER TREE

BLACK -WINGED STINTS

BEST POSITION FOR THE FEMALE NILE-VALLEY SUNBIRD IN THE FEVER TREE.

RED DARTER DRAGONFLY

WASP ON A MALLOW LEAF

SQUACCO AND LITTLE WHITE EGRET

LITTLE GREEN BEE-EATERS TAKING SHADE.

RUDDY DARTER

GOLDEN DARTER

SAND BEE

SULPHER BUTTERFLY ON THE FEVERTREE

ONE OF THE TRYING TO OPEN A SHELL FISH

.nilelife.blogspot.com/

2010-09-17T01:26:00.000-07:00

photo from the new blogposts http://www.nilelife.blogspot.com/

Alexandria 1942, Luxor 2010

2010-09-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

1942 photo from Alexandria

Out and about in luxor today I had a reminder of a photograph I have of mums. I had the photo enlarged two years ago and it has pride and place above my computer desk.

This photo was taken by my mother in law while on active duty in Alexandria during WW11.
she was a wireless operator with the wrac,
and 68 years on not much has changed in the fruit and veg business
this photo was taken at 16.30 on 13th September 2010 in the so called modern city of Luxor Egypt.

.
the same photo in greyscale

.
Mind the step almost tripped over this cows head just lying in the street.

Two days in Cairo 2009

2010-09-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

The sky on the evening before I went to Cairo.

Sunup from the Luxor departure terminal

The new aircraft.
The one I returned on, the egyptair express was smaller in every way width and in length, I am only 5ft 7" and had a problem with leg room and that was in the business class.
why did I travel business? by the time I had done the tour of egyptair offices in cairo trying to get a return flight to luxor I was only too willing to pay that extra it for a bit of comfort.
the first office I went into for a price I was told no flight until 2 days time so asked how much for business class 900 le but no flight until 1.00 , the next one I was quoted 850 business but no seats in economy. at 19.15 same day. then I decided to go to Nasr city main egypt air office. and was quoted 80le taxi fare, so I got a shuttle bus 1le. problem was getting a driver that knew where I wanted to go when asked. its like you are from another planet Nasr city is nasr city said in any language. because its a new city, and the arabs do not have the knowledge to make arabic names up from English, like computer is computer television is television the only new word I can find is mecaniki. and no one needs to have a 150 IQ to know what that means, as I was waiting for a bus at another change I went into another egyptair sales office they said no flights today. what they meant was no available seats, then I knew someone was telling porkies in order to sell more expensive business class seats. at the main office they said there was no available seats for 2 days. by this time I was only 5 kilometer from the airport. in the end I decided to chance it and go to the airport see if I can get on a plane. I was told no flight until 19.15 and only business class. 690le. now by this time I had no intention of going all the way back to cairo train station when even there there may be a chance of more lies like I had the last time I traveled by rail to Cairo. http://nilelife.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post_917.html
so I bought a ticket, more disappointment to come,

The old Luxor Terminal

Luxor from the air...........my old flat is marked.

http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/2009/08/sakkara-pyramids.html
150 photos on the days shoot of sakkara

http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/2009/08/giza-pyramids.html

Nasr city & Stadium

Cairo Airport terminal 3

The most expensive coffee shop in all of Egypt 2 teas and waterpipe
40.75 piestas. there is one on each corner of the Air Mall and I was
the only customer. in all 4 cafe, there was no prices up! but last time I was there 7 weeks ago it was 15 le with fill up as you wanted. and that was expensive,

the new terminal 1. I think? its got arrivals 3 on the front.
departure 3 is 2 kilometer away from here.

The mobile shoe shop working its way through Cairo's main bus depot while I was waiting for my connection to Nasr City

Thought for one minute I was back in Luxor. notice the
deformed hands again not not so much here as in Luxor.

Then there was his mate showing me his cleft hand and shouting abuse
Like you tight fisted git. (Man with deep pockets) or something like that.
I am not fluent enough in arabic to get all of what he said only the. la la and again I carried on the rhythm of the archers theme song la lal lal la la la la. the archers is a long running radio programme about village life. Dan Archer if I remember correct kept some sheep

difference is these are most likely Bedhoin shephrds in the center of Cairo city

Nice old Jaguar parked outside the opera house in Zamalec.

This fiat 500 parked outside the French Emassy

and this old yank parked outside the opera house entrance.

Horses must be parked on the pavement

Some of the horses in cairo are really poorly treated there should not even be a tether on the back end of the horse the wound had maggots in it.

Ah now I know what I was wearing the day I went to Cairo
A charming town and country vehicle parked near my favourite Fridays fish restaurant on the Nile.

And A well sprung seat on a well used bike,

Nile people who live on the River in the center of the City

The city dwellers and a source of fresh meat.

The tulip Tower from the bridge looking in the direction of the Pyramids Giza

one of the many cafe parks on the nile,

Zamalek is an Island and many of the Embassies and staff are housed on it,
Opera house the zoo and Islamic University with its parks and gardens plus a couple of the bigger hotels. Not going to give them free publicity as they are well over rated and priced, I phoned this hotel from my home and was given A price of 180$, not bad for one night with a Nile view. on arrival at the hotel I was told they had a problem with the room and only had suite At 1500$ per night, I told them I was not interested in buying it as I only wanted the room for one night to sleep in, as you like I was told, and left I found a small hotel with a view overlooking the Museum and the Nile for 150 EGP per night and aptly named , Museum view hotel, there are lots of small hotels and reasonably priced in Cairo.

This overpriced hotel even has its own washing facilities

Flower shop near the French Embassy and across the road
to my favorite restaurant , Fridays Fish Market

The plants that grow naturally have more fragrance ,

Can't go far without being reminded we are in the land of the Pharoes.

'
Quote of the day
These days you can go to a gas station and find the cash register open and the toilets locked. They must think toilet paper is worth more than money.

nothing has changed

2010-09-09T23:50:00.000-07:00

All I wanted was some fish, and ended up with a walk from my flat to Luxor town center 11/11/09
I can not make a comment on this fish restaurant as I have not eaten there
but judging be the display of supposed fresh fish heads on display I will not be eating there.

and looks like just as much thought has gone into the design of the restaurant fish sign.

Omar's is the one supermarket in Luxor that sells a good variety of food stuffs, including fish,
it also comes with rats and dodgy till receipts not to mention putting more expensive items in a bag and forgetting to give you them on leaving. having to stop and wait for staff to finish eating in the isle under the air con. and complaining about smoking near the meat and dairy counter. but the worst is they turn the freezers off at night to save on the electric bill. Omar seems to think he is the only food retailers in Luxor

lots of fruit and veg shops to choose from

Just three of the dozen shops selling fruit and veg plus the stalls in one street

this is where my fish man once traded looks like he has lost his spot to the offal butcher, and sun bread seller. I wondered where he had gone and was pointed in the direction of the salem Salem Square, translated goodbye goodbye square. very apt for where the station is situated.

The new market behind Luxor station this has just recently opened this Head of Luxor council is really making a new look Luxor personalty I prefer the old way of buying my edible produce at lest I knew it was fresh especially the fish and meat , you also have a closed in environment with people smoking cigarettes and the bubble pipe. I also noticed there was not one fan working and it was at least 40c the tin roof does not help Either so this new idea has a thumbs down from me.
the signs do not say fish market I wonder if I have come to the right place.

at least the donkey still has work but even here sadly or not the vehicles are taking over and what will become of the donkey. animal welfare are over loaded as it is and the farmer And trader cannot afford a donkey just to look at.

The one of many fish stalls this is the reason I came to visit the new Souk. I was informed my usual fish man had moved from the street to the new Souk. but here now he is only one of fifty.
and his fish did not look as fresh as they were usually when he was on the street his fish were all sold by 13.00 its now 14.00. and only a few more hours of trading . where does he put the fish for tomorrow??.

Even in this new market there is overcrowding people selling on the walk area,
This is what happens here in Egypt most likely the first few days of the new market ,my fish man would have been one of maybe 3 the other stall holders would have seen how quickly the fish was sold. so they started there own fish market. in turn this put the price of the fish up from the fisherman, all the fish sold here are local Nile fish. and the same goes for every stall holder here they all try to outdo each other. and every body here is a potential stall holder.
another instance is my Landlord. he rents the small coffee shop downstairs for 1000le per month
for the last 2 years to one man. now he put a link box in and receives all the football channels on tv. and is full every night. across the road we have the new government office now open and a lot of the men going there visit the coffee shop. so it's busy almost all day and night, now my landlord sits down stairs just looking how much money is being taken each day. and has now decided that the shop is not for rent after this month. nice greedy man a lot of people call him "hungry money" he also saw my local fish guy on his new stall. and opened a fish stall with a manager on it. he knew I buy at least 2 kilo of fish per week. and wanted me to buy from his friend.

All very Nice I hear you say trading here starts at 6.00 and the stalls are still half full at 14.00
all the locals come early for the best fresh edibles.

offal stall these have usually stopped trading by 11.00 because they had sold out.

have no Idea what these two empty blocks are for,

I only saw one stall with prices on the produce, but i was told that there is a new police depot just outside the market. any complaints of overcharging the stall holder will be thrown off the market. apparently they all have to be licensed to sell inside the new market,

And a new Mosque so people can go and ask God not to be ripped off.
and the stall holders pray for the foreigner to buy off him so he can rip us off.

The new Mowgaf ( microbus terminal)

Luxor train station from the souk with one of the new trains these new trains have now extended the 12 hour journey to Cairo by four Hours. almost every day the train is 4 hours late.

The tunnel under the station once was to get to the platforms from the ticket office.
is now a public thoroughfare to the market and mowgaf.

The revamped interior of Luxor station

the only flower in the new gardens around the station that has servived the summer heat it gets its water from the air condition over flow pipe of the New Information office.

the first view of Luxor Temple and this is mainly the reason tourists come to Luxor
is the Hagag mosque. Newly refurbished when all else near the tombs and temples including the avenue of the sphinx Luxor to Karnak temple is coming down. this actually sits on the old temple walls and built from the temple stones.

as one of my next photos show of the demolished mosque that sat on the avenue. notice the base stone they are waiting for Archaeologists to come here before the take this part of the Mosque down,

there are some 1880s houses still standing on the main temple road from the station

This one was never finished.

View of Luxor Temple ,Hagag, the mosque that most visitors are taken too, and the remaining pirouette of the demolished mosque in the background

oo ah a cyper club ?

wonder what is in those two milk cans

better than being over loaded like this poor donkey

Any body want to buy a second hand bike one careful owner, honest! its just that he was to careful with his money and has lost the key for the lock.

Its what we call built in balcony Lighting.

These traders have no intention of moving to the new market just around the corner,

the government bread shop 5piestas for 1 piece of bread in the bakers its 50piestas and usually this street is packed with people buying, 12/11/09 bought two pieces of our daily bread.mostly used for breakfast as a sandwich this bread is hollow in the middle when cut in half is ideal to fill with whatever usually foul(Beans)and falafel, I use boiled eggs tomato and onion or garlic eggs.
the bread used with the main meals is Sun bread, will also get a close up photo to show. there is sun bread being made on the first nilelife blog.

Queuing for bread

making a foul & falafel sandwich.

The Breakfast bar with the foul jar.

One Egyptian pound for two sandwich, one has beans and salad fill
the other has falafel chips and salad fill. and they were yummy do not know what spices he used in the foul but it was very tasty. by the way if you do want to try Egypt like I do always eat at places like this every thing is fresh. no meat or fish is served in these breakfast bars, if the locals use it the place is good enough for us to eat in. and even if they charge us more than the locals it is still cheap food. best way is stand behind someone in the queue and see how much he pays. never give more than 5egp note they will always make out they have no change. its ok for me Most of these guys know I am a local. If I go late I will always get a fully filled sandwich.
and keep one for later that way My food bill for the day is about 3 egp ,, eggs are 1egp for 3 ,
tea and milk 15 egp for 100 tea bags. I find them more convenient than loose tea, that is much cheaper 3egp per packet. milk is 3 egp per 1/2 pint .. Litre. used for my tea us welsh like milk in our tea. we are not the only ones even in Kenya a country that has some of the best tea, take milk with tea. There is a story on tea making in Kenya on my new volunteering days story. that I have almost finished and will publish the next installment soon.

I see Plastic Alli shop is making Luxor a safe place to live

ooh is it a Ghost or the cost either way it will be just as frightening.

Here I can get my furniture reupholstered here on the high street

Air heads why one should open a guitar shop here in Luxor is beyond me,

it only stayed open for 6 months and the one guitar they had is still there .

And this is the barber shop I have been using for the past two years
it seems evrest is quite a popular name in Luxor there are several shops called evrest.
plus an ev rest hotel the e has been stolen by some one leaving a gap for the birds to roost on the holding bracket.

My barber shop has full blare speakers its the only way to listen to music in Egypt.
I suppose its to overcome the full blast speakers on the minarets,
I have 20% hearing in my left ear and 40% in the right so if these are loud for me god knows what the people who can hear have to put up with,

rag and bone man. clearing up after the days trading.

One of the local farmers heading to the veg Market.

Inside-Egypt-Pharaohs-Brink-Revolution

2010-09-08T16:27:00.001-07:00

One of the reasons I have taken down all related posts to my being swindled here in Egypt. is written in this book. surprise !!!!surprise!!! its happened to others before me, a crime of this sort is reported every 2 minutes in Egypt.
If this book had been written prior to my coming to Egypt in 2002. I would never have come here to live. its a must read for anyone thinking of coming to live in Egypt.
I am talking investing in egypt. ie buying property in egypt,
I enjoy Living here in Egypt its just a shame I got caught up in its corruption.
the page 185 in this book are excactly what happened to me.
http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Egypt-Pharaohs-Brink-Revolution/dp/1403984778#reader_1403984778

no salt here

2010-09-03T17:33:00.001-07:00

Making foul the best tasting (fool) is made this way cooked slowly overnight in the household rubbish including what waste comes from the animals backsides. Beans mixed with herbs and spices.

another salesman in the village.
m
This guy is the tree cleaner the matting from the tree has many uses, used as a cloth to wash . made into all types of brushes brooms paint Etc the branches also have a number of uses first to make chairs and tables crates for fruit and vegetables, folds (pens) for the animals wattling for wall etc, etc,
,
The old pump house chimney as you get closer it looks like a forgotten relic in the middle of the village now a place for dumping the rubbish that's if the village people can be bothered to step out of the front door to tip their rubbish, a place that houses snakes rats and other wildlife inside, gone has any piece of metal that would have any monitory value, only the steel bends are left just incase someone will need them and therefore will have more value than scrap iron.

l

p
the opening seen in the base of the chimney
this a shot looking up the inside of the chimney and it took all my will power to stop me climbing up there to get a surrounding areal view A few years ago I would not have even thought about it but I know my back would have given in half way up and unlike a ladder with poles each side of the rungs if I did get stuck
I could have slid down to safety . we must grow old gracefully and give in. such is life.
,
The whole of this buildings windows and doors have been bricked up not that this will hinder the thieves of Egypt .. the seem to have the God given right to take anything, Ah its a gift from Allah.
'
Looking up from what was the grand entrance into the pump house,
,
The villagers view of the Building.

Not sure if this is the older of the two pump houses but its in bad disrepair
the land around and inside has been filled in and we are now looking at what was the first floor

k
Inside the floor has been filled with rubbish so none of the old plinths etc that the old machines stood on are visable the brickwork with the hole in it is the chimney base and the opening for the fire is another 2 metres down in the infill. this building dates back to the mid 1800s and has I would think been derelict since the late 20s when mechanical pumps came into use.. I do not know what these steam engines where fired up with but wood is not ready available in Egypt never has been even the Pharaos brought timber in from Lebanon and other countries. And I have not heard that coal has been mined here but the coals could have been brought by barge down the Nile as all these pump houses just like the Temples were built by the Nile.

Even the roof timbers are made from palm trees these are not a good burner the tend to smoke not heat up and would not have been any use to heat up the huge boilers to drive the beam engine pumps that could lift up to 200 gallons of water into the canals in one stroke these pump houses only had one use and that was for irrigation of the land. the people used the Nile for everything they came to the Nile for drinking water, ablutions and bathing. everything was washed in the Nile including the domestic animals, the water was always clean because it flows so fast. that was before they built the Dams te regulate its waters,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam
they say themselves NO NILE NO EGYPT. and its a pity the mentality has gone to keep the Nile Clean.

Half filled in is the pit where once the pipes lay just a trap now for snakes and the children that wish to piss in it

Views from the old pump house of the Nile

View of what was the ramp or loading area from the Nile

A new born Donkey foal

A second view at the bread oven its sole purpose is to cook bread not to burn rubbish even though they use plastic and whatever the can find to heat these ovens up. the worst thing they use now is polystyrene from packages that foul acrid smell and black pieces hovering in the air and getting on peoples chests, but no thought of that here these are simple people and this stuff makes good quick heat . hooray for polystyrene coming to Egypt they say?%$&"

The front door an excelent bit of craftmanship using local materials
one side of the door the wall has sunk 4"

The scenery here on the outscirts of Luxor City is supperb and one of the reasons I chose to live here and
its simple way of life, back in 2002 I did not know or realize how simple the people are,

the fruit and veg man

l
No we are not on the riviera this is the Nile at Luxor the Nile is at its lowest and dirtiest
no swimming for us foreigners unless we need a dose of dysentery or a mouth infection,

I could be on a tropical Island

Or even a deserted Island

Or crossing the Atlantic watching the wake from the propellers of a huge ocean liner

but here I am in Luxor Egypt cropping photos to show you how Nice this place is
and its a shame because this place I chose to live has so much going for it but the culture of the natives spoil its beauty, but I can find Quiet places and have my dreams.

New posts for nile life

2010-08-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays blog took almost 2 hours to set up, and today I have been told that I have exceeded my quota.on the nilelife2 blog. and they have give me a list of yearly prices for more space. 4 days ago I prepared this site for my going on travels. I moved almost 300 photos to the nilelife.blogspot to save any hassle while traveling.
anyway as it turns out todays blog is mainly writting and this will be the last post on here.the new posts are on http://www.nilelife.blogspot.com/ my original nilelife blogspot

You will also have to read this post on the nile life post. it apparently takes google 3 months. to off load the photos I have taken off?????????????? they are a law unto themselves no way of connecting to them ,
so what I say is play the game make a new Gmail address and make a new blog as I have in the past. 4 gmail addresses now, nilelife... 1..2....4.. all you need do is take out or add the no and put in 1, 2 or 4

sorry about this but I do hope you will cintinue to follow on the nilelife. blogspot I am off on my travels around Egypt for a few weeks and will be blogging every evening on what I see on my journey.
http://www.nilelife.blogspot.com/

The rat trap, is google a rat trap

2010-08-19T04:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays blog took almost 2 hours to set up, and today I have been told that I have exceeded my quota.on the nilelife2 blog. and they have give me a list of yearly prices for more space. 4 days ago I prepared this site for my going on travels. I moved almost 300 photos to the nilelife.blogspot to save any hassle while traveling.
anyway as it turns out todays blog is mainly writting and this will be the last post on here.the new posts will behttp://www.nilelife.blogspot.com/ my original nilelife blogspot

Duck for Dinner

2010-08-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a duck nothing special just a duck; I cooked it in the oven and glazed it with honey, did not fancy anything with it, I mean cooking. so I just prepared a salad, tomato cucumber and finely chopped onion, And ate it as I cleaned the kitchen. and I mean cleaned the kitchen everything off the shelves and in the cupboards had a clean . what they might call a thorough going over. I went to bed at 2.30 this morning and woke up at 10.30. went to make a cup of tea in my clean kitchen. and the whole kitchen had a layer of dust. silly ole me forgot to close the windows after the cooking of the duck.

where did all this dust come from? there was no wind for me to know of! then I started todays blog on yesterdays pictures. and decided I need to go out see if I can get some pics of the cats that are in abundance here especially around the meat stalls. just pop out I thought, 3 meat shops nearby; and back in a jiffy to finish the blog.
sods law: did I see a cat, well yes! just as I was in the last street heading back home after travelling all the way around the old market street. The just going out to get a photo of a cat turned out to be a 3 mile trek around Luxor's old market area, and suprise suprise lots of picks of everything but a cat.

My honey glazed duck turned out a treat and the salad was kept back for today. so I can say I had a duck for dinner, a duck and nothing but a duck.

Forgot its Tuesday market day.

2010-08-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

Sun up at 6.00 and I was already on the West bank so was the Little White Egret waiting for enough light to go fishing in the Nile.

It seems its duck day today; these two enjoying an early paddle hoping there are still a few frogs left for breakfast, I am having duck for dinner,

a group of Aylsbury ducks went swimming off to one of the sand banks in the river,

must be some goodies over there. The farmer was also getting some goodies for his home, bags of sand ! Goodness knows why he had to go to all that hard work carrying bags of sand through the flooded field,

As I said I forgot its Tuesday market this was the reminder as I was getting off the ferry and up the steps to the Promenade. These are on the way to market, thats if the duck does not escape first.

the last mile to market ,not far to go now.

Early trading! Dates are in huge demand now its Ramadan, these have been brought in from the Fayoum oasis area.

The water buffalo with their minders the egrets.

.The cleaner pigeon, the only other passanger on the upper deck of the Nile crossing.

Boats and conmen

2010-08-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

This post has been moved to the scams in egypt site
http://www.bloodylyingbastards.blogspot.com/

31st July sunset over the valley of the Queens Luxor Egypt

2010-07-31T10:36:00.000-07:00

The Egret fishing in the Nile

2010-07-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

Those of you fishermen can take a leaf out of the egrets wisdom in fishing, not only will it stand and vibrate its legs to atract the fish but it will use the same bait as man, Bread, I stood and watched this Little white egret for 10 minutes before taking photos In that space of time it caught 6 fish, as the bread drifted upriver it brought it back down stream dropping it in the Water the fish ate the bread the egret waited until the right size came along and it caught it. the photos are not that good as they where taken on the new marine too many watching eyes to get the big lens and camera out so made do with the pocket camera.

The photos are in sequence as they where taken.

Here it has just dropped the bread in the water!

One fish in its beak.

And then its back to the not so good part of life in Egypt. the Gas delivery horse .

the Horse thats tethered to its carriage day and night.

With no respvite from the heat its midday and about 43c today its driver has gone to sit in the shade to take a well earned break from hassling the tourist.

the rest of todays walk photos of the wild life are on the updates on the side bar, dragons butterflies,birds, bees etc

almost forgot about the dead Camel well it seemed to be dead too many people about,,, we need money for photograph!!!! took this shot while pretending to take shots of the dragonfly.

if its dead they will wait for dark then tow it out to the middle of the Nile so the fish can eat it as it floats away to Cairo.

Abu haggag festival

2010-07-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

Abu Haggag Mosque

The Mosque after its facelift from the fire

View of the Mosque from inside the Temple pre 2007

The Mosque of Abu Haggag is a mosque located in the Egyptian city of Luxor. Specifically, it stands atop the ruins of Luxor Temple, an Ancient Egyptian centre of worship dating back to the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in the 14th century BC.
Although its positioning atop the pharaonic columns seems both precarious and invasive, the Mosque of Abu Haggag (or Abu l-Haggag) must be seen as more than just a coincidental intruder. First, when the mosque was built, large parts of the temple were covered with earth. Secondly, it is not uncommon for a religious kinship between ancient Egyptian cult places and the local version of popular Islam to be recreated. When the pharaonic temple was unearthed in the late 19th century, locals fiercely resisted any attempt to tear down the mosque. For them, the geographical position was important, and a new mosque also dedicated to Abu Haggag has never become very popular.
Abu Haggag was a Sufi shaykh, born in Baghdad, but he spent the latter half of his 90 years in Luxor. He died here in 1243, but it is believed that the minaret is older than him, dating back to the 11th century. The mosque itself has been rebuilt many times, and completely in the 19th century. Abu Haggag is Luxor's main saint, and his mosque is the core of local religious activities. Locals believe that his mosque is a particularly important religious spot, full of baraka, divine blessing.
When Shaikh Abu El Haggag came to Luxor, Islam at the time was not the major religion in Egypt; Coptic Christianity was the leading religion at the time. The city was a colony owned by a religious Coptic lady. She used to be called The Princess. Her soldiers saw Sheikh Abu El Haggag there and was immediately recognized as a foreigner, therefore he was taken to the Princess for questioning as they feared that he is a spy from a different tribe/region. He complained to her about the treatment he received and expressed that he wishes to become a local citizen. The lady was generous and offered him to stay as long as he wishes. He asked her to give him a land as big as a camel’s skin to sleep on it, she thought that would be maximum of 2 square meters, so she agreed as she was a generous Lady, he asked her to sign a contract confirming the deal which she agreed to.
At night, he took a camel’s skin and he cut it into a very thin line at the front of some local witnesses, something similar to a very thin washing line, he used it to border a big part of Luxor Temple. In the morning, soldiers saw this line and reported it to the Princess, and then she realised that he owns this bordered part of the temple as per their written agreement. As much as she was feeling deceived by his plan, they met few times afterwards, she was impressed by his knowledge and then she converted to Islam.
At the time, there was a church in the place of the mosque. Shaikh Abu El Haggag agreed with the princess to convert the building to a mosque, which stands till today. In the upper ground foundation the old part of the church, which is clear that it is not a part of the temple, can still be seen.
Lots of people claimed that he became a monk and was given a power to practice miracles, such as walking on water, healing rare diseases, and even people see him in the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia while others sees him at the same time in Luxor. When he died he was buried in the mosque.
The festival is held for 2 days how I describe it is a big sweet selling time anything that makes a noise
shiny or plastic. (a fairground sweets avenue)

Evening scene of the festival the noise right outside my home went on until 3 in the morning.

OOh look some beans being kept cool with a block of ice,

;

One of the egyptians favorite snack forget about hot dogs beefburgers etc this is the real thing the inners of the cattle, I remember A freind of mine being very clever in Cairo in 2003. got to have one of them he said, before he finished the sandwich he was sick, so me I never touch the stuff even though it smell delicious,

and of course the smell is the spices,

Last day of the sale this guy is selling off cheap by 3 in the afternoon all the stalls had gone and it looked as if there never was a 2 day festival.

Just loved this one , what do we do with all the hats left over mum.

Sand castles! pretend you are on the beach little one.

The ice blocks ready to put in the fridges thats if they do not melt before .

Hats hats and more hats.balls balls and more balls,

Beans with sweets or sweets with beans

And if you can not buy a candy floss machine make your own improvised version

Last procession of the festival I almost missed it sorting my own problem out,

Thank goodness thats all over i can get som catnap time in now,

Oh dear some one will get a sore bum.

Just think of the germs poeple have eaten from this meat mincing machine

update on the swindle.

2010-07-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

http://nilelife4.blogspot.com/

doo doo's

2010-07-22T06:19:00.000-07:00

23/7/2010

The Grand mufti of Egypt And his brother Sheik Mohamed el Tyeb fulfiled their promise, I now have guarantor of my money back,

and on with the sunny side of Egypt at least we are alive. just about in this heat.
It will be nice and cool up in the balloon over Luxor temple. not sure if its a special' do not often see a ballon this close to the temple.

lemons lots of them here these make an ideal drink mixed with water, coool?

And I have the wildlife no promises none made none broken. they are here no matter what goes on in our lives.

Even from my flat I see the wildlife sometimes its quite entertaining. as you will see from my other blogs, on the side bar,

the following is just a taste of what I see on my walks around Luxor Districts.

Lots of this about as Luxor has not caught up with the times yet. Horses and donkeys do most of the hauling here, and these beasts of burden are noted for one thing. shit, the flies love it even live in it and born in it.

Then they fly off to places like my flat where they can annoy me , but I have a lecy zapper and some other help to get rid of them, the greco

Then we have all the other wild life that live off the flies

Like this pretty tiny bird the gracefull prinia.

or this the mosque swallow can take a fly in the air at 100 miles an hour.

This bird the cattle Egret is the minder for some of the animals here wherever there is an animal tethered in the field it will be there cleaning the flies It can take a fly from the beasts eye without touching the animal.

todays last photo. shows everything can live together here birds with Cattle etc. and then along comes man and spoils it all. not just for the animals he is supposed to look after but for himself. its called greed

Balloons over the temple of Luxor

2010-07-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

6.00 in the morning and the balloons are up

'.
Looks like its coming in to land in the Temple complex

The balloon is actually about 2 kilometer away the other side of the Nile River,

تهنئة الى الشيخ أحمد محمد أحمد الطيب Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed al-Tayeb.

2010-07-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

The Mosque and court of the sheihk Tyeb, here I have spent many hours waiting for the Sheihk to live up to his promise in 2007 of getting me my rights, money or my home!25/july/2010 I have been given the money.

The life in a village in Egypt is so much different, than what the tourist see. the head of the village and surrounding area is the brother of the now grand mufti of Egypt and head of Islam تهنئة الى الشيخ أحمد محمد أحمد الطيب Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed al-Tayeb.

on the Friday it seems they come from neighbouring villages here and pay hommage they come by minibuses motorbikes even taxis, durring the hommage and I think this is why most come they get a free meal the women go to one part of this sprawling compound and feed with the children the elders and Guests such as I get to eat with the Sheik, ( I felt Quite honoured as I was told I am the only one that has eaten here in this new compound, meaning only forreigner) table is set for about 20 male eaters and by the looks some had not eaten since last friday as the food got gobbled down with great agusto.with a bowl full of local fig fruit for afters the main male eating area is to the rear if the building here the food is served everyday to the poor what one might call a soup kitchen mats are placed on the floor for the men to sit and eat , just like they would at home. difference being the Sheihk's sons serve the meal.
This photo of the soup kitchen was taken the Thursday the day after the assault on my person and the reason I went to see The Sheihk. http://justliars.blogspot.com/

once the food is done with and the sheihk has his siesta he will then give court. Ie sits at a table while all the people who came to pay hommage get to kiss his hand this is towards the end of the session where the women get to see the Sheik. some asked to be blessed and the sheihk will lay a hand on the forehead of the woman,

Eee 10.1" computer

2010-07-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

My new travel companion its very light pure white and from now on only one photo per day.
Not my choice but it seems bloggers who only put one pic and a little about the pic get more exposure than those of us who show lots of stuff. so today my teeny computer, not about egypt but it is purchased in Egypt and time will tell if its another load of crap from China.
but today it works ok and hopefully will see me through my daily blogs as I travel for a few weeks around Egypt photographing birds and the wild life, I hear the Sewanese are quite wild,
This is twylight over Luxor Temple and the view from my flat Balcony

Night life

2010-07-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

These tiny ants are everywhere now, the solution is fly spray

sun set is now at 19.45 to see more http://skywatchegypt.blogspot.com/

..planes and stars. this one is heading for Cairo leaving the north star in its trail.

as soon as its dusk out come the velcro greco's,

July 2nd walk on the West bank luxor Egypt

2010-07-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

8.00 and the moon was still high in the sky as I took my first walk since the 16/6/10.

The Nile was still high as I was hoping to get on the wetlands as there are a few Purple herons about,

not many birds about its kind of strange not seeing the birds its seems the Squacco heron has left leaving only some of the late young ones behind . this is a little white Egret not unusual to see this bird alone,

The camels are getting a bit of a break now its hot and not many tourists about.

this guy was off to set the fish traps the baby donkey it seems has been taken from its mum, all the way down the track it was trying to feed from its mum.

Camel boys giving the Camels some exercise

Just hope its not another foreigner being taken for a ride,

The end of today's walk as the wetlands are still flooded'

The roadside coffee shop is closed?

Quite a young foal its mum can not be far away as its not tethered

I wonder if the other 39 are about. bit early in the morning for them to get out of their pot.

Luxor International Hospital

2010-07-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

liars thieves and beggars, and a donkey

2010-06-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

One of the workers never complains or turns on its cruel masters. across the street there is plenty of shade and water pipes to tie the beast up. but here it is in 48c and heat of the full sun while its master is in the shade having a siesta

\\ http://bandungdailyphoto.com/ blogged a few days ago on scales so I thought I would show the scales they have in Egypt all the shops etc have these scales. Different in Cairo and the supermarkets but they have not arrived in Luxor yet, where I am sure they will one day and will have electronic scales and tills .

Hard to imagine electronic gadgets on the back of a donkey cart unless its for the scrap heap as most of the junk that is for sale here from China ends up on a donkey cart,

Glass shards that should be in the rubbish pile end up as another deterrent for the would be thief of which every body will have as a neighbour,

This nice young Lady!!!! followed me for a few hundred yards with a barrage of insults that started when she asked me for money , it ended as I got on a microbus, with fuck off english. then asked if I will give her 1 euro for taking her photo?/

What has this man got to do with donkeys , well he is a Lawyer (liar) one of 1500 here in Luxor that Litter the 8 courtrooms and wherever they can park their fat lazy arses. this particullar one is the Lawyer for the guy who says I used a knife to attack him. the donkey!! I here you ask,

well these are the guys who tell the Donkeys what to do. Ie Judge mohamed masoud and Judge Shaddy

Whats he on about go to http://justliars.blogspot.com

A trip to the white desert

2010-06-26T04:56:00.000-07:00

http://mydeserttrip.blogspot.com/

The water wheel in Edfu Egypt

2010-06-25T10:30:00.001-07:00

These are photos taken on Our way back from El-Kab Near Esna Egypt.
The first time I have seen the Cow being used to turn the water wheel,
.
they used to blind the beast at one time, now they put a blindfold on to stop the beast going giddy.
notice there is no person with the cow, it was only a chance that we saw this, when traveling I do not usually miss things such as this. but I was engrossed watching the Nile side of the road as I have never seen an area with so many working camels. as I was trying to get a good shot of the camels my friend spotted the cow . so we turned back and spent a good 15 mins. at the scene.

Best positions in bed

2010-06-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

cool for cats, Its hot here in Luxor the day temperatures are now in the late forties early fifty's. here in my flat at 3.30 in the morning its 37.9c. what should be a cool fan is warm but its a breeze and I have air condition in my room that belches out 24c. and here we have two cats who know how to keep cool this is the drinks shop opposite the Luxor Temple entrance one of the shops that do not overcharge the tourist. and for puss its a free service,even though they will have to move when someone needs An ice lolly or cream.

Even animals have better conditions

2010-06-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

I have put today's blog on the wildlife because its the way I feel. this country has more animals on the streets than in the wild.

The main entrance into Luxor law court has a bucket to catch the water from the air condition.

The green rail is where I sat for two hours watching the animals while waiting for the Lawyer Mustafa Athea to turn up with an english translator. notice they have x on the windows this is a precaution to stop the animals going through the glass. its not safety glass just ordinary

These are the first flight of stairs leaving the lawyers offices

The birds have plenty of places to nest they can just come and go as they please because most of the windows has had the glass taken out after one of the animals has finished damaging it.

This is the latrine there is a wc on the next floor but there are no signs and most probably the animals eyes have so much water in them from the smell they cannot enter the shit house anyway.

This is the area as entering the main office for documentation lots of chairs but like the donkeys the animals are made to stand or sit on the floor.

Those of a little more importance such as the duty officer may have a seat the guy in the galabeia is the judges man he and only he is allowed to enter the room when called for, the yes sir no sir man.

My Lawyer preparing someones papers before entering one of the main courtrooms.there is different wildlife in this area as here you can see some of the animals eat and discard any uneaten food where the smaller animals the cockroaches can eat at leasure,

Five days after the beating my bruises are just about starting to go so I plucked up the courage to take some photos. one reason I took the photos myself I am not used to fuss, I hate being touched or my body looked at by a male hence taking the photos of the areas I can see myself I have 10 bruises on my body 3 0f which are from the fall on the stone steps plus the head wound that has healed up quite well but left some damage in the head I have lost all hearing in the right ear , what little I had has now gone and all I have is a constant buzzing,

This is my arse not much of a bruise but I am still limping 5 days after.

Mohamed Masoud

2010-06-19T23:07:00.000-07:00

Mohamed Masoud is a Judge, who thought he had a part in a movie, he must have been real pissed as his only words in the whole of my movie How not to get swindled in Egypt was Shut the fuck up.
nice one Mohamed

Shut the fuck up

2010-06-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

The reason I have not been out with the camera over the past few days, click on Here http://nilelife4.blogspot.com/

Policing in Egypt.

2010-06-15T06:52:00.000-07:00

I feel very sorry for the police here in Egypt all this hard work they have to do not to mention looking and trying to solve the big problem they have with contraband and the widespread use of drugs. like looking for a needle in a haystack I should imagine, they can fool some of the people sometimes but not all the people all of the time.
No such thing as fallen off the back of a lorry here, fallen from a donkey cart as these cigarettes may have done is more like . there is a lot of contraband in Luxor at the moment the police have been raiding the tourist markets confiscating brands such as nike dolc and cabana , they will most likely find there way again on to the market, knowing how corrupt the country is.

They run about like headless chickens in

the market area here in the street behind my flat, I know when the police raid is on, there is a lot of noise and stall holders taking the goods from the street back into the shop those who have no shop take the goods into a back alley out of view of the police search team,

once the police have gone, back comes the stall holder and hangs his stuff up. all the cops have to do is look behind them. but no not these guys. they have had the orders to search and stop illegal trading so they do what they have been ordered, not their fault the stall holder is a bit more crafty then the cops.

they can only find whats in front of their nose, the hops are only licensed to sell within the confines of the shop they rent, no one is supposed to sell or Hang anything in the street, the reason is because the local council get no rent from the illegal traders.

Nile river police men one of the many who sits on the floating boarding platform of the National ferry, boots unlaced as all these police seem to have ready for taking off when they get a call to prayer, they will sit there all day until its time they need money and go after one of the small craft that take the tourist on a Nile scenic ride, easy target as its the tourist who end up paying the cops bribery money. last time I took a boat ride it cost me an extra 50 because the cops stopped the boat.

Having a heart attack

2010-06-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days I have been sorting out my diary and trying to put it in form that people will be able to read on a blog, the diary started back in 2002 my first visit to Egypt, then got took an the form of being written by a mad person in the middle of a life's crisis, and if not careful will have a heart attack, reading it myself I get this eerie feeling that its not something that could happen to what I call myself a worldly guy ,someone who at the age of 67 has been about seen a bit of the world and must have some common sense, it reads like a wonderland story, I have gone into the wardrobe and into another world, and that is what Egypt is another world a world of corruption lies and deceit, and it makes me think what the hell am I doing in such a corrupt country with all these thieves and liars, the first blog started OK made sense, but then I was told by the police to take it down, on the orders of the eminent, minister of antiquities Dr Zahi Hawass, not going to say what I think and know about him, or his orders to the general of security to stop the corruption in my case, on their promise to look into my case I took the blog known as egyptscams.blogspot down, when I realized this promise was false I made another blog, living in Egypt. that also was taken down with a police warning saying it will not help your case, then when I found out corruption was in the making and read some of the police statements, they had written what they thought not what I said happened on 3 accounts, one even said I was a trouble maker, corrupt court officials who were hiding papers from the judges, etc etc, I made the blog Justliars.blogspot, that has been up for 12 months and been added too each time I went to court.or something happened or what I have found out, but problem is with a blog its read last first so the blog does not make sense like the first thing one will read is what the judge said on the last visit or in this case the new grand Mufti of Egypt stepping in and granting me land because he has found out the hotel is due to be demolished, what would you say mr Tony if I give you your home back. and find out later its going to be knocked down. the blog nilelife4.blogspot is also going to be revised as to what I know and why a certain thing happened. such as why was a rent contract put in front of a judge to be stamped, a rent or lease contract is made between the lessor and the owner with two separate lawyers for each party concerned and is automatically bound by Egyptian law, another point this corrupt court has not listened to. why is there only one lawyer acting for both parties, a criminal offense in itself, according to Egyptian law,
3 days ago I went again to see the Sheik Tyeb and asked why after 8 months I had not recieved my land papers, , after the meeting I was told that a man called Achmed who is the Grand mufti's personal aid, will sort the problem out, he phoned Mohamed awad and said he has to come to the court , The grand mufti's home)
to sign papers to give me my land . and yet again the liar says he is in Cairo and will come with his lawyer in three days to sign, the liar was in his home because, I spoke to Allan Jones who acted as my translator . the sheik is a french speaker and Allan is also a french speaker, and he said while on the way to the meeting he had just spoken to Mohamed about putting a light in his room. one hour later Mohamed said he was in Cairo. and its not the first time he has lied to the sheik, its all about playing for time time to talk to the lawyer on what to say and do in the event of me wanting other than what has been discussed before, they have a simple mind, one thing at a time, one reason being they tell so many lies, if you want to be a liar you have to have a very smart mind and remember all the lies you have said in the past, truth comes naturally. but not to the Egyptian. the lawyer is also playing for time on the 19th I have the case for the forged papers, if I go to court armed with a document that says I have been given the land by order of the grand mufti. this will automatically put me in the right. If the rent contract is not false why has he signed the land over , and why has the sheik ordered he give me the land instead of the property, one thing I have found out with these people they only go by black and white, only believe whats in front of their noses whether its a lie or not,
they also will not loose face, I will phone you Mr Tony was the last thing Achmed said as I took his contact number! three days has gone and still no paper, as its been all along I am in wonderland I wonder when I will get the papers, or is it just another lie to keep the Welshman quiet, and maybe the Welshman will get a heart attack.
its strange that I do not get one comment from most days 450 people in Egypt come back to this site some I know are police informers or security , keeping a watch on my site if i wrote one lie in my blog. they will comment as did one guy who owns a travel business,he was worried I hit his pocket, as that's all they think about money! worried that people will read what the travel companies scams are,

velcro bat and greco

2010-06-13T05:18:00.001-07:00

Just about ready to go to bed and closing the balcony doors I noticed a rather strange black creature on the opposite alley wall, when I got it on the computer its a bat. another creature that has velcro feet.

Sundown tonight was at 19.15

More than I bargained for,

2010-06-12T05:44:00.000-07:00

When I leave my flat for my walkabout usually I end up where the wind takes me very rare do I plan where I am going. I thought first as it was late! well late for me leaving my flat at 10.00 to see if the bee-eater was still flying around the avenue of the sphinx, it was not so I ended up on the ferry , now I had decided to go frogging yes you read it right, frogging I have only seen a frog here in Egypt once and that was when a heron was just about to eat it for diner, 3 days ago I saw some tadpoles in the flooded fields, and mr clever here knows that tadpoles turn into frogs, so lets go look I thought,

On the Ferry boat we usually get the shoe shine boy and the tissue seller boy, this day we also had a beggar girl, what happens is they beg until they have enough to purchase a pack of 12 tissues 5 egp. then they will sell the tissues for as much as the tourist is willing to pay the locals pay 50 piestra that is half an egp. first she went around all the locals on the ferry with her hand out she never had one kind person give her money,then it was my turn Rubbing her belly and the gesture to the mouth saying I am so hungry I need food.

I take no notice , point being if I gave every beggar money by the time I got on the ferry I would have to go to the bank to get more money out, so I do not give not my place to feed the ones who say they are hungry the hungry can get bread for 5 piestras, I have to pay 1 egp hungry or not,

.
As we got to the other side The west bank of Luxor I saw there was no taxi drivers waiting and thought great no hassle getting off the boat,

,

Wrong they were on the ferry on seeing me board the other side they decided to come over and see if the tourist needed a taxi, as I was getting off the ferry this one stood right in my path he already asked if I need a taxi , before he could say anything else I stood on the stairs and said in a loud voice, and I will not need a taxi at all thank you all for thinking about me and my old bones, but this one just barred my way, I told him move or you will need to catch a boat or are you a good swimmer,

by this time all the drivers had reached the safety of dry land , so I decided to give the frogging a miss for a while and go the other way away from the parked taxies, no point in asking for hassle. but then you always get the donkey in the pack , he followed me for a few yards with where you go? why you no need taxi?, I take you to valley of the kings! , you know how much, I got my pocket camera out and turned to face him, as he saw the camera he put a big smile on, then the cheeky bastard asked for money, no I said you pay me you want your photo taken I take it so you pay. the smile soon went off his face, as I mentioned no pay I give to the police, he was gone and on his way he must have mumbled something to his mates because as I went on my frog march, no one said one word, no sail boat mr, no tax tax, nothing never knew the camera could be so powerful,

Even the shoe shine boys and the ferry man turned backs no photo no photo.

More rubbish for the Nile the cheeky little git asked for money, You take my picture, I take picture of rubbish, me no rubbish, yes you are near the rubbish, I said as I walked on,

The bougainvillea is out everywhere in all colours.

foal training

more diesel to pollute the Nile, almost as pretty colours as the bougainvillea

The Little bittern

,
a very shy bird sits motionless in the tree when any one is near can you see it,

This baby donkey recognized me from the other day it came nuzzling up against me for its cheeks to be rubbed while I was taking the photos of the Little bittern,

The Nile has started to recede and there is shawls of fish everywhere one looks in the waters,

Mallow plant bees and bugs

Female Nile valley sun bird

Damselfly are on http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/

The Little white egret and Turkey

Laughing dove sitting behind a mallow flower

Water buffalo calf donkeys dog and egrets,

I have so many good shots of the Squacco I have said to myself no more photos but I could not resist this one as it was so engrossed in the hunt,

The butterflies and bugs will be on http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/

The sand bee

A bee from 5ft with the 100x400 lens

I told you I was going frogging well I did

and here it is taken at the same distance as the bee.

And here its been cut and cropped. isn't it a beauty

Greco and the Periplaneta americana, American cockroach

2010-06-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

Sitting on my balcony at 21.00 There was 5 Greco's on the opposite wall of the alley way.
one was brave enough to tackle this Periplaneta americana, American cockroach.

the shot was taken at 30ft from the subject with flash.

Nilelife moved to original blogspot

2010-06-10T04:47:00.000-07:00

the latest posts have been moved to http://nilelife.blogspot.com/2010/06/keep-on-learning-789-june-posts.html

The Temple of Medinet Habu at sunset.4.6.10

2010-06-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

Medinet Habu is the name commonly given to the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses 111
an important New Kingdom period structure in the location of the same name on the West Bank of Luxor in Egypt. Aside from its intrinsic size and architectural and artistic importance, the temple is probably best known as the source of inscribed reliefs depicting the advent and defeat of the Sea Peoples during the reign of Ramesses III. over 100 photos of the temple and columns and hieroglyph reliefs are now on
http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/

Making 100% orange juice

2010-05-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Most of Mays post are now on http://nilelife.blogspot.com/
This was the sun going down over the Nile on what is now the May chamsin wind, that blows the sand and dust, its not too bad here in Luxor city, but nothing the other side of the Nile is visible with the dust storm,
and this is the weather for a drink of real Orange Juice,

just been reading this headlines in Yahoo.

If you want 100% juice you need to make it yourself.

!8/5/10 I bought what I read as 100% natural orange juice,

Drank some last night and again for breakfast juice,

The fruit etc here is plentiful but the oranges have a season and its now the end of that season.

hence buying the juice in a carton, also I thought no more squeezing oranges to get the juice for a few months makes for an easier life,

Then on my walk about today I found one market stall that had oranges whole juicy oranges , so I bought 5 kilo the guy asked 4egp per kilo and looked at me amazed when I said, 5 please. knowing I could get at least the equivalent of 4 cartons for the price of 2, after juicing. He also threw in 4 bananas for not haggling with him, so here I am in my flat making juice once I squoze (juiced) 2 oranges I had a sip of pure nectar.

and thought that stuff I bought yesterday was not real Juice, so I dug the empty carton out of the rubbish bin and read the side panel.

And I wondered since when is 50% 100% natural. after the acids sucrose natural flavour from 50%orange and the rest of the rubbish I had bought a carton 40% of water,

and there was me itching and thinking I had eaten something from a can that I was alergic to,

I am allergic to preservative additives in cans the only tins I use are corned beef.

And that is one of the problems with us men we do not read things before buying. all I saw was 100% natural.

I have been juicing my own since the 90s when I found out about my allergy . that was brought on by an overdose of yellow fever jabs, given by one of the nurses in the park road surgery in Newtown,

once I found out I was double jabbed they said its no problem, sorry to tell them it was and still is a problem.

And this is where the lies come in. I can understand the mentality of The Egyptians who Lie as a matter of course, or rather I do not understand why they lie as a matter of course, maybe its because they think telling the truth will bring Islam down, I am actually listening in the background the channel mbc action, because one of my famous and who I consider the best actor is on, you know the one, dirty harry? but this is Million dollar baby. Clint Eastwood, and during the adds we have first time on tv the new series of Lost. new series frig, I have seen it on this telly at least twice. and my tv is only 2 years old,

back to juice, out of the five killo I have put 4 whole oranges in the freezer I love peeling them and have them as a ice lolly, 1.5 litre of juice 4 ice lollies and another cup full for tomorrows breakfast drink,

sorry I can not show the bananas they got eaten on the way back. real dawdler me .

I know the oranges look off but they are at their sweetest now, they even use after they are dry and shriveled as long as the do not go moldy.

so no more fake orange juice mango are starting to come into ripeness and so are the Grapes next month we will have the Pomegranate both the latter I can juice in my Squeezer, mango needs to be over ripe for juicing first the skin and stone has to be separated from the flesh then the flesh put in the blender.

so you see I do not need to buy expensive coloured water,

Do you like the colours of my ice lolly makers My wife bought them at Lakeland plastics and if you need to see lakeland products go to http://www.lakeland.co.uk/

Allan Raynor started lakeland plastics his first venture was making seal-able bags for goat milk that came from the small holdings in the area, then made the polystyrene for green houses.the whole venture became a huge success and the whole thing was moved to the lake district, another venture that started in a garage workshop in Wales a village called Aberhafesp, Nr Newtown, Powys, the family was one of our near Neighbours when we lived at Gethin farm Aberhafesp Newtown

20 th May 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7767810/Lakeland-voted-Britains-best-shop.html ..

The roof , restaurant luxor Egypt

2010-05-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

After a day of pain and getting very bored at 17.30 I decided enough is enough and took some of my Ibuprofen 400 tablets. took a shower got spruced up got the camera out and went out for a walk hoping there would be a nice sunset while strolling down the promenade, sounds romantic ! strolling down the promenade! and that's as about romantic as It got, as soon as I got out the front door the pain had been numbed by the pills. now its time to be careful . had a walk along the new paving by the temple and saw my favorite restaurant , why not I thought no stairs to climb 3 steps and in the elevator to the roof. and that's where I went first I ordered a nescafe they make the best in Luxor and I treated myself to a water pipe apple flavour,
the view up there is stunning so I sat near the front rails. to enjoy the view and the sunset , then the owner came over and said he had not seen me for a long time ( two years in fact) not that I have not been there, I go there almost once a month especially when my wife is here. he thanked me for mentioning his place on my website.

then asked if ! I put my hand up , I told him If I get paid even in Kind . I have to put what you say on my story, and I had told him before I do not put stories on my blog if I get a bad belly from eating here it will be on the blog, as most Locals he mistook my meaning and ask when you get a bad belly. you think i would be here if I had bad food, after my pipe and coffee i ordered my meal and as always it was good and that's why I still say the roof is one of the best restaurants for local food, I also noticed they have wi fi. and are going to put local Fish on the menu, just because I asked , any samak (fish) today? as a joke last time I was there. and if they do put fish on the menu I for one will be eating there more regularly,
as I was leaving after paying the bill for one mixed grill with french fries and local salad and veg, 2 nescafe 2 bubble pipes, and a stunning view with no hassle whatsoever, If I wanted anything I called the waiter over. a rarity in Luxor, I hate waiters hovering around taking dishes before I have finished and having to growl like a dog if you try and take its bone, the total bill was 68 egp. the owner asked if I would take some photos of the whole 3 floors the building is called Snack time and is run be 2 brothers one is snack time quick food similar to big macs,without the macs , but much better as they do not copy what you can buy all over the world snack time have 2 floors and the roof is just that a place where one can go and relax have a pipe a coffe or whatever they make nice fresh juices and Ice cream, the just eating restaurant is on a lower floor,

and that is what he wants me to photo tomorrow, so i will give you the today's view with more photos in the next 18 hours or so, first shot from where I was sitting by the glass panel and rail,

The view looking towards my flat marked in white,

The Nile river Looking through the Temple of Luxor

From last months blogspot,

only difference is where the sun is setting,

The view of the Sunset , Nile and Luxor temple from my favorite restaurant The Roof. above Snack Time.

the roof is the best place for good "Egyptian food" IE mixed grill 55egp the only part of the meal not cooked on the open grill are the chips (pomfries) , I try and treat myself once a month, I am not one for eating out as I like to cook my own food, the view and the food is superb, so if you are in Luxor pay it a visit just have a tea or one of the coffee's they make, I do not put places to eat usually on my blogs, but the two I have , I use on a regular basis for the past 3 years, Puddleduck's on Medinet street being the other, and always I get good food and no problems after, which cannot be said for most restaurants here in Luxor.

Camels and bubble pipes

2010-05-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

The camels one of the more famous of the animals of Egypt is the camel throughout my blogs they have been featured in different poses one being my logo photo. and the original shot that was taken in 2004 in the desert area of Dhakla oasis.

N

This was one of the first photos I took while on my first visit back in 2002. me on the back of the grumpiest beast I have had the pleasure of sitting on by the pyramids of Giza.

One of my friends who came with me on my first holiday to Egypt photo taken in daraw camel market December the 27th 2002,

camels loaded and leaving the Market photo taken 3.3.2002 when I lived in Daraw volunteering on the eye ear and throat Clinic,

This shot was taken on the 1st May 20010

Kittens and camels. as the tourist see.

Camels that have come all the way from China

Even camels with batteries in, the only thing they need now is the camel shit to go with the shit that comes out of the stall holders mouths. this guy was a complete shit wanted 5 pounds cos I took the photo of his stall,

whasup boy no sale today.

Some of you may want to know about the sisha pipe? and maybe you do not wish to know, so look away now.

Colour coded.

the red marks are places where there should be no air intake up to the mouth piece

aqua is the level of water the smoke intake is filtered through,

white is smoke intake drawn in from the tobacco fire bowl

yellow is intake to the mouth piece..

The pipe with the hood is for a windy day, the stone

Charcoal

Date flavored tobacco.

the different tobacco flavors and the chemical charcoal all on display for the tourist.

The pipe i use is made from camel hide this does not add flavor to the smoke'

plastic pipe is used for the tourist they came into use when the swine flue broke. they add a bad plastic taste to the smoke.

these small pipes are useable but the tobacco stone are useless once the fire heats them up the crack.

look nice for display.

There must be 500 outlets in luxor for a pipe.

The dead centre of Luxor

2010-05-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

6.30 on a Tuesday I try and get up early or rather out early to see if there is anything new on the local market stalls, I mean fruit etc, I usually set off direct through the back lanes that lead to the railway line that has to be crossed to get to the market area. today I took a detour past the mosque to the rear of my flat. outside most of the mosque's they have these body carrier's not coffin but similar. and it made one feel its good to be alive,
e

Even the tourist market area was deserted.

But I knew there was life about when I saw this guy fast asleep on the pavement . I knew he was not dead because of the noise he made, His mum must have told him never sleep with your shoes on. most likely this guy got himself some oozo. and slept where he drank it. lethal stuff is oozo, brain killer once hooked you are an alcoholic, no such thing here in Egypt I here the people saying, I have seen more alco's here in Egypt than I ever saw in the uk. and most are Muslim, just like they say no prostitutes here no drugs here .
as I came back from my walk around the sugar fields, I was watching a woman blow smoke down the poultry, I know a thing or two about hashish like its used to keep Camels calm in transit on the back of vehicles, with that in my mind I asked A guy: why was she putting the birds beak in her mouth?
no fly away he said , and looked at me as if I was dumb, so at that I thought this old gall has real bad breath or she is on the ganja, and i got my pocket camera out to take a photo but the battery was dead, so its another must photo for next week, unless the cops raid the place after seeing this blog. they are having a clampdown on drugs here, and if its true what the papers say there will be more cops in Jail than thieves,

Hello and where are you off to to so early in the morning. as I stopped to take this photo there was two in the window frame. you can just see the paw of the camera shy one.

I just love these old houses and balconies they all look so sad and unloved, like the people are dead inside of them.

No open front entrance to this one they live around the back,

One on a donkey four on a bike and they wonder why there are so many accidents.

2 on 2 donkeys plus cart plus 2 ton of cement

the kids will be late for school today, they have to help pull the balloon down.

this blog is carried on

http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com/2010/05/birds.html

Leatherjackets, peas and old wives tales,

2010-05-10T09:56:00.001-07:00

This blogspot started from another blog I saw today, leatherjackets, no not Hells angels we are talking wildlife no not hells angels, lets call it worms,

Adrians images well worth a visit.

As a child being brought up on a farm in the 1940s/ 50s one of my jobs was to clean the bottom of the garden toilet, as was my Sunday morning chore before chapel my job to cut the weekly paper into 6” squares to wipe the bottom with after doing ones business in said Toilet, we called it :- Ty bach, :- little house.

And this is where My knowledge of the leather jacket stems from, my job in the spring was to dig the pea and potato rows, once the row for the peas was ready I had to put the waste from ty bach in a thin layer to the bottom of the row then a thin layer of soil before planting the seed peas in a row, like so :-:-:-: . ptotoes had manure from the cow sheds again a thin layer soil and the seed potatoes put in a row 1ft apart, both would be then made into a mound the peas with a flat top and spuds would be left in a spire. Then Electric and mains water was brought to the farm in 1951 , and the ty bach was transformed into a ty Yr ardd :- garden house, or shed as the English would call it, gone was the days of traipsing down the garden path. To have a crap. And so too was the excuse to be by oneself for one reason or another.

That year of no human manure to put under the peas I had to put cow manure, at first the peas seemed ok then some would start dying off before the pea flowers had formed. As a child I was quite inquisitive so up came one of the dying plants and it had club roots. Nothing in them days to find out what caused club roots, but me I put it down to cow manure. Not the usual thing kids do, but I found out over that summer what was in cow manure. And it came about during conker season, explain:- Horse chestnut put on a string to play the game of conker’s .

And where does cow manure come into it? My theory was, find a new cow pat and put the conker in to harden leave for a few days before making the string hole, one year I had a tenner, that means I smashed ten other opponents conker’s. now while sifting through the manure to recover my conker /conker’s. I saw a pile of white tiny eggs. And took them to school for the biology teacher to view, Ah” he said these are moths larvae. Will turn into leatherjackets in the soil and then back into a moth. Not sure if he knew exactly what he was talking about but the teacher should know, and soon after my farming days was over. In the early seventies we had our first council house and it had a huge plot of land . First we made a flower garden with a huge lawn for the kids to play on. My eldest then 7 the same age as I was on the farm. Took a pack of dried peas from the cupboard and soaked them over night ready for cooking into mushy peas, but he emptied the whole packet into a saucepan during the night they expanded and over flowing the pan had to be picked up off the floor. He then threw them in the garden for the birds, some took root and some had club root and my son found out the cause was leatherjackets.

So I bought a gardening book on fruit and vegetables. And sure enough the cause for club root is Leather jackets eating the new forming roots leaving the plants stumped, and eventually die off. That same year we had lots of starlings in our new garden digging into the new laid lawn. no not shovels! beaks, They were after the leatherjackets. The black bird would do a rain dance and up came the worms, thinking it was raining. Then I phoned the guy who brought our soil the year before we laid the lawn, where did it come from? an old farm yard manure pile,
and that was my conclusion to club root, and how old wives tales begin.

Club root, what is it,
Clubroot is a common disease of cabbages, radishes, turnips and other plants belonging to the family Cruciferae (mustard family). It is caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, which was once considered a slime mold but is now put in the group Phytomyxea. It has as many as nine races. Gall formation or distortion takes place on latent roots and gives the shape of a club or spindle. In the cabbage such attacks on the roots cause undeveloped heads or a failure to head at all, followed often by decline in vigor or by death. It is an important disease, affecting an estimated 10% of the total cultured area worldwide.

and from that my theory could have been right about the pea, but then I read this
Do not accept soil from another plot unless it is certified club root disease free
And read books properly like, leather jackets eat the roots of succulent plants,
The cause of the pea club root was because farm produce should be rotated , do not grow the same produce in the same plot year after year ,

The winds are upon us

2010-05-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

I will not say the winds of change

Hieroglyphs for the Valley of the Kings.

This weather is mentioned on the tablets found in the village of the workers. those who work on the pharaohs tombs rather than trek back from the Valley of the kings over the mountain built a small village on the plateau

above the VOK to stay overnight, during the chamsin weather,( winds) today people use this path for pleasure it takes almost 2 hours to trek from Dier El Medinet to The Wadi Maluk.
Photo taken from my blog http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/
The path splits leading to the Vok and Hapshepsut Temple my site has many photos of both these 18th dynasty places. built for the Pharaos,
.

Mothers day

2010-05-09T05:20:00.000-07:00

This is the reading on my computer at 15. 30 Sunday may the 9th 2010
this is the reading the world will see for the temperature in Luxor Egypt, the real temperature is over 50. I have a thermometer on my patio in the shade, and we are just starting the summer this month we should get some nice breezes as its chamsin weather (wind) but it will still be hot and in the late 40s early . 50s no point in telling the world how hot its here, because it will effect the tourist trade those who are here will be stuck indoors with the air con on full blast. some like the people on the two buses in the photo 8 people have already booked the tour so rather than loose money they brave the heat,
but many refuse to leave the comfort of air conditioned rooms. its too hot to sit by the pool even in the shade, so welcome to sunny Egypt
Luxor

44°C

Current: Clear
Wind: NW at 11 km/h
Humidity: 14%

Sun

45° | 26°

Mon

44° | 23°

Tue

38° | 20°

Wed

38° | 19°

Newtown, Powys

13°C

Wind: NE at 2 km/h
Humidity: 54%

Sun

12° | 1°

Mon

10° | 1°

Tue

8° | -2°

Wed

10° | 2°

View from my balcony of Luxor Temple and where I place the thermometer

The little guy has opted for leaving his clothes on and seeing its in the shade has his brolly down,
I have brought the thermometer in the air conditioned room so as soon as its settled will take a photo of it indoors,
,
35 mins it took to settle down to room temperature 38

Brookes animal hospital Luxor egypt

2010-05-08T02:52:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this piece I blogged 2/5/10

I purposely did not put this photo as a header on the blog because I knew a lot of people do not like things like this , but this is the harsh reality of the extent of cruelty us humans inflict on Gods creatures that we as a superior are supposed to look after, and not just here in Egypt, how many times do we read in our local papers of animal cruelty, ie breeding dogs to fight . fighting cocks, badger hunting breeding foxes and let into the wild so some jolly hunt could take place, breeding pheasants so the rich can have a shoot on the grounds of some manor house, how much money do we as animal lovers give to what we call good causes, including children's welfare, now look into the stark reality of where does your money go. how many of these charities have the best location in town the best vehicle money can buy so the volunteer has good transport not just in your town but to where ever your money is supposed to go, and by the end of all this spend the actual money that is needed for the child or animal ends up at maybe 1% .

today is the 8/5/10. 16.50 and this is the response I have had from Brookes animal welfare,

first email was sent via their website, before I put the photo on the blog,

https://www.thebrooke.org/form.asp?id=1403
I had a response after two days, by then the maggots would have started to eat the animal alive,the day after the photo, I went back to the area with a can of detol to wash the wound and a tube of germoline as I have 4 tubes in my stock for my own use. and I know from past experience as a smallholder (bred rare breeds on a small farm) the detol would clean the infection and germoline would start to heal the wound.that's what my vet told me to do in an emergency with my Oxford and sandies, but the donkey had been moved none of the neighbors would talk all ran into the homes and the owners home was padlocked, one thing you should know at this point .
Muslim treat everything they own as chattel, and can treat the way they deem fit.and no way would one be prosecuted in this court in Luxor. they protect their own, And I tell you this from on going experience of dealings in this Luxor court, ( money talks and corruption breeds contempt)
On leaving the area I had some guy say I should mind my own business, and it came a bit too close to my decking the him. I realy have to hold my temper here I only retaliate if there is a policeman near, that way the cop sees all and the guy cannot go off and pay someone to beat him up and say I did it, already happened twice in the past 3 years,
And off I went back home with my anger brewing up inside not helped by what I saw 1 day previous and the thought of the poor animal being eaten alive, because of the incompetance of brooks animal walfare,
and I blame them now for whatever did happen to the animal,
When I e-mailed brooks apparently to the uk. why did they not give my e-mail to luxor branch, and luxor e-mail me back instead of all this crap. following is the e-mail conversation after 2 days.
-----Original Message-----
From: info@thebrooke.org [mailto:info@thebrooke.org]
Sent: 02 May 2010 12:50
To: Info Brooke
Subject: Contact us

Title:88888
First name: 888888
Last name:888888888888
Address: 8888888 luxor
Postcode: none
Telephone:
Email address:8888888888888888
Message for: info@thebrooke.org
I am happy to be contacted: Not ticked
Advert location: Other
Enquiry: Report of Abuse'
I see a lot of cruelty in Luxor of the donkeys and horses even the camels. one of the incidents there are photos on http://nilelife2.blogspot.com last picture on the last blogspot.

Dear Mr Roberts,

Thank you for your email and your concern for the working equines of Luxor. I have forwarded your email to my colleague in Egypt, as he may recall the case you mention, or be able to ask for further information from the driver whom you spoke with. As soon as I have received further details, I will update you by email.

Thank you so much for your interest in the Brooke.

Kindest regards

Eleanor Whittles

Supporter Services

The Brooke

Web: www.thebrooke.org

‘Healthy working animals for the world’s poorest communities’

********************************************************************************************************************************************
The Brooke Hospital for Animals

30 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4HH

Main Tel: 020 3012 3456

Fax: 020 3012 0156

Charity No. 1085760. Company Limited by Guarantee No. 4119581

Thank you very much for your interest in the Brooke and for your
enquiry. Your comments and queries are very important to us and we aim
to respond to emails we receive by the end of the next working day.

If your enquiry is urgent, please call our Supporter Services team on
0203 0123 456, who are open Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm

Info Brooke

to me

show details 5 May (2 days ago)

Dear Mr Roberts,

I have now received a reply from my colleague in Egypt who has read your blog. He suggested that the animal be brought to the Brooke clinic in Luxor, where it would receive excellent treatment and the wounds would heal. Alternatively, if you could give us enough information about the whereabouts of the animal for us to track and hospitalize it, the Brooke could likewise provide treatment.

I hope that this is helpful and would be very glad to pass on any further information you had to my colleague in Egypt.

- Show quoted text -

Kindest regards

Eleanor Whittles

Supporter Services

The Brooke

Web: www.thebrooke.org

‘Healthy working animals for the world’s poorest communities’

********************************************************************************************************************************************
The Brooke Hospital for Animals

30 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4HH

Main Tel: 020 3012 3456

Fax: 020 3012 0156

Charity No. 1085760. Company Limited by Guarantee No. 4119581

And in the meantime ///??????/ Nile life goes on and tonight I could not sleep . I blogged earlier on restaurants in Luxor. the place I go to is in the same block as Macdonalds the beefburger joint, every time more often than not when I pass this place I see the brooks vehicle parked outside, now me I really struggle with treating myself to a meal out of my home. but it seems not the brooks people not there money is it. Today it was about 45c with horses parked outside some looking rather thin and sweat pouring off them after they are forced to gallop around just incase they miss a tourist, but when parked up the driver gets to go in the shade of the carriage, all around luxor there are places for horses to stand in shaded shelters but what do the idiot drivers do they park the carriage reversed while the poor horse has to stand in the blazing sun. if I see this everyday how come brooks do not see it on their way for a snack to big macs and rely on us to report them, that puts us the people who care about the cruelty here in Luxor in harms way. these people are not avert to hitting someone on the back of the head if they think they have been harmed in their money situation.
Nobody sees anything around here, like the three wise monkeys. and worse of all if taken to court you have to prove it, and photographic evidence is not permitted here,
So nice one from brooks animal walfare luxor Egypt, who have the power to stop any animal driver they deem fit to stop, and can impound the animal from further abuse, backed by the police.

from the 2/4 blog

and this is how to ride a donkey these animals are not meant to be abused by pulling heavy carts all day every day and only get a respite

When the harness or chain cause wounds like this the tail is not long enough to swat the flies so they make a meal of the flesh then lay eggs in the wound that will fester while the maggots eat the poor animal from the inside the only thing I could do was swat the flies and put a cover over the wounds, the owner was not around so I called the neighbor . and showed him the donkey and made A point of telling him I was reporting this to brook's animal welfare. not that they will do anything about it anyway they have too much to cope with as I was told by one of their new vehicle drivers a few months ago.

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Its now2.35 in the night and I made a cup of tea and went on the roof to get a cool breeze, across the road to my flat there is an area the horse and carriages use for parking; why ? because it is outside the exit gate of the Temple of Luxor and it is the final stop for the tour buses from the red sea area, here the tour guides can make another boost to their pay by getting the tourists to take a carriage ride around Luxor its all in the plan of the guide for the days tour, to get the bus here an hour earlier before they set off back to wherever they came from that morning,
in this area even at 230 the horse and carriage is parked up no tourist about but the horse is still shackled to its carriage as it has been for or from the first day it was harnessed to it. not saying all the horses are treated like this, I have been here 3 months and these horses have been here also, they are even shod harnessed to the carriage,the place stinks of horse urine and droppings. that tourists have to walk through in order to get out of the hassle area outside Luxor Temple. yesterdays scene at sundown 6 of these will be here all night.

Thistle flower

2010-05-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

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never have I seen a flower like this on the thistle the whole plant it seems has grown in a couple of weeks in the most arid of land The only thing I can think how it gets its moisture is from the banana tree stumps left in the ground the trees were taken down a few months ago, the Nile is at a 20 ft lower level.

this is the area the cattle egret used to take twigs from for nest building ,

A walk around the wet land in Luxor

2010-05-02T04:13:00.000-07:00

I was having probs with blogger and was unable to put all the photos on, a walk on the wild side,
got over the prob and now all the photos are on this blogspot,

Leaving the new marina area on the West bank of Luxor after a kilometer walk I am in the wet lands.where today's walk along the Nile river starts.

one of the water buffalo and its cleaner the cattle egret,

today's walk is something the tourists and even local people do not see. no point in going on a walk just to see how long it takes to get back.
my eye is on everything if its worth a shot I take it sometimes just stopping to take a photo the eye will be caught by a movement tiny as it is its well worth looking to see what it is . here in the wetlands today the water is about 1" under foot and there are lots of damsel flies about, here in this area the growing land is just about submerged in water and the clover is dying off, during the winter months this area is dry and has to be watered.

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Hi nice to see you too
The little white Egret looks like its pleased to see me.

the birds are everywhere here is a squacco and a night heron
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A crow and little white egret ,    The rest of today's birds are on the http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/

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Take your eye off the ground look up and there are nests in the trees every where.

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here is the rancher with his sheep and goats. getting one back at Mary  http://faithfabricandphotos.blogspot.com/    ok coral ?

These tiny butterflies are everywhere
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A young yellow wagtail having a moan cos I am to close

Dragonflies are out not too many here in the wetland only saw 3 species today

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Looks like an oriols nest But I am sure it belongs to the hoopoe as there are 4 in this area

As I continue the walk into the flat area the wetlands, there is the modern pump house that takes water from the Nile to feed the canals for irrigation of the farm lands these pumps are dotted all along the Nile from Aswan to Alexandria a total of about 1000 kilometers most of the new pump stations have been donated by countries such as China, Why do they donate to such a wealthy country as Egypt?
so they can pour all their crap manufactured stuff such as electrical appliances, vehicles, motorbikes , most of this stuff will not get a pass for sales anywhere else.for instance! names like Kawasaki motorbike.   its spelt keweseki the Egyptian do not read English. not until the rubbish breaks down do they find an answer like ! ah we do not sell that model now we find its not real make. and so you end up with another pile of unwarranted no guarantee rubbish in the garden or as Egyptians put it on the roof pile. and what does this government say, its good for the economy, and we get license from china to make the cheap rubbish here in Egypt,
so must not upset China who donate our pumps so we can irrigate the land.

Another family outing getting the best use out of their cheap import motorbike before it breaks down.

And me the donkey I am still here I never break down, been here forever. get some bad hair doos.
and sometimes we break free and go for a good gallop, until I get hungry and have to go back home to get fed. well not exactly,    my owner is a bit well I will not say stupid, cos they call us that, but! he tied me up to my foot.    and went off for a , do not know but he went in the house. so I will not be missed for a few minutes, see yah,
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Whats that? got enough rope to hang myself nah! I borrowed this off the buffalo while it goes for a wallow

Even Mary rode one of my ancestors into Bethlehem 2000 years ago

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all over Egypt we have the Little Cattle Egret who it seems has a main task and that is cleaning the domesticated animals of flies and any other grub it sees they can take a fly from the eye lid of a beast without touching the animals skin, and as I pass these I always think do they talk to each other, but I know they do not, Just do what nature intended them to do. but what if they did talk?
Whats he on about China? I thought they made Ming vases cups and saucers and stuff like that!
You mean plates, now stop messing about there is a fly on my nose, do your job no not know why such a little bird gets involved with what people say, I have family in china, they wear the horns to the front;- Like the cows you mean?   no not to like that to the front like a bumper on the cars: strange, not really, the cows in civilized countries get polled,   whats that then? you men balled?. n no I mean polled, so civilized they are they use a hot iron to stop the growth of the horn as it starts to form. now I know you are polling my leg. not only that they also brand them with hot irons I hear, Saw a film once called rawhide, on the coffee house telly opposite my place, see a lot on there and of course you go hide in a tree as soon as it goes dark,
and they say its civilized? beats me why all these Egyptians want to go live in them kind of countries? raw bottom eh! sounds a bit like us donkeys some times,

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Hey mom whats that bird doing chatting away to the buffalo he is supposed to clean us of flies not have morning gossip like our masters, why is there not one here cleaning my face. cos you are not tied up and you make a chase game with them as soon as they come over. never mind one day you will get your own cleaner.

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This is more like the Nile river camels and garbage

And animal fodder, the corn chaff waiting to be bagged and taken away.

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The garbage area this area stinks I do not know why all it is is a loading area from the boats on to the lorries and taken to the desert dump.
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looking at this pile of garbage from the big M it looks like all of the city garbage now comes across the Nil;e beat's me why they cannot take the garbage lorry direct over the new bridge to the dump, but there is no logic here in Egypt. find a hole and put it in including the wet lands.
at least the rats have a good feed.

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Crows and egrets waiting for the fish that get caught in the pumped water out of the Nile

Nile blooms and a carpet of yellow marsh flowers , the building in the background is the old winter palace hotel once the winter residence of the kings of Egypt last king was http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Farouk_of_Egypt.html

and Egypt has been in decline ever since where once the young king had a lavish life style. now its just run on corruption.

Sparrows on line

and this is how to ride a donkey these animals are not meant to be abused by pulling heavy carts all day every day and only get a respvite

here we have the garbage collector the owner has decided there are lots of plastic bottles in the Nile caught in the reeds

Nice one the owner must have plenty of money employing an artist to paint his favorite temple on the gable end wall or was it yellow and blue looked a bit bland certainly eye catching,

another ship had a fire strange how these lower class ships are catching fire.

I wonder if its owt to do with insurance???

European bee-eater, merops apiaster

2010-05-02T03:05:00.000-07:00

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The latest bird photos are on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/