Day 3 - Egypt
20.04.11
Kerry was up at 3 in the morning with Delhi Belly and being sick, the same happened when we were in Thailand, I think she's allergic to massages, can that happen?
She stayed in bed for the day and I joined the tour group. In the morning I visited the Temple of Isis. A big Egyptian Man asked me if I wanted to take a photo of him, of course I did, and afterwards he insisted on being paid for it, following me around until I did. A security guard armed with a 9mm Sten gun then ushered me over to show me where the tidal line of the Nile is, he then wanted paying! I'm in too much of a nicey nicey English mode, I'll have to snap out of it quickly.
Most Egyptian ruins have been scarred with modern graffiti, I say modern, some date back to the early 19th century, from Napoleon times, so rather than concentrating on ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that I didn't understand I took images of modern graffiti.
We then went to the Aswan Dam. To be honest I was expecting something like the Hoover Dam but I was left mildly disappointed. I guess the Russians who built the dam went for a more practical solution.
After a visit to my first mosque we called in at a Papyrus place, it's one of these places where the tour guides get a back hander, I didn't buy anything.
But the highlight of the day was a tour to the market. I was prepared, I have perfected a stern "No" which seems to register with most traders. One unsuccessful method of rejection was to pretend I'm a different nationality, when asked "are you English" I'd reply "Italiano" or "Francais". It didn't work because everyone I tried it on spoke foreign languages far better than I did. I did want to have a bit of a barter and chose to buy a black alabaster statue of Horas. I didn't choose to buy from the man who followed me for about half a mile shouting, "Mr, come in to my shop, everything is free, I no hassle you, no hassle, no hassle, promise you no hassle, hassle free, no hassle.....", I got the feeling he wasn't telling the truth! I did find a nice man named Hussain, he was rich anyway and only wanted to do me a good deal. He made me a cup of tea! He didn't want to sell me just one statue, he said I would be better off with 2 as these were made from the finest basalt and he would phone me in 30 years time to ask if they were still alright! Starting price was 1200 LE, about 120 pounds. I was pleased that I managed to get them for 300 LE! However, I'm not convinced they are the "finest basalt" and he didn't take my phone number to call me! I did enjoy myself tho!
Kerry was up at 3 in the morning with Delhi Belly and being sick, the same happened when we were in Thailand, I think she's allergic to massages, can that happen?
She stayed in bed for the day and I joined the tour group. In the morning I visited the Temple of Isis. A big Egyptian Man asked me if I wanted to take a photo of him, of course I did, and afterwards he insisted on being paid for it, following me around until I did. A security guard armed with a 9mm Sten gun then ushered me over to show me where the tidal line of the Nile is, he then wanted paying! I'm in too much of a nicey nicey English mode, I'll have to snap out of it quickly.
Most Egyptian ruins have been scarred with modern graffiti, I say modern, some date back to the early 19th century, from Napoleon times, so rather than concentrating on ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that I didn't understand I took images of modern graffiti.
We then went to the Aswan Dam. To be honest I was expecting something like the Hoover Dam but I was left mildly disappointed. I guess the Russians who built the dam went for a more practical solution.
After a visit to my first mosque we called in at a Papyrus place, it's one of these places where the tour guides get a back hander, I didn't buy anything.
But the highlight of the day was a tour to the market. I was prepared, I have perfected a stern "No" which seems to register with most traders. One unsuccessful method of rejection was to pretend I'm a different nationality, when asked "are you English" I'd reply "Italiano" or "Francais". It didn't work because everyone I tried it on spoke foreign languages far better than I did. I did want to have a bit of a barter and chose to buy a black alabaster statue of Horas. I didn't choose to buy from the man who followed me for about half a mile shouting, "Mr, come in to my shop, everything is free, I no hassle you, no hassle, no hassle, promise you no hassle, hassle free, no hassle.....", I got the feeling he wasn't telling the truth! I did find a nice man named Hussain, he was rich anyway and only wanted to do me a good deal. He made me a cup of tea! He didn't want to sell me just one statue, he said I would be better off with 2 as these were made from the finest basalt and he would phone me in 30 years time to ask if they were still alright! Starting price was 1200 LE, about 120 pounds. I was pleased that I managed to get them for 300 LE! However, I'm not convinced they are the "finest basalt" and he didn't take my phone number to call me! I did enjoy myself tho!
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| "Hussain from the Market" |
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| "The Big Man from Philae" |
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| "Graffiti at Philae" |
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| "Nice Lady from the Perfumery" |
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| "The west side of the Sahara" |
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| "The Market" |
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