Saturday 26 January 2013

Under Egyptian Skies, the outtakes.

 

There was this moment, which I should regret but I don’t, where I was particularly cruel to an old bloke. I am not proud of this, no, hang on! I am proud of it as it was damned funny. There was a gentleman on the boat who bore a remarkable resemblance to  the late actor James Mason. He had a blond wife who had a mobile phone that always seemed to ring when we were looking at monuments, and during those deep, quiet moments when you are trying to drink in the surroundings, dozy bint! But back to her hubby. IMG_0575

There was a pool on the boat. Not a big one, more a dipping pool than a swimming pool. During the heat of the day it was a pleasant place to sit and cool down. In fact, I got to know a new friend around this very pool. The boiled horse would sit by it trying to look sophisticated. Anyway… ‘get on with it!’ I hear you cry. This blog must be a bit like those stories that Ronnie Corbett used to do in that big arm chair, it just goes on forever with no rhyme or reason.

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Anyway, this gentleman asked me one day how deep it was. I indicated a point on my chest at about nipple level, saying ‘It’s about this deep’. And he promptly jumped in. Now bear in mind that I am 6’8” and he was 5’ bugger all. I hope you can see what is coming here. He just vanished under the surface and reappeared some moments later coughing up the lungful of water he had inhaled. I don’t know who had more problems breathing at this point, him with a lungful of water or us who were laughing so hard I thought I might never breath again!

Cruel bastard? Me? Well if the cap fits…

There were some other moments which I may divulge at some other time.

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Regards

Giant68 :-)

Sunday 13 January 2013

Under Egyptian Skies (part 2)

 

As I have been told off by people waiting for the second instalment of my holiday adventures I suppose I had better get blogging again. Happy New Year, by the way.

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Quick pause at this point while I read the last Egyptian blog to remind myself what I wrote, and what I can write about now,

I have travelled a bit, not much by some peoples standards admittedly, but I have seen some amazing sights. There are also many more places I want to see before I shuffle off of this mortal coil. But there are some amazing places in Egypt. To stand in temples that were built thousands of years ago is, in some cases, breath-taking. To see camels in their natural habitat, Egyptians going about their business, makes a person realise that their world view is very small.

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In the last holiday blog I wrote about the intent of every Egyptian to prize money from the tourist. And I made it seem as though it was a very unpleasant process, on the whole it was, but there were some cases where I didn’t mind. The crew on the boat were some of the friendliest people I have ever met. Ultimately, they all wanted a tip, I am a very cynical person as you may have noticed. But they attempted to get that tip by making sure that my every need was catered for. Our cabin was spotless, every day the stewards would fold towels into different shapes and leave them on the bed. It was a pleasure to go back to our room to see what they had left for us. The waiters in the restaurant soon discovered that at breakfast, if my coffee cup was empty and i was still sat there then it had to be refilled. I was bouncing off the walls I had so much caffeine in my system!

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Our tour guide, Hussein, seemed to have a very laconic way of talking and this led to myself, Mrs Giant68, Hannah and Stuart taking the p£$$ out of him, mercilessly. One thing I remember was his description of the ‘Son et lumiere’ at Karnak: ‘It is boring, do not go there’.

I was dragged up to dance with a belly dancer. To be honest, when my belly gets dancing it takes a while for it to stop. I have watched the sun set over the dessert and the moon rise over the jungle. I took my Kindle thinking that I would do a lot of reading but I ended up putting it down and just watching the world go by. I took somewhere in the region of 1000 photos.

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But, at the end of the day, I may never go back there. I enjoyed it immensely, but the recommendation is that after handling money, or being touched, you wash your hands. You can’t drink the water, alcohol is pricey, the food can be a little odd, etc. etc…

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Regards

Giant68 Smile