Wall-to-Wall Sunshine
by Alasdair McPherson
Genre: Memoir
Swearwords: None.
Description: The life of visitors to and natives of Luxor contrasted.
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Luxor is a love it or hate it holiday destination. Most tourists visit it first for a few days after disembarking from a Nile cruise. Karnak temple and the tombs in the Valley of the Kings are a 'must see', of course, but my own favourite is Luxor temple. In the first place it is right in the centre of town – just across the road from MacDonald’s, in fact; then it is on a more human scale than the immensity of Karnak and, consequently, friendlier and more welcoming.
Almost everyone enjoys the hotels, air-conditioned and with sumptuous service from Egyptians who are happy to have such secure and well-paid employment. Behind their guarded doors you can eat well, drink cheaply and build up your tan beside the pool.
Many waiters travel from the West Bank to serve for twelve hours a day – they do get an hour off if the hotel is not too busy. They are quietly attentive to the needs of the guests and they are often witty and friendly although always in a restrained and respectful manner.
Even although the visitors like the hotels, many of them become very uncomfortable if they cross the threshold onto the teeming streets. Organised excursions to the sites of antiquities can turn into an endurance test with the local guide, usually an honours graduate of a Cairo university, enthusiastically ensuring that you see absolutely everything. He will keep you standing in the sweltering heat of the Valley of the Kings while he gives detailed biographies of Seti or Tutankhamun. If you are incautious enough to ask a question he will find twenty more facts to astound you. He will deal, briskly and decisively with any stray natives trying to sell you cotton or leather goods.
Leaving the hotel unaccompanied can be even more harrowing. The many Egyptians who cannot get employment as guides or in the hotels try to snatch a living by descending like locusts on visitors. Goods and services are thrust into your attention – there is no getting away from them!
I belong to that group that takes real pleasure in talking to these locusts. “Welcome to Alaska” is a favourite greeting; in fact their good humour, albeit rather childlike, is a most attractive feature of a holiday in Luxor. In the centre of Banana Island surrounded by the lush vegetation there is a flea market called 'Lovejoy's', while Yorkshire Bob, with authentic accent, sells jewellery next door to a rival claiming Lancashire connections.
You would need a sense of humour to survive the life they lead. While the waiters are considered to be well off earning £40 a month, taxi drivers and shopkeepers struggle to survive. Typically, a caleche driver will work three days in the week to pay the owner of the rig and a further day to pay for feeding the horse. He keeps his family on what he can earn in the rest of the week. When tourists are in short supply, the family can get perilously close to starvation.
No wonder they see us as rich! When things get tough for us, we can look for help from the government. In Egypt you have to rely on your extended family; a man will help his brother or provide a home for a cousin’s widow and children, caring for them as his own. It is rare for an Egyptian to be left with no one to offer support.
It does happen, however: there are at present about eighty orphans in the town. The local authority is responsible for their welfare but it is short of funds. In a typically Egyptian compromise, the care of the orphans is entrusted to the Sunshine Village, a charity founded by an English lady and funded by British donations. The Village is new and self-contained and is staffed by locals. The kids are educated and there is a doctor on hand. When they reach sixteen, they are helped to set up home in the community
It may be a minor, insignificant arrangement in the great scheme of things but I find it immensely heartening that a predominantly Christian group is supporting mainly Muslim disadvantaged kids being raised in their own faith. For five thousand years Egypt showed the world how to live: perhaps it is still setting an example.
Swearwords: None.
Description: The life of visitors to and natives of Luxor contrasted.
_____________________________________________________________________
Luxor is a love it or hate it holiday destination. Most tourists visit it first for a few days after disembarking from a Nile cruise. Karnak temple and the tombs in the Valley of the Kings are a 'must see', of course, but my own favourite is Luxor temple. In the first place it is right in the centre of town – just across the road from MacDonald’s, in fact; then it is on a more human scale than the immensity of Karnak and, consequently, friendlier and more welcoming.
Almost everyone enjoys the hotels, air-conditioned and with sumptuous service from Egyptians who are happy to have such secure and well-paid employment. Behind their guarded doors you can eat well, drink cheaply and build up your tan beside the pool.
Many waiters travel from the West Bank to serve for twelve hours a day – they do get an hour off if the hotel is not too busy. They are quietly attentive to the needs of the guests and they are often witty and friendly although always in a restrained and respectful manner.
Even although the visitors like the hotels, many of them become very uncomfortable if they cross the threshold onto the teeming streets. Organised excursions to the sites of antiquities can turn into an endurance test with the local guide, usually an honours graduate of a Cairo university, enthusiastically ensuring that you see absolutely everything. He will keep you standing in the sweltering heat of the Valley of the Kings while he gives detailed biographies of Seti or Tutankhamun. If you are incautious enough to ask a question he will find twenty more facts to astound you. He will deal, briskly and decisively with any stray natives trying to sell you cotton or leather goods.
Leaving the hotel unaccompanied can be even more harrowing. The many Egyptians who cannot get employment as guides or in the hotels try to snatch a living by descending like locusts on visitors. Goods and services are thrust into your attention – there is no getting away from them!
I belong to that group that takes real pleasure in talking to these locusts. “Welcome to Alaska” is a favourite greeting; in fact their good humour, albeit rather childlike, is a most attractive feature of a holiday in Luxor. In the centre of Banana Island surrounded by the lush vegetation there is a flea market called 'Lovejoy's', while Yorkshire Bob, with authentic accent, sells jewellery next door to a rival claiming Lancashire connections.
You would need a sense of humour to survive the life they lead. While the waiters are considered to be well off earning £40 a month, taxi drivers and shopkeepers struggle to survive. Typically, a caleche driver will work three days in the week to pay the owner of the rig and a further day to pay for feeding the horse. He keeps his family on what he can earn in the rest of the week. When tourists are in short supply, the family can get perilously close to starvation.
No wonder they see us as rich! When things get tough for us, we can look for help from the government. In Egypt you have to rely on your extended family; a man will help his brother or provide a home for a cousin’s widow and children, caring for them as his own. It is rare for an Egyptian to be left with no one to offer support.
It does happen, however: there are at present about eighty orphans in the town. The local authority is responsible for their welfare but it is short of funds. In a typically Egyptian compromise, the care of the orphans is entrusted to the Sunshine Village, a charity founded by an English lady and funded by British donations. The Village is new and self-contained and is staffed by locals. The kids are educated and there is a doctor on hand. When they reach sixteen, they are helped to set up home in the community
It may be a minor, insignificant arrangement in the great scheme of things but I find it immensely heartening that a predominantly Christian group is supporting mainly Muslim disadvantaged kids being raised in their own faith. For five thousand years Egypt showed the world how to live: perhaps it is still setting an example.
About the Author
Originally from Dalmuir, Alasdair McPherson is now retired and living in exile in Lincolnshire.
He says he has always wanted to write, but life got in the way until recently. He has already penned two novels and is now trying his hand at short stories.
He says he has always wanted to write, but life got in the way until recently. He has already penned two novels and is now trying his hand at short stories.