30th September 2008

September started with a slight change in the weather, only slight, but it was most welcome. Though early in the month the midday temperature continued to be in the low 40's it was noticeably cooler within two hours of sunset which has allowed us to get on with repairing and painting the front of the villa in the evenings after we are home from AWOL and just before we die on the sofa. As the month went on the midday temperatures also started to come down, but only slightly with the temperature in Luxor yesterday given as 39°. We are not complaining though as we do not look forward to the winter here, short though it is, as we like it more than warm.

Ramadan started on the 1st September, which fell on a Monday this year, and as usual on most Monday's we all go to Sindbad's after we finish for the day with AWOL. The difference on this Monday was that because it was Ramadan Sindbad's didn't sell any alcohol so the place was deserted, as it is every year throughout Ramadan. We had a snack and after AWOL much water was needed so we enjoyed our time but we always find it amazing that without alcohol places are empty even though the food is good and there are plenty of other drinks to choose from.

Obviously AWOL takes up much of our time but it is so rewarding and we do enjoy it but during the month we did manage to visit a tomb, a temple and paint the front of the villa. It has been such a busy month. The tomb was that of Pasaba and we had never seen it before. It was well worth a visit and we are sure that we will be taking our friends to see it as it is something different. The Temple was that of Merenptah but to call it a temple now is an exaggeration as one would have to have an extremely good imagination to visualise it in its former glory as it is just a collection of remains and foundations. That said there are some unique pieces, a small museum and three store rooms of larger pieces which are all very interesting. It was nice to have Sabine with us as we haven't been to this temple for years and we had forgotten just how interesting it is. It is a reasonably quiet month, tourist wise, so it is a good time to visit temples and tombs. We went to these on different days and on both occasions we were the only visitors so it was a joy.

Marcy celebrated his second birthday on the 23rd September and he was happy with his birthday tea and so was Tufty. Dusty, Harry and Charlie who all helped out though we think Marcy could have finished it all on his own. It was nice to have Charlie here as earlier in the month he disappeared for two and a half days and as he doesn't have full use of his back legs and loves his food we were more that a little worried but home he came, hungry and scruffy but home and that is all that matters. Needles to say he hasn't ventured very far since.

As the end of Ramadan is upon us everybody is excited about the feast of Eid which is a time of great celebration. Kay has just come back and Tony arrives tomorrow so we will have two extra pair of hands for AWOL which is really great and you never know we may also get time to visit a tomb or temple.

If you would like to meet up when you come over we would love see you to chat about what there is to see and do here and what it is like to live here and generally just to say hi, but we do only have a very small amount of free time. Click Here for a page you can print off with our contact details and where you can meet us. Thank you all for the bits you have brought over but if you have any room in your case we would still like a tin or four of Homepride Curry Sauce as we still can't get enough of this. Branston Pickle, creamed horseradish sauce and Worcestershire Sauce would also be very much appreciated. We also would like some more original cream Jif or Cif or whatever they call it now as cream cleaners are just not available in Luxor. We will of course pay you for anything you bring over and animal lovers if you can help please don't forget the wish list on the Animal Welfare of Luxor web site.

If there is anything you would like to know then do send us an e-mail but we do not answer any questions about marriage to an Egyptian. We reply to all e-mails but it can take a few days.

Anyway that's it for another great month.

Pauline and Graham XX

Click Here for our contact details.

Click Here to go to our September photos page.

Click Here to go to our Luxor Diary index page.