Sightseeing in Luxor - not - 1st Feb 2002
Pete & Diane Ex-Bikers from Down Under
Feluka, feluka, very cheap
Pete & Diane Ex-Bikers from Down Under
So, we didn't go to the Valley of the Kings or any of the other top attractions. In fact we did little but chat all day.
It started at breakfast where, by an off chance remark, we ended up chatting to a charming Kiwi couple, Pete and Dianne. They had spotted the bike outside the front of the hotel and had been waiting to chinwag with the owners. Their travel history stretches somewhat further back than our own. After early retirement, they have spent four years travelling the world on a backpacker's budget.
They recounted some of their adventures to us including a year travelling around India on an Enfield Bullet. For those unaware of what this is, look up a copy of British Motorcycles of the Forties and look under Royal Enfield. These single cylinder 350 cc machines are still made faithfully to the original design in India. Given that they managed 23000 km in a year two up on one of these things without too many mechanical nightmares once again shows how paltry our modern equipped effort is.
It was reassuring for me that others had happily travelled two up on a motorbike for a long time. The only other person we had met that had tried the same had ended up getting divorced. They still seem very content with each other so maybe there is hope for us. However, it may be significant that they are no longer travelling by bike. To be fair the reason for the sale of the bike was complications of getting a carnet and they seemed most envious of our freedom as they were finding public transport frustrating.
They have acquired a fascinating knowledge of cultures of the world having spent long periods working in The Solomon Islands, Indonesia and others. Pete had just come out of hospital having had an operation on a hernia that the consultant reckoned he had had for a good number of years. He seemed to be in excellent shape considering his surgery and spoke highly of the surgical care that he had received.
He was less than impressed, however, by the attitude of the doctors to having a western patient. Having felt hot in his bed, he had removed his shirt. While his wife was in the room, the doctors that were visiting him suggested in no uncertain terms that his state of undress was due to their having just had sex. But this was not unusual, as it is well known that westerners have sex in the street. They raised a complaint at the highest level about this and the doctors squirmed and lied and ... made out that they were joking. They clearly got their comeuppance and did not appear by the side of the bed again.
It is sad that this really is the belief of people, here. Of course, we've all heard stories about the way Moslems question our morality and, to be fair, in many cases they are entirely correct. Still, there is a limit.
Before we knew it, it was 2.30 and the cleaners were waiting to clear the tables from breakfast. Now a little too late to head over the river to take in the sights we settled for a walk along the Nile. This involved a chorus of blokes saying 'Feluka, very cheap price'. Saying 'La sukhran' (No thankyou) did not shake them off. You would just manage to lose one and his cousin would start 2 steps further on. Stressed by fending them off, we rested on a bench opposite a large Nile cruiser heaving with reddening semi-clad tourists. They seemed to be a tourist attraction in themselves with families arriving and Egyptian children pointing at the strange people. We were intrigued to know what must be going through the minds of the Arab on-lookers.
A chap passed and we exchanged greetings, as he didn't seem to be selling us anything and invited him to sit with us for a chat. We asked him what he thought of these tourists on the boat, swanning about in almost another world. Well they are Western people they're different! We then had a very honest discussion about differences between cultures. Unfortunately, he also seemed to be under the impression that undressing in public is synonymous with having sex. We tried to explain that it was almost unheard of for Westerners to have sex in public and, if people did - it would be disapproved of. I am sure that he believed us.
It seems to be such a widespread and long-standing myth that one conversation will not erode it. However, maybe in a culture where skin is only shown to the opposite sex during love making, and maybe even then being mostly covered, it must be hard to comprehend that people would undress just to sunbathe. Dianne had mentioned an incident in India when she caught a peeping tom watching her in the shower and the local women found it funny, because 'you Westerners like to show your skin, what's the problem!'
The conversation also turned to the strength of women. Which reinforces the comments made by the chap in the Duty Free. Amusingly, whilst having quite an open discussion with him, he would intermittently leap up and confront tourists with 'Feluka, feluka, very cheap price'