I can’t believe that it has been more than two years since I last
posted here so I suppose my New Year Resolution should be to be more active on
my blog.
I am sure you are wondering the reasons for the absence. One was that due to the Arab Spring
the internet connection was very iffy. In
fact at one stage they turned it off completely together with the mobile
telephone network.
As many of you are probably aware there was the Arab Spring which,
here in Egypt, meant the disposal of Mubarak as president of the country on 11
February 2011 following 18 days of mass protests mainly in Tahrir square.
The majority of the protests took place in Cairo and Luxor (a distance of
721 Km or 447 which is further than the distance between Crawley and Edinburgh,
which is 356 miles as the crow flies) was pretty much unaffected. There were one or two demonstrations
in the beginning but they died down very quickly.
Following a transitional period overseen by Field Marshal Tantawi
a new constitution was drawn up and there were the first ‘democratic’ elections
which saw Morsi inaugurated as president on 30 June 2011. What followed was a year of inactivity
and inattention to the problems facing Egypt in favour of furthering the
interests of the Muslim Brotherhood.
I did manage to meet Morsi when he visited Luxor and asked him why
there was no police presence as a friend of mine had been broken into and
various items were stolen. As
with any politician he gave a non-answer and was more interested in his freebie
visit that on dealing with questions from the populous. The photo was posted on Facebook and
the very brief interview was apparently shown on television – when I went
shopping the following week someone said they had seen me. (If I find the picture I will post it).
After a year of his rule, Egypt was in a worse place than they
ever were under the corrupt Mubarak, diesel shortages, gas shortages and
electricity shortages and hence drastic price increases. The populous eventually said enough is
enough and on 30 June 2012 there was a coup d'état after millions of
protesters across Egypt took to the streets and demanded the immediate
resignation of the president. And on 3 July 2013, when he was removed by Field
Marshal Abdel Fattah
el-Sisi. Sisi presided over
an interim government and following a landslide election President Sisi was
sworn into office on 8 June 2014.
When I moved here I did not envision myself living through not one
but two revolutions and unlike many other countries that have suffered the same
fate; and worse, Luxor was left unscathed. Whilst there are still the odd
protest by followers of the Muslim Brotherhood (which Sisi has subsequently
outlawed) these are still occurring in Cairo and do not affect Luxor at
all. But as one would do in any other country visitors need to be aware
of the situation within which they find themselves and if they are confronted
by a hoard of people they should make efforts to remove themselves
from that situation. That being said Luxor is very very safe and
unaffected.
So if you are interested in a cheap holiday with lots of sun
please come and visit this wonderful country. You will see some wonderful
sights and will be welcomed with open arms. Please note the Pyramids
are in Cairo not Luxor which has a plethora of tombs and temples, including
Karnak, the biggest temple complex in the world. Come and escape the
madness of the 21st Century and take a step back in time.
