Nostalgia's not what it used to be....
As we were on the bones of our arses (it means poor, for those of you unfamiliar with the term...), we decided to honeymoon on the cheap. We managed to get flights to Luxor in Egypt and half-board accomodation all for under £200 each, which even 12 years ago was still a bargain. The reason it was so cheap was because several tourists had been shot recently by some sort of rebel force, and the tourist trade wasn't exactly booming at the time, but what the hey....!
Anyway, as we were doing everything on the cheap, rather than pay for all the usual trips being run by the travel companies, we hired pushbikes from the hotel and did things our way. One day on our way up to the valley of the kings, we were accosted by some locals as we passed through their village and persuaded to stop off and translate some letters for them. One bloke who owned a shop dragged us inside for tea and typical Egyptian hospitality (as opposed to being shot)and when we got talking he announced that his 'cousin' had some camels if we wanted to go for a ride. It seemed like a good idea, so we arranged to go back a couple of days later. The day arrived and we duly crossed the Nile again and cycled back to his shop. After keeping us talking for about half an hour, and just as we were beginning to suspect that the camels might not materialise, lo and behold they appear! Ten minutes later and we are both astride a 'ship of the desert' and being led through a field full of sugar cane, way off the beaten path. We passed through tiny villages where some of the kids had never even seen a Westerner before, and on for about an hour, where one of the guys snuck us into one of the bigger tombs (one of the Rameses, but I can't remember which one)that was closed to the public at the time. We then stopped off at the guy's 'aunt's' house, where we were given tea (again) and shown her livestock - apparently she was quite a celebrity in the village because she had a donkey and some chickens! We then rode back through the sugar cane fields - our guides breaking stems off and chewing them as they led us back (I don't recommend this bit - we tried it and it tasted foul, and our guides had teeth that made Shane McGowan look like Donny Osmond). One of my most enduring memories - and I'll carry this to my dying day - was of being astride this camel, with my new bride ahead of me on her camel, the sugar cane either side of us, the mountains in the distance, hazy through the sunshine, but above all, the quiet. Apart from the noise of the animals hooves in the dirt, and the odd insect buzzing about, it was almost silent. A truly magical experience, that will stay with me for ever.....


Then I was at the birth of both my daughters, and that experience knocked everything else into a cocked hat! Gentlemen, I don't care how squeamish you are - and believe me, I AM - be there at the birth of your children....nothing else will ever come close....

No apologies. Ever.
(Desolation Angel, Fri 11 Mar 2005, 10:28, Reply)