Bob Marley in Egypt

‘They came out from the shade of the gardens on to a dusty stretch of road bordered by the river.  Five watchful bead-sellers, two vendors of postcards, three sellers of plaster scarabs and a couple of donkey boys closed in upon them.

“You want beads, sir? Very good, sir, very cheap…”

“Lady, you want scarab? Look, great queen, very lucky…”

“You look sir, - real lapis. Very good, very cheap…”

“You want to go granite quarry? This very good donkey…”

“You visit my shop today, sir? You want ivory crocodile sir? I show you beautiful things…"

Hercule Poirot made vague gestures to rid himself of this cluster of humanity. Rosalie stalked through them like a sleepwalker.” - Agatha Christie, ‘Death on the Nile’, 1937

Returning on the public ferry to the West Bank from Luxor, a middle aged man in a gelabya sat in front of us. He started talking about his car and that he could take us wherever we wanted for a "good price". In Egypt, you are constantly asked about taxis, or to buy something or to be a guide somewhere and occasionally it can get on your nerves. But I must say, this man had a good feeling about him. He had a nice smile and a friendly manner. He showed us a little book of testimonials from various clients over the years. So we hired him to drive us to our new hotel, the Marsam. He offered to drive us to the Valley of the Kings, up to the separate West Valley all afternoon for 100 Egyptian pounds, about $7.

So our first day with our driver, Hussein Ali, was quite an adventure. Hussein drives a rickety  1978 blue Peugot, a classic car here in Egypt. The seats don't quite fold back correctly, the wheels squeak constantly and the shocks are a bit old. Hussein listens to the same old Bob Marley tape, over and over again. So up we went on the old dirt road, where no tourists dare to venture, in the West Valley to see the tomb of Ay.  Although drivers aren't supposed to go into the tomb, unless they pay for it, the guard let him down there. Hussein was amazed! Then the guard took us up a steep trail to a panoramic view of the mountain range. Hussein had never been here, although he's lived here all his life.

So for the four days we were here, Hussein drove us around in the afternoon (in the morning, we went to places close to the hotel where we could walk). We were usually picked up at 2pm, but for our last day he wanted to invite us to lunch with his family and would pick us up at 12:30.

Okay then. I'm sure we should bring a gift, but what?  Toys for the kids?  Food of some kind?  For sure not flowers, as we read on the internet you only bring flowers when someone dies. So our friend Vicky, who spends a lot of time here, said just being a dessert. So our hotel baked us a little chocolate cake and when we met Hussein he said we shouldn't have, but he said it was very nice.

"We stopped inside this magic circle, like guests in a holy place…There with my inscrutable companions I came to understand then, in some only vaguely defined way, that communication existed between people who did not know one another, that there was solicitude, pleasant answers to those pleas, even in the most far-flung and out-of-the-way places in the world."…Pablo Naruda

First he dove us to his mother's home, which is a big three story building where about 8 siblings and all their kids live. Plus, there is a small backyard with chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, cats and dogs. Little kids, the nieces and nephews, are running around in their bare feet on the dusty ground. Right behind Hussein's house are fields of wheat and sugar cane. There is a wonderful view of the West Bank hills. We met mom, who served us a nice cup of Egyptian tea. An old TV was showing some kind of travel show with people frolicking in the blue sea of the Mediterranean.

From there we went to his wife's family's house. They live closer to the river, away from the fields. We all sat in the living room, Hussein and his wife, their four kids (ages 2 to 13 years), Amy and I and various neighbors and siblings who came in and out. We talked awhile, showing pictures of our home and what fun we had with Hussein and then we sat down on the floor for lunch. Only Hussein ate with us, the rest of the family having eaten earlier. As usual with an Egyptian meal, there was way too much food. There was amazing home baked Egyptian bread, with whole wheat and very tasty, a couple of salads, a potato dish, a lentil dish and the tastiest roasted chicken I've ever had. Having just been to his other house with chickens roaming around, I had no doubt where the chicken came from. We ate and ate until we could eat no more. There was still food left and Hussein said, "you have to eat it all or my wife will think you don't like it".  I hope he was kidding. We went back in the living room and had a nice conversation with the older kids, who spoke some english. They seemed to have been a bit overwhelmed by these Americans coming to their home. But they were all smiles and very pleasant.

Afterwards, we went to a couple of royal tombs, Roy and Shuroy. Hussein came with us as he had never been there, although he had passed by in his car almost everyday.

Mummy wrapping and bones...

Soon it was time to return to the hotel. We said our goodbyes and told him we hoped to be back to Egypt in a few years. We watched him drive off, wheels squeaking and Bob Marley blaring away down the road.