do I feel safe here in Luxor after the bomb in Alexandria , , no I bloody well don't,
as I was going down the steps that leads to the lower part of the prom, an area where tourist have to go in order to get on the cruise ships. this guy pushed passed me , at the base of the steps there are 2 cops posted,, he paid one cop 5 pound and walked straight on no search of his bag and no id was shown to the cop, could have hidden anything in the carrier bag he was carrying, and Egypt is supposed to be on high alert after the suicide bomb in Alex, as I was walking past one of the small shops two men were playing dominoes one a Coptic the other a Muslim. come have some tea Mr Tony, the copt asked , we spent 10 minutes discussing the problem in Alexandria and what was in the today's paper. the Muslim was getting very agitated as most of my questions refereed to the Muslim sector. after a few minutes he said the problem is not between us and the Christian its us against the police, always the police are corrupt and not just these you see in the street, how much you think I pay for my shop and I do not mean tax. they say tax meaning rent to the council, even council is referred to as cancer. 1000 in the month and these bastards tell us not to hassle the tourist.
but my concern was this guy I saw giving the police money to enter the tourists area this walk goes all the way down the prom and he could have gone on to any one of the cruisers. just makes me feel angry about the corruption here,
every day now I see more beggars Luxor is rich pickings for these beggars normally a local would give 25 piestas, for that he can buy 5 pieces of bread; 50 piestas he can get a falafel, usually a coffee shop will give them a cup of tea, Nile water is free, but they come here after the tourist who in there stupidity give up to 50 egp. now when I give a beggar 25 piestas he will spit in my face, so I keep my money in my pocket, or when they say money I say "yes thank you, that really pisses them off, on the begging lark I will show what I saw from the roof restaurant,
[caption id="attachment_625" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="the first approach ""my baby is so hungry."]
[/caption]this is the first part of the beggars approach, she has borrowed a baby from one of the locals, first she feels the lay of the land as soon as the tourist shows a bit of pity, out comes the begging for medicine, my baby is so many months old look how small it is I am in need of very expensive medicine ,
[caption id="attachment_626" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="the tears start the tourists mothering instincts set in.oh my baby is so beautiful."]
[/caption]at this point the other girls come around to give support as to the beggars words,
[caption id="attachment_627" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="now the real mother steps in will say something like my sisters baby is soo in need of medicine,"]
[/caption]
now don't these girls look poor
[caption id="attachment_629" align="alignnone" width="252" caption="these are good local Muslim girls doing what their parents have ordered take what you can from the infidels,two of these girls come up on the roof restaurant and in the street a bubble pipe is 1 pound and a tea is 50 piastres, here on the roof its 21 pound for coffee and a pipe."]
[/caption]one of the girls is a coptic a local pro nearby are several secret police who these girls pay after the scam, Do not say oh my goodness , I know I do not miss much of what is going on here, as they say once bitten twice shy,
the scam is over the woman's face said it all I have just been conned!! as mother and baby plus crew of scammer's spread out, they will leave the area for an hour just in case the woman goes to the cops,
