Another lazy pool day and a wee walk

Yes, you've guessed - another lazy day at the pool ahead!!  And then another lunch at Caffe Moka!!

Just prior to lunch though, we spotted this cricket atop one of the sun lounger sunshades.  The lady underneath had absolutely no idea that it was there and I didn't dare tell her in case she freaked out!! I don't think she noticed me frantically taking photos before it moved off - and it did move off rather sharpish when a sparrow took a low swoop over the top of it!!

After lunch though, my husband and I decided to take a walk as I wanted to go to Aboudi's Bookshop which is near to Snack Time and McDonalds, but trying to avoid the worst hassle spots near Luxor Temple and both the Sinbad and Hamees Cafes.  So, we left Caffe Moka and headed left along the street, and kept heading left around some of the old streets that we knew from our previous visits and, lo and behold, we popped out into a street opposite the Temple and just beside a new cafe called Cafe Latte and McDonalds, Snack Time, Aboudi's Bookshop etc. And guess what - no hassle from anyone at all.  We could see building work taking place at what we think is the old Luxor Hotel and we found a shopping arcade that looks pretty new, but there are hardly any shops open, in fact most are still empty, which is a shame.

Shopping arcade

Fried fish, but not quite like the fried fish back home!

Price list of the new cafe Latte

I done a bit of shopping in Aboudi's - no hassle and all fixed price.  The Fairtrade shop is close by here too, but it was closed at the time I was there.  We walked back the way we had come - again no hassle at all as we were more or less off the tourist route.  It was pretty hot though, so we were glad to get back to the pool to rest and cool off - I still hadn't totally immersed myself in the water though as it was just too cold for that!!

When we tore ourselves away from the pool to start getting ready for dinner we discovered more surprises in the room for us - more little cakes and a chocolate mousse!!

Delicious little sweet treats

During our walk to the restaurant tonight there was a power cut and when we got to Puddleduck (which we had booked previously) we had to wait quite a while for the power coming back on.  However, it was worth the wait when the food was able to be produced, and we had a delicious meal.  Four starters, four main courses and drinks all came to 532LE.

On the way back to the hotel we bought rolls at the local baker for lunch and then we stopped off at a street seller who was selling sticky little cakes!!  As if we hadn't eaten enough already!!!  We had no dea how to order them, but a local chap helped us and it seemed we couldn't buy them individually to try them, they had to be bought in kilos or part kilos.  Well, there's no way we could take a kilo of them, but we ended up with a box of assorted cakes weighing half a kilo!  The cost was only 10LE!!

The cake seller

Half a kilo of assorted sticky cakes!

There was no way we could finish all of these after having eaten our  meal, so we tried some and then took the rest down to the reception staff at the desk and they polished them off no problem at all.  It was then off to bed as we were going to have an earlier start so we could visit Karnak Temple in the morning before all the crowds appeared on the tour buses.

Lazy pool day

Spent the morning at the pool and wandering around taking photos and noticing that the pool area is looking very shabby nowadays.  There are lots of uneven slabs and broken tiles and we saw that there was some pool slime and algae around the stools that are situated around the pool bar in the centre of the pools - this pool bar was never open during our stay and the plants growing inside that area look quite overgrown.  Even the water in the pool was a bit cloudy, although that did clear fairly quickly over the next few days.  There are large mobile parasols that can be moved around the pool area to give shade, but these are now filthy.  The varnish on the sunbeds and the tables is peeling off and there are broken sunbeds lying around.  There is a wooden structure that used to have a roof which was a great place to get some shade, but the roof has been missing for years now.  However, the structure is now leaning badly (I think after a tree fell on it) and has never been straightened or repaired.

Just some of the broken and uneven slabs

Just one of many broken tiles

The wonky wooden structure

The gap site where the tower of the 'New Winter Palace' once stood, is still a gap site.  No work whatsoever has been done here and there are no signs of any work beginning to start.  I took these photos through rather a dirty window, but you'll get the general idea!!

For lunch we decided to stick to our plan of going to the Caffe Moka where we found the owner had reserved a nice table in the shade and he had the cutlery etc. all laid out for us.  We were truly treated like VIPs!!  We ordered four chicken sandwiches and drinks - they sell soft drinks, beer and spirits.  I don't know where he gets the hot food from, although we suspect it comes from outside the premises somewhere, but it's very very tasty indeed and piping hot and served in polystyrene containers.  The whole lunch cost 202LE so it was quite reasonable.  It was so tasty in fact, we decided that we'd be back again to try the other sandwiches on the menu!!

Chicken sandwiches

Sit and watch the mad traffic!!

Seats, sofas and shade

After lunch it was back to the pool once more to relax.  Later, on going back to the room, we discovered one of the light bulbs wasn't working so we reported it to reception and were totally gobsmacked when an 'engineer' appeared 15 minutes later to replace it!!  After changing to go out for dinner we went up to the Royal Bar at the Winter Palace where we met some of the management staff that we know, and we were given a drink on the house, which was rather nice.

We then took our usual walk into 'Little Britain' and went to The Taste of India where he ordered two soups, four main courses, two sweets (our favourite Om Ali!!) and drinks, which all came to 446LE.  Afterwards we walked back to the hotel via Caffe Moka for coffee - they do rather a nice hot chocolate as well!!

First day at the Winter Palace Pavilion

We were up fairly early and into the breakfast room.  I must say that there is a big difference in the breakfast provided, but it's still not a patch on the Hilton!!  The old toaster that seems to be built in with the bricks is still there clunking along very slowly with its controls broken!!  The orange juice looks like orange juice but tastes nothing like orange juice. At least there is more fresh fruit than normal and this year strawberries were in season and on offer most mornings.  However, as the mornings progressed, the same strawberries seem to be trotted out each day and they eventually ended up looking like the tinned variety!!  There is no egg station any more, so no more playing 'find the egg man'!!  You can have your eggs cooked to order and brought to the table and this at least ensures you get them still hot, which is a bit of an improvement.  There is also a better selection of cold meats and cheese and a fairly good selection of breads, cakes and pastries.  This is the egg menu.

I'm afraid this is where the blog will get a bit boring as most days were now spent at the pool!!  However, there were a few things that we got up to, and I'll intersperse the text with photos to try and keep your interest going!!

We did notice more cats running around the grounds compared to previous visits, but they are very timid and don't really come near the guests, although we did see some hanging about at the pool restaurant.  I think they have probably been displaced from the grounds at the old Luxor Hotel which is presently undergoing refurbishment and reconstruction. This is where the restaurants of Sinbad and Hamees are but we didn't visit them this time round as we weren't impressed with them on our last visit, and this is where lots of cats could be found.  I have no problem with cats and kept trying to capture them with the camera - they weren't at all impressed with that!!

For lunch that day we had the rolls that we bought at the local baker along with some cheese bought at the supermarket.  There's no problem in taking the hotel supplies out of the room fridges and replacing it with your own.

Later in the day on going back to our rooms at the end of the day, we were surprised by one of the staff that we know - he arrived at our rooms with teak/coffee making facilities and also some fresh fruit and small delicious cakes!!

The cakes were absolutely delicious!!  Yes, we did eat them before we went out for dinner that night!!  Well, it would have been rude not to!!

We then walked off our little appetisers on the way to Puddleduck - we had made sure of booking a table as the restaurant had been busy the night before.  It was good to see that business was doing well given the smaller amount of tourists now visiting Luxor.  Four starters, four main courses (which included steaks), coffees and drinks cost 526LE, which is very reasonable for the delicious food that is served here.  On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at Caffe Moka and decided to give it a try the next day for lunch.  After that, there began the nightly ritual of a wee nightcap prior to bed using the duty free that we had brought with us!!

Arrival at the Winter Palace Pavilion

Time for breakfast again and wishing that Sofitel would send their chefs to the Hilton to see what breakfast should look like!!  It was soon time for a last look around before asking for taxis to be sent to pick us up.

Motor boat

Fishing in the morning mist

Reflections

Two taxis arrived at the doors to pick us up and we said our goodbyes to the staff.  Our taxis cost 30LE each, which was the same fare as the rickety old one we had been in the day before, but at least this time our taxis were new with air conditioning and again with hassle free drivers.  The traffic was horrendous again going through Luxor and on being dropped off at the front of the Winter Palace, we were once again pounced upon by caleche drivers and a paper seller.  We shrugged them all off with a 'La shukran' (no thank you) and made our way through the Old Winter Palace to the Pavilion rooms in the garden.  The porters took care of the luggage for us.

Once into our rooms it was great to get unpacked properly before making our way down the pool to establish or own 'Little Scotland' area!!  We soon discovered though that although the pool at the Hilton was heated, the pools here were not due to the shortage of gas supplies.  Other hotels are also apparently having the same problem.  Needless to say, the water was therefore pretty cold, so there was to be no swimming for me this time around!!  We had just about got settled down at the pool when two girls from a beauty salon nearby came around asking if my friend and I would like a pedicure for 150LE each, so we took her up on that and made our way to the shop.  I think the young girl who carried out the pedicure was just training, so we were her guinea pigs!! The pedicure wasn't too bad, but she was a bit rough with her foot files, so much so that we both almost hit the roof a couple of times, causing much hilarity!!  Then, she produced a long length of thread which I was intrigued about, then quickly realised that she was going to thread the small hairs on my big toes - OUCH!!  I had never had that done before!!  Anyway, she then proceeded to paint my nails and she drew floral patterns on both big toenails.  I must say that it all looked pretty good when she finished, but I did wonder how long it would all last!!  (I'll put you out of your misery - it did last the whole two weeks of my holiday, so I was pleasantly surprised).  If you have an aversion to feet, look away now!!

Painted toes

Prior to going out for dinner tonight, we went up to the Royal Bar in the Old Winter Palace for a drink, then we made our way to the back door to walk down Medina Street towards the restaurants of the 'Little Britain' area.  This is where the chaos starts, and you realise that you're leaving the little oasis that is the Winter Palace and entering the heart of Luxor!!  I love it!!  However, the biggest threat to life and limb at the moment on the streets of Luxor are the motor bikes that the young lads whiz about on at breakneck speed.  You really need to have your wits about you and you need to take care.  There are also many power cuts in the town - deliberately cut by the power company to conserve power.  You'll see different areas in darkness each night.  Each cut lasts around 30 to 45 minutes, but walking around dark streets with traffic and animals all around could be a bit daunting - luckily we had torches with us and I'd advise any visitors to pack one in their case to use while in Luxor.

We walked along to Puddleduck but it was full when we arrived, so we went along to Dean's Bistro and had our meal there.  Deans is a very small restaurant, but there's a nice menu and it's very reasonably priced.  We had four soups, a fish dish, three chicken dishes and three desserts plus drinks for 448LE.

On our walk back to the hotel we popped into Omars supermarket to stock up on soft drinks and water, and we also stopped off at the local bakers for some rolls which we intended to have for our lunch the next day.

We noticed a new cafe right next to the back door of the hotel - Caffe Moka.  This cafe had been there in 2011 on our last visit, but it's now under new management and has been revamped and looked pretty good.  We stopped off for coffee and I hooked up with the free wi-fi on offer.  You do get wi-fi at the pool and in public areas of the hotel, but it sometimes can be a bit hit and miss, so it was great to find this wee cafe so close where the wi-fi signal was good.

On getting back to our rooms we noticed two significant changes from our last visit - no turndown service and no fresh towels, so it seems that cuts are being made. 

Oh, and remember me saying that our dates hadn't been available for the Winter Palace Pavilion for the beginning of the holiday?  Well when someone we knew from hotel management asked us why we hadn't wanted to stay at the hotel for the whole of the holiday and when we told them about the conference, they told us that that had all fallen through and wasn't now taking place until later in April!!

Went to bed wondering what breakfast would be like in the morning!!

Last post from the Hilton

It's a pleasure to get up and have breakfast here!!  The breakfasts are just first class, top notch, five star - however you wish to describe them!!  The Hilton breakfast was always very special, but now that the hotel has been totally revamped, breakfasts have only just got better!!

We had a lazy morning at the pool with me wandering around taking photos as usual.  I was in my element here as there's quite a variety of bird life.

Kingfisher

Nile sunbird

Kingfisher

At lunchtime we took the courtesy bus into town and the driver very kindly dropped us off at the Winter Palace Hotel.  This is where we got our first taste of the hassle outside!!  However, we just let last wash over us and we went to the reception for the Winter Palace Pavilion and confirmed our arrival there the next day.  We were allocated rooms 3010 and 3011 which I think are rooms that we've occupied in the past!  We had lunch at the pool restaurant then we nipped out the back door of the hotel where we picked up a taxi back to the Hilton.  There were two taxis standing side by side, one old and rickety with its bonnet open and one very nice shiny new one with air conditioning.  Guess what one we got?  I think you'll guess when I tell you that to get air conditioning, we had to open a window!!  Anyway, the driver was pretty good - he had to be as the traffic was horrendous, but we got through it all safely and back to the Hilton without hassle from the driver which was a refreshing change! The cost of the taxi was 30LE which appeared to be the going rate according to other people that we'd asked.  Perhaps it was too expensive, but we were happy and the driver didn't try to rip us off for more and didn't hassle us for more business, and it perhaps gave him the only fare he got for that day!!  On alighting back at the hotel, it was time for more relaxation and more photo taking!!  The views of the sunsets from here are just stunning!!

Egret looking for his supper

We tried the buffet at the hotel tonight - another great choice, especially in the desserts section!!  The staff and management here certainly know how to look after their guests.  I'd love to come back and stay here for a longer time - three nights was just not long enough!!  It was soon time to get the final packing done as we were gearing up to leave the next morning for our next hotel where we could unpack properly rather than be living out of a suitcase as we had been doing for the past three nights.

A last look at the view

The first BIG birthday!!

I had a great sleep and woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead to celebrate our friend's 70th birthday.  I had packed banners and decorations so he woke to find a birthday banner on his hotel door!  I took some down to breakfast as well where we met some of the staff that have been there for years. They made a great fuss of us and, on realising that it was our friend's birthday, a special pancake was made and all the staff came out an sang happy birthday.  What a great start to the day!!

However, as we were just popping out of the hotel to see one of the local shopkeepers that we know, my phone started buzzing at me and, when I looked to see why, I soon found out that there had been a tragic accident involving a hot air balloon that very morning.  This is a photo that I took that very morning from the hotel balcony, and I post it here in memory of all the poor souls that perished that morning.

I quickly sent messages back home to reassure people that we were all well and not involved.  As it happened, we had a felucca trip with canapes planned for later in the day rather than a balloon flight for our friend's birthday.

We eventually made it up to the jeweller's shop where we met Yousef and gave him the tea towels that he loves to get when we visit!  We bought some items as well, so he was a very happy bunny that day!!  The rest of the day was spent lounging at the hotel and exploring the grounds and generally just chilling out.  This holiday wasn't going to be hectic at all with no visits planned anywhere.

Around 3 p.m. or so, we all boarded the felucca arranged by the hotel for the sunset canape sail.  The hotel also supplied a birthday cake.

The birthday cake

The canapes

We had a wonderful leisurely sail on the Nile for the next few hours, just gently bobbing along watching the wildlife and waiting for the sun to go down.  It was all so laid back that all of us nearly fell asleep!!

Palm trees line the river

Passing Karnak Temple

Felucca captain

Sun behind rushes on river bank

After getting back to the hotel it was time for more relaxation before getting ready for dinner.  On our friends getting back to their room, this towel sculpture in the form of a cake was waiting for them, along with the decoration on the bed.

We chose to eat outside tonight again under the stars with the Theban Hills as the backdrop once more.  It's a view that you just don't tire of!!

Fillet steak with pepper sauce

I just fancied a pizza!!

 And just a couple more photos before bed!

Reflections

Quiet corner

And so to bed!!