Feluccas on the Nile

This week has been another busy week, but a fun one!
During the past week, I and my regular Egyptology guide have become more than a familiar sight at various temples and tombs, but I missed out on sailing as I got double booked and had to do Karnak Temple instead of sailing the Nile!  What a choice to make....... both are experiences I love, but needs must and one set of guests happily sailed on Felucca Spirit without me, and the other guests spent a happy afternoon in Karnak and Luxor temples.
Of course, I was pretty happy too!

So because I had to miss out on sailing, I had a nosey around my pictures and found a small video I made some time ago and I would like to share it with you now.

Tones of Creation

Coming soon!

Tones of Creation

Initiation:  Journey upon the River Nile

A brand new project for me in collaboration with Jonathan Orchard, yoga and all things spiritual!  Music and singing combined with yoga and spirituality.  Add to that a private dahabiya, the River Nile, Ancient Egypt's temples and tombs and you have the journey of a lifetime!

Jonathan is "The Voice of Yoga"   Jonathan's website

Watch this space for details of the most amazing Nile cruise ever!!

Yet another great travel report!

Yet another great travel report from the UK's Independent newspaper!

Alone on the Nile

At last there are some very positive reports coming through. Great to see!  

A Gloop of cement!

As some of you may know, the building I am living in is undergoing a little building work!

This work started early in December last year and is still ongoing. I am beginning to feel beseiged!

They started on the roof where there is already a small studio apartment, and they decided to build a second studio apartment and divide the large roof terrace into two.

At the same time, the privately owned flat next door to me was scheduled to undergo renovation. This actually meant knocking down all of the internal and external walls, and completely starting from scratch. The only thing virtually left standing was the cement and steel supports.

Within a few days, the family who live directly in front of me started to build a new home, the unfinished building at the side of me decided it wanted finishing,  and the camels kicked up such a fuss they never shut up!

My gloop of cement

Today, some 2 months down the line, the roof now has 2 unfinished, but still being worked on, one bedroom apartments, there is a domed studio being built on top of those........   the flat next door is still little more than a shell (with the odd hole where they actually knocked through our joining wall).......   the building in front of me is now a 3 floor apartment block (unfinished) and they are still working on the building at the side of me.

Everyday, the banging starts at around 7.30am until after sunset, it reverberates around me from all angles. My adjoining wall to the flat next door is shaking and rattling on a daily basis, and why is it when they hook up the big electric winch to haul the bricks and cement up to the higher floors, they insist on doing it at 7am outside my bedroom window!

The landings and stairways are constantly covered in dust and concrete, my floors need washing EVERY day! And I have given up trying to keep the balcony clean!

 But despite all the noise, banging, dust and grime, I can still look at the River Nile and Luxor Temple from my balcony. A minute's walk brings me to this amazing river and even though it is driving me crazy at the moment, I can sit it out and wait for my peace to return......   Inshallah!  And just to remind you, this is a great picture of sunrise one day last week as I waited outside Luxor temple for my ride to pick me up!  Wonderful morning!

And just for good measure, this is my new, young gamoosa (water buffalo) who lives under my balcony and who smiles at me every morning to say good morning. She is gorgeous and has one brown eye and one blue eye!

Can I live with the noise? Yes I can, when I have all this on my doorstep!

Travel review: Egypt - the wonder of history - Travel Reviews - Yorkshire Evening Post

Nice little travel review from the Yorkshire Evening Post!

Travel review: Egypt - the wonder of history - Travel Reviews - Yorkshire Evening Post

Looking back at 2011

What an interesting year!

2011 has seen some major changes in the world, we have seen revolutions, natural disasters, royal weddings, financial upheaval, and a few miracles along the way.

For me personally it has been a challenging year in many ways. We began the year on a high...... business was good and we had the promise of a great season....... then we had January 25th and the Egyptian Revolution. I am proud to say I was here throughout this incredible change.  Yes, I was caught up in a small teargas incident, but nothing major happened here in my adopted town. I celebrated with my egyptian friends, I was glued to anything and everything on television, I spent hours talking, debating and explaining my own personal views. I even found a copy of the Egyptian Constitution and read it end to end.  On a personal level, yes, I suffered financially, but Egypt is more than one persons finances. I can only hope that 2012 will bring Egypt all that it so desperately needs.

2011 has seen a house move for me....with all its trials and tribulations including disappearing flying carpets, but it also brought a view of the River Nile from my balcony instead of a concrete building across the street. People moved in and out of my life, sometimes not in a good way, but sometimes in a marvellous way.  Almost like the move over the River Nile moved my life in an entirely opposite direction.

I have met some wonderful people during this year....... many guests who are now friends and many others who have come into my life and left again, but leaving behind them lots of warm feelings and happiness. Some older friendships have been renewed or become closer, others sadly have gone.

I spent time on 11.11.11 inside Luxor Temple with some great people. I started a group for Reiki and sharing our knowledge (although we do need to get back on track with that now that Christmas and New Year are over lol) and on a spiritual level, some fascinating people have dropped into my life. I hope they stay.

The felucca has been busy, well as much as she can be during a revolution and we have spent many happy hours sailing with guests or with friends. The drop in tourism has affected us, obviously, but we are all confident it will return to normal. But is it a case of quality over quantity? We have certainly had quality this year!

A year of contrasts, a year of excitement, a year of sadness at times, but always a year of learning to live my life as it is meant to be lived.

2011 has been interesting to say the least, now lets see what 2012 has to bring!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Very Happy, Prosperous and Joyful 2012 from myself, Saeed and all the team at Spirit of the Nile!

Happy New Year!!!!

Egypt Unveiled Photography

I have written before about Egypt Unveiled Photography...... great photographs by a friend of mine.

Helen Bailey lives here in Luxor, Egypt  (she is not related to David Bailey!) and I personally love her work.

She has now got herself online with a Flickr account

Flickr Egypt Unveiled

and a Blipfoto account

Blipfoto Egypt Unveiled

When you have a few minutes, check out her photographs, visions of my adopted home!  Enjoy

Hotel recommendation

Following my previous blog about self catering accommodation, I thought I would share a few more of my recommendations for somewhere great to stay.

This blog is about a small hotel on the West Bank of Luxor, the El Mesala.  Run by an Egyptian family, it has the perfect location, right on the banks of the River Nile with direct views of Luxor Temple on the East Bank.

Sit on your balcony and watch the river traffic as it wends it way up or down river while gazing at one of the most impressive monuments of Ancient Egypt.




Hotel El Mesala is currently adding 6 additional rooms, making the total number of rooms at 18. All have individual air conditioning, refrigerator and television.  The rooms are simple, but spotlessly clean.

A new rooftop restaurant is also currently being created and I do have to say the views from the roof are absolutely amazing, virtually the whole of Luxor lies in front of you!  And within the next couple of months there will be a brand new swimming pool for your enjoyment.

They currently have a small restaurant at the front of the building, with excellent egyptian and international food at great prices, and their onion bahjis are simply to die for! They even have a small selection of Indian dishes on the menu.

Give it a try if you are looking for somewhere smaller and more intimate than the large East Bank hotels, a hotel that is just a few minutes walk from the local ferry is a perfect place to combine peace and solitude with all the life that the East Bank has to offer.

Contact us at Spirit of the Nile if you want more information, alternatively check out the website Hotel El Mesala  but please mention Spirit of the Nile in your enquiry.

More small hotels and apartment rentals to come soon....... all personally known to me and highly recommended.

11.11.11 in Luxor Temple

Our day in Luxor Temple began around 9am in the morning. West Bank rendevouz for just 4 of us, the rest to meet us outside the Temple entrance.
We had already been told that it would not be possible to join with the Diana Cooper School for their meditation, so I had been busy preparing a couple of hours of meditations and everyone was planning on bringing something with them to share with the others.



2 of the West Bankers had overslept, so it was just 2 of us who caught the ferry across the River Nile. The other 2 were following as quickly as possible.  I had 2 guests here on spiritual tours and they were joining us as well.
We finally made it to the temple, my 2 guests were already inside having a look around, 2 had overslept and 1 was in the bathroom in McDonalds! 2 more had already called to say they were running late lol.
So, it was something of a " ok........ so this will go where it will go" moment. Obviously, the best laid plans were about to go awry!

Off we went, tickets purchased, found my guests and we made our way to the very back of the temple. Many of the guardians know me and were all asking if we wanted to pray..........a combination of my own good self, and the fact that the temple's Sun Court was very busy with the Diana Cooper group. There was also a large group from South Africa there too.... (saw them again on Sunday, when my guests were visiting the Sekhmet Chapel........ we had to wait until they had finished!).

By the time everyone had arrived it was after 10.30am...... so it all turned very relaxed although we did manage to do a little bit of meditation and a couple of readings.  Then it was 11am! We all got comfortable..... and I prepared to guide the meditation.
I do have to admit that I would have loved to have been listening to a guided meditation instead of guiding everyone else, but hey..... the end result is the same.
So we began..... and the temple was almost silent. A few tourists wandered in on us, but left fairly quickly.
There were 8 of us in total....... but just as we reached 11.11am....... 3 ladies eased their way in, sat down and joined with us. And now we were 11!  For myself, even though I was guiding the meditation, I still felt a wonderful sense of peace, and an angelic shower washed over me.

After the meditation we stood in a circle...... joined hands ready to chant an OHM...... when 2 egyptian ladies with 3 children came by.  The children joined us..... laughing and smiling, one of the guardians also joined us.... and we began our circle. We must have done our chant very loudly, as we heard nothing from anywhere else..... maybe we drowned them all out!

Although the day did not turn out as I had planned, in many ways, we were there! We were open and waiting at the moment the energy flowed down..... and we received it.

We ended the day in unity with a small group consisting of English, American, German and Egyptians and 3 lovely children who will be the future of my adopted home. I hope the love they received on Friday, will bring them bright futures and many blessings.

Love, light and blessings to you all.

And many thanks to Helen Bailey...... Egypt Unveiled Photography for her wonderful photographs!

Luxor Reiki

This evening we had our second meeting of the Luxor Reiki Group, although I do have to admit that we did not actually do any Reiki.

We were a small group, due to a few who were unable to attend, (sickness, dodgy dongles and other stuff), but we had a fun time playing with crystals and discussing the forthcoming 11.11.11 and 2012 scenarios!  Possibly a visit to Luxor temple on 11.11.11 to join in a large group meditation! We will see. I am sure we will be exactly where we should be..... the Universe will make sure of that.

Somehow we always manage to go over our allotted time, and we did it again tonight. But hopefully we all learned something.

I do have to say a very special "well done!" to one of our group. You know who you are!  She was doing a simple crystal balancing on one of the girls, and suddenly the healing started to flow.  She is not Reiki attuned, or attuned to any specific healing energies........ but she sure as heck healed!!

Thank you to all who came and here is a reminder of the gorgeous setting we had for our spiritual evening.  Mountains of the West Bank to our right..... the River Nile to the left and the most beautiful sunset and new moon in front of us!

2012

2012 is almost upon us, with its Mayan prophecies of the "end of the world".
Next month is a unique opportunity when worlds begin to converge. 11.11.11 is the start of big changes according to many.
What does this all mean?  I have no answers, but many believe they do.
On a spiritual level it is claimed that 11.11.11 is the beginning of true spiritual enlightenment.
All over the world there are mass meditations being held to tap into the new consciousness that is there for us.
Here in Luxor, the Diana Cooper School is holding a meditation in Luxor Temple. In Giza others are planning a mass meditation at the Pyramids. In Sedona in the States, Mexico, Peru........ all the ancient places of ancient civilisations....  People are coming together to bring light to the world.
We are all aware, (from our own daily lives, the news we read and watch on tv, the general feelings of materialism and often despair) that things need to change. We need to find our way back to loving life itself and not worry about material things.
For me, I have learned to live without many of the things I considered necessary for a happy life. As you know, tourism in Egypt has suffered during 2011 and that includes myself. Money flow dried up...... but have I starved?  No! Do I still have a comfortable roof over my head? Yes! Am I just as in love with this country as before? Yes!
Later today, I am going on a long walk...... along the banks of the River Nile and around through the villages. I will count my blessings that all this is for free, given to me by "The One", whoever that "One" may be.

2012? 11.11.11? What do they mean? Will my life change? Can I be ready and prepared to accept whatever they bring?

I regularly receive emails from the TUT Adventurers Club, operated by Mike Dooley.  He has just released a new dvd about 2012. These are a few of his words about 2012

"Before us lies the most exciting time in recorded history. As a species we’re about to cross a threshold that’s never been crossed before – from darkness into light. Being here, now, was of our own choosing – the adventure called to you, the challenges tempted you, and the possibilities left you utterly breathless – for what might happen and for what might not happen; for the heartbreaking and for the paradise making. 

The future is ours to shape, though there’s been plenty of reason to anticipate the worst in terms of global upheaval and chaos. Recently, however, there are unmistakable signs that due to a shifting of consciousness, the potential for calamity has been lessened. More and more people are asking the hard questions and discovering they have clear and simple answers—answers that reveal their power, their divinity, and ultimately, their responsibilities. In the coming months and years, it will be those who understand what’s really happening and who respond swiftly to the changing times, that will be richly rewarded as they learn how to deliberately engage life’s magic, live lives of love, and revel in their role as natural born creators.

You are powerful, it is time –"

Do they resonate with you? 


The dvd is for sale and I am sure that it will be excellent. There is a link on the right hand side of your screen.

Avenue of Sphinxes to open in October 2011

The Avenue of Sphinxes is to open to the public in October 2011 and visitors will be able to walk the 2700 metre length of it.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/9/40/15168/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Avenue-of-Sphinxes-back-to-its-ancient-appearance.aspx

Actually, having seen it in the last few days, I have no idea where they think it is anything like its ancient appearance. Certainly the area close to the Luxor Temple end is nothing more than a huge hole in the ground. Its going to take a lot of work for it to come even close to its "ancient appearance". Maybe a few more bulldozers and some concrete slabs?  Or maybe I should head over there and give it a bit of Reiki to help it on its way!

Watch this space.

Solstice in Luxor, Egypt

During the last week, I have had the great pleasure of completing the Reiki Master training of a friend of mine, here in sunny Luxor, Egypt.  More of that later.

Our week started auspiciously, with the full moon lunar eclipse on the evening of her arrival. We watched the whole thing, from start to finish from the balcony and it was absolutely magical. I am sorry I have no photographs, but my camera is not good enough to capture such a special moment. However, to sit and watch as the moon rose over Luxor Temple across the River Nile from my home was amazing!

My friend's last full day here was also auspicious.  It was the Summer Solstice.  Normally in the UK, this is celebrated at Stonehenge when many, many people make the journey south to witness the rise of the sun over the ancient monument.

In Luxor we have many ancient monuments where we can watch the sun rise.

4.30am waiting for our boat

My friend and I chose to watch from the River Nile with a good view of Luxor Temple.

4am saw 2 very bleary eyed ladies, sloshing tea in an attempt to wake up before heading out to board our small motor boat at 4.30am.

The sky was already starting to lighten as we boarded the boat and we puttered off southwards upriver towards a quiet area away from the buildings.  We sat comfortably on the roof of the boat as we found a quiet spot to moor up. The birds were singing, the ducks were heading for the river and the sky was lightening by the minute.

A welcome cup of tea in hand, cushions to sit on, fresh air to breathe......... we waited.

Then at last, a red light behind some trees, becoming bigger and bigger by the second.                                        

The sun rose spectacularly just to the side of Luxor Temple before shining its Solstice light directly onto the temple.  I have not seen such a red sunrise as this one before. A truly magical moment to bring in the Solstice.
Who needs Stonehenge??

To our left, the mountains of the West Bank slowly lit up, the rays of the sun highlighting the Qurn overlooking the Valley of the Kings.

And we sat, happy, comfortable and peaceful as we drank in this amazing sight.

The tourists on the balloons were treated to a spectacular flight, how lucky were they?

I am so lucky to be living here, I count my blessings every day. Even when things are not going as I want, when plans are disrupted, when life in general gets me down......  this land, this river, this magic is all I need.

Tuesday, Summer Solstice, was just such a day.  Magical.