Dwindling Mummy Population!

Egyptian Conservationists Fight To Protect Dwindling Mummy Population

CAIRO—The number of undead Egyptian princes roaming the desert has diminished from 12,000 in 1970 to just 300 today.

Sofia 2006

I wasn't in Luxor very long before I had an opportunity to travel to Sofia, Bulgaria for a library conference. Despite the fact that the conference was very intense, I was able to get out and about, both in and around Sofia and Plovdiv. This photomosaic represents some of the highlights of the trip. Viewing left to right and top to bottom they are:
1. Vitosha in the Morning, 2. Alexander Nevski Cathedral, 3. Alexander Nevski Cathedral (Detail), 4. St. Nikolai Russian Church (Detail), 5. Sofia Street Market: Icons, 6. Rainbow Door (Sofia), 7. Sofia Fountain, 8. St. Nikolai Russian Church (Detail), 9. Georgi Dimitrov Genchev, 10. Look Up!, 11. Lion of Bulgaria, 12. Luxor in Sofia, 13. Alafrangite Restaurant, 14. Archaeological Museum (Sofia), 15. Bachkovo Monastery, 16. Sofia Detail: Lion

Sophie and the Bastets

Sophie and the Bastets
Originally uploaded by Gibna Kebira.

Sophie is one of the three tiny kitties who came to live with us at CH (they were born in Cairo) last season. As you can see, he (yes, Sophie's a boy!) is no longer tiny! But he is truly a sweetheart of a cat :-} One morning I was snapping photos of him in the backlight of one of my bedroom windows when he assumed this pose. It's been a very popular photo among the cat lovers on Flickr!

Shopping Continued...

I mentioned the crowd in the tailor's shop in my last post and here's a picture I took from the doorway. Most shops in Luxor are "holes in the wall" like this one. No sense in paying rent for more space than you really need! The same day we went to the tailor's we also went to pick up yogurt and milk for CH. The Labanita brand seems to be competing with Vache Qui Rit/Laughing Cow in their marketing:

Scenes on a Luxor Street

Scenes on a Luxor Street
Originally uploaded by Gibna Kebira.

Shopping in Luxor is always an adventure. The day these photos were taken we were bringing fabric which one of us had purchased in Cairo to be made into curtains for her rooms at CH. As I waited outside for the confab to finish up (there were three people from CH--our driver, one of our artists and the person wanting the curtains--jammed into the tiny shop, in addition to the tailor! And they were joined by two Egyptian women who needed some work done, but were more than happy to observe the "hawagas" in action while waiting!!) I took these photos of some of the buildings across the street. There's an interesting mix of architectural styles in Luxor as you can see. Unfortunately for those of us who value examples of Egypt's more modern history, there is a concerted effort underway to tear down much of the lovely 18th and 19th century city and replace it with generic Egyptian 21st century construction.

Ramadan Sunset

Ramadan Sunset
Originally uploaded by Gibna Kebira.

Better late than never, right? This is one of the first photos I took in Egypt this season, from the roof of CH. Because it moves back 10 or 11 days every year, next season Ramadan will have ended by the time we arrive.