Arabian Adventure
By Trish Champion

Ahlan min Misr! (Greetings from Egypt!)

So how was your holiday? I've just come back from Egypt, the home of the dance we all love, and I've had a simply fantastic time. I've been to Luxor several times, but never had the chance to take in some dance lessons as well. Hot weather, lovely people, nice food, dance lessons, and the chance to buy some gorgeous clothes. What more could a girl need? (answers on a postcard, usual address).
I love Luxor,  its completely mad; hot, dusty, filled with friendly locals and bewildered tourists, battered blue and white taxis, ancient horse carriages, enormous modern tour buses, tiny crumbling minibuses, optional traffic rules, policemen with guns they never use, awe inspiring temples, neon trimmed mosques, teeny tiny shops, tea from glasses, souvenirs ranging from the completely tacky to the strangely classy, tiny children in oversized school uniforms and gigantic backpacks, effortlessly elegant women of all ages; I could go on, but I won't.
We stayed at a small hotel on one of the main roads through town, very close to the town centre, most of the things we needed to do were within walking distance, or a fairly short and cheap taxi ride. The itinerary was simple, tourist stuff in the mornings, lazing by the pool in the afternoon, dance lesson once the sun had gone down, then a nice meal in a local restaurant.

Penny arranged an experienced and knowledgeable guide, Tariq, to take us round Luxor and Karnak temples, and over to the West Bank for the Valley of the Kings. He also came with us when we raided the souk and helped us haggle some really good prices. A good chap to go shopping with!

The dance sessions were great, a marvellous opportunity to see a variety of different styles, compare them with how we are dancing at home, a chance to see Egyptian women dancing, and to pick up some tips. The first night we had Kharriya Mazzin, the last of the Ghawazee dancers, who came to show us her simple earthy style. This was great and I really enjoyed seeing her dance and copying what she was doing.
We had sessions with two ladies who dance professionally in town, Fatima and Nazreen. Both their styles were different from each other, and I think we all learned something from each. It just goes to show that there is no truly "wrong" or "right", just different ways of performing the moves. We had the opportunity of dancing with a young girl who dances at weddings and a housewife who just dances in the flat! The same moves we all know, but so tight and controlled and connected, and just basically having fun!

The evenings out in town were an experience. We ate at a variety of restaurants ranging from a "koshary" cafe, a bit like a truckstop but with pasta, all the way up to a European style restaurant, Snobs, whose chef used to cook for King Farouk. The food everywhere was good, albeit different to what we are used to at home. The best night of all was Snobs. When the meal was over, and the other diners had left, they locked the doors, and the kitchen staff all came out to drum for us. I've never danced to live drummers before so it was an experience and a half for me! It was so much fun, we all took turns to dance including some of the kitchen staff, while the 2 drummers did their thing and the kitchen guys clapped and sang. We really didn't want to go but we were so tired! We popped back on the last day for a drink before we left, and the day staff wanted us to dance cos they'd missed it! Chef had been videoing the whole thing on his mobile, and a couple of the girls had video cameras, so I expect something will pop up on youtube in the fullness of time.

Another good night was the Egyptian evening at the St Joseph hotel just down the road. Stick dancers, Snake charmer, Whirling Dervish and a lovely dancer who got us up to dance with her. Afterwards we crossed the road to the best hotel in town and caught the end of their dance show, so we joined in when they asked for volunteers. Try and stop us.

Mind you, the truly best night of all was the last one. Some people had taken a trip to Cairo the day before, and brought back some stock for Penny's shop. When the case was opened, my dress was on the top. Its sooooo lovely I can't tell you. I shall be wearing it at the BellyBabes hafla on 23rd November, so come along and check out a frock that makes me feel a million dollars. Once we'd finished buying all Penny's stock, we trooped up the road to the Tuthotel for our hafla and disco. We had a fantastic night. It was great to see our new friends performing their own dances with a new flair, showing off their new clothes and we just didn't want the night to end.

I had a truly lovely time and I highly recommend taking this trip. Yes, there were occasions when things fell apart slightly, but that is such an Eqyptian thing it really didn't matter. The object of the whole thing was to have fun, and I did just that.