Insights into Egyptian culture, daily life, modern realities, and common misconceptions, helping travelers understand Egypt beyond the monuments.
This is part II of a two part story – you will find part I here Four – The Blood She came across Scota the way you come across the things that matter – sideways, not looking, in the middle of researching something else entirely. A footnote. A name in a medieval Irish manuscript that…
One – The Door They come in the morning, before the heat becomes a physical argument with the body. She watches them arrive from where she stands near the entrance – the slight disorientation they all have, that particular jet-lagged bewilderment of people who have stepped out of one reality and not yet fully entered…
Funny (but true) tale of a foreigner’s chaotic hunt for furniture in Cairo—featuring a treasured Golden Pages and confused taxi driver!
Are you a player or a spectator in the game of life? Be a player and join Mara as she travels through Egypt in 2024!
My first trip to the Egyptian Pyramids was a complete waste of time and money. The first time I came to Egypt (2000) was on a 7-night group cruise on the Nile with a lovely bunch of people. I had no intention of going to Cairo or seeing the Pyramids. I was on a tight…
Looking back on how Egypt captivated me on my first visit – I found myself “home”. From starting a club to adventuring from Ireland to Egypt, many moons ago – a personal story.
Where I left the story of our street – it was supposed to be tarmacadamed by Aug 2020 at the latest…. On the morning of the 7th April our street finally woke up to the early morning sound of front loaders and earth movers! Follow are the precious videos of the end of our 5…
Luxor was dug up in 2017 to install natural gas in all the homes – great! However, 3 years later our street is one of the last streets in Luxor still waiting for tarmacadam. This is the story of the shocking mess we were left with, and how Amr and our guys repaired the damage…
The Prime Minister at a press conference in the council of ministers decides: Starting tomorrow Wednesday. (this is a google translation so I don’t understand some of it) Ban the movement of citizens all over the republic or move on all roads from 7pm to 6am for two weeks All public and private mass transport…
update on coronavirus in Egypt
Get ready to pedal through my first Luxor cycling adventure – fear, coordination quirks, and all. Let’s chat about conquering challenges, how society shapes us, and finding our brave side. Plus, I’ll spill the beans on how Egypt’s handling COVID-19.
Maybe when I’m dead, some people will say I was an entrepreneur. What’s that? Dictionary definition: “a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.” Yes, I been trying to do that since about the age of 21. I never succeeded until Mara House, but I…
Following up on my TripAdvisor saga. Just another example to illustrate how they don’t appear to either read/comprehend what they are doing regarding reviews nor have an internal owner account filing system to track what they do to us. This is the latest email from them entitled – Your Review Dispute and below it you…
The purpose of this post is to record these events and facts to do with our ranking on TripAdvisor. I try to be a positive person, always looking for the silver lining behind the cloud and encouraging everyone else to do the same. This is going to be a rambling post so you might like…
My heading might not be 100% appropriate but it’s the best I can come up with just now. I am taking a few days off in a 4 star hotel in the USA. I’m not going to name the hotel because really the staff here are doing the best they can. But to be honest,…
Safety of visiting Egypt through the lens of recent history, impact of media on tourism, explore a compelling perspective on Egypt’s safety for travelers.
Experience freedom in Luxor, Egypt—my philosophy on life, happiness, and living without fear
This is a photo of me at Mara House with two lovely guests in 2010 – see how tired I looked? Well that was a lovely tiredness because it came from long hours at the computer 7 days a week, answering emails, taking bookings for Mara House and our Salahadeen Restaurant – and mostly refusing…
Foreign media, Egyptian Media, Travel Agents, Tour Companies not to mention some of the frequent visitors to Egypt – many seem to be up in arms over the new law that comes into effect on 15 May 2015. The law says a visitor to Egypt has to get their entry visa from the Egyptian Embassy…
Not having slept on the plane I expected to fall into bed and go unconscious on arrival at my hotel around 3am. Not a hope – spent most of the night talking with my travelling companion and feeling more awake and excited than sleepy. As to be expected I was not really in the mood…