A visit to Luxor this afternoon, again in Josef's car (#411). The good news, the maximum cash withdrawal at the Emirates ATM is now LE8,000 (it had been seriously reduced from 6,000 18 months ago down to 3,000 in April 2018 so I was using a local West Bank ATM with a 3,000 limit in the Spring.
At Hamees the price of a Stella has increased to LE40. And at their "bank" I was offered an exchange rate of 23.00 LE to the £, increasing only to 23.20 after a haggle, so I declined.
Instead I visited "Bruxelles Exchange", a fairly smart looking Bureau de Change near the railway station where they offered 23.46. This being good enough for me, I exchanged some Sterling. The clerk tried to cheat me out of LE200 but I double checked the cash and the receipt and the 200 was reluctantly handed over. We will probably not use his services again as Tayeb, like me, does not like being cheated.
Then to Drinkies, the Government Off-Licence next to the Railway station, where I purchased a couple of cartons of "water". Prices are 5% higher than in April: I was expecting worse news.
Next to the Vodafone shop on Television Street. I had been advised that it was now necessary to show ones current visa when topping up ones phone, but this was not true. So now I have enough credit to run my own private wi-fi hotspot and can get on-line. And one still gets the same amount of credit (70%) for one's cash as last year. Only about a 5 minute wait, and they accept plastic.
Then on to my favourite East Bank restaurant, Kam Thai. One table was occupied (only the second time in 2 years that I had seen another diner) but the 2nd table was available. I had #3, #29 and small bottle of water and still had some for a tip out of a LE100 note.
Fayrouz was very quiet when I called in for a Stella in the evening.