Nothing much has changed at al-Baeirat. It is still a sleepy place frequented mainly by Germans. The hotel comprises about 10 chalets built along a dirt track, and there is also a winter dining room. Near the river is a small, clean swimming pool. But the main feature for me is the large covered area with dickers, tables, electricity, Wi-Fi and occasional service. In one corner a couple of locals or staff are often watching football on the television, and there are frequently Egyptian families with young children.
Regular cola and other soft drinks come in 355ml cans but the low calorie equivalent was only in the smaller 250ml size. Today they were priced at EGP 10, so I was quite pleased at the small bill.
Somebody had died in the area so Tayeb was delayed as a large number of black-clothed ladies headed for the cemetery. But at least the tented area where they will mourn for 3 days was not built on the narrow road so that it was possible still to drive there.
The big news in the evening was that Sheherazade has finally replaced its wireless routers. The one in the hotel works quite well, but the one in the garden runs extremely slowly.