Well! What an eventful day!
I had a chat to a couple of people in our group this morning about my shopping experience with the ship’s gift shop. Matt and Leslie, both experienced buyers of gold, suggested I ask for a refund if I wasn’t sure, and that it sounded like I probably had paid too much. So I went down to the shop and asked if they could weigh the things I had bought. The man feigned ignorance, as if he didn’t understand the language well enough to know what I was talking about. But I said I’d seen him use some scales under the counter the day before. He grumpily weighed the items, and when I asked to see it, I could see he was pushing down the top of the scales with a toilet roll balanced alongside. So then he began a long story about how it wasn’t the weight that gave it value, but the fact that it was handmade. Yes, they could refund the money but really I had made a very good deal and I should see it through. The boss of the shop then showed me a video on his phone of someone apparently working on some small thing. The problem was, I’ve been having trouble with my vision the last few days, and I couldn’t see the video clearly. So I said I’d bring down my friends who knew about gold so he could explain it to them.
After lunch, both Matt and Leslie joined me in the shop, which was very kind. Who wants to get involved in such a tawdry business? Now the assistant said the problem was that all the banking from yesterday had already happened and it would be very difficult to get my money back. It turns out Matt had bought some gold at the shop as well, which made me think that maybe everything was above board after all. The kicker was, the shop keeper offered me another small gold pendant as a good will gesture. My friends assured me that I was well within my rights to demand a refund, but by now I could see unpleasantness ahead, dragging on over the rest of the cruise, so I caved in and said I’d go ahead with the purchase after all.
It was only later in the afternoon, as we headed off for our posh high tea at the famous Cataract Hotel of Aswan – featured in Agatha Christie’s ‘Death On The Nile’ (which I am currently reading) – that Matt came to give me more information. Apparently after our confrontation after lunch, the shop men had offered him a bribe to convince me to go ahead with the sale. He thought I should escalate things further up the chain of command on the ship. But by then, I wasn’t feeling well, and I’d already agreed to go ahead with the purchase and didn’t want any grief. At worst I had overpaid, which I could chalk down to experience.
We had been told the afternoon tea was a dress up occasion, so I took the opportunity to put on some make up, high heels, and a nice frock, bringing along a scarf in case the air conditioning was too high. I was feeling a little dizzy and sick, but I figured the temperature was only going to drop, so I took some antiemetics and got on the bus.
The hotel is certainly lovely, with old world charm. They walked us through the lobby, and then out into the garden where our high tea had been set up. My heart sank. Someone from our group said they’d seen that Aswan had the highest temperature in the world today, at 45 degrees. The view was absolutely drop dead gorgeous though, across the Nile where feluccas were sailing, with the Aga Kahn’s residence in the distance. I drank some iced tea, and ate some of the delicacies on offer, which looked fabulous, although the sandwiches were toasting in the heat and the chocolate icing was melting.
That was when my head started to spin, and I could tell bad things were about to happen – some embarrassing combination of fainting, vomiting, or having a seizure. I grabbed Simon’s arm and made him walk me to where the bathrooms were inside. Oh the blessed cool! I had to sit on the floor but didn’t perk up as quickly as I thought I would. That was when Simon suggested I lick some salt. I’d drunk a litre of water before leaving the ship, hadn’t wanted much lunch, and drunk the ice tea quickly, on top of sweating an enormous amount of salt and water that was just evaporating in the dry heat, so it was likely my sodium was low, ie my electrolytes were out of wack. That was when the penny dropped as to why I’d been feeling woozy and sick the last few days. The anti inflammatory I’d taken for my sore ear hadn’t helped.
Our tour guide came to our aid, bringing a bucket of ice and a damp cloth, and ordering a golf buggy to take us back to our bus. The afternoon tea was finished by now and the rest of our group soon joined us, being very kind and helpful, carrying my bag, and offering electrolyte drinks. We then drove back to the ship and I’m writing this in bed, having had room service for dinner and feeling chirpier than I have in days. Tomorrow is predicted to hit 45 again so I’m flagging the busy day of touring for some peaceful R and R.
Interestingly I’d noted my blurry vision the last few days but I remember now that earlier today, when I was looking at the scenery as we sailed by, i couldn’t figure out why my prescription sunglasses were making no difference to how well I could see. I wonder if the lenses in my eyes were swollen? We shall see if my vision clears up over the next few hours. It’s very annoying not to be able to see my iPad screen as I write this. Hopefully Chris T will be able to critique this theory the next time he catches up with my blog. I suppose the dismal truth will be presbyopia has finally caught up with me and I’ll need reading glasses from now on.