The walls are solid and will stand your drill. I brought my own Black and Decker and drill bits. The ones here are Ok but they do not seem to last a long time.

Everything else for decorating you can get. Paint, fabric etc. What I did find hard was locating a paint tray for a roller. The rollers were not a problem. They tray was. As they are light, stick a couple in your case. Paint brushes in Luxor seem to come only in a couple of sizes, so stick a few of those in too.

I wish someone had recommended to me that I brought out a wire detector. Every time I drill a hole I expect to get blown up.

You do not need to worry about adaptors Natashah. (Unless it is the big AC/DC converter type). You just cut off the plugs and put 2 pin plugs on them. They only cost 1 LE each. The round European type two pin ones even have a slot for the earth wire. However, nothing in Egypt is earthed.

Chandelliers etc should be bought in Cairo and sent down on the train. There are some to be found in a shop in Medina Street and again in the 'posh' shop near the big Church, but they are expensive compared with those bought near El Geish Street (spelling?) in Cairo. As El Geish street is not far from the Khan el Khallili you get to look around there too.

Even if you are flying into Luxor, it will be worth your while to go up to Cairo for a few days shopping. The train fare is cheap and you will more than recoup it in what you save. There is a wonderful Carrefour there too. Bliss - I bought five kilos of cheddar cheese (cheaper than in England) to stuff in the freezer.

For general household stuff, there are two fixed price 'government' shops in Luxor that have just about everything you could need at a much lower cost than elsewhere.

For aircon, fridges, washing machines, etc., - a new shop has opened near the station (fixed price again) across the road from the BTEC shop and it is much cheaper and seems to stock just about everything.

It took me ages to get used to the wierd combinations of goods that shops sell here. Shops that sell lamps do not sell the light bulbs that go in them. (that is another man's business) - you get bulbs from electical shops. (Except for the big shop near the church that is). Fabric shops do not sell dressmakers pins - they come from a stationery shop. Bike oil does not come from the bike shop - it comes from the garage. And so on. Crazy but it makes shopping an interesting learning experience.

Talking of pins etc., good quality sewing needles are not easy to find either. Like the knives, the ones here bend.

I want to live amongst the locals and that is our plan because I have to get used to real life in Luxor....since Im not returning to SA for a verrrrrry looong time,unless its an emergency!Sooooo what what about the stoves are they safe???

To be honest I hate using the oven I have to stand over it to make sure it stays alight as it has a habit of going out by itself and it scares the hell out of me. My grill is just the same.

BANKS...what about the banks????...I need to know which one would be the best to open an account with in Luxor of course!Also how accesible are they in terms of ATMS in Luxor and International basis?????

Also i try to keep this topic alive ...so to get as much info as possible!

...just trying to stay alive baby...just trying to stay alive!