For anybody remotely interested in Egyptology a trip to Egypt has to be on your bucket list. But a trip to Egypt with Horus is an experience altogether different from anything you will experience with Thomas Cook or any other travel company.
A big part of the Horus experience is the famous ,or should I say the ‘infamous’ 6 o’clock club’. Invitations are verbally issued around the poolside as to what room it will be held that night. Starting time 6 o’clock ….hence the name of the club. Bring your own drink(s) About 5.55 lifts in the Sonesta are stopping at the designated floor. Lost souls are to be seen wandering up and down drink(s) in hand looking for the chosen venue. Usually the sound of laughter is a good indication of the direction in which to walk. An early arrival is essential because good seating is limited. To get a good perch is vital.
The evening opens with John (our leader) recapping the day’s events and what the itinerary will be tomorrow After the formalities are over the social side takes over. There is a kind of hierarchy in the seating by the window. John (our leader) Alan (the poet laureate) Dr. Ganga (the magician) and Stan (the elder statesman) A seat is always reserved for Stan who as well as being an authority on Obelisks is also an authority on Parrot jokes!!! Any joke that has ever been written about a parrot is in Stan’s bible of parrot jokes. The same jokes are wheeled out year after year, but you always laugh, not because you feel you have too, it’s because they are still genuinely funny. Stan is such a lovely man.
Next to Stan usually sits Dr. Ganga ( the magician) One of the funniest things that happened at a 6 o’clock club was on the last night of the holiday. Dr. Ganga would do his party trick of elevating a volunteer sitting on a chair!!I ruled myself out of that one thinking IF the trick failed it would have been put down to my over indulgence of food and drink over the last fortnight. Maureen was coerced into being the magicians stooge. Being small and slim was a distinct advantage.
A chair was chosen. Maureen was elegantly seated awaiting the ‘great elevation’ Four other people placed an index finger on her head. We were all assured by the ‘Great Ganga’ himself that the key to success was silence and concentration, and as sure as eggs are eggs it would work. Maureen would rise, chair and all off the floor. This attempt went on for some considerable time without success. It turned into a scene reminiscent of the Glasgow Empire on a Saturday night. Perhaps the consumption of alcohol during the attempt played a part in the crowd becoming unsympathetic towards Ganga’s attempt to elevate Maureen and the chair.
Ganga was mystified. How could it have failed??? It had definitely worked in Skem. surgery. During the course of the evening meal that followed the dissection of Ganga’s technique, conditions, suitability of candidate to be elevated etc. was discussed at length .It was decided by an unanimous vote ‘it was the wrong chair’ It was wood. It was too heavy etc. If it had been another chair (or another magician) it would definitely have worked. That was the general consensus of opinion. So, Ganga’s reputation as a magician remained untarnished. It was not his fault. There are so many funny things that happened at the 6 o’clock club. It is lovely to remember them. I hope it carries on and that I will be there once more.
by Rosalind Richardson