With tourism at an all time low, there is not much work around, but nobody seems to be bothered. I am invited to see how young locals spend the day.
It doesn’t begin until 11am which, like the rest of the country, breakfast time. Bread and tea prevail, although Fahmi’s mother brews me up some Turkish coffee. Fahmi’s house is in the old village, although his home has been revamped and boasts satellite TV, and Fahmi surfs the channels.
Our next stop is a visit to his best friend a few doors down. Mahan is 36 years old and is restoring an old house in order to gain a wife. He has an eye on Fahmi’s 24 year old sister as a possible partner. He takes me to his “Leisure” room which is in fact an old tomb in the back of the house. He and Fahmi settle themselves down in front of a bamboo bong for hashish smaoking and a large bottle of Araq, which is here a homemade brew made from dates and tastes like paint-stripper.
Cigarettes are opened into a small bowl,the tobacco crumbled and toasted on the stove – takes out the chemicals apparently. Copious amounts of hashish is crumbled and then stirred into the tobacco, and further scrunched together into a loving mix. The bamboo cone is packed and passed around, smoked in one quick hit.
Each bong smoked is followed by an arak chaser. People come and people go throughout the afternoon. So much for Islam and moderation, these guys are serious party-animals and even though i turn down the persuasions of the Araq and almost all “my turns” on the bong, the air is so thick with hashish fumes, i am almost paralysed.
the Drug Den/Mohan’s Tomb of Self-Abuse - check out the pipeFahmi collects E$10 from each person to throw together a veal stew – it’s delicious.
Fahmi’s Veal Stew
• Put in strips of veal fat in the bottom of a saucepan with just a lining of water to boil up the juices into an oil
• After 20 minutes add small cubes of lean veal and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes
• Add in two finally chopped onion, five fresh tomatos, one large green chilli pepper, several cloves of garlic
• Stew these together for a further hour under a low light
• Before serving up, add in large quantities of freshly squeezed lemon juice
Eaten with just bread and hands, it’s a quality meal.
After dining, the guys want to continue with their binge, but i have had more than enough, at least for the time being. I insist on doing a late photo-shoot around the old town, but promise to meet up with Fahmi at 8.30pm thinking we might head up to the hot springs. Nah – Fahmi just wants to carry on drinking and smoking and wants to hang out at the Mohan’s Tomb of Self-Abuse. At least it is warm – the temperature has dropped distinctly over the last few days. I stay for a polite time and then make my excuses. Is it any wonder that things move so slowly in the Oasis?
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