We walked down to the Nile from our hotel, where we found a traditional Egyptian Felucca. This was to be our new home for the next 2-3 days! The boat itself was basically made up of a broad deck, covered in a huge mattress, and a small wooden area for steering and moving the masts and sails. The mattress was our bedroom, dining room and living room! There were lots of comfy pillows, so we started to chill out and enjoy our mattress from the moment we got on board.
We sailed for most of the day, so we entertained ourselves by reading, listening to music and just watching the scenery go by. At lunchtime, the boat stopped, and we all jumped off for a swim while our food was being cooked. One of our drivers was also the cook, but despite this multi-tasking, the food was pretty good.
At the end of the day, we arrived at our destination, which was a camping spot along the banks of the Nile. We all got off the boat, and helped our guide, Wahid, to dig a hole for a toilet. We also had to pitch a tent around it, which consisted of four poles and a piece of cloth around four sides. The toilet was equipped with a toilet seat that sat over the hole, and a shovel to move dirt into the hole after each use. It was pretty deluxe for a camping toilet!In the evening, we had a bonfire on the beach. It was pretty hot, so we didn't need the warmth, but we needed to create coal so we could smoke shisha. This was an essential part of our guide and drivers' day, as they smoked the kind of tobacco that is really strong and has nicotene. We all enjoyed the fruit flavoured tobacco that has no nicotene and is very sweet tasting.
Soon our Egyptian guides and drivers started playing music for us on the drums and singing traditional songs. It was really magical to be on the beach by the Nile, listening to people sing and play in the silence of the night.
Everyone was encouraged onto the dance floor, aka around the fire, for some indigenous dancing. Everyone looked pretty funny, but it was a great atmosphere. Loren cut her toe really badly walking back from the toilet in the dark, so she was excused from the dancing, and just got to watch and laugh.
At the end of the night, we were pretty exhausted and ready for sleep. We thought we'd be asleep in no time, and have trouble waking up. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes and flies made this very difficult. It's hard to relax when you can hear them buzzing around your head. The other obstacle was Ramadan. Our drivers and guide eat 'breakfast', just after sundown, 'lunch' just before they sleep, then they wake up for 'dinner', at 3am, and start cooking right next to our beds! We were woken with the sounds of chopping, clinking of pans and the strong smell of food. Even earplugs can't block that out!
The next morning, we cleaned ourselves up with a refreshing swim in the Nile. 'we left quite late this day, and didn't have long to sail either. We stopped for lunch on the riverbank, and rushed back into the Nile to recover from the heat. We all played around in the water, some of us doing chin-ups on the tires hanging from the side of the boat.
The shoreline was full of animals. There were donkeys and cows and a couple of dogs. Loren found a little baby donkey near the water, and managed to approach it. She waited, and it came right up to her to sniff her hand. Pretty cool!That evening, we anchored the boat, and set up our toilet again. We had a chat with one of the Egyptians on our boat, about life in Egypt, and we learnt many interesting things. He told us the difference between Shia and Suni Muslims and how they interpret the Qaran. Shia muslims believe women should be completely covered, only the eyes showing. In Egypt, when a Muslim couple is dating, they are not allowed to touch each other until they are engaged.
We also learnt that in Egypt, they can have up to four wives! The only condition is that they treat them equally. These women are given their own houses, and raise their own families, they're not expected to live together. So a man needs money to be able to do this.
The most disturbing thing we heard was that both men and women are circumcised in Egypt. If you are not sure how that works with women, basically it means they lose their ability to enjoy sex. Apparently this is not a muslim tradition though, it is an African one, and has lent itself to the Muslim faith in Egypt.
After dinner, we had another bonfire, and we all sat around smoking shisha and talking. At one point, the singing and music started again, and then turned into an Aussie song fest. All the Aussie girls, who were the majority of our group, started singing good old Aussie songs.
The next morning, we had to get up early, pack up our toilet and have a quick breakfast. After about an hour or so, we arrived at our destination. We were picked up in a mini van and taken to our hotel in Luxor.
To see the photos from the post in slideshow mode, click on on the link below:
Felucca on the Nile pictures
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