Float like an Egyptian

The ancients mined granite from the southern province of Aswan and floated it northward on the Nile via "feluccas," small sailboats with massive, curved sails. We signed up to sail from Aswan to Luxor (ancient Thebes) up the Nile. The trip includes meals and two nights of sleeping under the starts on the Nile. We weren't sure how many others would accompany us on our trip, what we'd eat, or what sort of service to expect, given the inexpensive price.

We spent our pre-felucca morning in Aswan, visiting the Temple of Philae and the Aswan High Dam, the third largest dam in the world, behind Brazil and China. Egypt only uses the power generated by one of the two turbines - it exports the rest of its power (hope you're taking notes, Mr. Spottiswoode). That's a whole lot of dam electricity!


As it turns out, there were eight passengers on our felucca, ourselves included: three non-native Londoners, two Argentinians, and an Aussie pilot working in Chad. Yeah, these eclectic tour groups all start to sound like the beginning of a joke.

A felucca is more of a floating sofa than a sailboat - instead of benches or tables, there's just a massive mat and pillows, with a canopy to shield you from the 45 C (that's 123 F) degree sun. At times, however, the mat isn't quite massive enough, especially when you're sleeping eight adults. That's our boat at left.


We had a lot of Nile to cover, a deck of cards, and several cases of Egypt's own Sakkara lager. The next day slipped away amidst some Euchre, Kings, camel meat, falafel, and lots of pita bread.

Sorry, it looks like we lost you at camel meat. We passengers were faced with the decision of whether the crew should cook camel for the second (final) supper, and the unanymous decision was "uh, sure." We ate it stewed with rice in its own broth, and it tasted like mutton.


Sara's reaction: Eh, too gamey.
Scott's reaction: Scr-hump-tious!


Packed full with camel and Sakkara, we and the crew prepared a bonfire, broke out the drums, and cut loose to some rip-roaring Egyptian song-and-dance. Another felucca's crew joined in, and we had three generations of Egyptians singing their folk songs with enthusiastic Arabic arm-waves and robe-ruffling kicks. For certain, their performance was as much for their own entertainment as for ours, but it was nonetheless a delightful cultural exchange. Plus, we learned how to sing She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain in Arabic.




The next morning came a little too soon. We disembarked at Kom Ombo (once famous for its massive crocodiles) and explored the Temple of Subek, the Egyptian crocodile god. On the police convoy (the only way for tourists to drive intercity) northward to Luxor (Thebes), we stopped in Edfu to visit the incredibly well-preserved Temple of Horus.


Luxor awaits us now with its expansive desert and its "Valley of the Kings." There's a lot of negative tales of the hassling and frustrations of Luxor, but we'll grit our teeth and smile again, and get back at you with the news.

Sorry for the delay in posting stuff - we really appreciate that you all are keeping abreast with our travels. Congrats on the apartment, Anne & Steve - keep your eyes peeled for a Friedman pad!