Tuesday 27-05 - The nile

The trains arrival time was supposed to be 10am, but arrived at 12-30. We were all slightly lacking in sleep and dehydrated. We had stopped drinking anything for fear of having to use the bathrooms. I wanted to take photos of the sunrise but when the time came I woke up and gave upon that idea, in favour of sleep. We reached our stop and gathered our bags, then shuffled off the train. Some coaster buses came to pick us up and take us to the cruise ship. I was quite impressed by the boat, named the Nile Splendor. On arrival we all got cold hibiscus tea and were shown to our rooms.



The rooms are gorgeous little cabin rooms, each with their own couch area separate from the beds. The bathroom was spacious and clean. We had lunch in the dining hall, along with a few other large tour groups. Many of them are french and I think some are italian. The food had some pasta and rice. The rice in Egypt has been really good and strangely flavoursome.



We went on a Felucca down the Nile. I kind of enjoyed it more than the pyramids. It just seemed so much more authentic, so much earthier. The water was this deep green, like a lagoon.





There were people swimming near the banks and group of bathers. Our boat had an engine as well as a sail so we sped past most of the other boats. Our guide pointed out small temples and castles along the way.





On each side of us were banks of reeds and flowers. Sometimes a couple of young kids would paddle up beside us on tiny wooden boats and attach themselves to the side of our felucca. They would ride along side us and sing row-row-row-your-boat, then let go and attach to the next passing boat. Sometimes they would take turns getting out of their boats and let themselves drag in the water.



The roof the boat was flat, covered in white painted wooden panels. Rianna and I went up. The wind was lightly blowing, but cooling. It was incredible to sit on top of the boat and watch the Nile pass by, with the groups of children playing on the shore and waving at us as we passed. The colour of the water giving way to us. I could have stayed up there for hours. The moment was close to perfect.



We docked on a distant beach with bright yellow sand. Apparently touching this sand means you have been in the Sahara.



We stripped to bathers and jumped from the boat into the water. It was icey cold, but refreshing. We swam out to were we couldn't stand and tried to avoid the other tourist feluccas as they moved to the shore.



I had a short bout of medical student paranoia about all the parasites and such one could pick up in an African river. Then I told myself to stop being ridiculous and just it. So that's what I did. It took a short while to get used to the cold and then I took a few minutes to sun bathe on the boats roof. We dried off and got dressed, because next up was the camel ride.

We had avoided the camels at the pyramids,and for good reason. These camels were ridden as a group and arranged by topdeck. The camels are from a Nubian village near by. The villagers had all the camels lined up, knelt on the ground, waiting for us. They were decorated in brightly coloured materials. I got onto a light sandy coloured camel, whose name I as told was Shakira. The girl next to me was also told her camel was named Shakira. Maybe they were all Shakira?



I liked the camel ride. It walked dangerously close to the edge of the path at times, letting me peer down the long sandy slope to the river. When it ran I felt like I was riding a horse, only more back and forward and less up and down. We rode all around the sand dunes until we reached the nubian village. There were stalls filled with spices of every colour, piled high in painted bowls. Getting off the camel was a little tricky. It tilted itself really fast so I had to lean all the way back to not fall off.





We all went into a large room made of mud clay and paint, with low beds made from large sticks and matresses across the centre. This room was the house for 9 people in the village. Each of the villages surrounding that part of the Nile are made up of a single family. Big families that get married to other villages/families. Rafik our group leader explained the story of the nubian people and their relocation when the new damn was built. He explained some of their culture and rituals of marriage and farming. They have their own language, a non-written language. Arabic is always their second language, and I guess english/french/italian would be their third.

We then all got to try different types of tea. This time it was hot tea, which Rafik explained was supposed to cool you down. We all needed cooling after the camel ride. We had the hibiscus tea again, plus mint tea. We also had donkey tea, which was kind of like camomile and is supposed to be good for gastro upsets.

The women there were doing henna tattoos. Apparently before a wedding the women of the village cover the bride to be in tats from head to toe. Ive never had real henna before so I decided to get a small one on my back. I had to wait 30 minutes for it to dry with the back of my top lifted up as not to smudge the dye.



Dinner was back on the ship and there was a show of nubian dancing to see afterwards. I decided to skip the show and went to bed early to get sleep for the early start ahead. The early start was to be 3am.