'Miss Australia you have dangerous eyes'

I am writing from Basma Hotel in Aswan which means that I survived the 14hr train ride. Once we arrived we were given a chance to freshen up before we left to make the most of the day.

Most of us still felt like zombies but the felucca ride along the Nile washed away the sore eyes from the train. Feluccas are wind powered sail boats and they're dotted all along the Nile. They're slow but they're relaxing so it was much needed and the perfect way to spend the afternoon. We then hopped onto a motorboat from the felucca and made our way to a nearby shore. Next we rode camels into the a Nubian village. My Camels name was Christina, she was hot stuff. We were told to lean back when the camel lifted its back legs, and then lean forward when it raised the front - except I forgot the order and leaned the wrong ways and nearly fell off Xtina :( Riding a camel puts you at such a high position, it's pretty cool. By this time the sun was setting and it was really beautiful.

Aswan is populated by around 300 000 people with a good third being Nubian (they originate from Northern Sudan). Women dominate the clan-type community and they apparently don't really consider themselves as Egyptians, speaking a dialect that isn't written and which most Egyptians can't understand. Pretty cool.

Once we were in the Nubian village we got henna tattoos and ate a traditional Nubian dinner which was mostly vegetarian and it was SO good. The Nubians were so lovely. It was a great afternoon/night, loved the felucca ride.

Today definitely melded us into more of a group. Such a good day!!

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