Sailing, Sailing

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The sailboats we met in the afternoon after our Abu Simbel trip are called feluccas. I'd say ours, called Moodshadow, was about thirty feet long, with a single, curved sail.

Yes! After all this running around and getting up super early, we had 2 days and two nights of sailing down the Nile doing nothing!

Boarding the felucca by a little gang plank, we piled our bags underneath and lounged in the sunshine on a bed of floor cushions and pillows. Within moments our group of 10 had unfurled their sleepingbags and we were in full lounge mode, sipping some hot Egyptian tea and having a traditional lunch, everyone sharing everything. This was cool!

As we tacked down the river, the riverbanks looked more like I'd imagined they would be: narrow strips of green dotted with palm trees flanking either side of the water, with shiny blinding desert just beyond. We read, we drank beers, some people played games... It was a great afternoon.

Though neither Bryan or I were greatly effected, the only downside to the felucca trip is the fact that there is no bathroom on board and pulling off the river is necessary to find you a place to go in the bushes. And, there are limited bushes 'round these parts! But if you can get over your modesty, and don't have any stomach bugs, I don't think the experience can be beat! I was feeling badly for all the people cruising around in these big cruise vessels. Those on board never got to hear the absolute silence or the waves lapping on the banks while on those monstrous things.

The first evening we ate dinner aboard while pulled up to a small beach-- Bryan kicked the soccer ball around with the felucca crews - he was much better than them, and all the Europeans on board were duly impressed. After dinner we went to a traditional nubian house (skeptical on how traditional as it was the largest house around) and sat around talking with travellers from other boats, some of whom we smoking sheesha from large hookas. We considered it, (and Bryan still is) until our guide told us it was the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes! Yikes!

The second day on board was much the same as the first, sailing along and socializing on our cushions!

The second evening while playing party games (different felucca boats were competing), Bryan got roped into being the mummy in the mummy-making competition and, being creative we wrapped him up in a pose like the statue of liberty, complete with a beer bottle torch. Someone got the great idea to actually light the torch at "showtime" and stuffed some more TP wrappings sticking out of the wrapped up beer bottle. They did end up lighting Bryan on fire (or what looked like his hand) but someone smartly yanked the torch out of his hand and stomped the flaming beer bottle out before the rest of him ignited. Stupid, but no harm done! Besides Bryan (though he couldn't see or move) told me he had it under control, and had a 'I'm on fire' plan.

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