The Donkey

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When we arrived in Luxor, Big Mo informed us that a popular evening activity was to take a donkey, horse, or camel ride through the countryside and villages of the West Bank, before arriving at a local Egyptian restaurant for a meal. Not everyone in our group was up to ride anything, and in particular, my parents felt that they would be too large for a donkey. For me, the chance to ride a donkey - these sweet little creatures that are the backbone of Egyptian baladi life - was too great to pass up.

We took the ferry to the West Bank and we found our donkeys. Our entire group had chosen to ride donkeys, rather than camels or horses. We would be trodding lightly through the villages, on the local transport. Each of us was given a donkey appropriate to our height and weight. My donkey was a white one with a sneeze, and he didn't understand any of the commands. He loved to run ahead of the pack and through gatherings of families on village roads. He even got into a fight with another donkey! At least he didn't steal a farmer's cartload of clover, as Marc's donkey did. We learned to say "Yalla" to urge our donkeys on (unnecessary in my case) and "Hoosh" to slow them down. My donkey didn't know any such word, but after a while, I grew used to his preferred speed and comfortable on his back.

First we rode alongside a country road, through fields of clover, then past banana plantations. Then we turned into a small village, with children running alongside us yelling "hello". Men in galabeyas led donkeys and carts past us, coming home from a day in the fields. Black-clad women were preparing the evening meal, or standing outside chatting. A cow bellowed as we passed. We rode finally along a canal from the Nile, and passed another group on camelback, as the sun began to set across the village.

We met the rest of our group at a restaurant called Gezira, in the village of Gezira. The meal was had on the rooftop, overlooking the Nile and its canals, with a bottle of cold Sakkara beer.

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Photos

Meet My Donkey
Here he is, the sweet obstinate thing.