Advertisement
Published: April 25th 2007
Shamaam!!!
This man from the village of Darow has more than his fair share of watermelons.
Tom Griffith
On the Costa Rica She started the voyage as the Monica, but by the time we pulled into Kom Ombo, our trusty felucca had been rechristened the Costa Rica. This was decided during a late-night discussion in the boat's cabin on our first night, and was settled upon for the sole reason that our captain, Asam, wore a shirt that said 'Costa Rica' on it. Luckily it presented no practical difficulties - the felucca is not yet registered, and so has no name on it yet. Hopefully Asam will get some paint together and rectify the situation soon.
A felucca is a medium-sized Egyptian yacht, usually white, with a large main sail, a small cabin at the front, and a large sleeping/dining/lounging/living area towards the stern. There are thousands of them plying the waters of the Nile, especially between Aswan and Luxor. They are a popular way for tourists to see the Nile, and make a lovely change from the speeding bus convoys and rattling trains. For about $25, you can get a 3-day, 2-night trip along the Nile, with good meals and great company thrown in.
Our felucca was pretty international in flavour. There was our trusty Egyptian crew - Captain
Donkey Island
A swimming stop on Day Two, at an island populated by dogs, cows and donkeys Asam, and his First Mate, Akram, aka Krami; a Brazilian couple, Alex and Ramosi; a French couple, Herve and Agnes; as well as an American girl called Ana, a Chilean named Tora, and another Aussie named Steve. We all hit it off, and Tora and I managed to annoy everyone on board with our two guitars going constantly. Tora would sing in Spanish, and I would sing in English, which made for a little bit of variety, but we had a captive audience and weren't going to pass up the opportunity.
Our two days on board followed a very relaxed schedule of gently tacking downriver (the wind was against us), making music, reading, and sleeping, with the occasional meal of salad, bread, beans and felafel to keep us going. We stopped at a few places for a refreshing dip in the cool waters of the Nile. Usually a grotty body of water, it is supposed to be cleaner near Aswan: but I wasn't going to test it by swallowing the water, so I kept my head out.
In the evening, we would find a spot to moor the vessel, and jump onto dry land for a bit of
Nile swimming
I get down and dirty in the Nile River exploration, before settling back into the felucca for dinner, and a night of merry-making (without alcohol, but these Egyptians don't need booze for a good time). Tora and I would grab the guitars, Asam would bang his Egyptian drum, and everyone else would clap and sing along. Asam had two favourites - anything by Bob Marley, and his very own version of
She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain.
Once the candles ran out, and the mosquitoes came out, the music would die down and we would retire to our deck for a peaceful night's kip, with the softly-lapping waters of the Nile providing a helpful aid for dozing off. Then it would be up for breakfast and off along the river again.
During the second day, we visited Asam and Krami's home village of Agaba, a scruffy collection of houses next to the Nile and the main railway line. We met a bunch of Asam's female relatives, who sat on the floor of the kitchen-living room seperating vegetable leaves from their stems, as we smoked a sheesha and soaked up the local ambience. A baby girl was brought in and shown off to us all, and I did
Whitewashed house
A typical house in the Nile village of Agaba my usual trick of making the poor bub burst into tears, just by looking at her. I'm not that ugly, am I?
As we sailed downriver yesterday afternoon, Asam asked us if we wanted to try camel for dinner. There was a general nod of consensus from the multinational crowd, and, this being the 21st century and all, Asam jumped onto his mobile and made a call. Sure enough, as we pulled up to the riverbank for our nightly stop, the local butcher jumped on board with a bag of fresh camel meat. Asam divvied out some nice chunks, we paid up, and the butcher went on his merry way again. Krami fried the meat until all semblance of taste had been eliminated, but it was still quite an experience eating camel, whilst on a felucca on the Nile.
Our second night's sleep was not so blissful as the first, as the mosquitoes at Kom Ombo seemed determined to do unto us what we had done unto the camel. This morning we ate a final meal, and moved from our floating home into a taxi, and then transferred to a minibus for the police-escorted convoy back to Luxor.
Captain Asam
Our hilarious and welcoming felucca captain, Asam We saw the temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu along the way, and I am now officially templed out. Luckily for my sanity, I am leaving pharaonic Egypt for a couple of days - I am off to savour the Mediterranean flavour of Alexandria. Until next time - ma'a salaama!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.257s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 25; qc: 106; dbt: 0.137s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb
Dee
non-member comment
Please bring back some sheesha for us all. Sounds fantastic Tom.