Ahmed (the captain) invited his friend Mishawee (another sailor from his village) to join us, and it wasn’t long before I realized that sailing a felucca is really too much of a job for one person (ie. You need two crew, and even then its a lot of work) ... and I was glad that he was there to help.
We got along great, and the two Nubians took turns making breakfast/lunch/and dinner and sailing the boat... and I actually ate more on the trip, than I normally do on land..... and just relaxed and talked, and drank beer ....Don’t get me wrong, a felucca is no resort hotel ...... and we ate, slept, and lived in pretty close quarters ... but it was unforgettable ... and despite temperatures reaching 45 degrees (on land), once you are sailing on water, it is a lot cooler, and almost comfortable.... at night it got cool enough that i was sleeping under a blanket.
My job was to supply the beer (and even though Egyptians are muslim .... these Nubian sailor-men like to drink)
We sailed for 3 days and 2 nights in a Felucca, covering approx 100km, and I have to say, it was an amazing experience....we were sailing down current, but against the wind, so we slowly zig-zagged our way at most at 8km/h.
Some times, the wind stopped (for many hours), and we just drifted, enjoying the tranquillity of the Nile....and amazing sunsets.
It wasn’t till day 3 that Ahmed told me that in Summer no felucca sails that far south from Aswan (as we did), because the winds are “no-good” .... and in retrospect, I did not see any feluccas sailing with us after day 1... so I quizzed him why he agreed to taking me (when it was I who insisted that we sail south for 3 days), and his response was that he wanted to show me the river and a good time, and that he also wanted to do it in summer.
In Egypt, summer is the low season, as most of tourists come in Winter (Dec – Feb), from Europe, to escape the cold and bask in he Egyptian sun ...... so at moment business is slow for the Felucca sailors..... and that may also be a reason why he agreed to go this far south.
We did not get as far as Idfu .. so I caught a car to the train station fom where we stopped (a shit of a town), and from there a 2 hour train to Luxor.... 2nd class with all the locals (for about A$1.50). ... another experience altogether.
We got along great, and the two Nubians took turns making breakfast/lunch/and dinner and sailing the boat... and I actually ate more on the trip, than I normally do on land..... and just relaxed and talked, and drank beer ....Don’t get me wrong, a felucca is no resort hotel ...... and we ate, slept, and lived in pretty close quarters ... but it was unforgettable ... and despite temperatures reaching 45 degrees (on land), once you are sailing on water, it is a lot cooler, and almost comfortable.... at night it got cool enough that i was sleeping under a blanket.
My job was to supply the beer (and even though Egyptians are muslim .... these Nubian sailor-men like to drink)
We sailed for 3 days and 2 nights in a Felucca, covering approx 100km, and I have to say, it was an amazing experience....we were sailing down current, but against the wind, so we slowly zig-zagged our way at most at 8km/h.
Some times, the wind stopped (for many hours), and we just drifted, enjoying the tranquillity of the Nile....and amazing sunsets.
It wasn’t till day 3 that Ahmed told me that in Summer no felucca sails that far south from Aswan (as we did), because the winds are “no-good” .... and in retrospect, I did not see any feluccas sailing with us after day 1... so I quizzed him why he agreed to taking me (when it was I who insisted that we sail south for 3 days), and his response was that he wanted to show me the river and a good time, and that he also wanted to do it in summer.
In Egypt, summer is the low season, as most of tourists come in Winter (Dec – Feb), from Europe, to escape the cold and bask in he Egyptian sun ...... so at moment business is slow for the Felucca sailors..... and that may also be a reason why he agreed to go this far south.
We did not get as far as Idfu .. so I caught a car to the train station fom where we stopped (a shit of a town), and from there a 2 hour train to Luxor.... 2nd class with all the locals (for about A$1.50). ... another experience altogether.
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