The
next morning we were off again to travel however not on a bus or
train, we boarded a traditional Egyptian Felucca with our captain
Mustaffa...
This little boat had three crew, our guide Wael and 11 of
us on board for a total of a 54hour journey... No, there were no
toilets or privacy at all and the deck was covered by one huge
mattress that we sat on, slept on and also ate on, so as you can
imagine we were crammed in like sardines literally on top of one
another... The food was all cooked on board and was a mixture of
Egyptian bread, too many eggs, cheese, potatoes and very little meat
or fresh salad... Complete carb loading... I am so sick of Carbs!!!!!
Not the best for health and nutrients but the beers were cheap and
tasty so Dan and I would survive no worries.. During the trip Nth we
didn't do much aside from sleeping, eating, sun baking, swimming in
the Nile, (we played one game of soccer against local Nubian people
but all decided we were all to unfit for exercise) and that was about
it... It was really relaxing which helped us to recharge our
batteries and enthusiasm.. Both nights on board were accompanied with
a few alcoholic drinks and many many laughs.. This was perhaps
improved with the sampling of the famous Egyptian Shisha Pipe that we
enjoyed very much.
Here is the after photo...
After
2 days on board with no toilet besides the bush, we were pretty happy
to say goodbye to the Fellucca. Our destination was the city of Luxor
however we had two quick stops before we arrived there, so without a
shower our first stop was at the Kom Ombo Temple that was build for
the gods of good and evil... This place was again very beautiful..
And then, the Edfu Temple which was simply huge!
We
arrived in Luxor not a minute too soon and all ran for the showers it
was hilarious... This city was the site of the ancient Egyptian city
of Thebes. After a relaxing afternoon we all joined our tour leader
to brake fast at an amazing restaurant situated by the Nile where
anyone who is anyone in Egypt go (including the president of France!)
The sunset was amazing and the food was even better.. After dinner we
ventured out into the city.. It is Rumadun in Egypt which means that
the Arabic population (abut 90% of Egypt's population) fast from
sunrise to sunset, as Wael is Arabic he does not eat or drink
anything during the daylight hours.. We have no idea how he does it,
especially as we spend so much time in the desert.. The downside to
Rumadan is that a majority of the shops and cafe/restaurants are
closed during the day so getting food is a little difficult (Thankgod
for McDonalds)... Also, they work on Egyptian time here so you are
not surprised if it takes up to an hour for anything.. The upside of
Rumadun is that at night the streets get packed with people feasting
and celebrating... We walked through the markets which was more like
running a gauntlet (trying to avoid pushy Egyptian salesmen)
and also
visited the Luxor temple at night which was beautiful...
