Cruising the Nile

Traditional sailing vessel the 'Felluca'
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Most visitors to Egypt take a short Felucca ride we had a ride that lasted three days !  The Felucca is an ancient wooden sailing vessel that quietly moves with the wind and is devoid of any home comforts such as bathrooms, cosy cabins, pool and bar.   Our bed and dining room was a mattress that covered most of the Feluccas one deck.  The bathroom was any palm tree, bush or sand hill you could find, watch out for those farmers though they like to peek !  Bathtime was the  the Nile :)

Vaughan takes a swim in the Nile !
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We did have a bar fridge (well Esky !) which was well and truly stocked and mostly consumed by the second night !   Luggage storage was under the deck with about 2 feet airgap between floor and the ceiling so if you wanted to get to your bag then it was a matter of crawling on your belly to get to it and hope that yours wasn't at the back, mine was ! If you wanted to change then you used the Captains cabin.  The crew would cook and prepare food in a very small space and the food was very wholesome and delicious.  We all had to take it turns to help with washing up.  The Nubian's are very neat and would clean the felucca daily.

Relaxation, Sleep and Recovery

The Nubians clean the boat daily
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We had two Feluccas crewed by four Nubian's.   The first night as I said was spent camping near a bridge but suprisingly we did get some sleep.  During the day we would just sit back, relax play cards, sunbath, chat and simple soak up the scenery. The banks of the Nile were mainly farmland and cane fields and now and then you would see farmers out and about with their donkey's and carts.  Cruise ships would often pass us breaking waves that would rock the Feluccas.  We had frequent stops for  the bathroom and a swim.  Suprisingly the Nile was very clean mainly because there is no industry that far south only natural primitive farming so it was safe to go swimming.  The water was fast flowing so there was no chance of Bilharzia.

Enjoying a game of 'Shit Head' !!
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The second night we stopped on the banks of an Oasis. We were asked to find firewood as we were having a fire that night, it was hard to find decent firewood as it was all palm trees.  The evening was full of  fun and music with the Nubian's and the old time favourite of 'Coming around the Mountain'  getting most airplay ! by the end of the night most of the group got well and truly tanked !!  Another Felucca carrying a group of  Dutch were moored not too far away and weren't quite as rowdy as our group ! we even invited ourselves into their camp fire which was fine for a while until the Dutches wanted to go to bed at 10pm !!!!  Our group continued with their partying until the small hours until the Dutches complained !  The next day there were many hangovers and we saw little surfacing from at least 4 members of our group !  I'm wondering if they even remembered the next day ! all I can say is the fish got fed well that day :)

Vaughan and Kimo playing backgammon
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By late afternoon of the third day we were closing in on Komombo temple. We moored in on the bank close to all the big floating hotels and its not until your close to them you realize how big they really are. We clambered up the littered muddy bank and fought our way through the kiddy touts to get to the temple complex.  Komombo was not only a temple but also an area packed with cafe's, shops and market  We all made our way to a very nicely decorated Bedouin tent where Kimo gave us a rundown of what to see and how long we were spending there.  This was the first temple we got to at night and it as very nicely lit up, the only problem was we had to share it with a thousand other tourists which had  got off the 20 or so cruise boats. After having a good look around the temple we all met back at a cafe for a coffee and sheesha and a few of us explored the markets along the river front.  It was a nightmare market experience the sellers were so in your face it was impossible to look at anything let alone want to buy anything ! After our pleasant evening at Komombo we headed back to the Feluccas for supper for which we treated to KFC style chicken pieces !  we had been eating simple food for days so this really was a treat !