Aswan and a Felucca jaunt

  Aswan, Nile River Valley, Egypt
Friday, March 24, 2000

The girls were squealing with delight all last night on the train. Unfortunately the tracks are not at all even out of Cairo, so the ride was very rough.  I found it quite difficult to sleep and so didn't much.  We had dinner and breakfast on the train before arriving in Aswan this morning about 8:30.  A 30-man Nubian "band" was playing just outside the station, which was strange and a bit wild and certainly exotic.

No one was there from Blue Sky Tours as we’d been told there would be.  A man kindly informed us that we could get to their office by taxi which the company would pay.  We took a taxi.  It was typical chaos at the office.  After several, sometimes conflicting, excuses for the mistakes, we finally ended up on the Silver Moon, which apparently didn’t know we were coming.  They wanted to put Marjolaine and me on the 2nd floor, and Fiona and Tatiana on the first.  We told them we’d been promised adjoining rooms.  “It can’t be done,” came the reply.  I insisted.  “Well, ok then,” the reception fellow finally said.  Comme quoi….  Rather than moving the girls up as we had hoped, Marjolaine and I were moved down.  Our cabin floors are below the water line, our windows just above. Not the most comforting feeling


After settling in our cabins, Marjolaine took a nap while F & T played cards.  I walked into the souk to buy M & T sweatshirts since the weather here is cooler than we expected.  I also bought several bottles of water to avoid the high prices on the boat.  Lunch was at 13:00, and the food was ok but not terrific:  tahine and bread, fried (and pretty greasy) fish, and excellent orange for dessert.  At 14:30 our guide met us for our felucca ride out to Kitchener Island.  We were just 6 in the boat: our family, the guide, and “the captain”.  There were no life jackets on board….  When I asked the guide about that he laughed and said “life jackets?  No lifejackets.” 

Capitain and crew of the felucca

It was fascinating to see the boatman handle the rigging, centerboard and rudder as we tacked out, against the wind and came down stream below elephantine island and then came around with the wind but against the current to the south end of Kitchener Island, named for Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, who either bought or was given the island, and who turned it into a botanical garden.  

Beauty on the Nile

Unfortunately we went on Friday when it’s full of locals picnicking and carrying blasting ghetto blasters around. 

The girls on Kitchener Island

Still the views were stunningly beautiful. After an hour or so, we returned to the boat to find the captain kneeling on his prayer rug saying his prayers towards Mecca.  It was a good education for the girls.  

On the Felucca

Back on “our” boat we discussed our itinerary.  The guide tired to sell us on the Philae Temple as an optional tour (and an expensive one at that), but I reminded him that it was already included in our prepaid itinerary – so he revised his plan….

Back in Aswan, the four of us walked into the souk for a couple of hours. 

The girls and me in the Aswan souk

It’s quite an interesting and picturesque one.  Obviously touristy, it’s still kept an older more authentic feel.  We bought T-shirts for the girls and a bust of Nefertiti for Marguerite.  I was thrilled that Fiona and Tatiana were getting to experience all this.  A madman walked by talking and looking about wildly. 

Fiona in the Aswan souk

Fiona and Tatiana had never seen that before, but it didn’t seem to frighten them, it just made them curious.

Fiona and Tatiana get constant attention here:  Fiona because she’s blond and cute, Tatiana because she’s small and cute.  They get their cheeks pinched or their chins tweaked many times each day.  So far, they’ve been willing to play along – but it will no doubt get old before long.  They’re handling themselves very well, and are really enjoying the trip.