Nile Cruise

Click on the eye to see the Photos for Day 6

Day 6

So, from the Valley of the Kings, we said goodbye to our donkeys, hopped on a motor launch and went straight to the Amy. What service - our bags were already in our cabins, which were really lovely, with an ensuite and huge window looking out at Nile. We had time for a quick shower, then lunch was served. Wonderful food, and a beer, made me feel human again after the morning's exertions! Most of my group went to bed for the afternoon, but some of us dragged ourselves up to the sun deck to start the roasting process (with dire warnings from Julia about hats and sunstroke...!). Another tour group joined us on the boat, who were doing  a Traveller's style (slightly ritzier than our Adventure class!) tour. A few of them had just come up from Tanzania and Kenya, where they'd been on safari and climbed Kilimanjaro.

After dinner (another wonderful meal - stew,  steak, vegetables and rolls), we passed through Esna lock (or Esna Barrages!), and while we were waiting our turn, a few boats turned up to try and sell us galabeyas. The salesman's technique was interesting - they threw the stuff up on deck in plastic bags! Lionel from the other group got right into the swing of things, and got a great price on a galabeya. 

Day 7

We woke to find ourselves at Edfu, with a  whole load of other cruise boats. Some of these boats were using horse carriages to go to the temple, but thankfully Imaginative Traveller don't use the carriages here, as the horses are in pretty dire condition for the most part. I had a minor altercation with a carriage driver who was beating his horse round the face with a stick - sickening stuff really. It's a sad vicious circle, the horses are in bad condition, so many tours won't use them, but then their owners lose money, and the horses get into worse condition. I've upped my donation to the Brooke Hospital after this trip.

We had a very good breakfast (pancakes with sugar and lime!! As well as eggs and rolls and fruit - going to get as fat as pig if I keep eating like this!), then hopped in a taxi to the temple. The temple here was the most well-preserved of all that I saw. Had some amazing deep-reliefs carved into it, and was quite large. There were lots of small stone staircases wandering up through the walls, ending in little annexes  - no idea what they were for. Wandered round for a while, then went to the market to bargain for Galabeyas. It is really a lot of fun bargaining, and if I end up paying over the odds, what do I care? It's still incredibly cheap compared to Australia. The butcher's shop was interesting - huge sides of meat hung up under awnings, and he just hacks of chunks for customers....

Then back to the boat to cruise some more, and roast on the sun deck. When we went back to our room, we found the towels had been made into the shape of a swan - complete with sunglasses and hat. After this, everyday we would find a new and interesting shape each time the room was made up! Discovered Amy Cocktails today - a marvelous concoction of lemon juice, grenadine, and gin or vodka (and if Arafa is behind the bar, a fair bit more than one shot ends up in your glass! Love Arafa....) 

Day 8

Click on the eye to see the Photos for Day 8

Woke up this morning to more amazing scenery. Loads of children along the nile, some of whom jumped in the water and swam towards the boat. They all waved and called out when we went past. Our boat had a mexican stand-off with another that was trying to pass us - we kept zig-zagging in front of it to cut it off. There was a fair amount of frantic and irate horn-blowing before they managed to cut us off on the inside!

By sunset we had arrived at Kom Ombo, so we got to go round a temple at night, which was great, far more atmospheric (although we still took the piss out of images - mimicking the poses in front of them - such philistines - or is that idiots???). Melinda, Brad and I went to the Nubian cafe to meet up with Julia and Kirsten to smoke shisha - a flavoured tobacco. It was really pretty good - much milder than Egyptian cigarettes, which can be a bit feral. A Nubian band came to the table and got us all up playing (well attempting!) instruments and dancing.

After that, it was back to the boat for the Galabeya party.

Everyone changed into their costumes before dinner, and really got into the spirit of it. We all found fascinating shapes in our towels before dinner - they had dressed up my towels in my clothes - and had filled a pair of Lindsey's trousers with towels and left them on the floor sticking our from under her bed! Very bizarre people!!! 

After dinner, we were divided into teams and had to play games, after coming up with a team name and chant.....Our team name was Wahid (arabic for one), and our chant was 

"Wahid, wahid, wahid, Yalla Yalla Yalla Habibi"

What basically means Let's Go Baby!  Hmmm...luckily most people had no idea what we were saying! So, we played Egyptian pictionary, a trivia quiz, then Diarrhoea Potato, which beggars description, but isn't as bad as it sounds, then the Frying Pan and Spoon game (which I couldn't attempt to explain  - look at the Photos!), and then we had to come up with our own temple using props around the boat, and ourselves.

Luckily our team won (otherwise Steve would have gone nuts!!), and then we could continue with drinking. Stayed up way too late - sunrise was a bit of a hint....

Click on the eye to see the Photos for Galabeya Party