The Felucca

After arriving in Aswan I came down with a bit of an illness. It seems to be quite common in Egypt to not be able to leave the bathroom for a few days and have to go on special medicine to clear up the problem, so it was nice to know that I was sharing in the experience of many other before me. I was so ill that I was not able to go and see the sights on our first day in Aswan. Being confined to the room, and upset about not seeing a few temples, you can imagine my excitement of feeling better the next day and heading out on a Felucca ride down the Nile.
A Felucca is a traditional sailing vessel that has been used for thousands of years to navigate the Nile river. It is about a 20 foot wide shallow boat that zig zags slowly back and forth the width of the nile, slowly making it's way upstream to the ocean. We got to spend a full day on the boat sailing and seeing the lush green boardering the nile that cut through the desert landscape like a color lazer. We pulled over around dusk, had a fantastic dinner, and enjoyed our captain (a part of a nubian tribe traditional to the area) playing the drums around a fire on the river bank.
After the entertainment, it was off to bed. Let's just say the boat is not the most comfortable place to sleep. It was hard, cold, and made for just a few hours of fitful sleep before day broke.
We had a bite of breakfast and headed upriver a bit to catch our ride on the side of the road a small hike from the nile. Got to love the simplicity of standing on the side of the road with goats and palms, getting picked up in a truck to take you to the next town.