Feel lucky on the Felucca

There are 2 ways of travelling down the Nile - in a large riverboat resembling a floating mall or a romantic felucca with its teradactyl-sized sail (in other words, big, like the ones I've seen in movies). Of course, we chose to glide slowly downriver, mostly just pushed along by the current, since the wind was so low. It was easy to find a boat. Our hotel was near the captains' cafe where all the felucca captains hang out and watch football, drink tea and smoke sheesha. Ayoub, our handsome 33 year old captain, took us there to discuss the trip. We ended up being a group of 5, Bailey and me, Jessica, and Heather and Christina from Canada. Then, there was Mustafa the cook and Abdu the skipper. Abdu did just about everything on board. He's almost 70 and frequently climbed to the top of the mast, dressed in his MC Hammer pants and turban. He was always talking fast to me in Arabic at full speed and I tried to assist him occasionally by steering or holding the sail taut as he made repairs while docked. I liked participating in the function of the boat, even if it was minor. It's the difference between just looking at a game or playing in it. I became part of the movement, rather than just a rider. But, ride I did. I loved hanging over the edge and letting my hand cut through the still water. I watched the east bank and then the west bank float by as we tacked from riverside to riverside. Once, I watched a white fox trot down the river. He stopped to drink where the cows were drinking. Must have been a fresh spot. I loved laying on the flat, cushioned deck and just reading or thinking under the cloth roof.

We spent 2 days and 2 nights on this deck, all 8 of us. It was tight. We talked a lot and played cards. And at night, everyone snored so much that Ayoub recorded us on his cell phone at 3 AM for a good laugh the next morning. Any time you spend 48 hours with 8 people so intimately, there's bound to be some drama. The first came as we crossed another boat going upstream. Abdu started yelling back and forth with the driver of the other felucca. It was so heated and passionate and then he spit at him as a finishing touch! I looked at Ayoub and he said that was his son, the bad son, who had gone to jail and was a shame to the family. Yikes. Then, there was some kind of scene between Heather and Ayoub and Jessica when they went ashore to tour a "museum" of someone's home,in a tuk tuk (a motorbike taxi) and were being charged 32 Egypt. pounds for it. Christina and Bailey and I had stayed behind on the boat, but when they returned, you could cut the air with a knife. No one would talk about it on board, so it was a bit weird trying to figure out why Jessica and Ayoub were in the cabin together talking seriously and Heather just sitting on deck rolling her eyes. I told Bailey about a trick I know of to keep other people's bad mojo off of you. We closed our eyes and imagined a blue light around us like a bubble that would keep us fresh and lighthearted. It worked pretty well and so we just continued talking and playing cards and enjoyed the delicious dinner that Mustafa had cooked.

The firswt night there, Bailey and I rode across the Nile to the other side in a small fishing boat with Ayoub and his fisherman friend. I only found out later why we did this when I say the captain rolling a joint in his cabin. It's apparently quite common in these parts, but he was very discreet about it. Anyway, I loved hearing the oars hitting the water and rubbings against the wooden boat. I've become so much more of a sound junky on this trip. The noises, or lack of them, are a huge part of the picture. It could also be that since I've lost hearing in one ear I'm more appreciative of this sense.

The trip on a whole was pretty peaceful and I don't remember doing very much, just watching the palm trees and mossy grasslands at the shore with sand dunes rising ot too far in the distance. I liked waving to the giant riverboat passengers. Have you ever seen the Woody Allen movie where he's in this train and it's all dull and colorless and then he looks out at another train and everyone inside is beautifula dn having fun? Well, I felt like we were the beautiful people on our felucca, all tanned and happy and peaceful, waving to the poor bored folks on deck of their metal and glass shoebox boat. I felt like were were living the good life, free of motors and chairs and buffets. Give me wind and river and a good book anyday!