Cruise on the Nile

Our cruise boat finally began its journey on the Nile river, and for the first time on the trip, we had some time to relax. We are on a boat and won't be leaving it until tomorrow morning.

The sun was out on and off. When it was out, it was HOT. We took some photos of mountains, towns, and people on the banks of the Nile as we sailed south up the river.

For lunch, Michelle and I both chose the Sea Bass Amandine over the lamb. The fish was quite good, as was the Eggplant appetizer and "Ohm Ali" dessert, which seemed like rice pudding with coconut. Michelle did not like this, as she like neither rice pudding nor coconut.

After lunch it was quite hot so I went in the pool on the top deck of the boat. The water was cold, but not freezing. After that we sat and relaxed for a few hours until we reach the locks at Esna. Several boats were waiting ahead of us to go through the locks.

As we approached, about a dozen row boats descended upon us, calling out to us, trying to sell us scarves, rugs, and Galabiyas (traditional Egyptian tunic commonly worn by locals). The men would throw the items up onto the top deck of the ship for us to examine the goods and haggle about the price. Much bargaining and throwing took place over the next 2 hours. If you agreed to buy something, they would throw up another small bag containing cloth for you to place your money and throw it down to them (the cloth is just to give the bag weight for throwing). Michelle bought another scarf/throw/rug and we each bought a Galabiya for the so-called costume party this evening

As we anchored quite close to the riverbank, some small boys (and few girls) were yelling to us and throwing up empty film canisters, asking us to place money in them and throw them back down. At first, no one did, then later, a few people did. One guy went down to his room to get a bag of mini-chocolate bars and started throwing them one by one to the kids. They were delighted, and scrambled to catch the chocolate bars. This lasted a while and then quieted down. We then had coffee and pizza.