TRAVEL: Nile Cruise, Egypt (Part 5) - on the river & Egyptian life

Before you start, make sure to read my last Egypt blog here! 

As our boat made its way back upstream, we awoke one morning in Komombo for the most dreaded day of the trip for me, the nothing day. We had nothing planned, so would be forced to relax for a whole 24 hours. Luckily, whilst the boat was moored for the other group to visit the temple, we were free to get off the boat if we so wished. Eager at any chance to be doing something, I set off for a walk along the street. Quite honestly, there was nothing there, perhaps why the tour guides take you straight off the ship to the site, and then right back on. 

The two Discover Egypt guides, Essam and Mohamed, had arranged for a Q&A on Modern Egypt in the Lounge bar for anyone who was interested, so about ten of the thirty or so guests showed up. Most of the questions asked revolved around politics or terrorism, which I didn't think really represented Egypt to the full and must have been difficult for the guides to answer. I can only imagine how infuriating it is to have a whole religion conflated with terrorist activity and be expected to answer questions as to why such extremists exist in situations like this, and wished there had been more questions on the culture of modern Egypt itself.

The day continued with some reading (plenty of books are necessary for trips like this) and swimming as we cruised upstream before docking in Edfu. Again, we rushed off the ship to take advantage of dry land, but regretted it soon after. I found the main streets of Edfu to be dirty, smelly, polluted and hot, although granted they can't do much about that last one. Garbage was everywhere and the hot weather made it reek, coupled with the exhaust fumes from the tuk tucks that scooted along the streets. Feeling like I couldn't breathe was not the most pleasant of experiences, although this did improve slightly as we walked through the market. 

We were stared at by quite a lot of the people, as I imagine locals don't tend to see tourists out for a walkabout, as they're usually whisked away by horse and carriage to the temple and back without interacting with anyone. I found it quite nice that we were greeted in a friendly manner by plenty of people saying hello and wishing us a good morning (even thought it was the afternoon), although must admit that given the pushy nature of most of the people we'd come into contact with at tourist sites were sceptical as to whether they wanted to sell us something, although this only happened a few times. 

Pleased to be away from the pollution, we made our way back to the boat along side roads and returned to our relaxation. As I returned to my room after sunset, Essam caught myself and some of the other group members to answer our questions on culture, including what he would be doing if he wasn't a tour guide (a journalist, but it's too hard to find jobs if you don't have the connections), whether most women work (no, but that is partly due to high unemployment in the country as a whole), whether those working for instance as farmers strived for more (everyone will always want more), what they thought of tourists effectively stripping off into their bikinis on top of boats given the conservative nature of the country (they understand we are tourists and it is not our custom), what would happen if a girl refused to wear a hijab after the age of twelve (she would be explained the religious reasons as to why she has to wear it), and whether arranged marriages are common as they were in Jordan (yes, although in a slightly different manner - Essam is married to his cousin so he knew her beforehand and asked his mother to speak to his uncle to arrange a marriage). Very informative, and gave me a better view as to what life is really like in Egypt. 

Dinner was another Egyptian do for the benefit of the new arrivals to the ship, so plenty more insensitive (IMHO) outfits to be found. Dinner was interrupted at about 8pm as we went through a lock on the Nile, lining up two boats at a time, entering through one gate, sinking as the water level decreased, and leaving through the other gate on a lower elevation that we'd arrived. An interesting sight to see indeed.

I figured this was also where we'd picked up our boat buddies a few days ago as another boat (potentially the same one) attached itself to our side and hurled scarves and other embroidered goods up to the top level, almost into the swimming pool! I wondered what they would have done had their goods not been returned... And then for our final full day on the boat, coming soon to the blog!

I hope you enjoyed today's travel blog! I'll be back with more very soon so make sure to stay tuned on my Twitter @CiarasCountry, and drop me a message in the comments below with any comments or questions you may have about my adventures - thanks for reading!