me again. i think it's Wednesday afternoon. tea time on the
dahabiya. then at 6 we leave the boat at Edfu to visit a temple.
perhaps it's the temple of horus. the last few days incredibly lazy
and lovely, with today the loveliest of loveliest. given the
iffiness of this internet, i will start with the best. after going to
bed in a terrible wind, with our two waiters struggling to serve a six
course meal on the deck while first one, then two, then three tugs
tried to push our boat close to the shore. lots of yelling and
running, and we thought of the titanic. in the morning, a light
breeze and we are on the edge of yet another farmer's field. the guys
start setting up breakfast in the middle of it- first tables, then
chairs, then tablecloths, etc. and eventually we descend the gangplank
and eat surrounded by children from the nearby village. it has the
feel of surreal movie, so the talk is all of film until we go for a
walk through banana, mango, sugar cane, onions, dates, eventually
reaching the village, where we are surrounded by the same kids and
invited into their homes by the mothers. these are two or three-room
mud brick, no windows and a little "garden" in back with an oven for
bread, goats, turkeys, geese, etc. back to the boat where the wind
finally allows the dahabiya to sail without assistance from the tug
(the usual state of affairs). Perfect weather, and very welcome
after days of somewhat oppressive heat. we read, nap, talk with our
fellow passengers- besides our group of eight, there are four friends
from England and Denmark, and another British couple. By now we all
get on very well and have great conversation. The American married to
a Dane was writing a book about Muslim feminism that is morphing into
a book about misogyny in all the religions of Abraham- Judaism,
Catholicism, Islam. Papa, she graduated from Hollywood High and her
parents were screenwriters. She thinks she knew Gina! When we're not
eating or lounging on the upper deck- well that's pretty much what we
do. life on the nile is endlessly fascinating. yesterday we went
through a lock at Esna, then wandered through town where I bought a
cane for Mary. other than breakfast in the field, she has not left
the boat since we arrived Saturday. the ankle is much better and she
plans to go ashore at Edfu. there are worse places to be! by now she
has knocked off most of the common birds of egypt and a few uncommon
ones as well. tomorrow the crocodile temple at Kom Ombo, then on to
Aswan where I think we spend a couple of nights on the boat before
flying to Abu Simbel, then back to Cairo. there's a British Airways
strike that may complicate our plans, and we'll worry about that in
Cairo. life doesn't get much better.
Toni
perhaps it's the temple of horus. the last few days incredibly lazy
and lovely, with today the loveliest of loveliest. given the
iffiness of this internet, i will start with the best. after going to
bed in a terrible wind, with our two waiters struggling to serve a six
course meal on the deck while first one, then two, then three tugs
tried to push our boat close to the shore. lots of yelling and
running, and we thought of the titanic. in the morning, a light
breeze and we are on the edge of yet another farmer's field. the guys
start setting up breakfast in the middle of it- first tables, then
chairs, then tablecloths, etc. and eventually we descend the gangplank
and eat surrounded by children from the nearby village. it has the
feel of surreal movie, so the talk is all of film until we go for a
walk through banana, mango, sugar cane, onions, dates, eventually
reaching the village, where we are surrounded by the same kids and
invited into their homes by the mothers. these are two or three-room
mud brick, no windows and a little "garden" in back with an oven for
bread, goats, turkeys, geese, etc. back to the boat where the wind
finally allows the dahabiya to sail without assistance from the tug
(the usual state of affairs). Perfect weather, and very welcome
after days of somewhat oppressive heat. we read, nap, talk with our
fellow passengers- besides our group of eight, there are four friends
from England and Denmark, and another British couple. By now we all
get on very well and have great conversation. The American married to
a Dane was writing a book about Muslim feminism that is morphing into
a book about misogyny in all the religions of Abraham- Judaism,
Catholicism, Islam. Papa, she graduated from Hollywood High and her
parents were screenwriters. She thinks she knew Gina! When we're not
eating or lounging on the upper deck- well that's pretty much what we
do. life on the nile is endlessly fascinating. yesterday we went
through a lock at Esna, then wandered through town where I bought a
cane for Mary. other than breakfast in the field, she has not left
the boat since we arrived Saturday. the ankle is much better and she
plans to go ashore at Edfu. there are worse places to be! by now she
has knocked off most of the common birds of egypt and a few uncommon
ones as well. tomorrow the crocodile temple at Kom Ombo, then on to
Aswan where I think we spend a couple of nights on the boat before
flying to Abu Simbel, then back to Cairo. there's a British Airways
strike that may complicate our plans, and we'll worry about that in
Cairo. life doesn't get much better.
Toni
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