Do You Want A Ride On A Felucca?

Remembering my time in Egypt

Hey Lady! Do you want a ride on a felucca?- This was a common phrase I heard walking down the boardwalk in Aswan. Often it was a little nicer like Madame, but other times it was lady or woman.

In 2016 I lived in Aswan, Egypt, for a little over two months. Egypt is a beautiful place, and I arrived at a time when tourism was struggling. This was evident particularly with the number of people who would hassle you even though they knew you were a local.

Feluccas are these large sailboats on the Nile. You can hire them and go out for a couple of hours, or some companies sail up the Nile to Luxor. (I think it’s about a two-day journey.)

You can read all about it in Jay’s article from when he visited Aswan. I would have loved to do an overnight trip, but unfortunately, I didn't get the chance.

Along with the Faluca drivers, you also had the ‘Ferrari’ operators. No, it’s not as sophisticated as you would think. These Ferraris were not actual sports cars; instead, it was horse and carriage.

Not wanting to fall for the tourist trap and not having enough Arabic to barter a good price, I always said no to a ‘Ferrari’ ride.

It was always interesting walking to my language classes with my classmate. A young guy about my age from Scotland: we arrived in Aswan around the same time and lived in the same apartment complex in this small Nubian village on the outskirts of town.

This meant that everyone assumed that we were together, and once they knew that we weren’t, they automatically wanted us to get together.

Whenever I walked the three kilometres to class with him, all of the Felucca and Ferrari operators would hassle him. But, usually, we would ignore them and keep walking.

But when I walked on my own, the operators would hassle me. I got excellent at my resting B face.

In many cultures, it would be seen as rude not to interact when spoken to; however, it was a way of life in Egypt.

A few years prior, some friends of mine were living in Cairo, and the sexual harassment was awful.

It was a big reason why I chose to learn Arabic in Aswan. With a population of about 300 000, the way of life here was much quieter, and the men were less offensive.

Still, I noticed subtleties.

Sailing on the Nile is a beautiful experience. The water near Aswan is some of the clearest and purest on the Nile. One of the reasons for this is because it’s fast-moving. Aswan also has the Aswan High Dam. Built between 1960 and 1970, the Aswan High Dam replaces the Aswan low dam, which was constructed in the early 1900s in an effort to reduce flooding of the agricultural areas. It is the world’s largest embankment dam.

Aswan is also home to several Nubian communities (not to be confused with Nuban) who survive off fishing, agriculture, and tourism. Back when the dam was built, a number of Nubian communities were significantly affected by the flooding of their villages.

Since then, many relocated, which brought controversy to the dam’s construction.

If you get the chance to visit Egypt and make it to Aswan. I recommend exploring some of the local Nubian villages. The culture is diverse and colourful, and the people are incredibly welcoming.

Eating fresh fish from the Nile is also a great experience that I highly recommend.

There are a number of very interesting places to visit, including the Botanical Gardens, the Philae temple (on Lake Nassar in the Aswan Low Dam) and the Old Cataract Hotel, where Agatha Christie set portions of her novel ‘Death on the Nile’.

Two pieces of advice I would give when visiting Egypt are to try and experience the real culture of Egypt, not just all the touristy areas, and two (particularly for the ladies) to make sure what you wear is culturally appropriate.

I once saw a lady in a short tube dress literally stop traffic as she walked off one of the cruise ships (very nearly caused an accident!)

You don’t have to wear incredibly loose-fitting things, but I advise that your pants or skirts are mid-calf or longer and your shoulders are covered.

Depending on how long you are in Aswan, a visit to Abu Simbel is also worth it. Ramses II built this temple, and it is a 3 hour's drive from Aswan towards the border of Sudan.

I think this was my favourite of all the sites I visited.

Stay tuned for some further stories of my time in Egypt.

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