Saturday, December 31, 2005

Cruising the river

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/775/tr4.htm
Travel article about a Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan: " It was a delightful trip of discovery which every Egyptian, apart from foreign tourists, should experience. One thing I noticed, which I describe as Nile ethics. It seems that the river sets its rules of conduct, based on cooperation and mutual respect. I never saw a cruise boat trying to overtake another; the way dozens of boats queued up before the Isna Lock was quite impressive. Whenever a boat passed another they exchanged greetings by blowing their sirens during the day and flickering their lights at night. I was awed by the ability of the rais of the boats, elderly or middle aged saaidis, dressed in their typical saaidi galabiyas and head gear, just as they were described in the books of the 19th century travellers".

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