Once again, if you have not yet read our previous travel diaries in Egypt, please read from the beginning: #1, #2, #3 and #4

Today, we have a little busy schedule and so much the better! It allows us to better enjoy the Nile.

Part 1: Travel Diary
Part 2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Diary

Today, we have breakfast at 8am (it’s grasse-mat youhouuu) and we enjoy the dreamy landscapes before our first stop in Ramadi. On the way, we see the ruins of an old city whose name I forgot. It is very impressive. It makes me think a little bit of the ruins on the Isla del Sol.

Village of Ramadi

Around 9 am, we moor in front of the village of Ramadi, a very cute little village, occupied by peasant and fishing families. Drinking water is provided in the traditional jars like this. The shape keeps the water fresh. There is even a typical Egyptian sofa (mastaba) next to it. For Muslims, “Whoever offers water to a thirsty man will be rewarded with a reward equivalent to the emancipation of a slave. To give water when it isn’t available, his action will be equivalent to the action of giving life to a person. To give life to one person is equivalent to the action of giving life to everyone”. So everyone offers water, and you can drink it, of course, for free.

The rectangular sofa you see is always put outside to receive guests. Usually it is to receive the male guests, they chat outside, sitting on these mastabas and the women stay quiet inside.



Different pumps financed by the Japanese allow efficient and low-polluting irrigation. Egypt is currently being helped by Japan because Japan wanted to thank them for the help they received from Egypt a hundred years ago. In the smaller villages, the Egyptian do-it-yourself pumps run on diesel and it is much more polluting.



We walk through farmland and discover plants we know and others we don’t yet know, such as carcadet plants (hibiscus), whose dried flowers make a delicious tea (cold or hot). This tea is often offered as a welcome drink in hotels. We will also see a felucca being renovated (feluccas are made of metal now, not wood as before).



Some photographs of this charming village. Once again, Bassem our French-speaking guide, managed so that we are alone on the places. A true luxury.



On the walls of many houses there are illustrations of their trip to Mecca, how they went (boat, plane?) what Mecca looks like and how good it is to go there and they recommend the trip. It is a real pride for them to show everyone that they have made the pilgrimage. It’s like writing my blog on the wall of my house. So cute!





We meet some locals and they are both curious and shy when they see us. The children have just finished school and say hello to us in tens. We also cross some women, including a carcadet seller. They are all veiled and in black if they are married, and in color if they are single. The atmosphere is good and calm.

We take another path and see a felucca setting sail. I think that it isn’t yet ready to welcome tourists, but it will be soon.

Swimming in the Nile

We go back on the boat. Before lunch, the captain asks JB if he wants to swim. He answers yes. We stop on a beach with super fine sand so that he can swim. Marcel (our boat neighbor) joins JB while Marie-Pierre (our boat neighbor) and I soak our tired feet. The water is good but still too cold for me. And since big cruise boats go by tens, I prefer not to. The current is still strong, but JB holds on. Marcel and him have even done a few dives.





There is enough wind today for the other dahabiyas to sail with all sails open. And we too, we aren’t going to delay to put ourselves there for our biggest happiness.

Visit to the village of Bassaw

The boat moors in the village of Bassaw. It is a large island in the middle of the Nile, with fertile land (just look at all these green plots). Most of the inhabitants are peasants.



One of our sailor knows an inhabitant of the island and brings us to his home (Walid). He shows us his house, his oven (gas), and offers us tea and local cake. It is really very nice. The decoration is loaded, a little bling bling, the wedding pictures hanging on the wall, but everything is really super clean, from the courtyard to the bedroom. And we are really very happy to be invited in such an intimate place and to be able to ask some questions (translated by our guide) to the family. Outside, all the children of the village, curious, look at us through the door and smile.

But it’s already time to go home. Walid offers us two sun loaves. The dough is prepared with wheat, water and leaven. It is left in the sun for a while and then baked quickly in the oven. It is as good as a French farmhouse bread.

When it’s time to leave, we witness an incredible scene: two farmers bringing reeds on the island and the cows (which are swimming). He brings them to the other bank (where there are many things to eat) in the morning and brings them back in the evening.





The continuation of our stay in Egypt is here

Part 2: Practical Tips

Budget

Everything is already paid at our cruise agency (more info here).

The only thing we wanted to pay in addition was the 25 pounds/person as a thank you to the farmer.

Tips

The big cruise ships don’t stop at small villages like this. You have to opt for a dahabiya if you want to discover the life of the peasants.