4/19, Day 2, Aswan

Headed to the airport at 3am for our 5am flight, which was blissfully short and uneventful. We checked into the Keylany Hotel at 6am and were happy to find it cute and mostly clean. Two hour nap and at 10am we started our felucca ride down the Nile with our captain/guide Autif. Jaimee, Krystin, and I had the boat completely to our selves, other than Autif and his two men. It was the most relaxing amazing experience. The cool breeze blowing over the water felt refreshing and almost got a little chilly, even though it was well into the 90's.

We sailed for two hours, lounging about and chatting with each other, until we reached Autif's Nubian village- Al Kobanya. His family prepared us a delicious authentic lunch of whole fish (stuffed with garlic and spices), tahina, bread, rice, and more. I was very nervous about my stomach, but I ended up being fine. We all sat on the floor arund the food and dug in with our filthy hands. Afterwards we drank hot tea, which is the thing to do here all the time even though it's so painfully hot. Hibiscus tea is actually really good once you put a spoonful of sugar into it... We took pictures and relaxed at Autif's home, then it was back to the boat. Interesting side note: if you saw the homes that the Nubians lived in, you would say that they are very poor and live a backwards life, but they all have TVs wtih dishes. They show American movies but just delete the bad scenes. We sailed back and stopped at Kitchner's island, which is covered in plants and tall trees with warbling birds.

Back in Aswan we went through the Souq, which is a marketplace like a big open bazaar They have a lot of them here. They hassle the hell out of you, calling out to yuou, getting in your face, following you down the street. Everything is 'you are so beautiful' and 'where you from?' and 'I pay you to look'. One guy called me a beautful chicken. Another guy got in Jaimee's way, and when we wouldn't move, she pushed him. He freaked out loike a little girl and yelled 'DON'T YOU TOUCH ME!!' Anyway, we bought a few things, but it was mostly just touristy crap.

So that was Day 2 in Egypt.