After visiting so many temples and museums, I was looking forward to our Day in the Life experience, a feature of every OAT trip. We had a leisurely start to the day, setting out at 9am in a motorboat for a short trip directly across the Nile to the al-Ramla village area. The villagers are part of a traditional farming community. However, there were already signs of change. As soon as we stepped out onto the beach, our local guide explained that the beachfront area was being cleared out so the government can build a corniche, or promenade. Foreigners have been buying up riverside land, building houses, and turning them into rental properties. In other words, this quiet stretch of the coast is already in the process of becoming a tourist area and I’m glad we were able to see Ramla before it's totally transformed.
Turning away from the beach area, we walked into the v
As we continued walking down unpaved roads through the village, our guide pointed out jars of water that are available to anyone who might need to rehydrate during the day.
The village was quiet, with no traffic except for an occasional motorcycle. Mango trees provided shade along the way and farm animals peered out at us from behind walls.
Where the road ended, a local type of bamboo was growing wild. It’s used as a roofing material.
Our guide showed us one of the largest structures in the village. Known as a Haj house, the building is decorated with painted scenes of the ritual journey to Mecca that all observant Muslims hope to take. I wasn’t quite sure what type of activities take place here.
We passed by a local primary school and greeted some of the children who were on a break. Some children have to walk 3 miles to go to school.
There was no preschool in the village until a Montessori school for three- to five-year olds was started by an ex-pat from Austria who is married to an Egyptian. They rely on donations to stay open.
Hussein pointed out an African green bee-eater sitting on an overhead wire. I’d never seen this type of bird before. They actually eat bees and other insects.
We soon arrived at the home of a typical local family. As is common in rural Egypt, three generations live together. In addition to the matriarch of the family, a woman in her mid-70s, the household includes her husband, her son, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren.
The original part of the mud brick house is on the left and the newer part is on the right.
We peered into the kitchen and some of the other rooms. And yes, they have electricity, running water, and television.
Some of us also climbed up to the roof, where corn was being dried. The roof is also used as a general storage area.
The family keeps chickens and ducks in a caged area to protect them from foxes and meerkats. They also have a cow and her calf.
We watched our hostess rolling out dough for fresh pita bread. It takes just a few minutes to bake in a wood-fired outdoor oven.
On the terrace, brightly colored fabric covered the dining tables. Overhead was a patchwork of tree limbs, pieces of bamboo, and scraps of wood and cardboard. I noticed daylight coming through and wondered what would happen if it rained. Hussein laughed and said it never rained.
We noticed the paintings on the wall of the house that looked like the Kaaba in Mecca. When we asked, our hostess proudly indicated that she had made the haj.
Lunch was a simple but filling meal. We served ourselves from earthenware bowls of beef mixed with vegetables in a savory sauce, okra, potatoes, rice, and bread. All of the food was locally raised or grown.
For dessert, our hostess brought out bowls of a tahini and molasses mixture and demonstrated how to eat it by dipping pita bread into it.
Although we had to rely on Hussein for translation, I felt a real warmth from the people we met in the village.
Back in Luxor on the eastern shore of the Nile, we boarded a felucca, a traditional Egyptian sailboat, for a relaxing 2-hour cruise on the river. The boat was owned and operated by a Nubian family whose youngest member clearly enjoyed entertaining us. (I wondered, though, why he wasn’t in school on a Monday. Or maybe school was over for the day.)
The day would have been perfect except for a slight mishap (the curse of the pharaoh?) that occurred when I was making my way back from the felucca to the Nefertiti on a wooden walkway. I didn’t notice that at one point there was a change in level of a few inches, and my foot got caught in the gap. Fortunately, I didn’t fall but I badly bruised by foot and sprained my ankle. Once back on board the Nefertiti, I iced my ankle immediately, but it started throbbing and walking soon became painful. Instead of attending the festive farewell dinner that evening, I remained behind in my cabin with my foot propped up on a mountain of pillows. I took a couple of anti-inflammatory pills that I had in my first-aid kit, hoping they would bring the swelling down. Various crew brought me dinner and more bags of ice. I berated myself for allowing this to happen and I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to participate in tomorrow’s scheduled visit to Karnak Temple.
After dinner, Hussein appeared at my door with a tube of cream that he said his family members used all the time for sprains and bruises. It was called Thrombex, a name I didn’t recognize but I figured it was worth trying. And, much to my surprise, within half an hour, the pain was practically gone. By the next morning, I was pain-free and able to walk normally, which seemed nothing less than a miracle. Later on, a fellow traveler who was a physician told me the ingredient in Thrombex was an anti-coagulant, which is different than an anti-inflammatory.
In any case, the crisis was averted. I’d be able to visit Karnak Temple after all. I’ll tell you about it in my next post.
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