I'm Off My Beaten Track in Egypt...

Nile Valley from Beni Hassan

... and wandering through some of the villages close to the monuments.  I was more than halfway through my journey down the Nile when I took time to reflect on the sights and sounds of the places we'd been travelling through...

ART, OSIRIS AND ABYDOS

We left the temple, and a short walk back through the village took us to the coach. In some respects, this was almost as fascinating as the temples.  The village was a single road of no specific definition with other similar roads or tracks off it as was convenient.  On either side of the road were houses built of mud brick.  

Some were painted on the outside, some remained their original dark grey colour.  They were crammed together without any concern for level or height.  The roofs were draped with the drying leaves of cane, palm or maize.  On some houses, there were rugs and blankets hung over the edge, and in some instances, washing was strung across from one wall to another.  The chickens and geese were kept up on the roof.  It was in this space that the women worked grinding the maize and tending their hens and other livestock.

The windows of the houses were tiny and contained no glass.  The doors were old and seemed barely able to swing on their hinges.  As we walked past, children called to us, and women came to their windows to look out.  Then a camel laden with cotton plants appeared on the road in front of us.  It towered above me.  As I and the others stood aside, I realised that there was some order to the building after all.  The road was sufficiently wide enough for a fully laden camel and no more.

We all stood back to let the imperious creature through.  As I did so, I became aware of a door opening behind me.  I turned, and a woman peeked out from behind.  She smiled instantly.  I returned her smile and looked past her into the house.  It was dark and appeared to be completely empty, with the exception of a long bench that could have come from the Cairo museum.  Its design was so similar to those on display from the tombs.  She spoke.  I couldn't understand.  I smiled again and looked away to find everyone else had moved on.

Farmer and oxen at work

I turned back and waved goodbye.  She nodded, smiled and closed her door.  Despite her obvious poverty, she wanted nothing and offered only her welcome and sincerity.  Or at least that was how it appeared to me.

The camel gone, and the moment lost, I continued along the winding street to catch up with the others.  Girls were carrying water, children played, and men went about their business on donkeys whilst others stood on the street corners deep in conversation...

Later, back at the boat, I received a very polite 'telling off' from our guide.  It was made quite clear to me that I had to keep up with the whole group.  The reasons?  I was a tourist, but more importantly, as a single straggler, I suddenly became an unaccompanied female...

You can read more about my time in Egypt Cairo Giza and the Solar Boathouse by clicking the links.  There will be more from my Egyptian Journal next month...