We board our boat late afternoon and there is simply wooden boards places over the under carriage of a small boat with a sail and this is our home for the next 3 days. No toilet...shower...wash basin... TV...etc just us and the water and for the first time in 14months I feel completly relaxed. That evening we dock on the side of a river and visit a Nubian house where a local family hosts us for the evening and provides us with entertainment, food and drink. Then it's back on board to sleep for the night and wake up with the wind in our hair and water at our feet.

Eat...nap...eat...lounge..read...nap...eat...lounge...eat....swim in the Nile, yes swim in the Nile although the water does not allow one to see below the top layer and other travellers tell horrible stories about what has happened to other travellers they have known there is no way I am passing up the opportunity to jump in. The inital plunge into the water was freezing and it did not get much warmer the more I stayed in but as long as I didn't take mouth full of the brown/blue water our guides advised us it was fairly safe which was good enough for me. The current was strong so we ran very little risk of attracting the little Nile bugs that are known to infest now and reap havoc later. Soaking our toes in the river as we zig-zagged across the Nile, we watched the sun rise and set and took the time to appreciate how the simple things in life are often the best. The night was a time to build a large bonfire and the locals put on a party to be remembered.

The next morning we were coming to the end of our Felucca journey and we were unaware that as we slept the previous night ancors had come up and we had actually been sailing the entire night...our guides very very tired :(

No time to shower or clean up though as we were whisked from our Felucca and visited the Ombo Temple where the pillars were high and the Hieroglyphics told many stories. We ran into a few locals on the way back to the bus...a scorpion and cobra. Then on to the Temple of Horus at Edfu where the roof was black from lighting fires inside to get rid of waste, this temple was different to the others in that it still had a roof and it was one of the best preserved temples I had seen so far. Another kick ass hotel in Luxor that offers running wter and toilet :) So cleaned up and smelling fresh the night takes us to the Luxor temple, where the statues tower over you and their hands are the size of your head. The pillars stood even taller and the Obelisk that towers over the front of the temple connects the world.