Christmas Break Part 3: Felucca Trip

We had arranged a sweet deal from our hotel trip to take a felucca trip for one night down the Nile River towards Luxor. At first we were really hesitant, but Ricardo (the Spanish guy we met on the train) was really passionate about it and we bought into it because he was so excited about it. I think that's the way it is with charisma... Anyways, so we jumped on board our felucca, after our visit to The Ruins of Abu, and we were heartily welcomed by our captain for the trip, Ayub.

The ride for the daytime was really peaceful. The sun was shining down on us as we tacked back and forth on the river. I sat and read my book for awhile, but couldn't keep my interest for long because the other people on the boat started talking. They had British accents of sorts and so I decided to get to know them instead of being a bookworm. That was BY FAR one of the best decisions of my trip.

It turned out that there was a couple formerly from New Zealand but currently living in London, Kerry and Kathy, a couple from London, Daniel and Anna, and a guy from Peru who immigrated to the UK. At first I figured they were a tour party together, but it turned out none of us knew each other before the felucca ride. Each one of them was a really interesting and brought something special to the "chemistry of the felucca."

Kerry was a recruiter for a company in London so naturally you can tell from his career that he was a pretty charismatic guy and talkative guy; he was a fun guy to talk to. Kathy was a contract manager and was somebody I would describe as a caring, comfortable person.

Daniel was a graphics designer and a really funny guy. He was really fun to talk to because he was really intelligent, but kind of seemed like he was still a kid at heart. Naturally, I REALLY liked him. Anna was a bit of a gentle spirit and was also a lot of fun to talk to.

Homberto was someone that was hard to read because his English wasn't very good, but he was definitely REALLY interesting. He had immigrated to the UK when he was in his 30's and had been a janitor at one of the factories for the past 19 years. He talked about loving work because it was something really enjoyable. Remarkably, he didn't start traveling until he was 52- after he'd broken up with his girlfriend and strongly recommended India. His spirit of adventure is something I had a strong admiration for and I'd like to have it when I'm his age, 59.

We celebrated Christmas Eve by attempting to sing a Christmas Carol or two and we ate a simple, but delicious meal. It wasn't what Christmas Eve usually is, but it was definitely a memorable one. We all talked well into the night and enjoyed each other's company. There weren't any temples to be seen or great pictures to be taken, but there were definitely amazing people to be met. It will go down as a good Christmas Eve in my book.