Aswan, Egypt, November 10, 2015

I just learned that we are going to travel 19635 km on this trip!  That's quite a distance!  I'm glad I'm not driving!

We left Luxor at 6 am and saw a few hot air  balloons--

Driving along the Nile is so refreshing after miles and miles of sand.  The dividing line between life and death like black and white-

The Nile is the longest river in the world at 6853 kilometers-

Bananas and sugar cane are popular crops-

We went in a small boat to a Nubian village for supper but first we stopped at a beach for  a swim-

Nubians have lived along the Nile since 5000 BC.  They were hunters, herdsmen, fishermen and farmers and are also well known for pottery.  Supper began with hibiscus tea.  It's not my favorite but some say it's better with sugar.  To make it, just add some petals to boiling water.  They don't believe in cups.  Everything is drunk from a glass and yes they are hot to hold.  Cutlery at meals is a big spoon and a fork so you cut your meat with the edge of the spoon.  I'm not sure why-

The meal  was really good.  We  had  pita bread of course, salad-tomato, cucumber and cilantro, chicken, as well  as a baked zucchini dish, two vegetable/bean dishes and rice-

The house is open to the elements and in the summer, the family sleeps on the roof-

The dining room where we ate has sand on the floor.  It's changed once a year and felt great on the feet-

Emilia had a henna design put on her arm-

There are two pet crocodiles in a cage in the house.  They bring good luck and when they are around 5 years old, they are supposed to be released into the Nile but apparently most families just eat them.

The zeer is an  Egyptian  water cooler made from  pottery.   The outside is porous and it's lined with wet sand.  The inner pot is glazed to prevent leakage.  Evaporation of the outer liquid draws the heat out from the inner pot and it cools the water inside.  There is a common cup on top-

We're off on a 2 day, relaxing felucca trip tomorrow!