Exploring Cairo: Sailing

Last night we went out for a sail on one of these. A fallucca; a traditional Egyptian sailboat. We took a bottle of Bailey's Irish Creme (thank you duty free) and a bottle of wine to enjoy during our hour out on the River Nile.

Abdullah took good care of us.

Rigging the mast and sails must involve some time up at the top of the mast. Despite the opportunity for some great pictures, I decided not to take advantage of the steps.

All the fallucca sails we saw were handmade. While we were waiting to go out we watched a man making a new sail.

I kept wondering how long it had taken him to sew the strips of canvas together, hem the edges, and then stitch the rope around the hem. He had one huge iron needle and a knife; no scissors and no awl - he just used the stone floor to push the needle through the layers of canvas. It looked like a lot of work.

We may have only been out on the Nile for an hour, but it was a perfect way to start the evening.

After our fallucca ride we headed off to dinner and then back to the Pyramids for the Sound and Light Show...