Egypt - Nile River Captain

While in Luxor, Egypt I took a sailboat, called a felucca, down the Nile River during sunset. Near the end of the ride my felucca captain invited me to a wedding in his village that very evening. Attending a wedding is a unique cultural experience, which I am always excited to partaken in.

As soon as my felucca captain docked the sailboat, we took the commuter ferry together across the Nile River. Once on the west side of the Nile, we took approximately a 15 minute minivan bus ride to my felucca captain's village. We walked together to his home. I was immediately introduced to his sister. I was also introduced to a man on a bicycle, who was selling birds and chickens. Wow, this was going to be a special night.

My felucca captain, his sister, and I all went inside his home. I was motioned to the living room. We would relax there for a bit. I entered the living room with the felucca captain, and his sister went elsewhere in the house. A short time later a few of the felucca captain's friends visited. This was not exactly what I expected, but I was enjoying being away from a tourist area and instead being inside someone's home.


We sat around and talked for a while. One man took off his turban and rerolled it on his head. This was quite amusing for me, since I had never seen an unwrapped turban. Another man was sitting on the floor in the corner smoking a hookah pipe.

Eventually the sister reappeared with tea. This was very kind of her. I made a mental note that she did not actually enter the living room but stood outside the door. I am starting to realize that I am the only female in the room with 4 Egyptian males. Although everything seems to be pretty lighthearted, the man who rolled his turban has been looking at me funny. His bigger friend is making me feel uncomfortable as well. Quite a bit of time has passed. I ask about the wedding. When should we go? My felucca captain said that we would leave for the wedding in just a little while.

The 3 male friends left. The felucca captain wanted me to meet his mother and also provide me with a tour of his house. I was shocked to see that his mother was smoking her own hookah pipe. I had never seen a woman smoke. All of the coffee/tea/lounge shops in Egypt are only visited by males. This is where they sit around and smoke. If you are a frequent visitor to a certain shop, that shop will hold your hookah pipe for you. Again, only the men do this in public. Of all the places I visited in Egypt I had never seen a woman smoking a pipe.

Next my felucca captain took me upstairs. At this point I did not care if there was a wedding. It was getting late. I decided that I would be very judicious about the rooms that I viewed upstairs and then I would go back to my hotel. When we got upstairs, there was a big mat on the floor with lots of food on it. In other words, his sister had been in the kitchen all this time cooking dinner for me and her brother. Now I felt obligated to eat something.

During the meal my felucca captain noted that I was sitting so far away from him. I told him that was the perfect location for me. For the next twenty minutes the conversation centered around sex. Basically he wanted to have sex with me. I told him that was not possible, since I was married. I pointed to the wedding ring that I was wearing. He told me that since I am married "inside sex" was not permitted but "outside sex" was o.k. I told him that I loved my husband very much and neither inside sex nor outside sex would be o.k. I was ready to go back to my hotel. Could he please take me back now?

At this point I was in a real predicament. I had no idea where I was at. The streets were not lit. I did not know where to pick up the minivan bus. It was late - about 10:00 p.m. - and the streets were empty. I was at my felucca captain's mercy. He told me that he would walk me back to the commuter ferry. I told him absolutely not. I would not walk a mile or more in the dark with him. I told him we would take the minivan bus or a taxi.

When we got outside I let my felucca captain walk in front of me a couple of feet. I wanted to watch his every move. He wanted to walk beside me. I told him to keep walking. I asked him where the minivan was and he said we were going to walk. I stopped and yelled "ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I am taking a minivan or a taxi!" He said, "ok, ok." We get in the minivan. My felucca captain also wanted to take the commuter ferry back across the Nile with me. Although I was not thrilled about this, I told him he could. I really needed to make it to the ferry, and I still needed his help to do so. We took the ferry together. Although I was furious, we departed nicely. I made sure he was not following me. I also took a long curvy route back to my hotel.

The next morning I got up and went directly to the police to complain about my felucca captain. He had lured me to his home under false pretenses. I was very fortunate that I was not raped. I took the police to the felucca port to point out my felucca captain. He was not there at the time. The police told the workers around the port to tell my felucca captain to report to the police station. While I was giving a statement, my felucca captain showed up. He knew he was in trouble, and he tried to play the whole thing off as a misunderstanding. There would be a trial, and my felucca captain would most likely spend a night or several in jail for his actions. I did not want to stick around for all of this. I just wanted out of town and to keep moving. Mostly I wanted the police to know that this guy needed to be watched. He preys on unsuspecting women.

Honestly, I have very mixed feelings about this whole incident. Seeing the inside of his home, meeting part of his family, and interacting with several of his friends were experiences that in some respects I treasure. On the other hand, I was extremely fortunate that I was not harmed.