For a long time in the past, travelling in Egypt meant sailing the Nile since the world's longest river was the main transport corridor. The river was the lifeblood of the country and the quickest way to move about.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and any holiday to Egypt is incomplete without a cruise on the Nile. Almost all cruise lines travel between Luxor and Aswan, stopping along the way at various temples to show tourists the archaeological richness of the country.

Going where the wind takes them: If you're game for a different kind of river journey, jump into a felucca.

Cheaper and more popular among independent travellers, the felucca sails as the wind dictates. The simple wooden boat uses one main sail made of cotton and allows you to be close to the water.

A fortnight ago, my cousin and I signed up for a 4D/3N felucca adventure beginning in Aswan and ending in Luxor, followed by a 10-hour train ride back to Cairo.

"Welcome! Welcome!" the pint-sized captain, Ahmed Abdul, and his sole crewman Alak Haseer, greeted us as we loaded our bags.

"No footwear, please! We want to make sure the boat remains clean."

The felucca was small, with a deck and thin mattresses strewn about. Ahmed threw us six hard pillows and we gave each other worried looks - this is how we were going to spend our next few days?

Since a felucca can fit up to six, Ahmed wasted no time in rounding up his other passengers, Americans Esmeralda, Linda, Elaine and Aaron. Except for Aaron who was on a trip around the world, the three gals were final year dentistry students on vacation.

No worries then should our teeth start to fall apart from all those sugar-coated Egyptian desserts.

Poor donkeys taken by surprise.

With everyone on board, we set sail on a hot afternoon. Apparently, it never rains on the Nile, so staying dry is not a problem. However, accidents occasionally happen . . . and the felucca carry no life jackets.

If you cannot swim, think twice about taking a ride!

We had already been warned that hygiene was slack and to insist the crew do not use the filthy river water for drinking and washing.

"No, no! I promise you we only use tap water for cooking and washing. You won't get sick," Alak assured us, pointing to a huge red container.

Remember the West Nile Virus? Yep, it originated from this region, and the virus is transmitted through mosquitoes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, the most serious manifestation of this virus is encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in humans and horses.

Calm waters.

"The mosquitoes only buzz about after sunset but don't worry, we won't put the shade over as the darkness attracts more mosquitoes," Ahmed said.

"Won't it get cold?" I queried, knowing well the temperature would dip to zero at night.

"Yeah, but we can give you blankets. It's either the mosquitoes or the cold!" laughed the cheeky lad.

We braced ourselves.

As the hours passed, and the sun gave out a soft evening glow, we glided down the river, passing picturesque cottages, old mausoleums and tons of donkeys. The time was spent lazily sailing and, for toilet breaks, one just let the captain know and he?d moor at the nearest riverbank.

Really, there was nothing to do but eat, burp, sleep and read when there was light. Ahmed and Alak cooked us simple vegetarian meals, which always included bread and was pretty tasty.

If you saw how the bread was stored, you might just decide to fast for the entire duration. It was placed in a used box and, for every meal, Alak, with his greasy unwashed hands, would reach in for a few pieces and place them on the deck. Sometimes a fly or two would greet this spread.

"Don't look!" my cousin whispered. "Our stomachs are hardier than we think!"

Two of our American friends had the runs on the second day but we miraculously survived.

For thrills, every time a cruise liner honked away, Ahmed and Alak quickly took their positions and tried to zig-zag in front of the ship or in between them. We shrieked and hollered because it was occasionally a close call but for the lads, it was amusing.

When they saw many donkeys on land, they would anchor the felucca and ask us to ride on the animals. The poor creatures might be calmly sipping Nile water but their owners would roughly pull them away to "service" us foreigners. Clearly, they were grumpy and could have easily thrown the riders off.

For night entertainment, it was either stargazing or playing Egyptian "games" created by Ahmed. At the end of the game, there would be laughter all around, more tea, and then it was lights out.

Simple dining.

One night, I found myself shivering uncontrollably and Ahmed quickly made me some hot tea while striking up a conversation.

Ahmed, 24, comes from a family of felucca owners, and captaining the boat is what he does best.

"Some days, there are no passengers so I go home. When there are passengers, I only get to stay home two nights a week. But I like my job because I get to meet so many interesting people."

The next morning, he took us to visit his family, who offered us traditional delicacies. An interesting aspect of his village is that it has "ride-in" markets - you ride in on your donkey, purchase things and ride off!

On the last night, Ahmed moored at an island and organised a little party with other felucca passengers to celebrate Aaron's 28th birthday. The bottles were brought out; we had campfire and drums. The party was in full swing when one of the feluccas started drifting away. No one noticed until a passenger shouted out.

In a jiffy, the captain stripped and jumped into the Nile to rescue his source of livelihood while we merrily laughed. He caught up with it and returned soon enough to rejoin the party as if nothing happened.

On the fourth day, we finally disembarked, bade goodbye, offered our crew some baksheesh (tip), gave ourselves a good stretch and headed for the hotel in Luxor. After three days of not showering, we found it heavenly to soak in hot water as we scrubbed off the layers of grime.

Ahhh, for the little luxuries in life. -The Star, ANN