No Nile Cruise would be complete without the traditional ship's galabaya party. These full length garments can be bought very cheaply from Egyptian vendors who row out to the ship when it is waiting to pass through Edfu lock on the river - in fact its difficult not to buy one as they are so persistent. Standing on their rocking boats they hail people on the top deck then throw a polythene bag with a galabaya inside it up to them three floors above - they rarely miss. The prospective buyer tries the garment for size, negotiates a price, puts the money in the polythene bag and throws it back down again. Its great fun. At the party we learned two new games - one where the men had to tie a string round their waists from which hung a potato. They then had to swing this potato to hit another potato on the floor and knock it across the stage. The other game involved passing numerous empty water bottles round the circle until the music stopped - very much like "passing the parcel". Our cabin stewards were great fun too - every evening they made something out of our towels, pillows or life jacket - here are two examples, one a crocodile, the other I'm not sure what but its wearing a life jacket.
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