Your Egypt

[Winky]

Naguib Mahfouz, wrote a book, "Adrift on the Nile" about the daily sunset gatherings on a houseboat of a group of Egyptian friends smoking kif shishah It will give you an insight of how the Egyptian elite lived on the eve of the 1967 War.This book also describes the giant Amm Abduh, dressed in a traditional galabeya. He is a version of the watchmen who act as both real estate agent for vacant awamas and as a security guard.

There is also a film with the same name; ADRIFT ON THE NILE

"Thartharah fawq al-Nil" it has English and French subtitles







:sunny: Imagine living on a dahabieh (house boat) floating on the water of the Nile
with your own little patch of greenery screening you from the rest of the world. :)








I like to wander along the banks of the Nile early morning or evening when the water is calm, Cairo just stirring awake or slowing down for the night..

While walking I imagine the romance, the love scenes and the parties these boats have seen





My own magic night of romance was of course on Le Pacha
:flower: ...where my Egyptian friend took me for dinner and a show .
It is a huge stationary Nile boat which has been converted in 10 restaurants
http://lepacha.com/







:sunny: I am fascinated by the dahabiyas and awamas :roll: silently rocking from side to side on the smooth water, inviting me to dream .....


One day while I was walking I was dreaming of owning one of these house boats myself and later.... for fun...
gathered information about them, let me share my dream with you . :wink:

:arrow: This one is FOR SALE LOCATED IN KIT KAT
you can contact me if you are seriously interested

specifications:
Made out of steel.
Currently consists of one floor 240 square meters (12X20)
License for expansion up till 840 square meters (12X35) on two floors.
After completion this house boat will contain more than 30 rooms
With a private shore (Garden) 588 square meters.
Located near to Agouza, Dokki, Mohandeseen and zamalek districts.


Sadly :( it is not ( yet) very romantic looking




and the garden :arrow:











You can find theses big boats all along the shores of Zamalek and Roda and the banks of Giza but nowadays they are converted into restaurants or nightclubs, but you can still find some who are being used as homes
in the Kit Kat area



:) At the turn of the century owners of Nile houseboats were required to paint the outer walls of their house boats in gold thats how the name was born , dahabieh comes from the Arabic word dahab meaning; gold.
In those days they were often used for a clandestine :P rendez vous between rich men and not so rich women
or they were used as summer houses by the elite, even the famous singer Farid Al-Atrach Farid, who loved falling in love but never got married , apparently owned one .
I believe he even had an affair with Queen Nazli :roll: who incidently... you guessed it :wink: owned one too


Then during World War II, the houseboats were home to many a British army officer and even a couple of German spies

Nowadays you will find the residents are a mix of Egyptians, Saudis, Britons, French, Germans, Dutch,Belgium Australians ,Italians etc.they are from all walks of life and very interesting to talk to, they are professionals, students or just travellers staying for a while .

When you walk along the shore on Zamalek you can see about 30 house boats on the opposite site of the Nile in an area called Kit Kat; in the Imbaba district which is a slum really (Just north of the British Council in Agouza the boats begin at May 15 Bridge and line the Nile northward toward Imbaba Bridge)




To be honest those boats are so big they look more like proper houses :roll: they are split up into 2 3 or even 4 apartments , they have balconies or gardens it is rather peaceful living there a bit like being on a permanent holiday,away from the madhouse Cairo is
The good thing about Imbaba is that the people there are not used to tourists so they will not try and rip you off, they are very friendly and when you are inside such a boat, the windows look out onto the
"good neighbourhood " shore of Zamalek
There is a ferry very close to the house boats to take you to the other side .
You can rent an apartment (walk along and just ask a bawab) or rent a room
One word of warning; :) You should be on friendly terms with rats and mosquitos they are there in abundance.

:( Such a shame
I think it will always stay a dream for me :cry:



PS :sunny: Even if you are not planning to buy one , go and check it out for yourself, walk on the Nile side !

:wink:

[ruby slippers]

Winky, I'm so shocked that no-one thought this thread was worthy of a reply! :x It's wonderful! I didn't even know that houseboats existed on the Nile! I've seen a couple of 'Royal' ones which are owned by tour companies now but never even heard of the ones you describe! You're right! They are romantic! :D

[Winky]

ruby slippers wrote: Winky, I'm so shocked that no-one thought this thread was worthy of a reply! :x It's wonderful! I didn't even know that houseboats existed on the Nile! I've seen a couple of 'Royal' ones which are owned by tour companies now but never even heard of the ones you describe! You're right! They are romantic! :D


:) Thank you very much Ruby Slippers I was a bit shocked myself

:( Its not very inspiring if you get no aknowledgement at all, thats why I re-posted it

I had posted it originally here

http://youregypt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8903
( slightly different version )

[Adoula]

A house boat is an obviously good idea in Cairo; fresh in the summer and always with a nice view.

[Adoula]

But what will be the future of the house boats?? Some of the boats are just as charming as they are old, and will not last long.