Welcome to Nubia!

What’s the secret to getting a bad night’s sleep you ask? How about a fourteen hour, all stations train trip from north to south Egypt (Alexandria to Aswan by train)? You can sleep through that? How about being in a smoking carriage the entire way? Still think you can sleep through that? How about if all of the other passengers are insomniacs who listen to music on their phones, chat and smoke the entire trip? If you can sleep through ALL of that, congratulations: You are a seasoned traveller!

After getting into Aswan, waking up to good Egyptian coffee and finding a hotel for the night, we take a ferry across the Nile to visit a Nubian Village.

Nubia is a historic region in Africa, located in Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan. One of Africa’s oldest civilisations, Nubian history dates back to 5000BC. Incorporating parts of Ancient Egyptian culture, such as Pyramid building, Nubians have at times had control over all of Egypt, having conquered it from the Assyrians and Egyptians.

What better place to start a tour of a village than the local school. The kids who show us around are absolutely amazing and so incredibly friendly to boot.

One can only help but wonder what they teach in Nubian schools. Lucky for us, we’re able to go into a classroom, find out they have English lessons and find this absolute gem of a poster:

Modal Verbs “Possibilites”

Definitely: The plane will crash.
Probably: The plane may crash.
Possibly: The plane might crash.
Definitely not: The plane won’t crash.

The tour of the village continues after our English lesson.

In Nubian villages, people are incredibly social. There is no dining room, all eating occurs outside. If anyone comes past while the family is eating, they are invited to join in the meal.

If there is a baby in the village, a big party is thrown and streamers are hung in front of the door of the house as in the picture.

Cute Nubian kids can and do PARTY!

The typical house is made from mud bricks, in a similar tradition to many Tibetan houses, though few are as beautifully painted as this one or the following one.

While one can look down on Nubian villages and consider them basic due to the lack of amenities. It is worth wandering in one as Nubians are so incredibly proud to meet strangers and make friends of them. They’re also proud of their heritage and will tell you they’re from Nubia, not Egypt. Read more about Nubian culture.