Another thirty-five miles north beyond Edfu, lies the town of Esna, the site of another dam on the Nile. The river falls about twenty-five feet here and there is a lock to facilitate passage of the cruise ships. While the actual time in the lock is, perhaps twenty minutes, there is usually a queue to enter.
As soon as the ships slow down approaching the area, a small swarm of entrepreneurial merchants in rowboats appear beside the ships. Shouts of "Hallo, hallo, hallo!" can be heard from inside the cabin or from the sun deck. Passengers wondering what is going on outside, open their cabin windows to check it out. There they are, numerous salesmen with local merchandise to sell.
We quickly called Terry and Amy to our cabin so they could participate
in this unusual selling technique. Terry enjoys bargaining so he was
ready for the challenge of reaching a low price for whatever was for
sale, dresses, tablecloths and other fabric items.
The merchants have their wares wrapped in plastic but seldom miss when tossing their packages to an open window. Price haggling takes place just as at any shop in Egypt. Money goes down in one of the packages and a sale is complete.
This is always a highlight of the trip for us. Terry didn't care what he bought, he just wanted the experience.
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