We are being towed up river toward The Aswan Dam by tugboat at the moment.

We just passed a steel plant with its bellowing black smoke. Apparently we have reached civilization once more.

It seemed as we were slowly moving up the river that we were living in the time of the Pharaohs once more. Then reality reappeared.

This can happen here with ease as everything about you is ancient and made of mud.

I spent the night dreaming of going through an airport and building a kitchen in someone’s garage. Crazy stuff as usual.

There are more crewmen on this boat than passengers. The tiller is above our bedroom ceilng and we hear them working there early in the morning.

The sky is filled with wispy clouds and swooping birds looking for a meal.

We are passing under a bridge with donkey carts, cars and large trucks passing over it in both directions above us.

There is no wind at the moment. The boat has a mast at each end and a large triangular sail attached to it. The ropes are thick and I can’t see any pulleys. The work is all done with human muscle power, just like building the pyramids.

I can hear a train off in the distance taking its passengers to distant and mysterious destinations. The tracks run right along the edge of the Nile. It might appear here at some point any moment.

Is this life of ours real or just a very long dream? I’m not sure of anything anymore as the desert slowly passes by us, unchanging and vast. Or are we passing by it?