Felucca Sail on the Nile in Aswan

A felucca has no engine. It is a wooden hull with a single lateen sail, and it is the same design that has moved people and cargo on this river since antiquity. At Aswan, where the Nile is at its clearest and broken up by granite islands, it is still the best way to see the river.

This is a short trip - about an hour on the water - and it is deliberately simple. You sail, and that is it.

What you pass

Elephantine Island sits in the middle of the river, inhabited continuously for more than five thousand years, with Nubian villages painted in blues and ochres along its edge. On the west bank the desert comes right down to the water, with the Mausoleum of Aga Khan on the ridge above. Kitchener's Island is covered in a botanical garden planted in the 1890s and visible from the water as an improbable band of green.

Aswan is where Egypt starts to feel Nubian rather than Mediterranean, and an hour drifting past it tells you that more clearly than any museum.

When to go

Late afternoon, without hesitation. The light on the granite and the water in the last hour before sunset is the reason people photograph Aswan, and the temperature becomes pleasant rather than punishing. Feluccas depend on wind - if the river is completely still, your captain will use a small tow or wait, and it is worth waiting.

Good to know before you book

• The sail lasts about an hour. A guide is included and you may request your preferred language.
• Transfers are included within Aswan; pickup from a Nile cruise ship or from outside Aswan carries a $5 per person supplement.
• Lunch, drinks, photography and video are not included. Bring your own water.
• There is no shade on most feluccas - a hat matters even late in the day.
• Boarding is from a low quay onto a moving boat. Tell us in advance if anyone in your group needs help with this.

$22 per person (regular price $24), including the one-hour felucca sail, guide and transfers in Aswan.