One afternoon while stopped along the banks of the Nile, Hamed brought out his lute and played and sang several songs he had picked up over the years. The lute on which he played had a surprisingly good sound, despite having three of its four strings made a taut fishing line instead of a brass wire. At the same time, he gave us a welcome lesson in Islamic traditions, as he was one of the few people we actually saw practicing the religion on our trip.
Hamed, the co-pilot of the felucca, had the primary responsibility for putting up and taking down the sails. Of course, to be more accurate, they're simply left in place and tied to the mast and boom. To do this requires that he shimmy up and down the long poles, which he does quickly and with a monkey's agility.
