Nubia: Hidden beauty
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Throughout history, Nubians have managed to keep their traditions and lifestyles relatively uninflected by outside influences. Although many Nubian villages had to be resettled elsewhere, some fortunate settlements have stayed put in their original locations. Such is the case in the area west of Sihail.
Due to its privileged location, for many years investors tried unsuccessfully to purchase these lands, in a bid to build hotels. Still the Nubians refused to sell.
Traditionally cautious of foreigners, Nubians now begin to more warmly welcome tourists on their lands. They arrive by boat to the northern shores of the Nubian villages, where parties of camels await in order to provide visitors the chance to form a caravan that takes them through village alleys. Tourists are welcomed into local homes in order to savor a cup of tea, and led to the huts that form the bazaar, where they can buy handmade items such as carved or inlaid walking sticks adorned in a variety of motifs, wooden or leather masks, daggers, stone and beaded jewelry, or traditional pottery.
Investors that once tried to buy the land out have reached an agreement with the villagers that has enabled them to create a common project. The investors have the right to use the land and to construct hotels, but the land remains in possession of its original owners.
Both the Nubian Palace and the Ana Kato (meaning “my house” in one of the Nubian languages) are beautiful small hotels, with around five rooms each. The idea behind the hotels is that they are designed to allow guests to get an even better taste of the Nubian lifestyle. The architecture, decoration and room distribution is that of traditional Nubian houses, with all their local charm, slightly adapted to provide the guests with the basic commodities of so-called modern life. The rooms are intimate and cozy.
You can also bathe in the Nile waters. The Nubian Palace has its own private little beach or you can take a ride along the Nile in a felucca. You will also have the chance to taste Nubian culinary delicacies.
Excerpted from an article by Giovanna Montalbetti for Al-Ahram Weekly
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