Item 06: Letters sent by Robert Christian Wilson to his family, 1918-April 1919 - Page 380
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[Page 380]
Well to go on with the story.
Next morning we were all up early and started off for the tombs of the kings - they are in the hills about five miles away on the other side of the Nile, so we had to engage donkeys for the trip. The hotel boat-man rowed us across the river, which is about a quarter of a mile wide here, and the donkeys came over in a bigger boat.
The donkeys seeme terribly small things to ride, when you first get on them, but it is wonderful what tremendous weights they are able to carry. A boy comes with each donk to whack him along for you, and each one seems to want his donk to be in the lead so the result is that most of the time you are racing along full canter, and no matter what you do you cant steady the donks, or hunt the darned kids away. The names of the donkeys are rather funny but I think most of them are made up to suit the tastes of the different tourists; some people who go find that all the donkeys are called after Egyptian kings, but the one I rode was called "Whiskey & Soda"' so the boy said, and I'm still wondering whether it was a reflection on me or not.