I had never tried hailing a felucca before, but how hard could it be? We were standing on the banks of the Nile at Aswan. The river is dramatically beautiful here, and races through channels between scattered lush islands. Everywhere, brightly coloured boats were weaving up and down the waterways. There were painted motorboats, big cruisers off in the distance and the elegantly curving white sails of feluccas, the traditional Arab sailing boats. Self-consciously, we raised our arms and started...