April 8th- Sheila's Version- Ensa Lock

Going through the lock we had to slow down giving the merchants an opportunity to tie onto our boat and sell their wares by throwing up their towels, galabiyyas and scarves. One threw something to me even though I had turned my back and when I tossed it to the guard on the deck below he cursed me in English, even though the guard threw it back to him. Some people did make purchases, the process was to agree on a price and then a bag was tossed up and the money placed in the bag and tossed back down. Those in the cabins could conduct business from their window. Even though we had by this time had a lot of pushy salespeople by this time, this was the most surprising.