Cairo to Luxor Via Train
Just had lunch at the boat and hurried back to the net cafe with one of our fellow travelers from Canada. (Carol from Calgary) We were quoted 10 EP/hour when J and I came here but I bargained down to 8 and when we left he let us away with 7. (under $2 CND) The teenage boy running the place seemed happy that I had brought back a friend and agreed to give us each an hour for 7 EP.
So, back to the story... after leaving out hotel in Cairo last night we headed towards the Giza train station where we would be catching our sleeper train to Luxor. This train station is used mostly by the tourists and the Ramsess station is used mostly for the Egyptians. With 20 million people living in Cairo there is a lot of coming and going.
Arrived at the station just after 7 pm and were told our train should arrive at 8, 8:30 if we were lucky. Everything here runs on Egyptian time, including the train, so it didn't pull up until after 9. We all sat around on our luggage and chatted away and the hour flew by. Once it arrived we loaded everything up and found our sleeping compartments. Each cabin had two seats, which turned into bunk beds at night. There was also a small wash basin in each compartment and two toilets at the end of each car. Supper was served once we arrived - battered fish with some potatoes, rice and beef, grapes, cold beans and a piece of cake. The doors in each room opened into the next compartment, so we opened ours up and enjoyed dinner with Terri, a lawyer from England and Kym, from Australia who is on a 10 week journey around the world. J had picked up some pretzels and Kym had some cream cheese and pitas so we had a little extra with our dinner. After supper was done the steward came and made up the bunk beds for us and we tried to settle in to sleep. It was hard to sleep with the constant sway of the train but I think I managed to get a few hours in. J didn't fare as well as I did and was quite tired (and grumpy!)when we got the 5 am wake up call this morning. One of our fellow travelers described the night quite well - "it was like trying to sleep in a blender!"
Breakfast was full of carbs - piece of white bread, pound cake, croissant & a hamburger type bun. There were also two little wrapped cheeses and some strawberry jam. One cup of coffee was also included. Arrived in Luxor around 7 am this morning and tried to navigate the train station without tripping over some loose stones or construction materials. Apparently they're "upgrading" the train station but it seems to be taking a while. We had to carry our bags down a flight of stairs and up another, before dragging them across a sandy area to where the bus was waiting. I think our wheeled duffle bags need 4 wheel drive on them. Five minutes later and we were at our Nile boat, The Melodie.
(To be continued on next post.)
Supper on the train to Luxor
"Blender Bunks!"
Early morning picture in Luxor
So, back to the story... after leaving out hotel in Cairo last night we headed towards the Giza train station where we would be catching our sleeper train to Luxor. This train station is used mostly by the tourists and the Ramsess station is used mostly for the Egyptians. With 20 million people living in Cairo there is a lot of coming and going.
Arrived at the station just after 7 pm and were told our train should arrive at 8, 8:30 if we were lucky. Everything here runs on Egyptian time, including the train, so it didn't pull up until after 9. We all sat around on our luggage and chatted away and the hour flew by. Once it arrived we loaded everything up and found our sleeping compartments. Each cabin had two seats, which turned into bunk beds at night. There was also a small wash basin in each compartment and two toilets at the end of each car. Supper was served once we arrived - battered fish with some potatoes, rice and beef, grapes, cold beans and a piece of cake. The doors in each room opened into the next compartment, so we opened ours up and enjoyed dinner with Terri, a lawyer from England and Kym, from Australia who is on a 10 week journey around the world. J had picked up some pretzels and Kym had some cream cheese and pitas so we had a little extra with our dinner. After supper was done the steward came and made up the bunk beds for us and we tried to settle in to sleep. It was hard to sleep with the constant sway of the train but I think I managed to get a few hours in. J didn't fare as well as I did and was quite tired (and grumpy!)when we got the 5 am wake up call this morning. One of our fellow travelers described the night quite well - "it was like trying to sleep in a blender!"
Breakfast was full of carbs - piece of white bread, pound cake, croissant & a hamburger type bun. There were also two little wrapped cheeses and some strawberry jam. One cup of coffee was also included. Arrived in Luxor around 7 am this morning and tried to navigate the train station without tripping over some loose stones or construction materials. Apparently they're "upgrading" the train station but it seems to be taking a while. We had to carry our bags down a flight of stairs and up another, before dragging them across a sandy area to where the bus was waiting. I think our wheeled duffle bags need 4 wheel drive on them. Five minutes later and we were at our Nile boat, The Melodie.
(To be continued on next post.)
Supper on the train to Luxor
"Blender Bunks!"
Early morning picture in Luxor
posted by The Patterson Pair at 6:39 AM
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