Aswan 2
Trip Start
Nov 14, 2008
1
81
102
Trip End
Feb 26, 2009
Aswan,
Egypt
Monday, February 2, 2009
The train journey from Cairo to Aswan took 15 hours, yet I surprised myself and managed to sleep through most of it, even though our 6-person cabin had a light that we couldn't switch off. When we arrived at our hotel, we had to wait over an hour before we could check in, even though it was afternoon - it's not just big-city Egyptians who take forever to get things done. In the meantime, I bought two pitas with falafels and salad for half a pound each (about 15c)! Compare that with the $10 you pay at Pita Mix in Rose Bay, or the 90 Egyptian pounds my share of lunch with Mehlhat cost in Cairo.
Evening in Aswan
I went on the net for a while, and slept in the afternoon heat, before we had an evening walk with the group. Mostafa took us to a sheesha bar, although I'm still struggling to blow Deutsch-style rings with it. As beer is so hard to find, particularly in the more conservative and smaller cities like Aswan, I made do with 3 glasses of tea. The people in our group are good fun, especially my roommate Jason who responds to peddlers by trying to sell them his own clothes in return. We were all in bed tonight by 9pm, as we wake up at 3:15am to visit Abu Simbel.
