At 7:30 pm, we climbed up onto the train on Platform 8 (not 9 ¼ ) and handed our tickets to the conductor who proceeded to show us to our sleeping compartment. It had 3 comfy arm chairs, the middle of which folded down to form a console. A part of the wall swung out to reveal a sink, mirror, 2 towel racks...with real towels and soap (any of you who have traveled in the ultra-budget sense know that real, terrycloth towels and soap are a treat from your micro-sized travel towels that you carry along with you), a little shelf, and a vanity light. Well, you know we had to make use of that right away.
After washing up from a hot, smoggy, dusty day in Cairo, we packed away our luggage in the overhead compartment and settled in to read a bit before dinner. The conductor came back and told us that he would be taking care of us for the trip and asked if we would like a beer, a mixed drink or wine before dinner. Now on business class flights and economy int'l flights, alcohol is included. We are getting a little smarter and knew we would have to pay, but since we hadn't drank any alcohol in at least 4 days we thought it might be best for our bodies if we would have at least one Egyptian beer. I mean after all, it was the Egyptians who invented beer in the first place! Long story short we did have beer at a cost of 15 Egyptian pounds a piece (less than $4 CDN). This seems reasonable, but we have been buying 1.5L of water for 2 Egyptian pounds ($0.50 CDN) and pop for about the same. Luckily the beer was good.
We were leery about the meal as we had been warned that it wasn't very good. Once again, the conductor came and slipped two wooden trays into slots against each wall to serve as our tray tables. Very ingenious. We had a variety of breads with us in case. As it turns out, the meal was fine. We had a small breast of chicken each, some beef/gravy bit, rice or a mincemeat pastry type thing, a chocolate desert, plain yogurt, cheese, olives and a bun. It all tasted fine. Either they have changed the food since the reviews that we had read about or we just don't have very discriminating taste. Probably the latter.
After dinner, the conductor returned to put down our beds. With expert use of a little socket-type looking tool, he quickly transformed our "dining/sitting room" into a "bedroom". Cool! We headed off to bed as we knew that it would take a while to fall asleep and that Sunday was to be a big day of sightseeing in the searing heat. We each snuggled into our sleep sacks (of course, I (Tam) got the top bunk) and were rocked to sleep by the movement and vibrations of the train. I was a little chilly and was a little afraid to get under the blanket (blankets are often just plain yucky and I was afraid to see what kind of stains the mattress had on it...last place was pretty gross) so I tossed and turned a bunch of times while trying to get Gerald's jacket placed just right over my upper body.
At one point, Gerald grumbled from the bottom, "What are you doing up there? I was just falling asleep." Trying not to be a wimp I said that I was just getting comfortable. It wasn't until 5 am when a pee break for both of us forced us to turn on the lights that I realized that not only was there the aforementioned blanket, but there were also sheets (guduh!). I could have been in my sleep sack, inside of the sheets, under the blanket all night! Dumb, dumb. At least the next hour and a half was a bit more restful.
The conductor returned at 6:45 am to retransform the "room" and served us breakfast at 7am. Once again, the food was fine.
As much as this was all a fantastic experience (even though I'm mad that we forgot to take a picture of our "bedroom"), I think what may be one of my most memorable moments on the train ride was looking out the window. The train tracks run directly along the Nile. Between the tracks and the river are small fields of corn, other long type grasses, and other crops. Every couple of minutes, we'd pass a farmer working in his field. Most of them were using very simple implements if not just their hands. Their donkeys were always tethered close by. The lush green of the fields and the green-brown water of the Nile in the background is a beautiful sight.
We also saw many farms and villages. The buildings in this area are made with bricks and then plastered with mud to make a smooth finish. We saw many a farmer and his children on their way to/from their fields or the nearest markets/small villages. They would be driving carts pulled by donkeys or just riding side-saddle (minus the saddle) on their donkeys. Everyone men, women and children (come to think of it, I don't know if I saw any women) were wearing robes. Gosh, that must be hot. I saw one man sitting on a dirt road picking rocks and sticks out of the dirt to then scoop up the "clean" dirt into a large pile next to his donkey cart. After some thinking on this, I came to believe that he was most likely getting dirt to plaster a house he was building.
The markets/small villages much resembled those we saw in Tanzania around Kilimanjaro and Arusha. Small mud plastered buildings, some painted and some not. Here and there was a café of sorts with plastic patio furniture out front.
We did see some vehicles, but most seemed to be carrying workers both in the cabs and in the boxes of the trucks.
Before we knew it, we were pulling into Aswan at 8am. It seemed like the train trip of 12 hours passed in a blink of an eye. The complete experience was fantastic. I'm kind of glad that they were out of "First Class" seats...what a "ride" we would have missed.
Aswan Hotels
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