Geez Louise have we been on a lot of flights. A quick flight from Sharm el Sheikh got us to Cairo. From the sky it was hard to see much green against the dusty, beige sand that is endless and coated on every building.
Remarkably on the ground, there were trees within the grungy buildings. It’s as if a gloom had set in the sky and the buildings reflect that sadness.
We only had half of a day to explore and we opted to see the brand new Grand Egyptian Museum. It was their soft opening – July 2025 will be their grand opening. The artifacts dating back 5,000 plus years are unique.
Traffic was a bear from Cairo to Giza (home of the new museum) but at least for the most part they drove in their own lane – occasionally sharing their space with another vehicle but not overly crazy.
We tried to see the Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church built upon the site where Joseph, Mary and Jesus rested at the end of their journey into Egypt but it was closed by the time we got there. The police guarding the area wouldn’t even let us take photos of the outside. They would have had to let us walk down a short street but there was no convincing them otherwise. Our driver also tried to no avail. Had Mohamed from Sharm been here to convince the guards like at St. Catherine’s we would have not only seen the outside but the inside as well.
The following day we headed to Luxor. There were two options to choose from – a really quick flight or a 10.5 hour train ride. That was a no brainer. We took the train.
Just trying to find the entry to the train station was like a game of Clue. Every door was incorrect. “No, over there.” “No, over there.” That’s all I heard when I translated their Arabic in my head.
Finally, after several wrong doors a policeman guarding yet another door must have realized how stupid we were and summoned a man who grabbed some of our bags and led the way. He got us to the correct side of the track where another train police kindly took over, had us wait in a particular place and then escorted us to our seats.
The train car interior was filthy. The worse we’ve been on. I had a couple Lysol wipes left over and a swipe on the arm rest rendered the wipe solid brown. Every square inch was gross. God only knows the depth of the cooties on the cloth seats. Ewww.
Life beyond the window, in some respect, was filthier than the train. Plastic garbage bags lay waste everywhere. As we left Cairo city and got into the burbs people were tending crops between the rail and what appeared to be a tributary of the Nile River. The only colors – laundry, green crops and riverbanks lathered and stacked with fading but colorful rotting trash.
The whole – 13 hour train ride – yes thirteen hours – not 10.5 (that was to encourage passengers) – the truth was 13 – was lined with either towns or farming. Fields with deep green alfalfa and grain that were being harvested.
It appeared that most farmers have a donkey. It was great fun watching children and adults bouncing on the backs of donkeys as they went from here to there. Some have a camels and cows and an occasional horse. Tiny shade structures are built in the corners of fields resembling mangers to keep the livestock out of the sun. Today was 109 degrees. As we got further away from Cairo the fields got larger and the garbage subsided a bit. The buildings shrunk in size but the layer of dirt remained.
The train must have had no shocks. As we gained speed the train car jolted from side to side. So bouncy at times that I prayed we’d not bounce off the tracks.
It was 9:00 pm by the time we got to Luxor, the gateway to the next portion of our journey. The second we stepped out of the train station the taxi cab drivers were on us like flies on trash. They were coming at us from every angle. We picked a kid who drove his grandfather’s Peugeot.
We spent three nights in Luxor and toured the “off the beaten path” places before we boarded our official, and local, cruise from Luxor to Aswan. The people have been overly kind and friendly. The hawkers can be a bit overbearing but back off after you say no with a palm in the stop position.
It is hard to wrap my head around the artifacts here. The tombs are elaborate and some buried so deep. Sand and flooding upon sand and flooding has hidden dynasties. The lack of oxygen has kept the original colors of the hieroglyphics so perfect it was like they were painted last week.
Mind boggling!
Trains, busses and a ferry from Dublin through Wexford to Waterford and on to Pembroke Dock.
Glasgow to Ayr by train – bus to Cairnryan, Scotland and…
