Egypt Day 6 - Luxor to Aswan

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Today I had to get to Aswan. So I checked out of my hostel and made my way to the train station. One guy passing by on a motorbike asked me if I was looking for a hostel or place to stay. I said no; but as if that answer wasn’t enough, he proceeded to ask “Why?”.<span><span> And he kept on following me and repeating it until I crossed to the other side of the road.

Anyway, so I got to the train station, only to find out that there were no trains running to Aswan that day, despite what the online timetable showed me. I was aggravated. Looks like you can’t rely on anything here. Thank goodness I have a flight back from Aswan to Cairo, otherwise the train might “not run” and cause me to miss my flight out of the country.

I headed straight back to my hostel and asked them for help. My only option was to pay $50 for a taxi. I had no choice. For a three-hour trip, it’s a pretty good deal, especially for a taxi. I learned along the way that petrol here was only 15 cents per litre.

It was a comfortable ride, and I saw a lot along the way. There were people along the road for the whole of the journey, sitting outside or doing chores. It looks like there is no highway with just open road – there were people, homes and villages scattered along the entire route, with very few gaps which you could consider highway zones. Very interesting way of life over here, that and the scenery was stunning. We had the Nile River on one side, surrounded by desert hills and palm trees. The other side had rocky mountains with homes along the ridge. Beautiful stuff.

I got to Aswan and my hotel. I parted ways with my very friendly driver, who didn’t speak English very well, but still made an effort to tell me his stories. Once checked in, I had the tour guide for Abu Simbel meet up with me in the lobby to arrange tomorrow’s day trip. I also wanted to get to the Temple of Philae today, but it looked like I wasn’t going to have enough time. My only other chance is Wednesday, if I wake up early. I don’t want to miss out on it.

So for the rest of the day, I relaxed, walked around Aswan, tried some of the local food, and got some rack.

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