Well I haven’t been able to give many updates. For the first time we opted to for an organized tour with Intrepid to try and get a little further off the beaten track. However, free time has been limited because of the record pace. There is a lot to come so here goes…
We had a sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan and it was great! A cool little cabin with two twin beds that folded down and even a sink and mirror station cleverly hidden behind a door. We had a cabin attendant that promptly served us dinner as the train started moving - perfect timing. We slept pretty well after I fought with the metal ladder that kept rattling against the wall (I just put it on the floor and decided if I needed down, I would jump...or step on Steph). In the morning, we woke up to rural scenery and a breakfast of mostly bread (they are heavy on bread at breakfast).
The train pulled into Aswan station and we jumped off now 13hrs further south in the desert. The group needed 3 taxis but instead of driving one after another in an orderly fashion, the taxi drivers, with a little encouragement from me decided to see who could get there first, driving 3 abreast at times and late breaking for speed bumps. Who cares about the luggage on top! One of the fun Arabic words we have learned thus far is Yalla Yalla or “lets go, lets go”. The taxi drivers had fun with this one. Oh and the taxis were fantastic, green striped 70’s station wagons.
The train pulled into Aswan station and we jumped off now 13hrs further south in the desert. The group needed 3 taxis but instead of driving one after another in an orderly fashion, the taxi drivers, with a little encouragement from me decided to see who could get there first, driving 3 abreast at times and late breaking for speed bumps. Who cares about the luggage on top! One of the fun Arabic words we have learned thus far is Yalla Yalla or “lets go, lets go”. The taxi drivers had fun with this one. Oh and the taxis were fantastic, green striped 70’s station wagons.



For dinner we sailed to a Nubian village to have dinner prepared for us by a local family. The food was tasty, cooked in modest kitchen. See some of the food cooking below. Gathered around the food, sitting on a huge rug, we feasted until our stomachs were stuffed. The night was capped off with a little traditional music and dance. Steph scored a henna tattoo as well.
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