Departing Alexandria, we stopped at a mall on the edge of the city before beginning our trek back to Cairo, where we’d catch a train to head south. I couldn’t help but ask, “Who shops here?” because the majority of the signage was in English, selling expensive Western brands. The only exception was the grocery store, which clearly catered to locals. It’s like ancient Alexandria: international mixed with local. We bought some snacks for the train ride while we were there.
We drove to Cairo and stayed just long enough to wait at the train station. We watched with some apprehension as we saw people pack into train cars, literally hanging out the doorways as the trains pulled away. Thankfully, that was not our experience. We had a sleeper train that would take us south to Aswan. It was old enough that perhaps one of the pharaohs had ridden in it.
Slowly pulled away from the station, I reminisced riding an overnight train like this in 2011. One key difference: my cell phone. Even without wifi, I could turn on the GPS and check on our progress. After a light supper (and eating some of our snacks), I fell asleep to the clickety-clackety sounds of the train hobbling along. When we disembarked the next morning, we would be near the southern end of the country.
