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April 9, 2000
I'm on the train on my way down to Aswan.
Last night, I went to dinner at Asian Dragon in Maadi. Food was okay, it was supposed to be Indonesian. Some tourist walked in and pronounced Lumpia wrong (s/b LOOM-PYAH), and I chuckled to myself.
9:10 AM
Had to borrow a pen because I forgot mine at the apartment. So far the train ride is comfortable and I ran into a family from Australia. I try not to intrude too much as they're having their family time.
Have seen several pyramids in the distance. The train rides through the valley (which is mostly agricultural land) and off in the horizon is a strip of sand (the beginning of the desert) and once in a while, a pyramid appears.
< I didn't write anything else, maybe I fell asleep, so the rest is from memory >
I decide to forget about Aswan, as the train ride is long. My original intention was to arrive in Aswan at about 10pm and spend the night. Then I would spend the day touring, and then return on the 8pm train to Luxor. Well, so much for that.
I get off the train and find the couple that were on the train with me. Some guy on the train gave us a sale pitch about some hotel that he knew and would get us a discounted price. We decide to share a cab to the Windsor Arms, and we begin to bargain with the front desk. We end up getting rooms for about LE60 each, and not sure if we're getting ripped off or not.
I meet them later for a drink on the roof top, and the view is great, except for another hotel right in front that takes up the centre of the view. After my beer, I decide to check out the Kings Head Pub. I walk, so that I can check out some sites. It's a long walk, I get lost turning down a wrong street, so I find a cab that takes me there.
I'm a long way from Cairo, and it finally hits me--I'm totally on my own. Wow. I survey the room. Around me are a few couples having dinners, and there's a big group sitting in the centre. I figure, I'll just finish my dinner and play some pool or something.
Some guys from the big group, go over to the pool table. Damn, there goes pool! I decide to grab some darts and play that until the pool table frees up. The flights are crap, and so is the dart board, so I figure I'll just leave and find a better place to go. That's when Rich, one of the guys playing pool, asks me if I want to play.
I say sure. I wait for their current game to finish, and the waiter says that their time is up and that the next half hour slot has been reserved. Well, like I said, so much for pool.
I sit down with their group, and introduce myself, and they tell me their Egyptology students from Uni. (what the heck is Uni? It's University as explained by Mike later on in the trip.) Later we go to some nightclub/disco, and proceed to get drink more....and the night's pretty much like a Friday back home, except the bar is empty, the music's old, belly dancers, and the choice of alcohol is limited.
Great first night...
and what up Birmingham Uni Posse???