We got up at 4:15 to catch our 5am train leaving Luxor for Aswan, a three-hour ride south. We arrived at the bus station a few minutes early and waited for the train. 5:30 rolled around and no train came. We cuddled into balls by our bags since the sun wasn’t up and we were freezing. I broke out my book and ate cheese and bread while Beth took a nap until 7, when she awoke worried that the train had somehow come and gone and I had been too involved in my book to notice.

At 7:30, a train pulled in and we ran down the track asking if it was the right one. Somehow, no one spoke English (this hadn’t previously been an issue), but people were nodding a blank “yes” when we asked if this was the train to Aswan. We were skeptical, but jumped on hoping that this was our train. Just then, someone motioned “No” for us, and gestured that another train was coming. Thirty minutes later our train finally arrived. We got on a crashed for 3 hours and arrived in Aswan around 11am. (more…)

Beth and I set out for our “luxury” overnight train ride down south to Luxor via public transportation. We had read that there were cars reserved for women in the subways so that they could avoid unholy contact with men, and this sounded great to us. We waited at the front of the train with all the other women as the train rolled up, and then the games began. (more…)

Before we left for Cairo, I got in touch with a former client of mine who works at American University in Cairo.  She offered to have someone meet us at the airport, and especially since we didn’t have any Egypt guidebooks yet, we were excited for the help.

When we got in, though, there were a line of drivers holding signs for people they were waiting for, but none of them were for us.  I walked through the line 3-4 times, but alas, no one.  At a moment of desperation, I saw a sign for “Harvard Business School Alumni” and thought about faking it. (more…)