Night Train to Aswan

Farmland out the window.

On my trip to Egypt, I spent one night on the sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan. The train from Cairo to Aswan for tourists only runs at night, so you must take the night train. It took about 13 hours. Here are my thoughts on the experience.

The Station

I boarded at the Giza Station. I was a bit sad as I was hoping to see the famed Ramses Station and its beautiful architecture, but we were on the Giza side of Cairo and it didn’t sense to fight traffic back into town. The station is pretty basic. A platform spans next to the railway with sparse lighting.

There is not really any where to sit unless you buy something at one of the cafes and tip. I ended up getting a hot chocolate (even though it was still pretty warm out) just so I could sit down. While there is a train schedule, it is not unusual for the train to be almost an hour late. (Far cry to train travel in Germany or Japan!)

However, be warned, the only toilets I could find were squat pit toilets, quite dirty and you must pay 2 EGP to use. Upon seeing the dirty pit toilet I turned around and asked the woman for my money back. She wasn’t really happy about that but I just couldn’t stomach using it.

The trains that arrive at the station aren’t marked, and its hard to understand the announcements. I luckily was with a guide who knew where the sleeper cars would stop and ushered us inside.

The hallway of the car. Photo by Thomas G.

The Car

When you enter the sleeper car (which is a few steps up above the platform), at one end will be two toilets and then a narrow hallway with windows on one side and doors to the other. At the other end of the car you will usually find the train employee assigned to your cabin. He will be the one to serve you food and setup your beds.

I was warned that the toilets would get very unclean rather quickly. Besides two incidents the toilets weren’t nearly as bad as I was lead to believe (or my standards in Egypt were much lower.) The main reason for a dirty toilet was people not fully emptying the toilet of water. There shouldn’t be any water at the end, so make sure to continue to lightly hold down the pedal until empty. (Holding down harder will dispense water to clean the toilet. However, don’t count at all on any toilet paper or soap. Then again, that is a common issue in Egypt so everyone was well prepared with their own personal rolls of toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

I know there is also a lounge style bar car, but note that they don’t sell alcohol on the train. Its mostly a smoking car.

Cabin in the morning with the beds down. I forgot to take one the night before.

The Cabins

If you get motion sickness, or want to sit the next morning to watch the scenery, make sure to get a cabin where the seats face forward. Each cabin is for 2 people, and there isn’t really a good place to store your luggage, so the best you can hope for is to stack the luggage along the opposite wall while still having room to move and open/close the door. Since the cabins are small we also generally kept the door open unless we were changing or sleeping.

When the cabin is in seat mode, the seats will be on one wall, and will face towards the mirror which opens to reveal a small sink (with a light we never could figure out how to turn off). Also along this wall might be a door into the neighboring cabin which also doubles as a small closet so you could hang up a jacket or shirt. There is one electric socket, I was glad to have a multi power strip so both people could use it.

Be forewarned that the doors do not provide much soundproofing. I wasn’t feeling well so when the cabin next to me started drinking whisky and wine late into the night I was thankful to have ear plugs! Another issue I had was that the mirror’s door and the neighboring door rattles. I had to rig up a way to jam them shut to stop the sound.

When you are ready for bed you will need the attendants help, as he has a key to help unlock the beds (and you’ll also need this key to lock the beds back into a seat in the morning). These are bunk bed style beds. One folds out of the wall, and the seat back of the chairs fold down to also reveal a bed. Under the chair will also be a ladder. Pillows are found in a nitch above the door. The bed is made with a sheet and light blanket, but it can get chilly so I used my sarong as another blanket. The beds are quite stiff, but I eventually fell asleep.

The door to the cabin has a deadbolt and a chain lock for added security, although most of the other cabins next to me were taken by other members of my group, so I was less worried about thieves.

View in the morning.

The Food

When eating there are two tv-tray like panels that slot into each wall, and these are stored by the window. Most people will warn you that the food is not great. “Airline Quality” is often how it is described. We actually had a late lunch/early dinner, and I had also armed myself with snacks. So when dinner came I wasn’t particularly interested in it. If I recall it was a beef, mushroom, rice style dish with bread and a desert. I ended up giving most of this to my travel companion.

The breakfast isn’t much better. It is generally served 1 hour before arrival, but if the train is late this can seem like forever! I had read reviews that it is a “carb fest” and mostly various types of bread, with a little butter, cheese, or fig jam. However, the bread is individually packaged and so was good to take with us to use for sandwiches later. Note that drinks are not included and you’l have to pay for them. Mine was 10 EGP…and the attendant spilled the majority of it all over my poor travel companion. Without missing a beat he made sure we paid for the drink…customer service is quite different in Egypt.

The desert out the window!

The Sights

Probably my favorite part was watching the scenery move along the next morning. The railway follows the path of the nile, so you can easily see it. You will also see the lush farmland and villages nestled along the banks. And occasionally you’ll see the dusty desert from the windows. I also enjoyed watching local people at the Esna, Edfu, and Kom Ombo stations.