Cairo, Egypt - A funny thing happened on the way to Saqqara...

Still here in Cairo researching on the internet. I must move on tomorrow. Must advance the program.

Friday must have been the most interesting day in a while. I've always wanted to see the "Bonus" pyramids south of Giza: Step Pyramid of Zoser down in Saqqara, and the Pyramids of Dashur. So, I recruited Muhammed (Robert the German), Adie the Canadian, and Alex the Indonesian (whom I just met this morning) and together we set off.

Keeping in tradition of cheap/low budget travelers we skipped the taxi tour and took the Underground to Giza. From there, we took a minibus to the Saqqara turnoff. Snacking on ta'maayas for breakfast, just off the main highway, we could see the main pyramid in the distance. Walkable I thought, but it was a long way to the gates. The LP said 2 km. Yah, right.

Once there I tried my "student card" for the first time. Africans would try hence I should as well. The gatekeeper demanded an ISIC card. I struck out and had to pay an extortionate amount (50 L.E.) to get in.

When the capital of the Ancient Egypt was Memphis, this plateau served as it's necropolis or burial ground for it's Kings and other nobles. There are 16 pyramids on the necropolis with the Step Pyramid of Zoser being the most prominent.

Walking amongst the ruins...

The Step Pyramid was originally 63 m tall. It was built around c.2667-2648 BC. (l to r): Adie the Canadian, Alex the Indonesian.

Looks like the bus just rolled in.... Tip of the day: Bring water and some shades...

The Zoser pyramid is made of brick-sized stones, arranged into 6 step like platforms or mastabas.

Entrance to the Pyramid. The internal chambers and passageways were deemed unstable and off limits to tourists. Dang.

Tres Amigos. Like I said, bring water...lots of water. Maybe some sunscreen as well...

Getting to Dashur was another matter. If it wasn't for Alex (who is studying Arabic in Cairo) we would've been hooped from the start. The prevalence of English speakers out here in the sticks is nil. Just to get to the town of Dashur required 3 minibus transfers. We were stuck in town for a while because of the lack of public transport to the Red Pyramid site. That was until Alex managed to arrange a lift with the local police with 30 L.E. going to their retirement fund. From the gate we were lucky enough to grab another ride in the back of a truck.

I thought the Red Pyramid was excellent. It and the Bent Pyramid to the south were the first "true" pyramids (non-step) ever built (c. 2600 BC), preceding those built in Giza. Interesting facts: the Red Pyramid is 104 m tall (the Calgary Tower is 191 m tall), the base is 220 m, at the time of it's completion it was the tallest man-made structure in the world...

My favourite (how can you tell?) photo of all time taken by Alex the Indonesian. I think he has a future in the photography business. Moments after it was taken, these Egyptian cops threw me off the property. Happens to me all over the world... Seriously, you can see the "trail" that leads up the pyramid to the entrance (about halfway up and at about the 1 o'clock position relative to my head).

The sides of the Pyramid were constructed at an angle of 43 degrees. Go ahead and get yo protractor...

Another pic of the surface of the Red Pyramid...the Pyramid is made of a reddish granite stone hence the name. However, it's been thoroughly covered by the sand and dust of the surrounding desert over the centuries...

Muhammad the German

The entrance to the Red Pyramid. Looking north, I could barely make out the alignment of the Giza and Saqqara pyramids in the distant horizon. If you click on the photo above you'll be able to see the tiny camel at ground level.

Upwards look at the entrance.

From the entrance, we followed a 200 ft. narrow shaft down to 3 chambers at the heart of the pyramid: 2 antechambers and the burial chamber. I'd suggest, if you were to make the same climb, to follow a rigorous exercise regiment with the legendary thigh-master, because your lactic acid engorged legs will be begging for mercy by the time you get down to the first chamber (see above). That's unless you are shorter than 3 feet in height of course.

After the walking through the 2 antechambers, the burial chamber is accessed with these stairs.

Each of the three chambers featured elaborate corbelled ceilings. Beauty, eh? The workmanship of the early Egyptian pyramid builders was superb.

The burial chamber.

The pyramid wasn't always red. In fact, it was originally encased in white limestone. Much of the limestone was eventually hauled off to build mosques and such in Cairo; however, remnants of that limestone can still be found at the base of the pyramid.

The famous Bent Pyramid (left) stood in ominous isolation kilometres away. Strange pyramid to say the least. The lower half of the pyramid was steeper than the upper half (early pyramid designers encountered, in their architectural experiment, structural instability with the steeper bottom and had to cut down the angle of the top half).

We should have walked over to the Bent Pyramid but it was just too hot outside. Everyone was wilting under the desert sun. We decided hoof it back to the main gates...


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Map shows the location of the Red Pyramid...

Darshur's isolation and lack of convenient access ensured lack of tourists (which was good) but meant a slow trip home to Cairo. No methodology in getting back. At one point Alex befriended a roadside cop who in turn flagged down a ride for us. I asked Alex how he performs all these little logistical miracles.

He said, "Just smile and tell them how beautiful Egypt and its people are..."

That night we went out for Thai cuisine. The pad thai bore not resemblance to the real thing but the meal was delicious nonetheless. For all he had done for us that day, I thought I'd pick up the tab for Alex but he beat me to the bill... He picked up the bill for the entire table. At the end of the day he put us on an A/C bus for Midan Tahrir (closest stop to the Hostel).

He shook our hands and said, "See you in Heaven...".

That was the last we saw of him...

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, May 27/07
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Cairo, Egypt - Welcome Back Bubba

Luxor, Egypt, circa 1994.


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Map points to the Dahab Hostel. Excellent location (see Egyptian Museum). Clean rooms. Shared bathrooms. Common seating area opened to the heavens. Top floor. No A/C but fans available. Something like 35 L.E. per double per night.

Managed to buy a book today at the huge second hand book market at Midan Ataba. There must have been a million or so books on sale. Books covered a wide range of topics from engineering to medicine to rare antique literary works but somehow I picked out of the bunch a trashy page turner written by Ken Follett called White Out. I was really after Pillars of the Earth but I'll try this one.

I met a cool Japanese girl, Mimi, at the Dahab Hostel, the place where I'm staying. She's a buyer of belly dancing attire (to stock a store back in Tokyo) and makes annual trip to Cairo (THE hotbed of belly dancing in the Middle East). Anyway, she had the hippest business cards (everything translated into Arabic) that she got down in the Ataba area. I had to get my own. They should be ready by tomorrow.

My time in Cairo has been great. It's so energizing to be in a really really big city. I've eaten alot, trying to get rid of a calorie deficit. So, I've been eating crazy things like double chocolate cake (did I mention Egyptians have a incredible sweet teeth), and massive half barbeque chicken dinners.

I've met an incredible group of travelers/wasters at the Dahab. The Hostel is located just off Midan Talaat Harb on the top floor of a building. There's a common central sitting area where we spend most of the day wasting away. Some notable wasters were Richard and Sally the Aussies, Muhammed the German, Mimi, and Dennis the Dutchman(semi-retired grad student whose been at the Dahab for months now) and the Norwegian.

As for the rest of the trip, I will go to Alexandria and Siwa and think about it. The AUC (America University at Cairo) was well stocked with LP guides but was missing the critical Pakistan guide. I might have to make due. Otherwise, they had the LP for Central Asia albeit dated. I met a Korean girl headed to Bangkok on Egyptair for $340 USD. Now that's a deal...

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, May 22/07
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Aswan to Cairo, Egypt - Nubian Museum and Philae...

The actual island of Philae is under water (in the lake formed between the Low and High Aswan Dam. The temples (dominated by the Temple of Isis) of Philae were moved block by block (like the temples at Abu Simbel) 500 metres to a new island where they stand as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Kiosk of Trajan...note the exquisite Roman columns...

Column found in the Vestibule of Nectanebos at the entrance to site...

The Western Colonnade leading to the Temple of Isis...

Matt in front of the First Pylon of the Temple of Isis. Interesting to see a dark water stain at the bottom of the pylon marking undoubtedly numerous floods through the centuries...

Obligatory battle scene showing the victorious Pharoah (probably one of the Ptolemy's). Hilarious how he's got the enemies by the hair! Interesting how his image was chiseled and destroyed. Seems like this is commonplace when a ruler is usurped....or when another religion moves in...

Egyptian gods. I think that might be Isis on the left, then Horus (falcon-headed son of Isis), and an unknown goddess. so much for my knowledge of Egyptian mythology...

Inner sanctuary of the Birth House or mammisi found in western pillar of the first pylon. Structures like these were built to glorify the divine births of gods (in this case, the birth of Isis and related gods).

Reliefs in the birth house.

Another interesting birth house relief is that of Isis with baby Horus sitting on her lap.

Backside of the First Pylon, showing the funerary barque (boat that is used to carry the deceased to the underworld) of Isis...

The Second Pylon of the Temple of Isis.

Closer look at the giant reliefs on the Second Pylon...

The Hypostyle Hall in the Inner sanctuary of the Temple of Isis...

I found several of these carved into the existing reliefs. Run, run, the Christians are coming...

It's all Greek to me, eh... I found all sorts of graffiti on the wall of the Temple. No respect I'm telling you...

Caretaker Dude in the Hypostyle Hall...


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Aerial view of the Philae Temple Complex...


My souvenir ticket stub. 40 L.E.? That's a lot of money!!

Hmmm...went to the Nubian Museum on Day 1. That was really good. I was looking for more materials showing contemporary pre-High Dam history. But all in all, the displays were excellent (pretty comprehensive) and really informative.

Yesterday, Matt and I caught the water taxi out to the new Philae island to check out the Temple of Isis. That was fantastic. I just loved the reliefs. The birth house with it's offering table was brilliant.

Second class ticket from Aswan to Cairo costs 47 L.E. ($US 8.26). Not a bad deal at all...

I'm on the train for Cairo now. Said goodbye to Matt (he's going to take a felucca ride down to Luxor and do the Valley of the Kings).

I've had Africa withdrawal symptoms the last few days, especially coming from places like Ethiopia and Sudan. Instead of being surrounded by flocks of tourists in Egypt, it was a good feeling knowing that I were pretty much alone in Ethiopia and Sudan. The only foreigner around. The train ride in Sudan is still fresh in my mind (memories of the infamous logistics, the great people). Now I find myself in an air conditioned second class train, sitting in my own reclining seat. How weird is that?

Egypt marks the end of the African segment of the trip but as I was discussing with Matt yesterday, Africa proper, ended once we crossed into Ethiopia. The culture changed. The peoples' demeanor changed particularly in Egypt. People are much more serious here. Hardly anyone smiles. All business.

I'm skipping Luxor (with some regret). I don't think I can handle the touts. I'm moving onto Cairo. Alexandria. Then Siwa thereafter.

I'm thinking of going home soon. If I end this in June it will be 7 months on the road. That's a long time. Personally, until the DRC is safe, I might not be back this way for a long whil. The "stans" may be the next logical choice. On this trip? I dunno. One critical factor is information. Hopefully I can find some answers in Cairo...

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, May 20/07
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Aswan, Egypt - Back in the Land of Pharaohs

Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel... Two copies of Ramses II staring off into Nubia... Scared off them Nubians for centuries...

More statues of Ramses II at Abu Simbel. One lies in ruins...too bad.

Been here for a day now. The ferry docked at 10 AM yesterday. They didn't let us off till about 2 PM. Massive delays due to immigration/passport checks. That was about an unwelcoming welcome I've ever had anywhere. Knowing how tempers flare in such situations, we were lucky there weren't a fist fight or two during the wait. Anyway, we were relieved once we stepped into the hot Egyptian sun, finally.

From the ferry terminal it was a 12 LE taxi ride into Aswan marking the end to a crazy 3 day odyssey. It was a remarkable time shared with a lot of new friends. At the terminal, I bid farewell to Mahmoud and his family (the family that I shared a 2nd class compartment with way back in Khartoum). They took a connecting train to Cairo that very night. I thought I had it rough.


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Map marks the Maruwa Hotel in downtown Aswan. Not only close to the railroad station (less than 100 metres to the northeast), it's cheap (8 LE for a dorm bed, PLUS air conditioning!!!). You'll need the A/C, daytime temps were in the upper 30's to 40's when I was there.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, May 18/07
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Onboard the Sagalnaam, Lake Nasser, Egypt - Not the Loveboat but close enough...

Another lame attempt at video. We're close to reaching the ferry terminal at the Aswan Dam and I thought I'd grab some shots.

Muslims pray 5 times a day but there are exceptions. One of those exceptions is when devotees are traveling. In cases where there's a big convenient space like the upper deck, the bruthas do their thing. This was the 5 pm session...

Sunrise over the lake on day 2. I spent most of the night walking around the boat, sitting down occasionally to get some rest. I was still struggling with my cold. So, I avoided sleeping on the cool windblown upper deck where I could have spread out. Matt, my American friend was out there though...

Goooood Mooooorning Egypt!!!

Wakey, wakey...sleepy heads.

Dudes on the boat...question: which way faces eastwards?

More dudes on the boat. Egyptians to Sudanese ratio? About 80/20. [ed note: I'm not sure about the ratio really but I like that 80/20 rule though...]

Aloha Sudan!!! Looking back, it was frustrating in a logistical way, but I really liked the normal people. Would not be surprised if I'm back some day. Hopefully I'll be able to see the entire country by then...inshallah.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, May 17/07
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Wadi Halfa Dreams to Champagne Wishes on the Ferry Sagalnaam...

From Out of Canuck...

Train stopped at al-Petticoat Junction, Sudan... No room left on the train! Let's move on boys...

Nice Sudanese folks out on the desert stretching their legs after a sardine-like experience the night before...

From Out of Canuck...

Bleak...

More bleak... Didn't think they had telephone service on Mars, yet...

From Out of Canuck...

Typical 2nd class compartment. Ain't much better than first class I'm tellin' ya.

The hall way were I "slept" last night...


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This map marks the opulent Hotel Nile in Wadi Halfa...

Wadi Halfa is my Timbuktu.

Incredulous you say?

I've never been to the fabled Timbuktu in Mali. But, Wadi Halfa has to rank up there in terms of mystique. Well, in my book of checklists at least. I've always wanted to come here since I first thought up this pan-African adventure. I have a crush for off the beaten path, desolate, bleak places...

The scenery had been pretty bleak all day, just flat endless desert. When late afternoon came, the train entered a landscape of low mesas. At this point, the train slowed its pace while mesas to either side forming a reminiscent bowling lane. Could this be my Timbuktu? Slowly, slowly, a town revealed itself in the shimmering sand in the distance. Hell, I could have missed this place if I batted an eyelash. The train wheels squeeled once again. I looked outside the window and I read on a sandblasted sign: Station No. 1.

I had finally made it. Mixed emotions: elation, relief, and sadness. This was the end of the line.

Everyone just piled out. I got my bag and found Matt on the platform. We jumped in the back of pickup truck/taxi and headed off to town still a few kilometres away.

We booked into the Hotel Nile (not much to it other than a bunch of cots spread out under what looked like camouflage netting) then headed for a restaurant across the street. If I didn't know Lake Nasser was to the north (somewhere close by), it would have been very strange that I had grilled fish for dinner.

I did a bit of exploring after dinner. Walking around the moonlit streets, I thought this town may as well have been a mirage. It's a miracle, considering the desolation of the surrounding desert, that it actually exists.

**********

The Nile Hotel was not as bad as Michael Palin described. I thought the outside setting was great. If it weren't for a thin veil of high clouds, the star-filled night sky would have been overwhelming (I did see the Milky Way though).

It was warm out. But, by 2 or 3 AM, the temperature was just freezing. I was sleeping in my silk liner and was chilled to the bone. I think I caught my fourth cold of the trip. Damn, I'm so susceptible to colds now.

Feeling a bit under the weather now, I thought I would relax and wait for the boat today. That was until the long arm of the Sudanese bureaucracy pulled me back into its grinding gears. I had to spend a couple of hours cued up for previously unheard of departure fees and another security check. Then I had to confirm my boat ticket (damn lucky I found out about that otherwise I'd would have been denied admission at the boat).

I stocked up on water and snacks at the local market. As I walked back to the Nile, a truck sounding its horn, stopped alongside. On board was my friend Ahamed!! He had loaded his worldly possessions in the back of the truck and was on his way home to Abri. I reached up to the window, shook his hand, and bid him farewell. Last night we talked about the possibility of him buying a hotel in Wadi. Because Wadi Halfa was at a crossroad, he thought it might be more exciting to move here. I might be back one day but just in case I wished him a good life. He reciprocated... Such a good man.

It was something like noon when we decided to make a break for the boat terminal. Damn taxi drivers. They just wanted to rip us off for the last time. So we defiantly started marching towards the ferry terminal. Damn terminal must have been at least 5 K away. The sun was just baking us. That was until a black pickup truck picked us up. Damn the taxi drivers!!! Ha!

The Sagalnaam...


First class cabins have square windows, cattle (second) class has the round tiny windows...

The loading process was chaotic. We were in the terminal building for the longest time. Just one more layer of bureaucracy to go I thought, the border control and luggage inspection... Fingers crossed.

Once the boat launched it was smooth sailing (not a cloud in the sky or whisper of wind). The second class sitting area was pleasant enough: air conditioned and padded benches. The A/C has helped defuse some of the tempers in the crowd. There must have been at least 200 passengers squeezed into 2nd class.

**********

The family I'm sitting with are just amazingly friendly. They keep giving me food...

**********

It's something like 6 PM... We just spotted Abu Simbel lit up on the western shore... pretty cool.

***********

There's no where to lie down. I'm not going to sleep tonight...

Where the hell is Matt?(2008)

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Haven't checked in on Where the Hell is Matt? for a while. He's got a new great video. For HD go straight to his site...

Midnight Train to Heaven - Somewhere between Khartoum and Wadi Halfa, Sudan.

Don't get me wrong. Looking back now, those were the best of times (on the entire African trip). The living conditions were horrendous. But I shared them with so many nice people on board the train, despite various Nazi-like figures.

I took a couple of GPS readings while on the train...

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This coordinate shows the railroad tracks running beside the Nile River.

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The above map shows the tracks eventually leaving the banks of the Nile, heading straigh through the inhospitable Nubian Desert.

The day started ok. The souq al-arabi bus station is chaotic at anytime of the day. It downhill the moment I got on the train. I was just settling down to my 3rd class seat. Ahamed, my friend from Abri made it to the train and we sat together. I rolled out my camping pad for both of us to deaden the pain of the wooden bench. Everyone seemed really friendly and ready to roll. That's when a conductor tapped me on the shoulder. There was a minor kerfuffle between him and surrounding passengers. Apparently, the seat I was sitting in was already spoken for. They kicked me out. I was a bit confused as I stepped back out onto the platform. A blessing in disguise, I thought, when they plunked me in padded seat in a 2nd class compartment as a replacement.

From there, the train slowly chugged out of Khartoum. As it turned out, ”slowly chugging” was its only speed. It didn’t matter though. We were soon out of Khartoum and into the bleak landscape of the Nubian desert to one side and the occasional rendezvous with the Nile river to the other side of the train.

I shared the compartment with a really nice family: Mahmoud, his wife and 5 kids. The smallest kid was pretty nasty. He’d wail away every time he wanted sometime. Very annoying. I wanted to club him one right over the head. But, for the most part, his parents did the corporal punishment for me. From my observation face and wrist slapping of children was a quite common occurrence. Anyways, Mahmoud was a junior high teacher in Khartoum. He was taking his family to Cairo for a holiday. For hours they plied me with drinks (I tried to reciprocate but they'd have none of it). In return I entertained them with my 10 word Arabic vocabulary. All the while we watched the desert dust pilfered into the compartment.

The fun did not last however. When we arrived in Atbara in the early evening, the trained stopped for a half hour. The locomotive was changed. New passengers came on board. I decided to stretch my legs on the platform. There I saw, walking down the platform, my American friend Matt from Vermont with a group of Sudanese boys. He tried to buy a train ticket but the train was sold out. To avoid being stranded his friends suggested that he be a stowaway. Ha! He climbed on board.

(Ahamed was on the platform, as well. I asked him about this morning's debacle. He threw up his arms and said with a big smile, "This is Sudan". Such a nice man, I laughed and agreed with him.)

I made my way back to compartment only to find it occupied with strangers. All women except for a lone guy. He motioned to me, asking whether the backpack was mine. Upon my confirmation, he angrily threw the pack at me (not a light backpack at all) and declared that it was an all-woman's compartment. Struggling with my bag, I noticed the nice family was also camping out in the hall way now.

The hall way was packed. There wasn't a spot to sit except on a water cooler. Matt and I tried to stay in the dining car for as long as possible but the Nazi-like dining car owner idiot wouldn't have anything to do with it (even though I kept pounding back the Cokes). If we weren't eating, we were in the way.

I returned to the passenger car. It was jammed to the rafters. People were slathered all over every square inch of the hallway floor trying to sleep. I had no choice but to return to the dining car. This time to the very butt end of the car, hoping Adolf wouldn't notice. No such luck. This time his was really fuming. I climbed over the snoring people in my old car to find a suitcase to sit on. With my back against the outer wall and legs cantilevered over a particularly obese woman, I checked my watch. 1 AM. Still 36 hours to Wadi Halfa.

Good fun had by all.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, May 15/07
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Khartoum, Sudan - Come shoot me now!!

Hello my friends. Today was the mother of all wasted days. At least 5 hrs. I won't get back.

The only saving grace was talking to my brother on MSN for an hour or so. I miss everyone at home very much but it's this crazy "profession" I'm in. Ok, it's not a profession but some days it feels like work. Hard slogging, frustrating work.

The drudgery started early. Most of today was taken up with the alien registration but first I needed more money at the bank. It seems like I've been burning a lot of cash lately. Then I managed to track down the US Embassy a couple of miles down a traffic choked lane from the hotel. Like most American embassies in the world, this one was heavily guarded with razor wire, walled compound, concrete blast barriers, armed guards, marines, checkpoints, metal detectors. You name it they had it. Pretty ominous.

It was hot as hell already when I got to the Embassy. I asked one of the Sudanese cops sitting under a tree if I was close to the registration office. He pointed down the street using a curving motion. Shukran, my friend...

After a hundred metres walk, I found Office III. It wasn't signed, dammit. They were still playing around with my head. I asked an official looking person for confirmation. The Eagle had landed. Office III was real. I nearly cried but felt really dehydrated instead. Got the necessary forms despite no one knowing a speck of English. I found the lack of English speaking personnel rather odd for an alien registration office. Next I had to wait an hour to submit my completed form only to find out that I needed a guarantor's stamp (a Sudanese citizen that could vouch for me that I'm in the country). Where am I going to find someone to do that??? They told me the hotel was suppose to supply the stamp. Went back to the hotel where Mahmoud at reception was really reluctant to do this for me. He pretended like I just stepped off a spaceship or something. Eventually, he opened the drawer in his desk and pulled out the rubber stamp and stamped a piece of blank paper. Went back to the office. This time when I got to the hole-in-the-wall they told me that I was missing the requisite letter stating I was an alien staying at the hotel. Back to Mahmoud. He acted like an idiot again. Refusing, hemming and hawing until he broke down again and hastily wrote me a letter. I think he just wanted to get rid of me.

Back at Office III, I met a couple from Switzerland who said that the letter had to be typed!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! The buck had to stop there and then. I was going to give them the handwritten letter I had, dammit!!! While I had a conniption, the service window closed. What the hell!!! It was lunch!!! I felt like giving up. I just sat there staring incredulously at the sealed window. 45 minutes passed. Nothing happened. I needed clarification about the need for a typed letter. I knocked on the Office door. When the door opened, they dismissed me. I tried knocking again. This time I wedged the door open with my body and asked them about the letter. I was told to come in. After a few minutes, the Boss man came out. He took my application. Fifteen minutes later, it was approved. I thanked him profusely but to rub salt in my wounds he told me to come back in an hour to pay for the permit.

Situation normal for Sudan, eh.

[ed. note: after I paid 44 USD for the registration, I found out from the Swiss couple that they had paid 34 USD each.]

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, May 13/07
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Khartoum, Sudan - Will the real alien office please stand up!

Couldn't complete the tasks today. Yah, you heard me. I still have to get registered. I'm feeling a bit antsy because I must be at least 2 days over the deadline.

The retired professor, residing in the hotel, was nice enough to take me to the new registration office (as directed by the security officer at the "old" office) this morning. The "new" office (quite the distance from Souq al-Arabi), turned out to be another dead end, another "old" office. I couldn't believe it. Apparently, the most recent reincarnation of the office was sighted near the US embassy. Ahhhhhhhh!!! Nooooooo!!! According to my map, it was 1 or 2 miles away from the hotel!!! Damn. I couldn't believe it... (I will take care of it tomorrow...I promise...)

I thought the professor said he was going to wait for me while I was in bogus Office #2. I came out and realized he'd taken off with the taxi. There must have been misunderstanding, but I waited a half hour for him to return. There's one characteristic that I've observed about Sudanese: they have very short attention spans. If it weren't for the shade trees lining the road, I would have burnt to a crisp... I gave up (again) and took an expensive minibus ride over to the Train Station/Ferry Ticket Office.

The Train Station was huge. Ironically, this cavernous building served the one active train route in the country: here to Wadi Halfa on the shores of Lake Nasser. There must have been better times for train travel in Sudan. I was waiting in line for a train ticket for an hour before the que of about 30 people broke rank. Everyone ran for the front doors and around the building. The que reformed outside in front of another ticket window. I followed but I was just taken aback by the proceedings. Apparently, the first and second class just sold out (inside the station) and the rest of us slobs were now vying for hard seats in cattle class. Crap.

Consolation was that next to me in line was an interesting guy from Abri (town in the north). His name was Abdullah. Coincidently, Adullah worked in the oil fields for Talisman, an energy company whose headquarters are in Calgary (my hometown in Canada). He had good memories of working for them. Nowadays, he thinks the West is "total fucking shit" (his words) for forcing Talisman out of Sudan. He's on his way home, leaving "shitty" Khartoum. I understand your pain, my friend. As it turned out, he bought his ticket with mine and we'll be bench mates for the trip north. Good company...

After an hour in the hot sun, I got the train ticket (27 USD - for this Monday) and came back into the building to buy the boat ticket. Another 5 hour wait. There must have been at least 40 people ahead of me. Damn, the ticket sellers were slow. While in line I was surprised to meet an American guy. His name was Matt (from Vermont). There aren't many Americans in Sudan. We talked about his experiences here. Suffice to say, he was constantly explaining his personal position on Sudan as opposed to his government's. He's not taking the train to Wadi Halfa but I'll probably see him on the ferry, maybe, in a few days.

I managed to get 2nd Class "deck" seats on the ferry (44 USD). Any seat was OK, I guess. Damn, I'm just gonna be wasted by the end of this segment...

By the time I stepped out of the Station and into the heat of the late day sun, I felt cheated. 7 hours of my life I could not get back...

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, May 12/07
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