Off up the Nile

Travelling with children requires a different rhythm. It is rather like a foxtrot versus a march. Instead of a more steady pace of sightseeing, reading, diary writing, and eating, with children it is slow slow quick quick slow. Bursts of activity followed by periods of . . . well not inactivity, but supposed quiet time, usually in the hotel. I say supposed because as all parents will know a quiet game of cards can explode in seconds into a scene from Quentin Tarantino movie.

Our last day in Cairo was a supposed quiet day. We didn't do much in terms of sightseeing, although we did walk several miles to find a Coptic Cathedral which was only a 10 minute walk from the hotel. This long meander did offer us a glimpse of life in the backstreets of Cairo. Little vignettes like men building refrigerators, threading copper heating elements through the back of new fridges and then sanding and cutting with sparks flying everywhere.

Ice cream in Egypt has been excellent so far, and after our walk, we found a delightful shaded cafe where they served delicious vanilla ice cream. This calmed the children down in advance of our night train to Aswan.

The staff at the Windsor Hotel were all out to see us off. Read into this what you will . . . Lachlan has been the elevator driver in chief as the elevator is an old style carriage with sliding trellis door and a stop/start mechanism like in the wheel house of a ship. You have to judge where the elevator is relative to the floor to stop it in the right place. Lachlan and Morag have enjoyed just going up and down and stopping and starting, with the help of a very kind old man whose job it is to run the lift.



The train was excellent. The carriages were clean and comfortable. Iona and Lachlan shared a carriage with a joining door to my and Gilleasbuig's carriage. Elspeth and Morag were next door. Just after we set off we were served with a good meal, airplane stlye on trays, and then everyone slept pretty much all the way to Aswan. The importance of the Nile to Egypt is clear as crystal from the train. The train follows the Nile all the way. 100 yards either side of the river or of the various irrigation canals, there are rows of date palm tree and green fields. Beyond that is only desert.

More to follow on Aswan and Luxor . . .