Cleopatra's Revenge

So we had two things to do yesterday. One, we wanted to get train tickets to head down to Luxor and two, we wanted to go see the Egyptian Museum, which is a block maybe two from where we are staying. So I figured that would be an easy day. The train station is about a couple miles down. Figured, maybe we can walk it. These were my thoughts before I went to sleep.

Then, about 3AM I wake up with dull stabs to the abdomen, and without even thinking run to the bathroom. Ah, Cleopatra attacks! Repeat, repeat, repeat. What was that stuff they advised in the travel book. Prasil? No, not quite right. Imodium? Not sold here. Antinal. That's it! So plans get one extra task, buy antinal at the pharmacy on the way to the train station. No big deal.

Leave out to the station, walking. Traffic lights have no purpose here. You cross the street at your own peril and the pedestrian does not have the right of way. Best to go in crowds. I lead the way and after about three or four such outings Leah slips and falls right in the middle of the street. I look around and see a car barelling towards her and she is laying in the middle of a mostly dried oil spill. Her mom is yelling at her to get up.

First pharmacy, doesn't like my looks, or waiting for me to yell what I want over other customers. No big deal, take my money elsewhere. Second pharmacy, no problem, 12 antinal tablets, easy as pie, immediate semi-relief. Look behind me, see kids and Candice starting to get tired. This is about after a mile of walking from the hotel, the sun is almost directly overhead. We have about a mile left until we reach the train station, Ramses station.

We arrive at the station and it looks like a primordial Penn Station with everything written in Arabic. No problem, the Lonely Planet travel guide has a map. Use the map, pass through two police inspections and make my way to the very back of the station. This part of the station makes the other part look modern. Have to go underground to another part of the station where the foreign and longer distance transit tickets are sold, Luxor is a bit of a distance from here by train. Start thinking that I should have taken a flight. As we walk down the stairs, the local residents start to smile or smirk, like I am headed on my way to the underworld and don't know it. Hmm, can't be worse than the subway in Chicago, can it?

We reach the otherside and walk down a long corridor. There are various inlets into the building and offices. I go to an inlet that looks inviting and then go to the first window that looks close to where it would appear on the map. Stand in line and then this angry looking Arab cat get in front of me. I get back in front of him, give him a look up and down. Hope he isn't connected to some Arab mob. Then this other Arab woman does the same thing. She does it to the people in front of me too though. They let the agression stand, okay with me too then.

I move through the line slowly. Finally get to talk to the agent. I ask, "Do you speak English?" or "Deshki Englesi?" "Yeah," he responds disinterestedly. So then I ask "Can I get a ticket to Luxor?" He replies - "Over there," motioning with his shoulder. I ask "where over there?" He looks annoyed and is like, over whereever.

So, not to be discouraged and anxious to get to a reasonable restroom soon, I decide to reflect on my mental image of the map. This is where meditation could really come in handy. Help you pull the image from your head! I realize I am probably down two more station blocks or inlets from the one pictured. Get to one that has one window in English, well actually a western company name Abela. He leads me to another window. The sleepers. But they also have first class, which is 70% cheaper than a sleeper. I stand in that line, for first class, because I was hoping to buy one of these originally. However, the line moves incredibly slow. Cleopatra is tapping me on the shoulder and there are people trying to move in front of me in the non moving line again.

So I walk back to the Abela line and decide to buy a ticket. Look at my money and I am short a few dollars. On top of that they only take foreign currency (meaning US dollars or UK pounds) for this line. So I have to find a bank or an ATM. The kids and Candice are looking like they are dead. Meanwhile, I am thinking that I need to get these tickets because I want to get to Luxor as soon as possible. We navigate out of the station, search for an ATM. No luck. Try to get a cab for them, it is very difficult, because while I do have a card for the hotel, I only later realize that something like 50% of the population can not read even if the card is in Arabic.

So we try to walk back to the main street, or sharia - Sharia Ramses in this case, but end up going beneath an underpass instead which doubles our walking time. In the middle of this CJ busts out, "I want to go home, I want to sit down." He does this in the way only a four year old can. I look over at Candice and she is looking helpless, because Jacob has demanded that he be carried the whole way.

Later after we try about three cabs we are in luck, although this is one of the fabbled black and white cabs. Talk about a roller coaster ride. He almost hits a bus and then yells at the bus driver, they are pinned together in the intersection yelling at each other. Someone else gets their attention and orders the cab driver to drive on. This person isn't a cop or something, he is just another person.

So we get back to the hotel. The bank is next door. I take money out, send them inside the hotel and repeat the process. About an hour or two later I get to use the restroom. We didn't make it to the museum. We will try that today, but Cleopatra hit Candice at about 2 last night. We leave to Luxor at 8:30 tonight via sleeper train.