On January 18, we'll be on a flight from Casablanca to Cairo. The flight is five hours. We arrive in Cairo the following morning, at 6:00. We won't have to wait for luggage since we are traveling with carry-on bags. After getting our visas at the airport, we'll take a taxi to the train station where we may succeed in catching the 8:00 AM train to Luxor. If not, we will take the train at noon. The train ride is about nine hours long.
We have a hotel reserved in Luxor for three nights. After the three nights, we will take a cruise to Aswan. We have not booked this. We will most likely take a two-day cruise. Then, on January 25, we'll fly from Aswan to Cairo. That same day, we have an overnight flight to Johannesburg.
Yes, we have not seen Cairo except for the airport and train station so far (and the glimpses from the cab). This first stop in Egypt only takes us to archeological sites in the south. After our trip to South Africa, we will fly back to Cairo and see the sights there: the Archaelogical Museum, the Pyramids, the Sphinx, maybe we'll take a trip to Thebes. More on this later.
The train ride from Cairo to Luxor was roughly 11 hours when I took it. And ... you only wanted to ride in First Class! The 3rd class compartment was nightmarishly packed and included no women. My female travelmate was in tears and it felt like there was a 50/50 chance she'd make it out of there alive. That was 1989. Check reviews to see if things have changed.
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