While most people were celebrating New Year at home, I was traveling throughout Egypt. I decided to take advantage of a super low fare from Los Angeles to Cairo on United Airlines for only $634 USD. With Europe being on lockdown and with heavy travel restrictions, I figured Egypt would be a great place to visit with the low tourism rate. After seeing all there was to see in Cairo, I decided to book my overnight sleeper train ticket at the Cairo Train Station to explore further down south, Luxor.
Watch my experience
How to Buy Tickets
You can purchase tickets in advance online but I decided to pay for them at Ramses Station in Cairo, the day before my planned departure. There were still plenty of rooms available to purchase but I am certain this won’t be the case once tourism picks back up in Egypt.
First Class Cabin
The room has two beds (a bunk bed, actually), a small sink, and an overhead compartment storage for your carry-on luggage or small bags. For larger suitcases, they will have to be stowed against the wall of the room.
Meal Experience
Inside the dinner box were one cheese and tuna sandwich, fruit juice box, an Egyptian dessert, orange and a bag of chips.
The breakfast box had a croissant, plain bread, along with the jam and cheese, and a dry pastry.
Overall Thoughts
This was my first time ever doing a sleeper train and had no expectations of what to really expect. The misleading title of the first-class cabin made me think I would get some gourmet coffee, an amenity/welcome kit but none was the case. The blanket was very thin and I was still cold throughout the night that I even slept with my jacket and pants on. The train’s horn went off every 10 minutes making falling asleep difficult for me and it occasionally woke me up throughout the night.
The food was mediocre and thankfully I ate before boarding the train. I would suggest using the toilet at the Cairo train station before departing as the lavatory experience in the train was pretty awful with water flooding the floor every time it was flushed. In addition, human waste gets flushed straight onto the tracks and the train staff advises you not to use the bathroom while it’s stopping at a train station.
How much was the train ticket ?
He says at the end of the video that it’s about US$135-ish.
Why is it costing over $100 US – when on Train Timetable (completegypt.com)
says cost is less than $20????