| Saturday, April 22, 2006 Cairo Rail Station | Permalink |
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 So today the weather is cooperating with my project. It is rainy today and little to draw me outside, so it will be a day devoted to pouring through the old slides and scanning more and more shots. I hope to begin looking into my father's collection as well. Today a look at another side of Egypt. When I was there in 1979, Americans were generally well recieved. Unlike the Russians, who had been friends during the Nasser years, Americans tourists came flush with cash to spend and spend some more. While the impact of the dollar on the economy was evident in many places, much of Egypt remained in a state of extreme poverty (as I am am sure it does today as well). I had the feeling as I went 'in-country' (to borrow a phrase from another American experience) that I was slipping through time. Cairo had all the bustle and slickness of any major 20th century city on the world scene. Sure it had it uniqueness (the pyramids being one obvious one), but all in all, the feel of the city was still very much part of the our time. Boarding the train in Cairo Station was where I first felt the slide backwards in tme. We travelled first class for the 12 or 13 hour train trip from Cairo to Luxor. As we sat in the station awaiting our departure, another train pulled alongside. The condition of the car contrasted with our posh surroundings. As I looked into this third class rail car, I found a young man framed nicely. His image has since reminded me of the trip back in time as it began that day. Arriving in Luxor Station we were picked up not by a taxi, but by a horse-drawn 'calish' (as I remember the name, it may be a different word). Luxor had a 19th Century, colonial feel to me. The Chicago House, the old Winter Palace hotel, and just the overall feel of the main road along the Nile evoked a sense of grandeur painted like a veneer over the real city that lay back a bit. More later on this theme of falling backwards in time as I unveil other pictures that illustrate my thoughts. Posted by forgingahead | Comment (7) Category: My Shots, Places I Have Visited Links: forgingahead Main Site Archives: People (75), Family (77), My Shots (120), Dad's Shots (128), Places I Have Lived (32), Places I Have Visited (64), Archaeology (23) | |
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