Middle East - Anthony Ham [113]
Red Sea
Superjet leaves from Cairo Gateway to Hurghada (E£70, six hours) at 7.30am, 2.30pm and 11.45pm. Over a dozen Upper Egypt Bus Co services head to Hurghada (E£55 to E£60) between 8am and 1am.
There are three afternoon Upper Egypt Bus Co services to Marsa Alam (E£80 to E£90, 11 to 12 hours) via Al-Quesir (E£65 to E£75, nine hours).
SINAI
Confusingly all Sinai buses leave from Cairo Gateway, but return to Abbassiyya.
East Delta Bus Co ( 2574 2814) has a dozen services going to Sharm el-Sheikh (E£60 to E£70, seven hours) departing between 6.30am and 1.45pm. The 7.15am, 1pm, 5pm and 12.15am services go on to Dahab (E£70 to E£80, nine hours).
There are three daily buses to Nuweiba (E£70 to E£80, seven hours) and Taba (E£70 to E£80, nine hours) at 6.30am, 9.30am and 10.15pm. Two daily services to St Katherine’s Monastery (E£40, seven hours) leave at 11.30am and 1.30pm.
Superjet also runs three, slightly more comfy, services to Sharm el-Sheikh (E£80).
SUEZ CANAL
All Suez buses leave from Cairo Gateway. East Delta Bus Co travels to Suez (E£8, 1½ hours) every 30 minutes between 6am and 8pm. Buses to Port Said (E£14 to E£16, three hours) leave every 30 minutes between 6am and 9.30am, and then every hour until 9.30pm. Superjet also runs equally frequent buses to Port Said (E£22).
WESTERN OASES
All Western Oases buses leave from Cairo Gateway. To get to Siwa, East Delta runs a once-weekly direct bus service departing Wednesdays at 7.45pm (E£50, 10 to 11 hours). Otherwise, you must take a bus to Alexandria or Marsa Matruh and change for a connecting service.
There are three Upper Egypt Bus Co services per day to Bahariya (E£27, five hours), Farafra (E£46, eight to 10 hours) and Dakhla (E£50 to E£55, 10 to 12 hours) departing at 7am, 8am and 6pm. Direct buses to Al-Kharga leave at 9.30pm and 10pm (E£35 to E£40, eight to 10 hours).
Service Taxi
Most service taxis depart from taxi stands around Ramses train station and Midan Ulali (Map). Service taxis depart for Alexandria (E£17, three hours), Port Said (E£15, two hours) and Suez (E£8, one hour).
Train
Ramses station (Mahattat Ramses; Map; 2575 3555; Midan Ramses, Downtown) is Cairo’s main train station. It has a left-luggage office charging E£2.50 per piece per day, a post office (8am-8pm), a pharmacy and a tourist information office ( 2579 0767; 8am-8pm).
LUXOR & ASWAN
The Abela Egypt Sleeping Trains ( 2574 9274; www.sleepingtrains.com) leave for Upper Egypt at 8pm and 9.10pm. They arrive in Luxor at 5.15am and 6.10am the next morning and in Aswan at 8.15am and 9.30am respectively. To either destination, it costs US$60/80 per person one way in a double/single cabin. Children four to nine years of age pay US$45. There are no student discounts and tickets must be paid for in US dollars, euros or with credit cards (for an extra US$2 fee). The price includes a basic dinner and breakfast. The ticket office is next to the tourist information office near the station’s main entrance. In the October to April high season you are advised to book several days in advance.
Aside from the sleeping train, foreigners can only travel to Luxor and Aswan on train 980, departing Cairo daily at 7.40am; train 996, departing at 10pm; and train 1902, departing at 12.30am. To Luxor, 1st-/2nd-class fares are E£80/50, to Aswan they’re E£90/60. It’s around E£5 cheaper if you take the slower morning train. The trip takes 10 hours to Luxor, and around 13 hours to Aswan. Tickets can be bought from the ticket office beside platform 11, which is on the other side of the tracks from the main hall. You must buy your ticket at least a couple of days in advance. Student discounts are available for both classes.
ALEXANDRIA
The best trains running between Cairo and Alexandria are the Turbini (E£46/29 in 1st/2nd class, two hours). They depart from Cairo at 8am, 2pm and 7pm. The next best trains are the five Espani (Spanish) services, which