M-whY

Hussein wasn't in the lobby at 10:00am like he said he'd be. "I told reception to call either your room or ours when he shows up," said Chanda, somewhat exasperated. Though we didn't have anything scheduled as far as activities went, it was still irritating to be blown off by someone who was getting paid to be there. After wasting most of the morning, we dug up his cell phone number and placed a call to see where the hell he was.

"Yes, yes, I have your train tickets," he told me when I got a hold of him. "Meet me downstairs now?"

Chanda didn't take shit from no one, as she put it herself, and I thought she was going to give Hussein an earful for not being prompt. Especially as he booked us the 8:30 night train instead of the 6:00 like we had requested. And he didn't even have real tickets. Just receipts for them.

"We were given tickets last time, is this receipt enough?" she questioned. "These are first class, with air con right?" That's what the original agreement had been.

"The receipt is good enough, and yes, first class with air con," he assured us. Though punctuality hasn't been a forte of those from Amigo Tours, at least they always came through with what they'd say they'd do.

They'd help with boarding when the time came, but the rest of the day was ours to do whatever we wanted. I had already seen the markets, and Aswan isn't as rich as Luxor as far as heritage sites are concerned, so I wasn't quite sure what to do with the free time. "So what're your plans?" I asked Aaron and Chanda.

"Probably go see the Unfinished Obelisk," they suggested. That was about the only thing in Aswan we hadn't seen. Stopping every 100m to check my map, we came to the entrance of the Fatimid Cemetary.

"It says here in my book that we can reach the obelisk if we cut through the cemetary." The graves and mausoleums didn't look particularly inviting though, and the filthy bums loitering around the entrance made it even less appealing. One of them, apparently the keeper, approached us.

"Obelisk?" he asked, showing us his badge. "Come, this way."

He led us along a path through the tombs to the other side, where a number of tour buses were parked. (For the record, we tipped him five pounds total.) Aswan quarries are Egypt's main source of granite, and the hard stone used to be floated down the Nile to build all those ancient temples. At the Northern Quarries lies an unfinished obelisk, abandoned by ancient stonemasons when a flaw appeared in the rock. Had it been finished, it would've been the heaviest piece of stone ever fashioned, weighing in at 1168 tons.

Because getting here involved a long sweaty walk, we found a bit of shade and stared at the stone for longer than it'd interest most people. Back in town, we sought out a place to eat. Several barge restaurants on the Nile came at the recommendation of the LP, and so we took a seat at one of them.

"What is this?" Aaron asked the waiter, trying to decipher the menu.

"Fried chicken."

"And this?" asked Chanda.

"Fried chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken." At least half a dozen items on the menu were just that. Fried chicken.

Most of my meals in Egypt have either been koshari (an Egyptian staple of pasta and rice covered in some sort of tomato sauce) or falafel. Today, I was in the mood for something more familiar. The burger that came out of the kitchen wasn't what I expected though.

"No bread?" There have been times when I've thrown away the buns and only eaten the meat, but never have I had a burger that didn't come with buns. A good amount of ketchup made it edible, though Aaron and Chanda's fried chicken looked a lot better.

The rest of the day frittered away. Not a whole lot happened. We returned to the markets where I picked up a tshirt to replace one I had left behind somewhere. My fellow Americans had become ruthless bargainers, and I'm sure they got everything at the cheapest prices possible. Later that evening, we boarded our train, where we shared a compartment with three Egyptian women and a girl that looked about nine. Though they barely spoke any english, they were probably the kindest people I'd met in Egypt, sharing their Lays potato chips with us. Ample leg room made up for seats that wouldn't recline, and with some effort, I managed to fall asleep, concluding my day with incomplete obelisks and burgers.

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!