Black desert camping under the sky

From the pyramids I venture away from the beaten track and go on tour camping in the western desert of Egypt. This is different from the parts of Egypt I been there is no tourist and not too many locals either. It is actually very easy to navigate the area - there is only one surfaced road and a few dirt tracks leading away from it.

We head in the desert the tour leader has managed to obtain a permission that allows this tour to go through the desert without a police escort. Egypt is a strange place - all tourist need to join in a convoy for security reasons - but in the desert there are hardly any tourist hence a convoy would only be us. We drive in the desert having to stop at several military checkpoints along the way. Its a nice peaceful drive - there are only one car every half hour or so.

Late in the afternoon we drive off the side of the road and find a spot to camp during the night sleeping under the stars. It is right next to the railway track. We set up and get ready to cook dinner - then a train comes along. The railway track is just a wee bit uphill you can hardly see the incline with the naked eye - but the train is struggling getting up the hill. It is not even doing walking pace - and some personnel from train comes out and start digging sand away to make the tracks clear for the train to drive after a long time they actually make it past our camp and disappear in the distance.

After dinner and a few drinks it is of to bed - sleeping under the stars perfect conditions during the summer it is not getting too cold at night in the desert.

Then suddenly in the middle of the night a train comes along. It manages to wake half the campsite - how the other half managed to sleep through this is unbelievable. The train is shining its headlights directly towards our camp and being extremely noisy - this is on the same hill where the other train took ages to pass in the evening - the same is the case now it takes forever for the train to pass and tranquillity to settle in again.