Train food - Egypt
 

taking a LONG train ride from Cairo to Aswan in January. Cannot live on power bars. Is the food safe to eat on the train?

Lots and lots of postings on this subject here. Maybe if you search Egypt Trains, you'll find them.

Long story short, YES it is safe to eat. Lots of people have not liked it much. I have posted that I think it is fine and certainly no worse than airplane food, and the dinner will come with lots to eat. Breakfast is no more than lots and lots of bread varieties and jam, honey or whatever to put on it, plus coffee or tea.
If you have time, you can certainly hit a grocery store before heading out and get some fruit, cheese and baguettes to survive the trip in the event you don't like what they offer you.

thank you. I appreciate your quick response.

We took that train, and I was one of those who was not fond of the food. But, as CC suggests, we had hit a regular grocery store before we left town, so we had all manner of delicious food with us!

Airplane food tastes better :) If you're hungry and have no other source of food then it'll do just fine.

It is clearly a matter of opinion....but to answer the original question - it is safe to eat. You won't be poisoned

I've never been in prison but I bet that food is better than what's on Egyptian trains. (:|

OK seriously, taking your own food is best.

Oh--and bathrooms in prison are probably cleaner too. :&

P_M you must be joking. What train were you on? The Sleeping Train bathrooms have always been pretty decent when I've been there. Never once have I not found TP there and the place cleaned up. Now the overnight seated train is a different story. Those toilets get nasty almost immediately and stay nasty the whole way. Maybe they sold you tickets on the Egyptian Sleeping train - and by that I mean the one that is meant for Egyptians not tourists. The tourist train is OK..... (again - I think it is) I guess P_M thinks I'm nuts. :?

I was talking about the overnight sitting train. In my trip report I mentioned urine sloshing around on the bathroom floor and I wasn't joking about that. I regret not upgrading to the sleeping train, I've heard that isn't so bad. The references to prison were just my twisted sense of humor coming thru. I don't think you are nuts, but I do believe I am. :-S

I was on the "tourist" sleeping train, and while I certainly didn't <i>enjoy</i> the food, it wasn't "poison", just not very good. And I agree with CC about the bathrooms, not that I would have walked around barefoot, but they were clean enough, and always supplied. We really enjoyed the train experience, but then we love trains in general.

I used to take the seated train all the time, as I am pretty cheap, then one day I was in Luxor trying to buy a ticket to come back to Cairo on that train, and the line was SO long, and there was NO ONE at the Sleeping Train office window, so I decided in the interest of investigative experimentation I would spring for the Sleeping Train and see what it was all about.... I've NEVER gone back to the other. Yes, the bathrooms on the seated train can get bad quickly, and while P_M experienced urine on the floor, from all the men that can't manage to aim well, I've seen it worse from tourists with the trots or upset stomachs that caused them to throw up all over the place. Tourists are bad too as when they do that, they rarely feel like cleaning up and there is no one on that train that has that in their job description, and if there was, they don't give the employee the tools to do the job, so it sits like that the whole trip.
P_M is right about the food on the seated train too. It is pretty much ALPO and over priced. The Sleeping Train food is not fantastic, but it's hot, they give you two entres on every tray, plus more of the other stuff than you would normally expect. And there is a bar car (although usually very smoky) on the Sleeping Train.

I just traveled on the "deluxe" sleeping train, return, a couple of weeks ago. The dinner is fine; plenty of food and not bad at all. You shouldn't be hungry. Breakfast is very basic continental breakfast with a few rolls; not very good. The bathroom on one train left a lot to be desired. Basically a porta-potty, complete with odor, with a small faucet instead of flush, and liquid on the floor. The return trip on another train was better; no smell at least. Don't plan on getting a lot of sleep on these trains, as they lurch, bump, and squeal the whole way. Earplugs are a good idea. Bring a torch too; you may need it, as we did when the engine went bad and we sat on the tracks with intermittent power on-and-off for about two hours. That said, the scenery is fascinating. I took night trains. The endless forest of colourful, sometimes Las Vegas-like, minarets punctuated by the occasional illuminated church crosses is surreal. All-in-all, regard the train as an adventure, not luxury travel, and don't count on a good night's sleep.

<<<Don't plan on getting a lot of sleep on these trains, as they lurch, bump, and squeal the whole way.>>>

Everybody's different - I got a GREAT night's sleep on the train (but I can pretty much sleep anywhere, in fact, I slept sitting up during a boring performance the other night!)

I suggest taking a "sleeping aid" if you need to take the train. If you don't come with one, go to any Pharmacy here and ask for "Night and Day" a cold medicine that has tablets for night time and day time. Use the night time ones. They will knock you out and really help you sleep. The box might cost you $1 or maybe $2. Worth it!!!!

love the responses and you all have addressed all of my concerns. Leaving in about 30 days, and really psyched to take the train. BTW: took the overnight train from Bangkok to Chang Mai where we slept with curtains pulled across the bunk. Wouldn't ya know, I had gastric catastropy in the middle of the night, and had to climb up and down off the ladder any number of times to visit the filthy, wet floor bathroom, so I am fully aware of how bad things can be. That said, I plan to eat the food on the train and take an immodium for dessert.