Transportation

A vagabond of the world has to learn to sleep under duress, under any conditions imaginable, and I, for one, have mastered the talent after multiple overnight bus, train, and ferry rides. As an added bonus, I've had to endure sitting and sleeping on the ground of a bus, train, and ferry (which has made me slightly bitter towards the Egyptian transit system and their tourist regulations).

But then again, you make for hilarious entertainment for the locals, and what stories! Plus, sitting on the floor with fellow travelers become very good bonding experiences. It tests the limits of German men and reveals the social taboo of an Egyptian male stranger sitting next to a woman. Locals rise to the challenge and help clueless tourists who don't speak the native language and tea is bought in return for a few sheets of Muji paper ripped out to save the pants (and probably to prevent the multiple diseases otherwise contracted) of an Egyptian man.

Sleeper cars are a luxury, even when sharing it with five other people, for it allows a weary vagabond to sleep horizontally. The fresh linens were also a bonus. Even better, is when the you have the compartment all to yourself, even taking into account stuck doors and sketchy Bulgarian train ticket collectors.

The one thing about sleeping on the ground in a ferry, besides the carpeted ground being super hard, is that the lights are constantly hard.

But thus is an essential part of being a backpacker, a traveler on a budget, eager to experience a different type of vacation, a vagabond in the truest sense.

Hurghada to Aswan Bus

Luxor to Cairo Train: Part I

Luxor to Cairo Train II

Sofia to Belgrade (errr turn your head to the left)