Cairo to Aswan- Ohhh dear.

So, we finally left Cairo last night.  We had attempted on our own to get from Cairo to Aswan and take some sort of boat up (North) the Nile back to Cairo.  Failed attempt.  It is incredibly difficult to do anything when you don't speak the language and cannot even begin to decipher the writing. 
We gave up, well, my parents did.  -That is one thing that is great about traveling w/them.. i don't have to worry about anything, really.   They figure everything out and I sort of put my two cents in and go along. -
Our hostel had a tour deal that we ended up taking, 3 nights, 4 days=Train down to Aswan, day trip to Abu Semble, flucca ride up the Nile, pit stops in Luxor and some other places...So, we took it, and added a day in Aswan and one more in Luxor.  
Oh, man.  HA.  Someone from the hostel drove us to the train station that night, to get us on our train at 10:00pm.  Well, that train didn't show up until 10:30.  And it was super crappy.  The seats smelled like moldy something or other and it was probably at least 50 years old, and never been cleaned.  The woman at the hostel had told us there would be food served/included on the trip.  No such luck.  My mom and I made our way to the "dining car" which turned out to be a diner counter at the end of a car with a bunch of men standing around smoking.  Gross expensive food, especially compared to Cairo, where you could get a giant bucket of that pasta/rice stuff for a dollar (5 Egyptian Pounds).   Holy cow, we thought we were getting a sleeper car!  No way, jose. It was a private car, we ended up sharing w/ two sisters and their brother, all ironically from Colorado.  Seats did not recline, most uncomfortable 13 hour train ride I've ever endured.  Jeesh. 
We finally got to Aswan around noon the next day and found some of the people who were doing the tour through our hostel also. Pretty cool people, Jenny and Andy. 
We all arrived at the arranged hotel, which turned out to be pretty nice.  Was able to rest for about half an hour and then went to see the High Dam, Lake Nassar, and the Temple of Philae.
pictures to come.