Practical Information

The local Bank al-Misr is on the corniche. Turn left out of the train station, left again at the market square, and cross the train tracks. The bank is on your right. (Open Mon.-Thurs. 8:30am-2pm. Additional exchange hours Fri. 6-9prri and Sat. lOam-lpm and 6-9pm.) The post office is on Nile St.; go left from the station past the mosque and head left to the end of the street. The tele phone office inside the train station (open 24 hrs.) is good only for domestic calls; for international calls, go to the telephone office across the street from the police station. The telephone code is 093. On the other side of the bridge by the mosque, in the building shaped like an inverted pyramid, sits the police station (tel. 122). The hospital (tel. 33 20 07) lies just across from the bus station; for an ambulance call 33 30 78.

You’ll find the usual Nilonic plenitude” of transportation in Sohag. The train station is in the center of town in the middle of Al-Mahatta St. Frequent trains head both north and south. The train to Luxor takes four hours and costs LE9.20 in air-conditioned second class (students LE7). The bus station lies 300m south of the train station. Buses leave frequently, especially in the morning, to Assyut (2hr., LE3), Qena (3hr., LE3), and Al-Balyana, near the ruins of Abydos. Northbound service taxis can be found in a square 200m north of the train station on Al-Mahatta St. (to Assyut 90min., LE3-5O). Southbound service taxis stop by the bus station and depart every 20 minutes in the morning to Qena (LE5) and Al-Balyana (lhr., LEI.50), where you can connect with a service taxi to Abydos for 75pt. Local taxis leave from 200m west of the bus station to Deir Amba Shenouda (50pt), or you can hire a private taxi to the sights for LE10 round-trip.