Men on a sugar harvest train 15k south of New Qurna Egypt Nile Valley.


West Bank of the Nile between Armant and New Qurna, Nile Valley, Egypt. About 20km south of the Luxor valley of the Kings. Locomotive of a train carrying the sugar harvest to the sugar mill in Armant, the first modern sugar mill, dating from 1870. This is one of the oldest narrow gauge light railway tracks in Egypt. The trains travel at 5 to 15 km/h. Manually loading the boxcars and maneuvering the trains takes much time, causing the sugar cane to deteriorate rapidly in the heath. On top of that there are too many boxcars for too few locomotives. This makes the train driver a powerful man. Farmers are totally dependent on the driver and his crew or entourage for his harvest to reach the sugar factory in a reasonable state. Which can lead to animosity between farmers and to lots of small baksheesh. This train stopped at the unexpected encounter with a western photographer on bicycle in the middle of the Egyptian countryside. The left man shows his work axe. This is well before 9/11 but in the aftermath of the 1997 Luxor massacre.


Size: 5504px × 3790px
Location: West Bank of the Nile between Armant and New Qurna, Nile Valley, Egypt
Photo credit: © Wim Wiskerke / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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