I hereby announce a crusade to get Billmon to give up whatever the hell it is he does for a living nowadays (something to do with economics and going to conferences as best as I can tell) and take up travel writing. Swear to God this is the best stuff I've read since David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day. Go read. Oh, and put something waterproof over your keyboard, screen and other soakables if you are consuming beverages. You have been warned.

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And so I was reminded that even in the Internet age, cash is not always available on demand, any time you need it. That fat wad of travelers checks I used to travel with was starting to look pretty good. A fat roll of Egyptian pounds would have looked even better. This was my punishment for thinking of it as funny money back at JFK.

Egyptian pound: So how do you like me now, asshole?

I haven't even finished it yet myself so all we know about Billmon and the Egyptian Train at this point is that he survived the experience long enough to write this travelogue. Go read too.