If it were not for this railroad one would be compelled to make the journey by camel or not make it at all. And so, by comparison, the slowness of speed or lack of conveniences are unnoticed, or if noticed they are minimized. This is the philosophy of a desert journey and it is the only way to get satisfaction out of it.
-The Egyptian Sudan, J. Kelly Giffen, 1905
The 1984 equivalent of riding Lord Kitchener’s railroad was taking a plane, two and a half hours Khartoum to Cairo. But that would have negated the philosophy of desert travel, not caring about its lack of convenience or speed. Forty days of eating Aseeda and sleeping rough, Mā’alīsh, Who Cares?