I remember that day well. We had left Bab al-Hadid, Ramsees Station, on a local train into the Delta towards Banha. The plan was to wait until we had passed a few of Cairo’s outer stops and then climb up on the rail carriage’s roof to ride. I don’t know, maybe it was a Wild West kind of thing, maybe it was seeing so many Egyptian kids doing it and having so much fun that I wanted to do it too. Or maybe Daoud thought he could get some great pictures. But this is the only image from that day that has stuck with me, the woman alone and looking inward, letting the man seated behind her to look out at Banha.
©David Melody