At around 3:45pm on Saturday, October 30th, I started to catch my first glimpses of Cairo! At first I was very excited but then, when the thought of the airport transfer popped up in my head, I started to get rather worried. As the plane circled around Cairo International for about 20 minutes, I couldn't stop taking pictures of the city below. First impression was not that great; the city looked brown, dusty, and ragged. Then we landed and we're off!!
There is no bridge connecting the plane to the airport gate. You have to climb down a flight of stairs and walk to waiting trams that take you to the airport. When I walked through the doors, I saw several individuals holding signs with the name of the various tour companies but I could not find a sign that said "Contiki". After about 5 minutes of looking, I gave up and decided to head out to grab my Visa and make it through the passport verification station. Getting the Visa was easier than expected; I paid $15 USD and received this sticker. So far so good but still no site of my airport transfer rep. I headed over to customs and after about 4 minutes in line, I saw a sight more magnificent than the pyramids and all the temples....my airport transfer rep!! :) He was waving a sign on the other side of customs by the baggage claim area. I guess my happiness was obvious because those in line around me started laughing. I couldn't help it, I was relieved I wouldn't need to hail a cab to the hotel! Then I received more happy news, my luggage made it to Egypt in one piece. A perfect beginning to what would be an almost perfect trip!
At the airport, I got to meet a few of my tour mates. Some had arrived on an earlier flight but a few had actually been on my flight. I had had the opportunity to meet some tour mates on Facebook before the trip but I didn't recognize those in the airport. The airport transfer rep whisked us away and led us to the bus that will take us to the hotel. In a few minutes, we would get our first glimpse as to what is best described as "hell on wheels". Those that think the traffic and driving in Miami, NYC, and Los Angeles is bad have obviously not traveled to Cairo. Everything related to driving is a total free for all. There might be three lanes painted on the road but there will be 7 rows of cars. Buses continuously weave in and out of traffic while pedestrians jump on and off the bus while it is still moving. Brave souls dart out of no where trying to cross traffic. And cars in Egypt do not use their headlights since they apparently bother pedestrians. Oh, and the honking is nonstop to the point you hear it in your sleep (I know I did!).
While on the bus, there was one group of girls, a couple, and another girl traveling by herself. I decided to sit next to her and I quickly learned she too was traveling solo and this was her first Contiki tour. Her name was Lisa (remember this name for later). While on the bus, the rep (he works for Spring Tours which is Contiki's parent company in Egypt) told us to remember three very important things: 1) do not drive in Cairo (that was obvious) 2) do not drink tap water, just bottled water 3) an explanation on Egyptian money. As we continued driving (at a snail's pace because of the traffic), I chatted away with both Lisa and the rep. Little did the rep know he was sitting next to an Egypt nerd because he was amazed I was able to identify a few of the sites including the Ramses Train Station. After we arrived at our hotel (Victoria Hotel) in one piece, it was already 6:15pm and our first group meeting was at 7pm. Upon checking in, I received the wonderful news that Lisa was my roommate!!!! :) Lisa and I ran to our room (208) and we were in for a pleasant surprise; big room, clean, comfy beds, hot water in the shower! After my shower, I almost burned down the hotel in an attempt to figure out how to use the power converter with my blow dryer. Lisa comes out of the bathroom and her first words are "What's that burning smell??". After that experience, I stuck to using the blow dryers provided by the hotel and cruise.
The moment of truth, our first group meeting! At the meeting, I immediately recognized Angele, Matt G., Brigid, Thomas, Shaun, and Amanda from the Facebook group. That was good until I learned we had a full house, 36 in total (should have been 40 but 4 never made it to the tour)! It was going to be a challenge to learn all those names and to be quite honest, by the end of the trip there were a few people whose name I did not know. The meeting started of with our beloved tour guide/manager, Sherif, talking about the tour and everything we should expect. And there was one thing I quickly learned, Sherif LOVES to talk!!! After the talk, we were off to pay for a few of our optional tours and then dinner. I went to Egypt with the idea of doing everything offered so I obviously signed up for every optional tour available. That night, I paid for the Abu Simbel tour, the Sound & Light Show, and the tips that are given to the bus drivers, cruise managers, etc.
Then I was off on my first Egyptian adventure! While the hotel was rather nice, the area surrounding the hotel was not. The hotel was located in Old Cairo, in the heart of an industrial part of town. There were barely any street lights around the hotel and the majority of sidewalks were not paved. A group of us headed out to the Mobil Gas Station's On The Run convenience store and this falafel place Sherif recommended. On our way, we kept tripping over broken sidewalks and at times had to walk on the street because chunks of the sidewalk were missing. While the area was a tad shady, we really didn't have any issues with the locals. Upon arriving at the gas station, I felt I was in the states once again. There were tons of Pringles, Oreos, Aquafina, and other American brands. But then, I realized I wasn't in the states when we were offered baskets to place our items in. Those basic nice gestures are a bit rare where I come from! I spotted this chocolate muffin and since I was craving chocolate I grabbed one. The muffin was from the brand "Yummi" (more on this "muffin" later). When I went to pay for my items (two bottles of water, one big can of Pringles, the infamous muffin, a bag of M&Ms) the total was 40 Egyptian pounds. At first I thought that sounded like a lot but when you do the conversion it adds up to about $7 US. Egypt was a really inexpensive country!!!! When my group finished, we bravely crossed the street, to head on over to the falafel place. At first glance we were a bit weary; the "restaurant" was an open air store where you just grabbed your food and ate it standing up or took it "to go". Since we were all hungry, we went for it and the majority of us ordered the falafel sandwich. I was starving so I ordered two for a total of 3 Egyptian pounds (52 cents...I told you Egypt was cheap!!). And these were not small sandwiches, they were pretty big.
With our snacks and dinner in hand, we made the walk back to the hotel. We had a few locals smile at us and some spoke but since none of us knew Arabic we just smiled and continued walking. I had one guy wink at me which by the end of the trip I was used to guys trying to flirt with me. Upon arriving at the hotel, we all headed out to the "garden" where we sat and talked for a while. There was a moment of silence since apparently a few of us were starved and eating was our main focus. Those sandwiches were amazingly delicious and I gobbled them up before I realized I forgot to take a picture!! Then came the "muffin". There was definitely no truth in advertising, that "muffin" was not "Yummi". I took one bite and I think the expression on my face said it all because those around me busted out laughing. The frosting tasted like soap and the muffin had a weird texture to it. I just stuck the muffin back in the bag because there was no way I was going to finish that!!! After dinner, a few of us stayed in the garden to talk and listen to the adventures of those who had arrived a day or two earlier.
I was really liking my group which made me that much more excited about the trip!! I was off to bed at midnight (or so I thought) since we had a 6:30am wake up call (more on that in the next blog). It was going to be a long day full of adventures involving mummies, camels, pyramids, and a train.
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| Comfy beds at the Victoria Hotel |
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| Awesome fafafel place |
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| The infamous "Yummi" muffin |
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