Took 2 quick photos of view out window.
Swiss Air flight to Cairo was nice. Had zero ground visibility across Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Adriatic Sea, former Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece. While over the Med, was granted short view of sea and the tip of Crete. Fell asleep then, missed entry into Egypt and seeing pyramids from air. :(
Arrival in Cairo
After debarking had slight confusion for getting visa. Stood in line at passport only to be told to get visa at money exchange. ($15 USD). Got visa from money place and exchanged $100 for Egyptian pounds (about 548).
Went through passport, then went to exit. Man asked if I needed taxi, and took me through customs and out to taxi booth. Told me $15 USD for trip, then asked for 90 Egyptian pounds. Only later did I realize I overpaid that way (Too tired to do math).
Taxi guy gave me to another who walked me and carried bag to taxi down the street. Gave him a $1 tip.
Taxi was driven by another. This place is crazy on the road. Was tight getting out of lot. Had to stop and sign a log as to where they were taking me.
Now into Cairo. Three marked lanes, five lanes of vehicles, lane changes erratic, speed high, brakes quick and endless honking. No stop lights, signs or any other sign of control. Cars, taxi, bus, truck, cycle, all in a free for all. And somehow it all works, though with many traffic jams lasting a few minutes.
Now add pedestrians crossing at all areas and just walking out in front of you!!
Amazingly few people get hit and accidents are not bad. Though from the looks of most cars I would say scrapes and bumper/fender nudging are common. Few cars without small scrapes and dents.
Also many busted down cars by side of road. Parking is another mess. Park wherever. Many roads off main routes are down to one lane and cars going in both directions. Gets interesting.
Once we reached hotel the driver got my bag. I tipped him $1 and went inside.
Pharaoh's Hotel - Dokki (10 floors)
The lobby was quiet. Checked in and then porter carried my bag to room. He turned on all lights, opened curtain, turned on the A/C and plugged in the mini fridge. I tipped him $1 and then checked the place out. Small room with small bathroom. 2 beds, small desk, armoire and mini fridge. Small window with view of back of the high rise and side street. Not much to look at. Was on 8th floor.
Once in room, laid down to rest but did not sleep since the tour group meeting was in less than 2 hours. About 30 minutes in my room mate arrived, a younger guy from Sydney, Australia.
He is travelling with his mother and sister. They are going around Europe before and after this trip.
At the tour meeting we filled out some paperwork, paid final money for trip ($200) and verified for tour leader our insurance and other things.
We then talked about ourselves and then went over the main points of the tour and covered some basics about travel in Egypt.
The leader is Sami. He is from Cairo and seems to know his job well. The group is made of the following:
Marshall, Stephanie, Angela - Mother, Son, Daughter from Sydney Australia.
Sam, Jodie - Married couple from Newcastle, Australia.
?, Claire - Couple from ? Australia
Saul, Georgia - Couple from Brisbane, Australia
Rebecca - Girl from Australia
Kathleen? - Girl from Wellington, New Zealand (currently living in London right now)
Amanda - Girl from Niagara Falls area, Canada
Kat?, Mark - Couple from Australia.
After the meeting, the tour leader took us down the street to see where some basic sources were (bank, grocery, internet cafe, ATM, pharmacy, restaurants).
Sami walked me down then to the Sheraton (where I will spend my last two nights) to exchange money. But they were closed already.
I then met up with the group and we tried to eat at some chicken place (Tika). We decided to go to KFC because the other place was full. This KFC is unique as it was the first to be operated solely by the hearing impaired. You order by pointing to signs and plaques. They point to the total and use hand motions for all other things.
Once full, we turned in at the hotel, watched a bit of TV and then went to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment