Cairo, Egypt
Our hotel is charging me 20 Egyptian pounds to use the internet $4 Cnd, I think) for an hour and it will cost the same whether I'm here for 10 minutes or an hour, so I intend to get my money's worth!
Tried to get to sleep early last night but as soon as J got into his single bed last night, it collapsed and he was on the floor. He went downstairs to talk to reception and they told him this is the first time that has ever happened and they've had people twice his size stay in those beds. The place was full last night so they couldn't give us another room, but offered him 5 euros for his trouble. He just moved his mattress to the floor and fell asleep right away. We awoke around 11 pm to hear a bit of noise outside and J was trying to check the time on our alarm clock when it decided to go haywire on us and started flashing strange numbers across the screen. So much for getting up at 4:30 am. He went back downstairs where there was a different person at reception and asked about borrowing an alarm clock. The person knew who he was right away - "oh you're the one with the broken bed!" Nice to have a good reputation so early on in our trip. They kindly lent us another clock and we tried to get back to sleep. Around 2 am the parties started outside. Our windows were all wide open since the room was a bit stuffy, so we got the full effect of all the drunken German songs that went on for a couple of hours. The alarm went off way too early, but we packed everything up and headed back to the train station. Arrived at the airport around 6 am, checked in and then tried to find something for breakfast. We both bought pastries and water and then looked around the electronic shops to see if we could find a replacement alarmclock. No luck.
Boarding for our plane began around 8 am and we were in the air by 9. The flight took just over three hours and wasn't very full so we were able to get the emergency seats. Lufthansa has leather seats and a little goodie bag for each passenger - water, snack, socks, ear plugs and an eye mask. (Jonathan is sure we're supposed to leave the bags on the planes, but I hoarded his goodies and mine. You never know when you'll need an ugly pair of knee high airline socks!) No movies however, so Jonathan had to be content with sleeping and staring out the window.
Arrived in Cairo around 1:30 pm (there is a one hour time difference from Europe) and enjoyed a view of the pyramids as we flew in. Proceeded through customs with no problems. Our tour rep was late but we eventually located him and he put us on a taxi to the hotel. Our hotel is about 40 minutes from the airport although the ride there felt like one of those quick roller coaster rides where you're not sure if it's better to open your eyes and scream or just keep them closed. We opted to keep them open and enjoy the ride! The location of the hotel is rather hard to explain. We could walk to the Nile, although many places in Cairo are close to the Nile, and it's about a 10 minute cab ride to one of the major markets. All the side streets are really narrow and people definitely use their horns more than their turn signals. I also noticed two goats on the sidewalk at the end of our street, although there is definitely no grazing area around. We had to pass through a metal detector before we entered our hotel and there is a security guard at the door checking everyone out. (Lots of army and police personnel at the airport - all with guns of various sizes!) The hotel has definitely seen better days, but it seems clean and we have hot water. (and two single beds!)
After we settled in, J went out to check out the area and buy some water. Lots of little food stands around where snacks and drinks are sold. Everything seems much cheaper here too. After we showed and changed we decided to head out for dinner. Arranged with a taxi driver to take us to one of the main squares in town where we wandered around for an hour and found a place to eat. We both had shawarmas for supper - meat, no veggies. It wasn't served in pitas though, but in some sort of hotdog bun. Quite tasty and cheap. Found a pastry place for dessert and picked up a box of sweets for about $2 Cnd. Arrived back at the hotel just now (7 pm) and I think we're in for the night.
Our tour rep contacted us with info for tomorrow and we're to be picked up in the lobby at 7 am and taken to the train station to catch a train to Alexandria. We'll be there for a couple of days and hope to be back Sunday night.
Hostel room in Frankfurt, with broken bed!
Santana Hotel, Cairo
Tried to get to sleep early last night but as soon as J got into his single bed last night, it collapsed and he was on the floor. He went downstairs to talk to reception and they told him this is the first time that has ever happened and they've had people twice his size stay in those beds. The place was full last night so they couldn't give us another room, but offered him 5 euros for his trouble. He just moved his mattress to the floor and fell asleep right away. We awoke around 11 pm to hear a bit of noise outside and J was trying to check the time on our alarm clock when it decided to go haywire on us and started flashing strange numbers across the screen. So much for getting up at 4:30 am. He went back downstairs where there was a different person at reception and asked about borrowing an alarm clock. The person knew who he was right away - "oh you're the one with the broken bed!" Nice to have a good reputation so early on in our trip. They kindly lent us another clock and we tried to get back to sleep. Around 2 am the parties started outside. Our windows were all wide open since the room was a bit stuffy, so we got the full effect of all the drunken German songs that went on for a couple of hours. The alarm went off way too early, but we packed everything up and headed back to the train station. Arrived at the airport around 6 am, checked in and then tried to find something for breakfast. We both bought pastries and water and then looked around the electronic shops to see if we could find a replacement alarmclock. No luck.
Boarding for our plane began around 8 am and we were in the air by 9. The flight took just over three hours and wasn't very full so we were able to get the emergency seats. Lufthansa has leather seats and a little goodie bag for each passenger - water, snack, socks, ear plugs and an eye mask. (Jonathan is sure we're supposed to leave the bags on the planes, but I hoarded his goodies and mine. You never know when you'll need an ugly pair of knee high airline socks!) No movies however, so Jonathan had to be content with sleeping and staring out the window.
Arrived in Cairo around 1:30 pm (there is a one hour time difference from Europe) and enjoyed a view of the pyramids as we flew in. Proceeded through customs with no problems. Our tour rep was late but we eventually located him and he put us on a taxi to the hotel. Our hotel is about 40 minutes from the airport although the ride there felt like one of those quick roller coaster rides where you're not sure if it's better to open your eyes and scream or just keep them closed. We opted to keep them open and enjoy the ride! The location of the hotel is rather hard to explain. We could walk to the Nile, although many places in Cairo are close to the Nile, and it's about a 10 minute cab ride to one of the major markets. All the side streets are really narrow and people definitely use their horns more than their turn signals. I also noticed two goats on the sidewalk at the end of our street, although there is definitely no grazing area around. We had to pass through a metal detector before we entered our hotel and there is a security guard at the door checking everyone out. (Lots of army and police personnel at the airport - all with guns of various sizes!) The hotel has definitely seen better days, but it seems clean and we have hot water. (and two single beds!)
After we settled in, J went out to check out the area and buy some water. Lots of little food stands around where snacks and drinks are sold. Everything seems much cheaper here too. After we showed and changed we decided to head out for dinner. Arranged with a taxi driver to take us to one of the main squares in town where we wandered around for an hour and found a place to eat. We both had shawarmas for supper - meat, no veggies. It wasn't served in pitas though, but in some sort of hotdog bun. Quite tasty and cheap. Found a pastry place for dessert and picked up a box of sweets for about $2 Cnd. Arrived back at the hotel just now (7 pm) and I think we're in for the night.
Our tour rep contacted us with info for tomorrow and we're to be picked up in the lobby at 7 am and taken to the train station to catch a train to Alexandria. We'll be there for a couple of days and hope to be back Sunday night.
Hostel room in Frankfurt, with broken bed!
Santana Hotel, Cairo
posted by The Patterson Pair at 12:32 PM
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