Egypt Update
Haven't had time to post for a couple of days so this one will be a long one. I'll try and highlight the main stuff so no one falls asleep while they're reading this.
Saturday night - Alexandria
After resting for a bit in the afternoon we decided to try a Chinese food place which had received good reviews in our tour book. It was across town, but we managed to snag a taxi driver, Eassm, who spoke English quite well. The restaurant was on top of an old hotel right on the Eastern harbor, which had an old wrought iron bird cage type elevator. The food was quite good, although pricey for Egypt standards, so it was filled with mostly tourists. After dinner, we tried to find an ATM to get cash from but couldn't locate one in the dark until a little old man showed it to us. (for a fee of course!) Most of the older generation doesn't speak English too well but I guess ATM translates in every language!
Sunday - Alexandria
Had to check out of our hotel by noon on Sunday so we took our time getting up and having breakfast. Seems that we'll be eating lots of bread at breakfast as there isn't too much too choose from. No sickness yet though, so I guess the cute little cheese triangles will be a staple as well. We were able to leave our bags at the hotel (handed out some tips of course) and then took a taxi to the Palace gardens and beach at Montaza. Cost us 4 Egyptian Pounds (EP) to get into the gardens, 22 EP to get onto the beach and then another 20 to get an umbrella and chairs set up for us. Nothing is ever free in Egypt!
I was a little hesitant about swimming, as even though it is considered a private beach, there are locals who swim there and they swim fully clothed. (including a head scarf too) Soon after we arrived some British young people arrived wearing little more than dental floss, so I figured the attention would not be on me. I wore one of J's t-shirts though and didn't stay in too long. Before leaving the beach I decided to use the washroom. I knew the showers cost 1 EP and apparently the toilets were too, although TP was not included. Using the bathroom involved a military like maneuver which probably is better left to the imagination. Medals of bravery are definitely in order though and I wasn't too scarred by the incident. After surviving the toilet incident we left the beach area and walked out of the gardens and back to the road to catch a taxi back to the hotel. On the way we had to stop at McDonald's and take pictures of the scooters with the boxes on the back labeled "McDelivery!"
Our pickup at the hotel wasn't until 6pm so we went to the local fast food place, GAD, and purchased 4 falafels for supper - cost about 60 cents CND! When our ride to the train station came, we discovered we would be in the train with another ImgTrav traveler who had also spent some time in Alexandria. She was just finishing her tour but gave us lots of advice and tips for our coming tour.
The train back to Cairo took about an hour longer than usual, so by the time we arrived and were picked up and navigated back to the hotel, it was after 10 pm. Our tour group had already met for the evening but our tour leader saw us come in and came to welcome us. Siobhon was born in South Africa but travels on her British passport. She gave us all the particulars of the tour and then allowed us to get settled into our room. When we had left the Santana hotel before heading to Cairo, J had asked about getting a double ben when we returned. We ended up with a queen sized bed and two single beds - lots to choose from! This is long enough, so I will put the Cairo details in the next post.
A day at the beach, Egyptian style!
24 hour McDelivery on scotters!
Saturday night - Alexandria
After resting for a bit in the afternoon we decided to try a Chinese food place which had received good reviews in our tour book. It was across town, but we managed to snag a taxi driver, Eassm, who spoke English quite well. The restaurant was on top of an old hotel right on the Eastern harbor, which had an old wrought iron bird cage type elevator. The food was quite good, although pricey for Egypt standards, so it was filled with mostly tourists. After dinner, we tried to find an ATM to get cash from but couldn't locate one in the dark until a little old man showed it to us. (for a fee of course!) Most of the older generation doesn't speak English too well but I guess ATM translates in every language!
Sunday - Alexandria
Had to check out of our hotel by noon on Sunday so we took our time getting up and having breakfast. Seems that we'll be eating lots of bread at breakfast as there isn't too much too choose from. No sickness yet though, so I guess the cute little cheese triangles will be a staple as well. We were able to leave our bags at the hotel (handed out some tips of course) and then took a taxi to the Palace gardens and beach at Montaza. Cost us 4 Egyptian Pounds (EP) to get into the gardens, 22 EP to get onto the beach and then another 20 to get an umbrella and chairs set up for us. Nothing is ever free in Egypt!
I was a little hesitant about swimming, as even though it is considered a private beach, there are locals who swim there and they swim fully clothed. (including a head scarf too) Soon after we arrived some British young people arrived wearing little more than dental floss, so I figured the attention would not be on me. I wore one of J's t-shirts though and didn't stay in too long. Before leaving the beach I decided to use the washroom. I knew the showers cost 1 EP and apparently the toilets were too, although TP was not included. Using the bathroom involved a military like maneuver which probably is better left to the imagination. Medals of bravery are definitely in order though and I wasn't too scarred by the incident. After surviving the toilet incident we left the beach area and walked out of the gardens and back to the road to catch a taxi back to the hotel. On the way we had to stop at McDonald's and take pictures of the scooters with the boxes on the back labeled "McDelivery!"
Our pickup at the hotel wasn't until 6pm so we went to the local fast food place, GAD, and purchased 4 falafels for supper - cost about 60 cents CND! When our ride to the train station came, we discovered we would be in the train with another ImgTrav traveler who had also spent some time in Alexandria. She was just finishing her tour but gave us lots of advice and tips for our coming tour.
The train back to Cairo took about an hour longer than usual, so by the time we arrived and were picked up and navigated back to the hotel, it was after 10 pm. Our tour group had already met for the evening but our tour leader saw us come in and came to welcome us. Siobhon was born in South Africa but travels on her British passport. She gave us all the particulars of the tour and then allowed us to get settled into our room. When we had left the Santana hotel before heading to Cairo, J had asked about getting a double ben when we returned. We ended up with a queen sized bed and two single beds - lots to choose from! This is long enough, so I will put the Cairo details in the next post.
A day at the beach, Egyptian style!
24 hour McDelivery on scotters!
posted by The Patterson Pair at 4:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home