We arrived in Cairo at 10.30pm, after getting our visa and heading through customs we were greeted by our Top Deck Tour Representative who arranged our airport transfer. On our way out of the terminal we were offered taxi rides, “for very cheap rate”, we do you good deal”.
Driving in Cairo is a little… Different. Initially we had a clear run on the motorway as it was pretty late so the driver was hitting 140km/hr in a 60 area… Then it screeched to a halt and we went more like 30km/hr the 4 lane motorway suddenly became a free for all! I think our driver grew up playing need for speed… He definitely had a need! We were weaving all over the place covering twice as much distance but somehow going faster than the other cars. We passed donkeys with carts and overweight policemen driving with their lights on but in no rush. They were laxed back in their seats, smoking cigars with all four windows down and joking with each other.
One interesting motorway technique that seems quite common when in a jam is to try and drive between lanes, one wheel either side of the white line. This worked well for our driver for a bit, then he had to start using the horn to create room, then suddenly everyone was doing it and our 4 lane motorway was more like a 6 lane motorway with lots of tooting.
Rich, These guys make your driving look patient and caring! (FPH perspective)
It took us about an hour to get to our accommodation.
This picture was taken the next day from the bus… Not nearly as bad as were were already half way out of the city! Also, the bigger the vehicle the more right of way so not too much trouble with a bus!
Once we arrive we are allocated our room with two double beds, a balcony, an en-suite, air conditioning and a fridge... A four star hotel, apparently. The beds were super soft, the sheets on the first bed we tried were not clean, the shower only has a cold setting, “the room has an odd smell to it, the air conditioning is so noisy you think we could take off . . . . . Trace is thinking “take me home!!” As we have said before this trip is all about experiences. . . . . most good . . . some . . . . . well they could be better.
DAY ONE
Our alarms sounded at 7am and we jumped out of bed had a cold shower and headed down stairs to meet our tour guide. Once at the main reception desk we were greeted and told it was in fact only 6.30am! We had moved our clocks forward an hour coming into Cairo – Obviously this was not the case. Back to bed for another hour!
Later that day we found out that due to Ramadan, Egypt was an hour behind what it should be. This was something to do with the timing of the sun and eating.
So we rose again at 7.30am and got some breakfast, approaching all food with caution. . . . we picked up a plate it was dirty so we picked up another one, it to was dirty. This went on for a few more plates and then we decided this was just the way it was going to be. We enjoyed good old bread and butter for breakfast, we were too sceptical of everything else and afraid we may get the squirts before we had even started!
We jumped on the tour bus at 8am
Our first stop is the Cairo Museum. This museum has a staggering array of artefacts that have been uncovered. It houses over 100,000 relics, including the magnificent treasures from the famous tomb of the boy-king, Tutankhamun.
We went into the mummy museum for an extra cost, this was well worth the extra money and because we have an “international youth card” we passed as students and got into all Egyptian sites for half price! In this Mummy museum we saw about six mummies, these bodies were so well preserved there skin still in tacked and hair still on their heads. No photos as no cameras were not allowed.
Second stop – Giza Plateu
This is just outside the city limits and home to 3 jaw-dropping Pyramids and the magnificent Sphinx. The Great
Pyramid was the world's tallest man-made structure for around 3,800 years!
Everyone else was doing it Ok?!
The “it has to be done” photo
The Sphinx
Mike went in the second biggest of the Pyramids which had a small tunnel which lead to an empty hot room, once a tomb for mummy, it was very hot and sticky down there. Trace decided it best to stay above the earth with fresh air.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at papyrus paper making shop. This has some stunning pieces of work in it and we were tempted to buy but decided against it.
Once we were back at the hotel we chilled until 9pm, when we boarded our overnight bus for Aswan . . . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment