Egypt - Day 1

Egypt is a short 3.5 hour flight from Abu Dhabi. I chose to take advantage of my first term break to spread my wings for the first time all by myself.

Upon arriving in Cairo, it was a fairly efficient task to get through the airport. I bought a visa stamp from the bank/money changer. The banker tried to hit on me, but I kindly said thank you for my money and went on my merry way. After getting through immigration, there was an agent from Ramses Tours there to greet me. Mustafa took me to the car where I met my driver, Hassan (more on him later). I felt some relief when I saw the headrest covers shown above in the car. Finally, we made the hour-long drive through the craziest traffic to my hotel.

My first introduction to baksheesh or tipping was upon arrival at the hotel when Mustafa told me I should give 20 Egyptian Pounds (EP) to the driver. Then, Mustafa told me I should give him 50EP for coming to get me. I laughed at that one when I realized 20EP was equivalent to $10, more than enough in my book. In the end, I didn't give Mustafa anything!

My hotel was Pyramid's View Hotel with a distant view of the Giza Pyramids. It was a nice enough hotel - 3 stars at most. Once I was mostly settled in, I went and got a sim card for my iPhone (I love that I can do that with my new iPhone!). It was a bit pricey for the sim card and charge, but I will keep it for when I go back or if someone else wants to go to Egypt. :D

After I got the phone working, I contacted a guy from Couchsurfing because I had been in touch when I first started looking at my trip to Egypt. He convinced me to go out for a couple of hours even though I was exhausted and said he'd come get me at my hotel. When he arrived, he came in to my room and immediately put his arms around me. I wanted to be sensitive to the culture, so I didn't say anything, but then he tried to kiss me! I was like "WTF are you doing?" He explained that he was just so attracted to me. I explained that he didn't even know me and now I was going to go nowhere with him, so he might as well leave. He then apologized and said that he'd like to start over and at least take me somewhere nice to see the town. I was really put off, though and it took me a while to calm down. Eventually, he convinced to let him take me to get some water and then we ended up driving around Cairo for two hours looking for a possible place to eat and then me just wanting to go back to the hotel to sleep. In the end, I did get 4 bottles of water that were very helpful during my trip!

Thus ends the adventure of Day 1 in Egypt!

More coming...

-T

Egypt - An overview

(I had planned to update regularly while on my trip, but alas Internet is hard to come by, thus I will do so slowly when I return and unfortunately, pictures will have to be viewed then as well.)

Since I was 8-years-old and heard about the great pyramids, I have wanted to see them. In junior high school, I was so involved in a school project on Egypt and King Tut, that I was instantly in love with the idea of seeing these wonders of the world. Having focused my travels on Asia so far, I wasn't sure that I would really ever make the journey and was quite envious of my parents when they trekked over a few years ago.

However, life brought me to the Middle East and so I have taken advantage of my first break to fulfill a dream. It has been more than worth it so far.

I booked a tour package with Ramses Tours because I talked to a few people who said I would be better off going on a package tour rather than travel on my own as a single woman in the country. I definitely understand what they meant by that and am happy that I have booked the tour. However, for the first time I am truly traveling alone. The tours to the sites are with just me and a guide. I have a private driver to everywhere and all other things are done on my own including my meals. For the most part, I don't mind it, but I had thought that I would at least join some other groups and have more interaction with other tourists. Still, just being in touch with the local guides and my driver has been nice because I get a touch of the local people more than if I were just hanging with other travelers. Also, it has given me some much needed time within my own head and heart. :D

So far I have seen the great pyramids, the sphynx, the valley of the kings, the west and east banks of luxor and other sites. It's all been great so far. I'm booked to set sail this evening for a Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan and then will take a night train back up to Cairo for a day tour to Sakkara and then home to Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
When I return I promise to update more!

Until then,

-T