Experiencing Egypt: Day 1: Heading to Cairo

Rachel was way too excited to be going to the airport at 2am.

We took off a little after 4 am.

View from the airplane

We had to wait for at least an hour before going to our rooms

Technology breakfast: Rachel:I-pad, Charmaine:I-phone, Tammy: Kindle, Me: nothing

Mercure Hotel garden, with pyramids in the background

No trip is complete without a bikini photo-shoot 

The pool at the hotel

Notice that the drink is called "six on the beach" and not "sex on the beach"

Awwww, friends forever

Charmaine's super-human strength to lift the pyramids

They look so tiny from here

Rach could even touch the top

And of course, sheesha smoking

Even Tammy had some

Notice the large pile of garbage. It is on a truck that is moving through town. Insane!

Kebab's and food at the Abou Zeid restaurant

Post-food picture

Our waiter (who was an Egyptian puzzle and joke expert), and myself, in front of the Khalil Cafe poster.

The oil perfume store

Amazing art at the Papyrus Institute. 

After months and month of having school everyday (and not having a single day off since Winter Holiday break), Spring Break had finally arrive, and it couldn't have come fast enough. We all were so exhausted from school and all the work we have been having to do. But all could be put aside, because now we were ready to leave for our trip to Egypt! Yay!

Our trip began with a super early flight (departing at 4am), into Cairo. Rachel was amazingly chipper, whereas I felt like I could sleep standing up, and did sleep on the airplane. 

Now, no trip would be complete without a problem or 2. Upon the arrival at the Cairo airport, we had to go through customs and get our visas and all that stuff. Well, because of Charmaine and Rachel's South African passports, it was some sort of issue getting in to Egypt. It took a half hour of them being questioned and whatnot before they were allowed to enter. For a brief moment, we were worried that they were going to be denied and we would have to go back to Bahrain. We made way through the rest of the airport, met our guide, Ahmed, and our driver, Mohamed, and headed to our hotel, the Mercure. 

On our way to the hotel, we got a good view of Cairo, and saw how vastly different it was from Bahrain, Jordan, the Emirates, and other places. Cairo, and Egypt in general, is a very poor, and developing place. Most buildings and homes are run-down. Few homes have glass windows (instead there is just an open space in the wall). The homes are not big and fancy like they are in Bahrain. Many of the people are farmers and have jobs in agriculture, as you see many of them with their horses and ox, and selling produce on the side of the roads. Many others try to make a living by selling things to tourists. Also, Cairo is not exactly a clean city either. People throw their trash in 1 or 2 places. First place to throw the trash is on the side of the road in huge piles, which are then lit on fire, and yes, the city doesn't always smell that great. The other place the trash goes is in the water in the canals. It piles up there and nearly stops the water from flowing. I know the trash has to go somewhere, but this is really shocking to see when you see it up close and personal. In addition to the poorness and the trash, no one here owns a new car. There is a reason for this though. If you have visited Cairo, you have experienced the driving, and will understand that it is the craziest driving ever! I thought the drivers in Bahrain were the most reckless, but Egypt has topped it by a mile. I will enlighten you all a little later about the driving. But I can tell you that there was not a single car that did not have a scratch and/or dent in it. Really, every car! So, Egypt is a poor place to live, this was one of the first things we learned on our first day.

At the hotel, we were starved, and fortunately made it in time to have some breakfast, which was followed by much-needed naps for a few hours. Once we woke up and were feeling refreshed, we decided to further the refreshed feeling by taking a dip in the hotel pool. The pool was very cold and took a while to get use to, but it was lovely nonetheless. We even ordered some drinks, which is where, as pictured above, we saw the drink called "six on the beach". I may have mentioned in previous blog posts that romantic things such as kiss and other affection is not allowed to be displayed, especially publicly. So, of course, the thought of sex on a beach is very offensive in the Middle East, so even the famous drink had to acquire a new name in Egypt. 

Soon, we moved to the roof top for some more photo-shooting action, and of course, sheesha while we watched the sun set. How romantic. 

After sunset, we cleaned up and began our adventure to find a local place to eat. We met a nice man on our walk who led us to a small restaurant overlooking the Pyramids. The food was excellent, and we had a very entertaining waiter. Our waiter was a master of Egyptian puzzles, which uses toothpicks to transform one picture into another. He also liked to play little jokes and tricks on us to keep us laughing. He was a sweet guy.

Following dinner, Tammy and Charmaine went back to the hotel, while Rachel and I visited the Papyrus Institute, which had amazing papyrus art. We were so impressed that we wanted to bring Tammy and Charmaine to come have look. So, the owner said he would drive us to our hotel so we could pick up Tammy (since Charmaine was sleeping). Now, I know you shouldn't get into the car with strangers, but, we figured, "it's an adventure", and hopped in. So, this is where I am going to go back to the part about the crazy driving, because although I found this to be absolutely hysterical and funny, poor Rachel was horrified and ready to cry. So, the owner drives us to our hotel. On the way, he realizes that he was heading towards the wrong hotel. However, instead of just finding a back-road to take to go in the other direction, he instead pulls out into the traffic, which should I mention, he pulled out into on-coming traffic, roughly 5 lanes of a 1-way road, and we were going the wrong way. So please, close your eyes, and imagine facing many cars coming at you at high speeds, and you creep down the road going the wrong way. This went on for about 200 meters or so. Only in Egypt could something of this sort happen. 

With life hanging by a thread, we reached our hotel and fetched Tammy. Tammy and I returned to the Papyrus Institute, where she made some purchases as well. This time we went back in a different car, one which must have come from the 1970's. It was old and falling apart. Scratched and dented like I've never seen before, cracked windshield, seat-belts attached to the ceiling, fur on the front and back dash, dirt crumbs and dust on the seats, and the wheel made an insane sound when turned. I tried to tell the guy that I think his car is trying to tell him something, but he just said, "but its a good and strong car". We were both relieved to finally get out. 

The day came to a close, and we were exhausted and ready for sleep so we could energize ourselves for the next day, which would be spend exploring Cairo.