Holiday Inn Cairo City Stars

... to me. I slept until 5:30 pm the next day, missing the advising appointment I had set up to set my schedule. My friend helped me out, rescheduling it for the next day. I went to the apartment of two friends, Corley and Jasmine, and hung out there before breaking the fast at “Euro Deli,” a restaurant that has just about everything you could ever want to eat here. After dinner, we hopped in a cab to Tahrir Square, the ...

... English speaking Egyptian. We took him up on the offer of a 2hr guided tour at a cost of 200EGP which we thought was pretty reasonable. He took us through a history lesson of Egypt and showed us the primary sites including King Tuts room and the royal mummies. Pretty awesome stuff. We were getting pretty worn down by the end of it and missed seeing heaps of stuff. We could've gone back in for a wander but decided to move on back to the hotel for a wee rest before heading ...

... on the right. Duh. So...he put it in reverse again - this time backing out of a toll booth! Good thing no one was behind us! I could hardly handle myself and felt so bad when I started laughing. Finally we made the turnoff - really small sign! Yippee! He got us to the door! He was so worried about us paying him because he said that if the police see taxi drivers getting paid, they will take the money from them. But all was good and we got there and he got paid. Finally at the airport!

... br>
Breakfast at hotel- Enjoy an excursion to visit Giza Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren, Mykerinus, the Great Sphinx and the Valley Temple- Transfer to visit the Egyptian Museum with the treasures of King Tutankhamen, it was enclosed in his tomb more than 3,500 years- Back to hotel. Overnight in Cairo.

Day 8: Optional

Day at leisure in Cairo- Optional to visit Alexandria, including visit to Roman Amphitheater, Cata Comb, Kaitbai ...

... would have dinner in a Nubian household. From the West Bank of the Nile we hopped in the backs of pick up trucks with seats and began driving through the village. Figo put his Galabea (robes) back on.

As we ere driving we saw a couple soccer games going, but I was too slow to get pictures for the www.soccerlinksafrica.org website. For those who don't know, my friend and I started a non-profit, check out the site.

As we drove by, in similar fashion ...

... Hanna hand write her signature on the way out – Welcome to Cairo!

As we left the airport grounds we began to realize the pictures and movies you see about Egypt tend to leave out the dirty underbelly and widespread poverty. That aside, I was intrigued by the people, architecture, and uniqueness that could only be here.

When we arrived at our hotel (which should really be considered a compound) our gypsy cab was ...

... the station the officer suggested. Once we arrived and figured out the way to go, we took a look inside KFC to see how much it was (Cory has been very pro-kfc and pro-mcdonalds so far). We decided it was too expensive, and just went back to the hotel. After a quick rest we went to find some food, and ate at a place down the street that had some sandwhiches for around 10 pounds, not too bad. Cory had a sandwhich that seemed like it was mexican in ...

So I am a very bad blogger but will try and update more regularly, I am just having such a blast! So my first day in Cairo I was on my own I took the metro to Coptic Cairo. This area is one of the oldest parts of Cairo and is the main Christian area. The churches are amazing so beautiful. The Coptic museum was amazing, unfortunately you can not take your camera inside, but the whole museum is just full of ancient treasures. After Coptic Cairo I got the metro ...

... Tower of Egypt). Turns out his opponent is our driver for the drive to the station.

Another hair-raising taxi experience later(why ARE there lines on the road, and traffic lights, no one uses them), he shows us to the right platform and we board the train.

The train was great. Individual reclining seats that swivel 180 degrees, LOTS of leg room, mice running under our feet(what?!?), and all in second class! Good to sleep in, so that's what we tried to do.

... own thing (to an extent) and not having a tour guide. Bliss.

The people as I said were amazing, but I remember a couple of times which shocked me really. And gave me that jab of in-secruity and the sense of being completely out of my ''area''. Once was with Ilona. Ilona (i-lona), was a short hair German Sheperd. As my payment for staying with my Mum, Yehya and some of his family, I used to look after Yehya's 3 German Sheperds who lived in a ...