Indiana Hotel Cairo

This was my second full day in Cairo. I had plans to do a bit more site seeing but got sidelined.
With Ramadan practising Muslims don't eat or drink during the day. This also means that some businesses don't have 9-5 hours. Shops may open later or close in the early afternoon. That doesn't really affect me except when I need to exchange travellers cheques and the American Express office that I go to is closed.
It took me longer than expected to find the American Express office because I...

O.k. so get ready to encounter a lot of MEN, when you first arrive in Cairo. as 3 traveling strong women, we felt a little uncomfortable facing about 1000 men when we arrived to the airport in Cairo. this was o.k. during the daylight, but when we had to go pick up our friend at 12AM, close to the 1AM range, this sight was a little bit more scary and harsh. O.k. so let me backtrack, first we find out that we get ripped off by accepting the airconditioned, 'limousine' taxi as soon as we enter C...

Garbage Goats are what they are called, Egypt's environmentally friendly (but highly unhygienic) method of refuse removal. The goats, apparently, are a replacement of the Garbage Pigs (the Muslim government found the perfect excuse to kill all the little piggies under the banner of swine flu prevention). Your every day Garbage Goat roams the city having a good ol' feast in your bins eating decaying food, problem is that the goats are dumber than the pigs were and also eat the plastic bags, th...

It's already been a very busy day here in Cairo. Last night, my lovely new friends helped me to get to my hotel (Hotel Indiana) in order to meet my tour group. In my excitement to get to my new hotel, I forget the golden rule of not sitting in the front seat with the taxi driver--especially as a woman. He insisted on asking for my phone number and to go on a date with him and be his girlfriend. I had to play dumb and pretend I did not understand him and that no--I do not have a phone number. ...

Yesterday, Thursday, we sadly left Dahab and travelled to St. Katherine's monastery. This is really in the middle of nowhere...but is the location of Mt. Sinai. Those who know their bible history know that this is the location that Moses received the 10 Commandments. There is a monastery at the base to commemorate St. Katherine. She was the noble daughter of the king of Romania. She was in Alexandria and converted to Christianity, convincing her mother and many others to do the same. Her fath...

Well today was a pretty relaxing day. I had a bit of a lie in which was needed as my pillow and bed are rock hard. I got up just before 9am while everyone else was at the pyramids, had a shower then breakfast and then sat down in reception and wrote my journal and read some of my book. I then went on the internet to print off my itinerary for Dan and Michelle in case we cross paths while we are waiting for our tours to start. It was then time to go to the museum. I was told my taxi there shou...