Day 1 - 6 Sep 2008

Trip Start Sep 06, 2008
1
5
Trip End Sep 20, 2008

Flag of Egypt  ,
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Set off for Heathrow after a stressy evening and sleepless night, all because I had left everything until the last minute. Trouble is, I tend to get a bit blasé now where travelling preparations are concerned. Gone are the days when I planned everything with military precision. Was still doing laundry at 11pm last night, of things I wanted to take and then couldn't find my travel insurance docs. Shortly after midnight I found them, so downed a very large liquer as way of celebration, and hit the sack. Spent the next 3 hours tossing and turning waiting for hubby to arrive home, which he duly did at 3.30am, slightly the worse for wear.
I then spent the rest of the night worrying if he would be in a fit state to drive me to the airport!

It had taken me over 3 hours to pack and the end result was obviousl - well over the baggage allowance. How the hell do these airlines imagine that 20kg is adequate for a 2 week trip. That takes care of my makeup and toiletries only!!! What about the clothing and 15 pairs of shoes????? Anyway, at least the journey to Heathrow was uneventful, only interspersed with the usual insults from the driver, directed at any other road user in sight.
Checked in at desk 13, pleased to be relieved of my giant pink suitcase, not to mention the hideous screaming brat who was behind me in the queue and who had just about succeeded in perforating the eardrums of everyone in Zone C, from the comfort of his buggy. When, I wondered, will the airlines come to their senses and begin stowing all kids under the age of 5, in the hold with the luggage, so that we can enjoy a screech free flight!

Was very much looking forward to meeting the rest of the group, it's almost as much fun as the holiday itself, meeting new people. Cairo from the air
Cairo from the air
 Never enjoy the meal on the plane so headed for TGI Friday for my favourite Jack Daniels BBQ chicken meal before boarding. Divine! First flight with Egyptair, and when the meal arrived it was pretty much as expected but I did like the little box of dates, nicely wrapped and the Tutenkhamun nutty chocolate - nice touch.
Pleasant enough flight to Cairo airport where I met with some of our group. Would be a total of 19, but some had arrived the day before from different destinations. Was quite amusing waiting for our cases by the luggage carousel, to see a lone suitcase handle, minus the suitcase but still sporting the airline tag, going round and round. No sign of the suitcase it had once been attached to! Out tour guide was called Taso and he seemed a real sweetheart. Checked into the Pyramids View hotel at Giza which was basic and pretty grubby. Had looked it up on Trip Advisor and the poor reviews didn't disappoint. Got to the room and it was dark outside. Pulled back the curtain to peer into the darkness of our surroundings and wondered with some annoyance what the huge building was in front of us. 5 seconds later my travel weary brain kicked into action and it dawned on me it was one of the pyramids! Unbelievable! I started shrieking and dancing round the room with excitement. Always imagined the pyramids to be in the middle of the desert but here they were, so near to the city.

Started feeling really hot and realised that although the air con unit was working, it was blowing out warm air despite being on the cool setting. It was late and there didn't seem anyone around at the desk who may be able to look at it so I turned the unit off and spent a sleepless, sweaty night in the unbearable heat. Why is it that I always seem to get the room with the dodgy air con? Would see Taso, our tour guide, first thing in the morning, to get it sorted. We were here for 2 nights and I couldn't put up with it for another night. Burn baby burn!
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