We're Going to Egypt!

Trip Start Jul 06, 2008

Trip End Aug 18, 2008

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Where I stayed

Akram Inn Cairo

(Cairo hotels)

Flag of Egypt Cairo, Egypt
Tuesday, August 12, 2008

We are on the last leg of our trip and are exctied to report that we are in Egypt!

Our flight was good and we arrived in Egypt to a bright and hot day. We were greeted outside the airport by a large hoard of taxi drivers, but we knew that we could catch a bus that would take us to downtown Cairo for FAR less money - and we wouldn't have to worry about getting scammed by one of the drivers. We have heard from many people on our travels that Egypt can wear you down as the men there are either constantly ogling female travellers, or they are trying to make money off of you - or both.

One family we met in Athens told us to be sure not to pay anybody anything until what you wanted has been finished. For example, they went for a camel ride and the Egyptian man would not let the daughter off the camel until they paid more money. We gritted our teeth and prepared for battle. We have been to places like this before and were sure we could handle it.

After avoiding the taxi drivers and politely declining approaching local men offering their 'help' , we found ourselves waiting for over half an hour outside the airport for a bus to terminal 1 to take us to a bus that would head downtown. An airport busdriver saw me scanning approaching buses for their numbers. He called me over to his window and tried his best to explain that we needed to catch "Bus 1" from just across the street. Eventually we figured this out with a bit of help from another man. So far they had been quite friendly, with many "Welcome To Egypt's" and friendly smiles.

We finally hopped on Terminal Bus #1 and were heading in the right direction. It didn't take us long to find the proper bus to downtown and again we were off, holding our huge packs on our laps so we didn't have to pay any extra for the seats they were sitting on originally. Keep in mind it was 1.50 Egyptian Pounds - which is equivalent to about $0.30. (Smack in the forehead here).
There was an English-speaking genleman in the front of the bus that took us off and offered his assistance, and offereing to hail us a cab, ensuring us that he would get us a good price and stating that we would end up in the right place. We were still very wary of taking any assistance from anyone and preferred to find our own way. He did point us in the direction that we needed to go and we found ourselves walking a few blocks in the scorching heat - getting stares and ogles the whole way. Much too long later, we ended up finding a place and were able to bring the price down from 80 Egyptain Pounds each, to 50 Egyptian Pounds each. (From $16 each to $10). We enjoyed the workers at the reception who were more than happy to show us pictures from around Egypt and chat here and there. They were all smiles and were fun to be around. We were very happy to finally be settled.

That night, we took to the streets of Cairo and checked out some of the vendors selling various knick-knacks and began getting used to (if possible) the odours and noise that filled the steets. Before we headed to our room for the night, we managed to book ourselves a tour that included the Pyramids at Saqqara and Giza. We also had included in the tour, a visit to the Sphinx, and then a trip down to Luxor for one night to see the sights there before heading to Hurghada for two nights (a small town along the Red Sea) and finally back to Cairo again. It was going to be a whirlwind - but we were out of time!

Bring on the pyramids!

Hugs and Love,
Dana and Trevor
.