Fun with EgyptAir

Trip Start Sep 07, 2008

102

148

Trip End Dec 09, 2008

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Flag of Egypt Cairo, Egypt
Friday, October 31, 2008

Drama at the airport. Four different flavors of harrowing drama.

Walid and Salim dropped us off at the Cairo airport and we stepped into the teeming throng. We were barely in the door when Wreath of Roses realized that her passport was under her bed at the hotel. Let me say that again so that the panic of the moment can sink in: SHE LEFT HER PASSPORT UNDER THE BED AT THE HOTEL!!! Drama 1.

We stuffed money in her pockets and kept her luggage, and she ran to get a taxi back to the hotel. I had visions of being fired for leaving her behind, but what help would it have been for all four of us to miss the flight?

Click, Blink Blink, and I weren't clear on where we needed to go, so we followed the crowd to the first security checkpoint. No orderly lines here, just a mass of people so packed together that the ramming luggage carts bit into my ankles. We had to push our way through the security corral, only to be met by Drama 2: We booked electronic tickets, and the security officer needed to see printouts of our booking, which I could produce, but Click and Blink Blink had nothing. So I had to go on one side of the security checkpoint with the luggage for all four of us, and they were sent to stand in line at another counter.

I guarded the luggage nervously, hoping they could get the right paperwork and make it back through the riot. But after a nail-ripping wait (I don't bite my nails, I just rip them off), they did return with printouts, and we moved on to the next line to check our luggage and get our boarding passes.

Miraculously, Wreath of Roses popped up beside us! She had managed to retrieve her passport from the hotel, taxi back to the airport, get her electronic booking printout, push through security, and find us among the masses.

Blink and Wreath don't want to leave Egypt

We waited and waited in that interminable line, the chances of us making the flight diminishing with each ticking minute. Drama 3.

We were rescued by an airline employee shouting madly through the crowd, "Athena? Athena here!" Yes, yes, we're going to Athena. He pulled us out of line and whisked us off to a "last minute" checkout counter. He checked our bags and whipped out boarding passes for us.

Alarmingly, there was ANOTHER security checkpoint to get through after that, and ANOTHER gigantic herd of people barely moving forward through it. Drama 4. Intrepid Wreath of Roses approached a Tourist Police officer and asked for help. Fortunately, he understood English and was in a generous mood (the guidebook says your chances of getting either one are 50/50), and he escorted us to another "last minute" desk to bypass this checkpoint. They slapped stamps on our passports and we sprinted to the gate for the Athens flight.

We made it! I feel very grateful for the several kind men who helped us get through. Without them, we'd still be stuck being shoved around in the press of the crowds. Arriving two hours ahead of an international flight is usually plenty of time, but not when we're talking about the Cairo airport. That's when you know you're in Egypt for sure!