Breakfast was really early at 6:30am on the train. We arrived in Cairo at 8:30am King Hotel. On the way, we had a final taste of mad driving. A car was to the rear left of us and we were in our minivan merging left before a barricade. The car sped up and cut in front of us on the traffic island to merge in the right lane next to us. We thought we were going to crash into him, or into the traffic island. It was incredibly dangerous! Closer to our hotel, our driver again proved his skills when we turned down the street of the hotel. The narrow road already had cars parked all the way up on both sides and in some places he skilfully manoeuvred the brand new van so the side mirrors just missed double parked cars. You have to have very good spatial awareness to drive in Egypt.
Once we arrived, we checked in and collected our luggage we’d left down in storage. They had basically thrown our stuff in with other suitcases from tour groups into a tiny little room. Dan went down to get the bags, but Ev’s hiking boots weren’t there, so she went down to have a 'wife look'. It was like a treasure hunt. The shoes were under 3 other bags. We eventually made our way out of the tiny room and declined the porter’s assistance. We knew as soon as he touched one of our bags we’d have to tip him.
We put our bags upstairs and quickly went back to the lobby to farewell Nikky, David, Connor, Caleb and Alley at 10:00am. We really enjoyed their friendship on the trip. It’s a shame we only got to really know them on the last day. We headed to the ATM around the corner to get money out and saw Richard along the way before he and Denise headed off for a quick tour of the Coptic area. We told him we’d be in the cafe using the internet most of the afternoon but said a quick goodbye just in case. Unfortunately we didn’t bump into them again. Dan also noticed our shop keep friend who followed us all the way to the Nile our very first day in Egypt had spotted us. He began to follow us as we walked. At the ATM, the card was declined again, so we went inside to a small shop next door to find another ATM. There wasn’t one but we took our time to make sure the Egyptian Johnny Chen (He was our Chinese nemesis in ’06) wasn’t hanging around for us. We decided back and we said goodbye to Hoda and wished her well with her house and future plans. The group decided we’d each leave a generous tip for Hoda as she’d been an amazing guide for us. Now completely broke, we headed toward another bank near the KFC which only employed deaf people, and saw Graham and Helen about 200m ahead of us out to get some coffee. We found an ATM outside of the HSBC bank and got enough out for lunch, dinner and a cab the following morning. We ended up going to the supermarket to grab something for breakfast, water, milk and cereal, but couldn’t find any plastic bowls let alone any cutlery. The restaurant should have some though. We got back to the hotel and Dan decided to have a nap while Ev went downstairs to work on the journal.
At 12:00pm Carla was off, but sadly we missed saying goodbye as we’d gone out to get lunch. Carla has another month of travel before returning to Australia. We skyped Ev’s parents and Colin in the afternoon from the Cafe downstairs at about 2:00pm but the power went out for half an hour. We shared a pizza for lunch. Graham and Helen then came over to say goodbye and were headed back on their way to New Zealand at 5:00pm. We really enjoyed their company and would love to see them again next time we’re in their neck of the woods. After lunch we both went back to the hotel room to chill out and watch a movie. First Knight with Richard Gere was playing, it was enough to put us both to sleep.
Around 6pm, Ev then went up to the balcony with her own can of coke to enjoy the view and use the internet some more, but was asked to leave as she refused to buy one of the cafe’s drinks. We had planned to have dinner up there, but they pissed her off so much that we just had another pizza downstairs in the cafe. Nothing really happened today, which was very good. We’ve needed some rest.
We went back to the room fairly early tonight because we have to get up at 4am for our flight to London and Western civilization. While Ev was on the internet, Dan watched Bonfire of the Vanities. He isn’t sure why...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/collections/72157624677997272
Once we arrived, we checked in and collected our luggage we’d left down in storage. They had basically thrown our stuff in with other suitcases from tour groups into a tiny little room. Dan went down to get the bags, but Ev’s hiking boots weren’t there, so she went down to have a 'wife look'. It was like a treasure hunt. The shoes were under 3 other bags. We eventually made our way out of the tiny room and declined the porter’s assistance. We knew as soon as he touched one of our bags we’d have to tip him.
We put our bags upstairs and quickly went back to the lobby to farewell Nikky, David, Connor, Caleb and Alley at 10:00am. We really enjoyed their friendship on the trip. It’s a shame we only got to really know them on the last day. We headed to the ATM around the corner to get money out and saw Richard along the way before he and Denise headed off for a quick tour of the Coptic area. We told him we’d be in the cafe using the internet most of the afternoon but said a quick goodbye just in case. Unfortunately we didn’t bump into them again. Dan also noticed our shop keep friend who followed us all the way to the Nile our very first day in Egypt had spotted us. He began to follow us as we walked. At the ATM, the card was declined again, so we went inside to a small shop next door to find another ATM. There wasn’t one but we took our time to make sure the Egyptian Johnny Chen (He was our Chinese nemesis in ’06) wasn’t hanging around for us. We decided back and we said goodbye to Hoda and wished her well with her house and future plans. The group decided we’d each leave a generous tip for Hoda as she’d been an amazing guide for us. Now completely broke, we headed toward another bank near the KFC which only employed deaf people, and saw Graham and Helen about 200m ahead of us out to get some coffee. We found an ATM outside of the HSBC bank and got enough out for lunch, dinner and a cab the following morning. We ended up going to the supermarket to grab something for breakfast, water, milk and cereal, but couldn’t find any plastic bowls let alone any cutlery. The restaurant should have some though. We got back to the hotel and Dan decided to have a nap while Ev went downstairs to work on the journal.
At 12:00pm Carla was off, but sadly we missed saying goodbye as we’d gone out to get lunch. Carla has another month of travel before returning to Australia. We skyped Ev’s parents and Colin in the afternoon from the Cafe downstairs at about 2:00pm but the power went out for half an hour. We shared a pizza for lunch. Graham and Helen then came over to say goodbye and were headed back on their way to New Zealand at 5:00pm. We really enjoyed their company and would love to see them again next time we’re in their neck of the woods. After lunch we both went back to the hotel room to chill out and watch a movie. First Knight with Richard Gere was playing, it was enough to put us both to sleep.
Around 6pm, Ev then went up to the balcony with her own can of coke to enjoy the view and use the internet some more, but was asked to leave as she refused to buy one of the cafe’s drinks. We had planned to have dinner up there, but they pissed her off so much that we just had another pizza downstairs in the cafe. Nothing really happened today, which was very good. We’ve needed some rest.
We went back to the room fairly early tonight because we have to get up at 4am for our flight to London and Western civilization. While Ev was on the internet, Dan watched Bonfire of the Vanities. He isn’t sure why...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/collections/72157624677997272
1 comment:
Hahahaha hehe, get to london already!
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