The first day started with our flight from Sharm El Sheik to Cairo and due to the amount of sand in the air we didn’t get to see much out the window until Cairo came into view, and only then did we get to see just how massive the city really is. We were picked up from the airport (so nice not to have to negotiate a taxi!) and we were the only ones in a 12 seater van - it seemed Egypt was a bit low on tourists at the moment…
Around 40 minutes and some crazy traffic later we were at our hotel, and despite the scary elevator that zipped between derelict looking floors like something straight from a horror movie, it was fairly decent especially since we were doing a budget tour. We found a cheap place nearby for dinner and excellent smoothies before meeting the rest of the group with whom we'd be spending the next 10 days. There were 11 people in all, and an interesting mix – 4 from South Africa, 1 Canadian, 3 American’s and another Aussie who’d spent the last 7 years in Dublin and who turned out to be slightly deranged, but more on that later…
For those who want more information our tour was through Timeless Tours (now known as Expat Explorer) and we choose the 10 day 'Egypt Explorer' package....
Day 1 – Cairo Pyramids
We re-met everyone at a decidedly poor breakfast (ultra-oily omelette, stale croissants, day old bread, fake jam, all washed down with Nescafe - no milk) and we hoped that the day would improve. Already we could tell that our group was going to be interesting, lots of colourful characters and extroverts, so time would tell whether the interactions would be positive or end up in an eruption of personality clashes. Our policy at times like these is to sit back and watch the theatrics unfold.
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Sakkara Pyramid |
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The Sphinx and Giza |
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Kiising the Sphinx :) |
The Sphinx was larger than we’d expected with a lot of detail carved into the body and face, despite the missing nose. The only thing that really detracted from it was the numerous touts who were so persistent - we actually saw them take peoples cameras, despite their protests and saying that they didn’t want help taking pictures, and then charging them to give the camera back – needless to say Dave held onto his camera very tightly! It’s a real shame and the group collectively agreed the Government (heh!) should ban the kids from the viewing area.
From there it was back to the hotel for a shower and food before boarding our overnight train to Aswan. It turned out that most of our group had booked the more expensive sleeper train and only a few of us were braving the cheap train. We hoped we hadn’t made a really bad decision, but at least our tour guide was taking the cheapo option with us (he turned out to be an expert sleeping in train seats as he does the trip at least twice a week!)
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