Our Egyptian Adventure - Day 1

Day One of the Journey!

Christy:

We decided to go a day early to Egypt since it was such a long flight (16 hours) and I'm so glad we did.  But first, the journey started in Los Angeles.  We stayed overnight in LA so that if by some weird off chance our flight was delayed we would have plenty of time to get to Egypt.  We called a cab to come pick us up and take us to the airport.  The airport was only maybe 15 minutes away from the hotel so it wasn't a far cab ride.  Well unfortunately is was a long 15 minutes!  I feel like our cab driver had only just learned how to drive.  It was the worst cab ride I have ever taken in my life.  I couldn't tell if the transmission was bad or he had it in the wrong gear.  After it was over I had whiplash and motion sickness from all the jerking back and forth and abrupt breaking!  It was awful.  

Anywho, the plane ride wasn't too bad although I didn't get much sleep because the seats were hard to get comfortable in and once I did fall asleep, I woke up with a stiff neck and noticed that the lady next to me had stolen my pillow while I was sleeping!  What kind of person does this?  I was gonna take it back because she was still sleeping on it when I woke up but she had her mouth open and I didn't want to risk putting my face on her drool.  

So roughly after a 2 hour layover in Turkey we were back in the air to Cairo.  Once we arrived in Cairo it seemed a little chaotic until we saw our guide with an Exoticca tour sign.  Our guide, Mario, was amazing!  He led us through all the customs and visa charges then out to our shuttle to the hotel.  By this time it's like 1:30 a.m. but by the looks of this city and how many people are out and about you would never guess it's this time.  We had a 45 minute drive to our hotel and Mario had plenty to say on the trip.  He said that people are active at night.  There's plenty to do during that time because everything is still open.  You can get a bite to eat, dance, shop, or just about anything.  They even have cars set up along the road selling coffee and food out of their cars, crazy!  Mario gave us a lot of information.  He said that there are 3 things to remember when crossing the streets; close your eyes, pray to the Gods and run!  So apparently it is not safe to cross the streets.  He said use the pedestrian bridges.  Mario also said don't drink the water, always drink bottled.  It's not like bad for you it just tastes terrible.  Just brushing my teeth I could taste a strong bleach taste.  As we were coming up to our hotel, Mario pointed out the pyramids.  It was dark but you could still see the silhouette of the pyramids.  It was crazy to see these pyramids in the middle of the city.  Mario said there are over 2.5 million stones in those pyramids, that's incredible.

Scott:

Flying from Los Angeles nonstop to Istanbul, Turkey was the longest flight I'd ever been on.  Plus leaving at 7:30 at night I knew we'd be flying all night, but actually miss the night because of the time difference.  I tried to prepare as best as I could and ended up getting probably 4-5 hours of total sleep, which is better than I expected.  and YES, I'm too cheap to pay for first class!  Turkish Airlines was classy; video screens on each seat, and we were served a pretty good dinner and breakfast.  We even got served a meal on our 2.5 hour flight from Turkey to Cairo!  All in all, for such a long flight, there was less turbulence than in the taxi drive to the airport.

Day 2 

Christy:

We didn't get to sleep until 3:30 a.m. the night before but we managed to get up in time to enjoy a Egyptian buffet breakfast.  It was quite a spread of delicious pastries, breads, meats, cheeses, and other breakfast foods.  After breakfast we decided to get a much needed massage.  The prices were so incredible I decided to get a facial too!  As I was walking back to the room after my amazing spa treatments the concierge offered me coffee, chocolate milk and a delightful choice of chocolates.  I chose the chocolate milk and it was so rich and creamy, like no chocolate milk I have ever tasted.  I feel like Willie Wonka made it himself!  It was so good!  We hung out in the room for a little bit and then relaxed by the beautiful pool.  The weather this time of year is nice, not too hot at all.  We had many choices for dinner in our hotel but the one that caught our eye was sushi.  I wasn't gonna get my hopes up too high because it's sushi in Egypt but it was so good!  Tomorrow the tour starts and we will be able to see the pyramids, I can't wait!!

Scott:

I have to say, by way of advice, the best decision we made was coming a day early.  I knew we were going to arrive in the middle of the night and didn't want to then get up for 11 hours of tours just hours later after having a sub-par night of sleep the night before in an airplane.  Yes we had to pay for an extra night at the hotel, but a VERY small price to pay to sleep in, get adjusted to the new time zone and just relax to get ready to launch into the itinerary starting tomorrow.

Truth be told, I had to be talked into the massage, but I have to admit it was a decent way to spend an hour!  I have to say I didn't care for the weird shorts they had us change into, made from a mesh material like the booties at an open house.... those shorts... well, how do I say this...were somewhat fragile, and never looked the same again.

The sushi WAS good (and $4), as was the pad thai (another $4).  And I'm not prone to fits of excitement, but I have to admit I'm going to have a hard time sleeping tonight, anticipating actually being at the pyramids tomorrow.  I can't wait!