Opinions About Egypt

We could really not improve on anything with this tour. The people are great and everyone went out of their way to accommodate us, much more than we ever expected! I would highly recommend Ya'lla Tours for your Egypt adventure. 

We were met at the airport by the Maged and treated fabulously. All through out our tour there were thoughtful things done for us such as a cold bottle of water, asking if we had a need, etc. All unexpected, but a kind and much welcomed change from our Israel tour. 

Maged turned up at unexpected times to be sure we were happy and enjoying ourselves. He is one of the most organized and efficient people we have ever met. In addition, our guides in both Cairo and on the Nile cruise were also thoughtful and efficient. Every detail was in place and communicated well. 

The cruise ship personnel were very nice and accommodating as well. We had a wonderful time. 

Opinions About Israel

Things were not as we thought they would be in Israel. I guess I just read a lot of Bible verses and things about the places we would visit, not looking at what they would actually look like now. Basically there is a place of worship built on every single site, sometimes several on top of each other! Each religion or group of people who conquered an area apparently either knocked down the previous site and/or built their own version over it. There is conflict with every belief system of course. There is no resemblance to the time of Jesus in most situations. That is not the fault of the tour - just how the country is. 

But yes, to me I was stunned we did not visit the church of the wedding! The obvious hours were posted for all of time! Strange. I will definitely mention it in my comment paper to the travel agency. I do not believe I would suggest this company again for Israel. There is poor continuity when there are people added to the group in the middle of the tour and having multiple hotels to pick up people in this crazy traffic is just a joke. It was probably a small distance to travel but one night when we were the last dropped off, it took 45 minutes from the last spot to drop us off (stopped in traffic most of the time). Changing guides... that was unsettling as well. 

Drivers: I have been on few tours but have noted that even on cruise ship tours the driver is there to give a hand to people on and off the bus, had a stool for big steps, or at least the driver is personable or friendly, etc. This was not the case with our driver. He barely ever spoke a word to us. Even with limited English he could have smiled and attempted to be friendly but he wasn't, though I tried several times. I even bought him an apple and he refused it, though at my insistence he did take it eventually. At times the first guide and driver seemed at odds. We even missed seeing a site because the driver apparently went the wrong way and then refused to go back. I am not sure that is accurate but it seems like what happened. More than once the first guide asked  the driver to slow down, he did seem to be driving awfully fast a few times.  

There were times we walked by significant things and did not even pause for a moment to take a photo. In addition, when we visited places neither of our guides gave us a brochure or anything to refer to. Clearly there were places that were numbered and we could have read about it ourselves at our own pace during the free time we had there. I wised up soon and began getting a brochure at each entrance that had them. 

With our new guide Ali: When we got to the Old City we were in the back of the bus. The guide took off when he got out and the first part of the people followed him but the last 7 of us did not even know what direction he went! We stood for a few minutes and then a man in the group said we should go a certain way as most people around were going that particular way. We did, then eventually we saw the guide coming back for us. Ali explained he wanted to get us a good place in line. It would have been nice if he told us that and pointed out the direction we should go, but he did not! This was disturbing and made one wonder if it was necessary to ask more questions about each stop we came to. 

It would be ideal to take a trip like this with a group from your own church. That was our hope of course, but it didn't work out for us. We went now when we could go as we probably will not have the chance again.

Heading Home - Home!!!

At 3am we are up and 4am we are on our way to Cairo Airport. A mere 27 hours later from leaving our hotel we are home!!! Deb and Sam picked us up at the airport. Our bed will feel good tonight!

Day 18 - Cairo

We have relaxed most of the day. We slept about 11-12 hours last night. Yes, I did wake up at 5:30a but went right back to sleep after taking a pain pill and slept on and off until 9a. John has gotten a bit more tired during the day than I have but he has gone on every site other than the one we both skipped. He has no pain and actually, my knee pain isn't too bad and I am thankful of that. Steps are not my friend and believe me, there have been a lot of them! As I said we slept in late. John went down for breakfast, he brought me back a hard boiled egg in case I got hungry before lunch. For lunch we went to the pool restaurant again, I think it is called Citrus. We actually had a BURGER and FRIES! Not quite like home but very large. I skipped the bread part and still couldn't eat all the meat. I think it must have been 1/3 to 1/2 pound, all for approximately US$5! We were so eager to eat it I forgot to take a photo! We planned to swim today in the luxurious pool but it is really too cool for us and the water is not heated. The pools are lovely. The far pool has a waterfall. 

 Our Lunch View

 John's Lemon "Juice" (Lemonade)

John has read and I've worked on this blog most of the day. The internet was up and down. Each time it went down I lost the photos I was uploading. Finally I just did ONE photo at a time and it worked much better but still took most of the day, anyway it is done and I have it.

We are all packed and we will get up at 3am to be picked up at 4am. Our flight is 7:35a but it is 1 hour to the airport and we will go when they tell us to. We will be given a breakfast box to take with us, not sure what is in it but we will eat it, or some of it, when we get to the airport. We are ready to go home, though we have enjoyed this trip tremendously. 

Day 17 - Aswan - Abu Simbel - Cairo

Our cruise is officially over after breakfast. I will say the staff on this cruise are the most helpful, kind, and nice people we have ever met. Being on a smaller ship means fewer choices of foods but the array was more than adequate. Of course one must adapt to a different culture and if you hope for beef being abundantly present, you would be disappointed. The fish and chicken are delicious and well prepared. Food is served really hot as it should be. The A/C is very brisk in our cabin and we had to often turn it down. This was a concern for us as we didn't want to be "hot" so we were not at all disappointed. The interior of the boat is older looking by our standards, but clean and that is what matters to us. This boat has earned 5 stars, which is not really comparable to our 5 stars but never substandard. There is a nice jewelry store onboard with many lovely things. I already have a cartouche or I would have gotten on there. The owner has just beautiful ones he makes them and they are quite unique, available in silver, gold, or a mixture. The other shop carries clothing and other items, even a few thing like shampoo. Clearly the people who work, work very hard to make a living. The Nile River by Luxor and on our cruise was so refreshing. I really can't comment to the actual cleanliness of the river, but people here drink from it. You can see locals dip their cups in the river for a drink. I personally will not do this! As far as the surrounding area near tourist destinations, it is kept up pretty well. As I said on our carriage ride to the more local back streets of Aswan, this is not the case. The point to be made is the Nile Cruise was a very positive experience. I may not say that if I was on a big bus with 30-40 people but having 4 of us with 1 guide, it was quite nice, very personal. Ya'lla has a fabulous staff here in Egypt and they hired guides that met their standards with no problem. We enjoyed the company of out traveling companions David and Brenda from Oregon as well.

After breakfast our pick up time was 7:15a and we were on our way to Aswan airport for our flight to Abu Simbel. Here we parted ways with David and Brenda. They head directly back to Cairo and will visit the museum today and fly home at 2a Saturday morning! It is a quick flight to Abu Simbel, we barely reached altitude and we were descending for our arrival! On our descent I saw the Abu Simbel temple but sadly I could not get my camera our in time to take a photograph. I will need to look for one when I get internet service again it was a breathtaking sight. There are also pyramid shaped mountains but in reality there are no pyramids in upper Egypt (southern Egypt). The pyramids are all in lower Egypt (northern Egypt). On arrival our Ya'lla guide was waiting for us at the door where he took us directly to the bus that would take us to the Temple. It is a short ride, maybe 15 minutes. He got our tickets and took us directly to the temple. Guides are not allowed to take people in and talk inside so he gave us all sorts of information before we went in. He has 8x10 photos to show us what we will see and explain it to us. This temple is different in that it was carved into a mountain of rock, built over a 25 year span and one of the most prodigious feats of engineering in Egypt. The entire complex of temples was moved to its present location 90 feet above its old site to protect it from the rising water of the Nile when the Aswan Dam was built in the early sixties. There is a film and photos to show you how they managed to cut apart this temple and reassemble it above the old site. I'm not sure if I mentioned before that 14 Temples were moved when the dam was built. Of these temples 4 were given to other countries, 1 is in the Met in NYC, I forget where the other went but then 10 were reassembled near their original sites.

Abu Simbel Temples for Ramses II and Nefertiti

Our visit was up and we were taken back to the airport by bus. Within 10 minutes we were boarding and on our way to Cairo with a quick stop in Aswan to  let passengers off and pick up a few. We were there just minutes and didn't even get off the plane. It is just over an hour to Cairo. Maged was waiting for us in his very efficient fashion. He said our flight was early and there is no doubt it was because we left Aswan early. If he were not so efficient we would have been waiting for him. A short walk to the van where cold water was waiting for us then on our way to the hotel. I will say we are exhausted and looking forward to eating dinner and just going to bed. We didn't have lunch but we always carry nuts or something with us to snack on. I have a slight sore throat and I hope it is just from exhaustion but I am popping a lot of On Guard beadlets!

When we arrived at the hotel Maged took care of check in just like he and the other Ya'lla people take care of boarding passes, check in, luggage, everything. We were upgraded to a "Preferred Customer" room, which is in the newer section and quite elaborate. There is a luxurious bed and flat screen TV. We just see a tip of the Pyramids but the room is so posh it is a great trade off. At 6p we went to the pool restaurant to eat the delicious grilled veal chops with sides of rice, French fries, grilled veggies and appetizers of the Sambossek, Hummus, and glass of Egyptian red wine. After that it was off to bed for us. A few minutes to read and I was out. We are looking forward to sleeping in and taking our time to pack and prepare for our flight home on early Sunday morning. 

Day 16 - Aswan - Nile Cruise

Our Morning View from the Boat

Our day began at 6:30a, right after breakfast. We went on a short motor boat ride to the Temple of Philae on the island of Agilka. The temple was dedicated to Isis, sister/wife of Osiris and patroness of the Ptolemaic rule. I can't keep all their gods straight because there are a lot of them! Another beautiful, intricate temple. This one even had a kiosk built by the Roman Emperor, Trajan nearby. As years passed and Christians came, they put their marks on the temples as well, the cross in different styles, and there are also some Christian etchings in some areas.

Temple of Philae

Next we drove to the Aswan High Dam, Egypt’s contemporary example of building on a monumental scale. It is quite something in the fact that if the dam was destroyed all of Egypt would flood within 7 hours. Can you imagine? That is what our guide told us. I will be eager to have the Internet to check some of the things we were told. Later I asked a different guide an he said the area of Alexandra would be fully destroyed. Since most of the inhabitants are along the river, perhaps it is true in life but not in land? Of course there is a military presence and each vehicle is checked. In addition, it is a no-fly zone.

The Dam

Next stop was the granite quarries which supplied the ancient Egyptians with most of the hard stone used in pyramids and temples. Here we got a better idea how the Obelisks were made as we viewed the Unfinished Obelisk at this site. It cracked when they were cutting it out so they abandoned the whole thing.

Unfinished Obelisk

We sailed around Elephantine Island on a felucca, the traditional Egyptian sail boat. Elephantine Island is the largest of the Aswan area islands, and is the site of some of the most ancient remains in Egypt, with artifacts dating to pre-dynastic periods. Elephantine is Greek for Elephant. In ancient times, the island was called Abu or Yabu, which also means elephant. The name may indicate that the island was once a center for the trade of ivory. What a relaxing time. Continue sailing around Kitchner Island (also known as Lord Kitchner’s Botanical Garden, Plant Island, Gizirat al-Nabatat, Plantation Island, or Gizirat al-Bustan). Lord Kitchner moved there after being given the island for his campaigns in the Sudan. He imported plants from around the world to create his famous garden. From the river you have a nice view of the Aga Khan Mausoleum, an elegant pink granite structure built in the late 1950’s. We saw many birds along the way. My camera is not great at getting most of them. This felucca dropped us off right near our boat and we walked back with just enough time freshen up and have lunch.

Felucca

 Kingfisher

We relaxed until 2:30p when John and I booked 2 additional things. 1) Visit to a Nubian farm and 2) A carriage ride on the back streets and "real life" of Aswan. The farm wasn't so interesting but the motor boat ride to it was relaxing, breezy, and enjoyable while we saw a lot more birds. We did feed some baby camels at the farm, saw some captured crocodiles, and a few goats. We had tea and that was about it. When we got off the boat we got directly onto a carriage. It was a fancy carriage. We drove through the back streets seeing shops, fruit stands, women shopping, men visiting, children waving and welcoming us, and a lot of the homes people live it. It is humbling, we have so much and take it for granted. While the area for tourists looks much like any other city, the back streets reveal the real life of the ordinary person. I was pleasantly surprised today to see a couple Plumeria trees!!!

Nubian House

Baby Camels at Nubian Farm

Back Streets 3

Back to the ship, bidding farewell to our wonderful guide George just before dinner. We will miss him tomorrow but we will be well taken care of by the guides we get, I am sure. So after dinner we just worked on packing and went to bed. We have to be ready for pick up at 7:15a tomorrow. Packing is a bit of a challenge because the only things we are supposed to take with us to Abu Simbel is what we will carry around with us for 2 hours. Ugh. Everything fit in one carryon bag that will be checked BUT - the question is, how much will it weight? We shall see in the morning!

Day 15 - Edfu to Aswan - Nile Cruise

Sunrise on the Nile River

Our start time today was 7:30a. We took a horse-drawn carriage to visit the Temple of Horus, the most perfectly preserved of all the Nile Temples. Horus, also known as Haroeris, was the falcon-headed solar war god. It was interesting but we are getting a bit of "Temple Fatigue" - After the carriage ride back we re-boarded had lunch and by then we were sailing to Kom Ombo.

Carriage Ride 

Temple of Horus

We viewed the quarries on each side of the river as we proceeded to Aswan.

We decided we would forego the visit to the temple in Kom Ombo called the Temple of Sobek and rest this afternoon. John might even be less tired than I am but we both took a nap in the afternoon! After dinner we sailed into Aswan and we watched that process take place including the docking. At 9:30p we saw a Nubian show, we will visit a Nubian farm tomorrow along with other things.

Docking in Aswan

Tonight after dinner we had Nubian Night. The Nubians were people who lost most of their land when the Dams were built. They moved of course. We had music and dancing and something that might have been comedy. 

Nubian Night

It was a restful and quiet day. We spent part of the time in our cabin and part of our time enjoying the sun deck. I tried to post the blog but the internet kept dropping off. My phone works pretty well but keeps giving me a message that I don't have a "plan" - which we set up before we left. I tried to call the number they said to call but it said they will not accept a call from my number. I guess we'll sort that out at home. 

Foods

Of note: The temple we missed was the Temple of Sobek a temple for the crocodile-headed god of fertility and creator of the world. The temple stands at a bend in the Nile where, in ancient times, sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the riverbank. There are no crocks in the Nile River now, they are behind the dam. I'm not sure how they know this but that is what we were told. 

Day 14 - Luxor to Edfu - Nile Cruise

Morning Moon Over the Nile River

This morning we are still at the same Luxor port. We had a very early breakfast and joined our guide at 6:15a to the Valley of the Kings. Brenda and David went on a hot air balloon ride, they left at 3 or 4a! We have the plan to connect with their guide from that adventure near the Valley of the Kings and that worked out well. On the way to pick them up we stopped at the famed Colossi of Memnon, which is two 66 ft statues that weigh 1,000 tons. These are statues of Amenhotep III. These statues were know by the ancient Greeks to emit haunting voices (a whistle) at dawn. Though damaged now my nature and tourists, the statues are still very impressive. There is other excavation going on in the area as well.  Then we waited for a little while and they came from their excursion. As we waited we watched the small world go by here in Memnon, 2 female goat herders, young men on donkeys, etc. Then on to the Valley of the Kings.

Colossi of Memnon

 

Goat Herd

We visited 3 tombs while at the Valley of the Kings. None of the tombs have anything in them, but the carving and painting on the walls is still colorful after thousands of years - not subjected to the sun or elements, it lasts. Strangely enough even in these cavern type tombs it is warm. If we go into a cave in the USA it is always cool inside. Perhaps the ones we went in are not deep enough? There are some here that are very deep but people are not allowed in them. We did not go in Tut's tomb, there is nothing in it and it costs extra. Anyway, hiking into the tombs is relatively easy, hiking out, not so much. Fantastic to see though, well worth it. We had plenty of time so we could go slow and rest for minute a few times on the way up. 

From there we went to an Alabaster factory, not really a factory but 4 men hand carving a variety of things from a variety of stones. They even had a stone called Moonstone that glows in the dark! It really looks fake but it isn't I guess.

John taking his hand at the Alabaster

On the way back to our boat we visited the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. This beautiful monument was built to the only female pharaoh. It rises out of the desert plain in a series of terraces and merges with the sheer limestone cliffs that surround it. Much of it was destroyed by her jealous stepson because he felt he should be the pharaoh. Still vibrant colors remain in some places and there are some sizable statues as well.

Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

We arrived back to the boat and rested for about 30 minutes before our scheduled lunch at 1p. We were to set sail at 1:30p but it was after 2p before that actually happened. We found a nice, shady spot on the top deck to see the views from a lounge and snap photos as desired. I had a nice conversation with a woman just a bit younger than me. She and her friend are from Alexandrea. I gather she is Muslim as she covers her head with a tied scarf and she asked me if we saw the Citadel. I told her we did because we did see it from the freeway. She asked and I told her the places we saw in Cairo. She didn't know of the Cavern or Cave church, but her friend told her about it. She spoke English but her friend didn't. Anyway, between the 3 of us we had a nice conversation. If not for Radicals of many types, I believe people would live in peace(?) As our shade moved, so did we - back to our cabin. We opened our drapes, enjoyed the AC and watched the river flow by while sitting on our bed!

We got in the spirit of things wearing a Galabeya (traditional long gown) for the Egypt evening. I bought mine in Cairo and a scarf for my head on the boat. John got his outfit on the boat including the head gear for US$15. Our photos were taken and I hope one turns out! Egyptian food was served at dinner, which was very nice. After dinner we went up to the sun deck and watched our travel to Edfu. We had a close trip under a bridge. Since the water is low, I wonder what they would do if the water was high? There was a "party" at 9:30p but I will say we are in our room by then and ready for bed. Getting up at 5a - well, we just can't stay up too late tonight!

John and George

 

Of Note: BBC news shows that Brazil is the #1 in qualifying for the World Cup! Will this be the year we get the 6th World Cup Win?  

Day 13 - Luxor to Nile Cruise

Upper Egypt is really the south of Cairo and Lower Egypt is the northern part. The Nile is the only river on earth that flows south to north, or so I am told. I need to check that out because I thought that was the case of all rivers south of the equator! Our pick up time was 10:30a, which was nice because we got in late (for us) last night. This hotel is quite nice! We noticed that we had a balcony this morning and we can see the Nile River from here. We got ready, had breakfast, and I got the free Wi-Fi in the lobby. Unfortunately, I could not upload photos because it took so long. I will add, this is the nicest hotel we have stayed in. We even had a balcony to see the Nile River. Too bad we aren't here longer. The breakfast was quite nice. There was a omelet bar and we each had a small omelet. No bacon again but there were "mini burgers" as in a huge pan with tiny patties and I had one of those. The beef was very good. No Pomegranate - I am getting spoiled! They did have Hibiscus and Tamarind juices though.

Our Ya’lla tour guide George arrived. He is a nice man who is 33 years old. He asked me how old I thought he was. I guessed 28 - I thought 30, so I wanted to be safe! He was very happy that I guessed younger! His birthday was Nov. 12, like Saira's. He is a cheerful man with a friendly smile. He is a Christian, we think this will make our trip even better due to the like minded thinking. He asked if we were Catholic, I said no, Protestant. He said he really didn't know the difference. I simply told him we believe the basics - Jesus is the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, died on the cross for our sins to give us eternal life. He smiled and said, YES, everything but that really doesn't matter!  He also brought up our election. Again, this man tells me everyone in Egypt is so happy there is no Clinton! They basically blame her for all the trouble in the middle east beginning with 2011, and the Arab Spring troubles here in Egypt. Anyway, just a short 20-25 minute drive to the boat. George poses by the gang plank - We are not in the USA as you can see! So we are on the Radamis II and ready for our cruise! George got us all checked in and we went to our cabin #409. He returned to the Luxor airport to pick up the other 2 people who will be with us.

Boarding

 

Our Cabin

We went to lunch at 1p meeting David and Brenda from OR, somewhere not too far from Portland. I would say they are in their 40's. He is a Physician Assistant and Brenda works for Intel software. They have no children but a cat they adore, well I can't hold that against them! They seem nice enough. Lunch was more American than anything we have had so far, only the salad bar was more middle eastern with pickled things. Chicken and fish were the proteins and both were very good. Unlike a "regular" cruise ship, this is all served buffet style, other than the fish which the chef was frying in the dining area.

After lunch we took a short drive to visit Karnak Temple, called by some “the Temple of Temples.” It is the largest place of worship ever built. Its ancient name Ipet-isut means “the most sacred of places.” The temple, or, more correctly, the complex of temples, was built over more than two thousand years by generation after generation of pharaohs. Within the complex, the great “Hypostyle Hall” is an incredible forest of giant pillars covering an area larger than the whole of Notre Dame Cathedral. It was an astonishing site considering this place began to be built in 3000 BC and work was stopped in 450 BC! Some of the colors are still pretty vibrant. I will add, the way they made their colors to paint in these temples is different that I thought. They finely ground stones of different colors, then mixed it with egg yolk! They used Lapis, Malachite, amber, and others I cannot recall right now. It's quite warm in the sun but thankfully there is plenty of shade.

Karnak Temple

We then visited the graceful Temple of Luxor built by Amenhotep III and Ramses II for ritual and festivals and dedicated to the god Amun. The sun is going down and I wish I had a shot of that sunset, it was brilliant! Traveling in a van is not the best way to take a photo! Most off this temple has strategic lighting so the pictures look pretty nice even after dark. Fascinating is the Avenue of the Sphinx. It went from Karnak to Luxor with Sphinx along the entire way. Only part of this is excavated. Just seeing the parts exposed is astounding.

Luxor Temple

We returned to our boat and had 1.5 hours before our 7:30p dinner time. We ate light and had a nice visit with David and Brenda. They are getting up at 3:15A to take a hot air balloon ride. Good for them! We think 6:15a is very early to start out for us, but at least it will be cooler and we don't really mind! I was really sorry the other day to realize I left my little ice pack in Israel. My knee could use some icing tonight but it has been worse. At least we don't have to move to the next hotel anytime soon. After this cruise we will fly to Cairo and then from there home.

Our Nile Cruise on the RADAMIS II:  One of the most luxurious Nile Cruises. It has 60 deluxe cabins and 6 presidential suites all with TV, minibar, hairdryer and safe. Facilities and amenities include pool and Jacuzzi, lounge, nightclub, boutique, gift shop, sun deck, 4 bars, and laundry facilities. www.radamis.com/Cruises

Day 12 - Cairo to Luxor

We began our day at 10a today because we will not return to the hotel but go directly to the airport tonight for our flight to Luxor. Magued joined us for some of the day. I'm a little unsure why he drove with us but I believe he had another group he was monitoring as well. He is perfect for his job. He is so detailed - more about that at the airport later today.

On to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. There is a new museum being built that will be the largest museum in the world when it is completed. This museum is very old itself and the new museum will have a much safer way to preserve some of the delicate items we saw. There is a fee to carry a camera, though it is a small fee, Henry suggested I not take the camera and that for $10 I can get a DVD/CD with pictures of everything in the museum and all over Egypt. So, that's what I did. It was very strange NOT to take photos! Henry gave us our personal and detailed, guided tour. I can say we have become friends in this short time! 

Our lunch break was on a "retired" Nile cruise ship. Several of these boats are stationary at the side of the river and serve as very nice restaurants.

After lunch we went to Old Cairo to visit the Old Coptic Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue. We also visited the Cave Church, which is where the Holy family stayed when they came to Egypt. In fact the Coptic Church has historical records from the early Coptic church in the 4th century BC with writings stating where the Holy family traveled and lived while in Egypt. They have built a church on each site. Henry said we can Google and find that.  (no Internet in my room to do that)

Locations of Christian Churches

I had made a request to go to a store with essential oils. These are different that the ones I use from doTerra but they are pure and made here in Egypt. There are some that I have never seen available before. I loved the stop and actually John did too. They had some mint that was place in a hot glass of water and immediately cleared our heads, you can see that it would be fabulous with a cold or something. John really wanted that! We bought some and they gave us additional glass bottles and a burner. Such a sweet woman Mona helped us with explanations and uses.

From there we drove on to the Old Market that Henry that Henry thought we would enjoy. I am sure they are also trying to fill up our time since our flight is not until 8:45p. We opted not to go to the Mohammad Ali Mosque. We've been in a Mosque in Dubai or Abu Dhabi and we really have no interest in seeing another. We drove by it on our way and saw the Citadel as well. Henry said the market place is how the real people of Cairo live. What a lively and fun place. Every sort of shop you can imagine on narrow streets with happy people. At one point we stopped at El Feshawi, which is a "famous" coffee shop where a well known writer penned his writings. We had mint tea and relaxed. I might add there is another man walking with us, in a suit. I asked Henry about this. He said he is escorting us, it is not needed but he is bored and wanted to be around Americans. Market place, police escort because they are bored in some cases. Henry was born and raised here, he knows at least one person at every stop we make!

Tea at the Market

As we left the market we bid farewell to Henry at a Metro station to make his way home to his family. We will miss him! Osama had the arduous task of crawling through the unbelievable traffic too take us to the airport. We felt very safe as his driving skills are magnificent! Keep in mind they do have lines indicating lanes on the freeways and most streets, but clearly these are only vague suggestions!

Unbelievable - McDonald's in Cairo!

On arrival to the airport there was Maged to greet us. He had our boarding passes and whisked us thought the lines, security, and deposited us on the walkway to our gate. He is one of the most organized and efficient people I have ever met. He had an envelope for us with pounds to pay our way into Abu Simbel at the end of the cruise, hotel voucher for Luxor, and verbally gave instructions about the guide to meet us tomorrow morning. He explained it all and then again asking if I understood. I did, but I am sure John didn't so it was good that he asked.

Our flight was uneventful, our Ya'lla transfer person was waiting for us and another couple. We had two cars and they transferred us to the hotel quickly. We are tired but John ordered room service, a BURGER! I had a couple bites, it was delicious! So off to bed. We will be picked up at 10:30a to transfer to our cruise on the Nile and meet George our guide! We may not have internet on the cruise, it is undetermined at this time. 

It takes forever to upload photos, so I will add them later if I can.