Wow, so how to sum up the last few days from this little internet station? And using this rickety computer with no USB port to post any photos! Well, here's the condensed version:
The flight to Cairo went fairly smoothly - I left home on Oct 1 - Portland - Seattle - Paris (5 hour layover) - Cairo at about 6 p.m. on the 2nd. At the airport I was greeted by a person hired by the tour group, was whisked off into a van and ported through the most chaotic city I've ever been to in my life. Really, Cairo makes Rome look like a pleasant little northern European town where people actually obey taffic laws. Traffic weaved in and out with total disregard for those quaint line things in the road. I got to the hotel, which was a far cry from a luxury delux. The lobby was under renovation, but the rooms looked like they had been left fairly untouched in the umpteen decades since construction. The bellboy guided me up the elevator and insisted on carrying all of my luggage. The elevator had the dimensions of a telephone booth.
Said bellhop then showed me my room on floor 14 and pointed out the amenities: (barely working ) A/C, beds (well helloooo!), sheets (relief!), telephone, TV, "bar" (mini-fridge in need of defrosting), "salon" (two ancient appolstered chairs with stains & rips set next to a glass-top table, loo consisting of bidet, shower, hot & cold water (YAY!). What was missing: washcloths, a proper lock on the door, fire alarm, etc. But the people at the hotel were very friendly.
OK, things get much better than this, but it's time for me to take off. This computer is hard to type on, so I'm calling it a night.
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Hi Patrick! Sounds like you are off to a great start...the hotel sounds like a it should have been a setting for an Agatha Christie novel. Can't wait to see photos of these wonderful places. How is your Arabic? Or does everyone speak English in Egypt?
ReplyDeleteMy Arabic is restricted to a few words, and I've barely used them, except for "La, shokran" (no, thank you). That comes in handy when walking down the street and trying to get rid of the vendors trying to sell trinkets and bobbles. Here in Dahab, where we are now, there are also kids coming into the restaurants selling bracelets they've made.
ReplyDeleteMost people in tourist areas and many others seem to have a bit of English language skill.