Crazy two day Cairo trip!

I had always wanted to visit Egypt.  There are millions of things to see there and two days is not enough, but I did what I could in that amount of time.

I left Indianapolis on Thursday afternoon on a Continental Express Embraer 145 to Newark.  The NYC area was under air traffic control delays as usual, so I ended up getting there with only an hour to spare for the next flight.   After arrival, I checked in for Alitalia 767 that would fly me to Rome.   This flight only had about 50 or so people on it, so I stretched out in my whole row of 4 seats.

I arrived into Rome early Friday morning and headed over to the Cairo flight.  The Agent gave me a lot of grief for not having an Egyptian Visa and was not going to allow me to go, even after all my attempts of telling him that I do not require one in advance.

  I would not accept his decision and went to find another Agent out of his view.  I had it all worked out and took off for Cairo without further incident.

I arrived at about 1:45 and was at the Sara Inn Hostel within an hour.  The hostel provided me witht the airport pick-up for $10.  After changing and freshening up, I hit the streets of Cairo and also did a little guided tour of other parts, including the Citadel.   I stayed out until close to midnight, just checking out everything I could.  I ate some shawarma at a few of the little hole-in-the-wall shops, which is cheap and always satisfying.

I awoke at 7am on Saturday and took a taxi to Giza for $10.   By 8am, I was on a camel heading out to the Pyramids!  I paid $20 for the ride and figured it to be a short ride of 30 minutes or so, but 3 hours later, I was finally finished witht camel ride.

   I took the taxi back to the Nile Corniche area and walked up and down for a few hours and check out the Egyptian Museum on the way back to the hostel.  I rested at the Sara Inn for an hour or so and then went back out all over the city.  I stayed out until about 8 and then went back for sleep until about 1 am.

I awoke at 1 am on Sunday and was at Cairo Airport by 2 am.   I departed Cairo at 4:05 am on a KLM 777 to Amsterdam.  I arrived Amsterdam at about 7:30 am and bought some hagelslaag, because I love that stuff!

At 10:20 am, I was onboard Northwest 63, an A-330 to Newark and seated in 6B Business Class.   What a great ride!

Eight hours later, I was back in Newark and I caught a Continental 737-500 back home to Indy.

  I was home at around 6 pm, to 10 degree weather.   Yuck!   It had been 70 in Cairo, so this was a shock.

Yes, this was a quick trip.   I had a few people tell me that it was crazy and stupid, or even a waste.  I look at the glass as half full though and make the best out of anything dealt to me.   I paid about $350 for everything on this trip, including flights, food, lodging, transportation, and gifts.  If my own airline flew to Cairo, it would have been even less, so it was not crazy or a waste to me!