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Published: March 20th 2007
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As I transcribe my thoughts to words about my trip to Egpyt, particularily Cairo, it is hard not to get wrapped up in all of the negative; but needless to say, I did not like Cairo! If I could have cancelled my hotel and not paid for changing my flight, I would have left a day earlier. I am really glad to have seen the Pyramids and Sphinx, but after that, I was ready to leave. I have to say it is one of the few places I have no desire to return even if it were free.
My inital reaction was great as I was met by the hotel representative who quickly walked me through the visa and passport control steps and had me on my way to the hotel, which was also very nice. I used points so it did not cost me anything to stay at the Marriott, but I should have stayed in the one downtown. Although it was older and did not look like it had as much to do, but it ended up it was a lot nicer than it looked with plenty to do and if I got bored at the hotel,
I could have walked to a lot of the other attractions where as the one I stayed at did have a shuttle, but it only ran once per day and I get bored just sitting by a wave pool. The weather was nice so no complaints there. It ran in the upper 70's to lower 80's but like the dessert, it got cold at night.
I booked two tours through the hotel and although to got to see what I planned, there were a lot of problems with them to the point the Marriott refunded my money after hearing about all of the issues. I thought that was nice of them. They even offered to pay for my gifts because the places we "shopped" were twice as high as most other vendors and they were not suppose to be with no pressure to buy like the street vendors. I bought quit a bit of stuff so I did not feel right but asked if they could take me on a sunset cruise of the pyramids, which they agreed. Again, the travel service messed up by being late so I missed the sunset that I wanted. I am not sure
it was all that good anyways since it was very dusty that evening and not much of a sunset, but I posted a few in the blog for you to see.
Speaking of the hotel, I could notr resist but post the square toilet. It worked fine, but I do not think I have ever seen a square toilet.
After I got to Germany and telling some of my friends, I am not sure why I disliked Egypt so much, but I do know it is like a zoo with no organization and very slummish. The pictures I posted were not the worse but just to give you an idea of what most of the city looked liked. I am sure they had richer parts of town, but this was the norm. I am not sure it was good or bad, but everywhere you turned, there were armed guards. Even at the hotel they x-rayed all luggage coming in, inspected all vehicles, and had multiple armed guards. Everyone told me it was a very safe town and maybe it is, but I never felt comfortable. The people were fake friendly. They all acted nice to you until you
did not want to buy something so I am sure they realize tourism is what keeps them in busy and so they put on the smile but as soon as you leave, I felt they were talking about me. And I thought Moscow had bad traffic, it is even worse in Cairo both in the number of cars and the lack of following rules. They too make twice as many lanes as what is marked just so they can all squeeze in and come to a stop. On the way to see the sunset, we took off someone's rearview mirror. The car I was in, just flipped in, but the other car's went flying in the air of course did we stop, no!
Also like Moscow, you want something, just put a little money under the table and you will get it. I was sort of glad for that at the airport that too was like a zoo. There were two ladies acting like people do on the road trying to inch their way in and I had had just about enough and finally told them they were not jumping in front of me! The guy in front of
me paid the attendent so he would be next and it came in handy because the two ladies tried to say they were with the lady in front of the guy that tipped the attendent and after my comments, the two ladies did not want to jump between me and other guy so they just moved behind me.
And for knowing tourism is a major income for them, you would think they could clean up around the pyramids. The dessert area around them was terrible with all kinds of garage. It was terrible. And the Egyptian museum was very nice and one could spend days in there, but again, it was not professional. Not all of them were like this, but some of the signs were hand written and/or done on a typewriter. The information was there and you could read it, but I would think they could easily make some minor improvements which would improve the overall experience.
Finally, I thought it was very expensive there even with the exchange rate. At first I thought it was just at the hotel and/or the tourist spots, but realized it was everywhere I shopped. So I just did not
leave with a positive experience. If anyone else has been, please let me know what you thought. Was it just me or do others feel the same way? The pyramids were amazing knowing the size and when they were built, but they were not inviting and the Light and Sound Show was very disappointing.
After my trip to Cairo, I headed to Germany to visit my parents and my sister and her family. My mom and dad flew to Frankfurt to visit so I decided since they were on this side of the pond, I too wanted to visit. I did not want to take away from all of the time they were going to be here visiting the grandkids so I came in for just a few days. It is amazing how fast the kids are growing up. We had a great visit. The weather was a little cool and wet (Moscow was actually warmer), but was not enough to stop us. I did come down with a sore throat but that could have been the red eye flight I took to come home, which saved me $400. Right now the way I feel, I am not sure
it was worth it, but it was good to see most of the family.
I will close with that so I can get ready for bed. I still need to run to the store, but finally finished unpacking and doing laundry. I hope my two hour nap today does not keep me from falling asleep tonight, but hopefully I can get back on track and feeling better by tomorrow morning. And for my back, it is much better. Like a friend said, I must keep doing my exercises even though it feels better. I sent my doctor a follow-up note like she asked and she responded with some additional advice. I thought that was nice and not like what we would get in the States.
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Margaret
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Grand time
What a grand time you are having! Even with the not-so-good travels, you are still getting the travel experience of a lifetime! I'm envious!