Flight to Cairo

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I can't believe I'm actually in Africa! Wow! And really, today was extremely laid back and low key. I left Iraklio in the morning, and landed in Athens at around noon, and then waited until 5 to take the hour and a half flight to Cairo. Went very smoothly. And EgyptAir is quite the airline. One of the best I've been on, with great food, very comfortable, spacious seats, and extremely nice attendants. Landing in Cairo was awesome, too, because we literally came down right off the sand. It was like the airport had sprung up from the desert.

A driver from the hotel met me at the airport and we began the hour or so drive into the heart of Cairo. It honestly felt like I'd been transported back to Southeast Asia, like in Hanoi or Bangkok. There are no road rules and people basically just go wherever they want whenever they want. But, miraculously, no one ever seems to get in a wreck. People are just extremely patient, and are willing to wait their turn.

My driver was an extremely nice guy and told me all about the Revolution. It's very interesting being in a place just after a major historical event, mainly because you honestly couldn't tell anything had happened. We drove by Mubarak's old palace and people were just lounging around having a good time, and we even went past Tahrir Square, where the Revolution started, and it looked like just another night, with families walking around talking. History truly happens on the fringes, and in hindsight, and the great majority of people are just too busy living (it seems like) to pay it much mind.

And to be honest, it hit me driving in how much I've missed this type of organized chaos. This is exactly what Thailand was like and Vietnam and Laos. It's so absorbing because there's constantly something going on and there's movement everywhere. This is people watching taken to the extreme, and it's like a living and breathing theatre. Makes you feel truly alive, even when you just look at it as a bystander. I'm a block from the Nile (which you can just see from my balcony) and have already organized my day at the Pyramids tomorrow. I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight, I'm so excited. I mean we're talking about the Pyramids of Egypt!!!!!!!

No photos - sun was already going down when I got in. It's also an hour earlier here.

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