I'm in Egypt!!!

I left Normandy on Thursday afternoon. When I arrived at the train station in Flers, I noticed several members of the gendarmerie waiting on the platform. I thought it was a bit strange, but I didn’t give it much consideration. However, when I boarded the train, they all got on the same car. As soon as the train started moving, they began asking everyone for valid photo identification. When I gave them my U.S. passport, the first officer looked at it with a puzzled expression and handed it to another who walked away with it and proceeded to call someone from his cell phone. After 15 minutes of telephone conversation and inspection by 3 different officers, my passport was returned to me with a “Merci, mademoiselle, bon voyage.” And they moved on to harass other travelers…

The train’s second stop after Flers was Argentan, where a curious looking Black man boarded my train car. He was clearly intoxicated and trying to hide the open bottle of beer in his hand from the gendarme and the conductors. He ended up stashing the bottle under a seat when one of the conductors walked by. Something about him was off, but since he didn’t bother me, I just hoped the gendarme didn’t return to cause some sort of scene with him. Fortunately, we made it to Paris without further incident.

I got to the airport and boarded my flight without any problems, arriving for my layover in Frankfurt stress-free yet extremely tired. I fell asleep in the airport and was knocked out before we even took off. I remember the plane taxing away from the gate but it apparently never took off. I was aroused from my sleep, but not fully awakened, by the words “swine flu” coming from the PA system.

Apparently, one of my fellow passengers was experiencing flu-like symptoms and demanded medical attention, but thought it should wait until we’d already pulled away from the gate. As I said, I was really sleeping through most of this, but I do know that taxied away from the gate again, only to be recalled to the gate while “the authorities” sent samples to the medical lab the University of Frankfurt to ensure that we hadn’t all been exposed to swine flu. After waiting an hour and a half, we finally got under way to Cairo!

I arrived in Cairo around 5:00 am local time on Friday, May 1. I must say, I was not at all impressed by the airport of Egypt’s capitol city. After winding through some long corridors, we got to the sign that read “Visas $15 from any bank.” I knew that I would need to get an entry visa upon arrival, but I assumed it would be some sort of formal process through the customs and immigration service. Boy was I wrong. There were like 6 different banks, all of them open and all trying to get my $15. All of that for a little sticker that doesn’t have a date on it and didn’t require me to provide any pertinent information like the torture I went through getting one for France. Anyway, I got the sticker and cleared customs, then proceeded to get my luggage from baggage claim.

After I got my bag, I was approached by a man who asked me if I needed any help because he was “information.” He looked trustworthy enough with his official airport badge and business attire, much like 4 or 5 other men who were talking to other passengers, so I told him that I needed a taxi to the Santana Hotel. He told me that a taxi to the hotel, which is located downtown, is 100 Egyptian pounds ($20-25) and he would lead me to the taxis. I had been forewarned that “official” taxis are more expensive and I could find a cheaper regular taxi, but I was so tired, I think I would have signed away my first-born that morning.

Turns out this cab thing is a racket. The first man takes me out to yet another group of kiosks where he tells a man where I’m going. The second man then tells me to give h

im 100 Egyptian pounds and he will then take me to the taxi. I give him the money and he takes me on a long walk down a street and through a nearly-empty parking lot. As we’re approaching a parking structure, a van pulls up and the man puts my bag in and tells me to hop in. I’m thoroughly confused now because I never saw him call anyone, so how did this driver suddenly appear? Anyway, I climb into the backseat and my guide gets in the front. I thought we’d drop him off back a

t the terminal but he was clearly along for the whole ride. The entire drive, he kept asking me if I had plans for my stay in Cairo and trying to get me to hire a private driver. See what I mean by a racket? These so-called official airport taxis are really private tour companies. I took his business card to shut him up and promised I’d call if I needed anything.

I need to speak for a moment on my crazy driver. I thought he had road rage,

but then I realized that this is normal for Egyptians. Everyone here drives like bats out of hell, they make ridiculous lane changes, there are no pedestrian crosswalks and they need to put up some signs for goat and camel crossing. If someone is in your way, don’t slow down for them, just honk and make them get out of your way. Swerve, drive in the shoulder, whatever it takes to maintain your ridiculously high speed.

When we got to the hotel, the entrance was flanked by police officers and had a metal detector. I’m not sure if that was supposed to make me feel

safe, but I certainly was questioning my personal security. Even though check in didn’t officially start until 2 pm, I was able to get into my room for some much needed sleep. Too bad the room was frightening. According to my fellow travelers, the hotel was a 2-star property with terrible guest reviews. Lets just say, I’m thankful to be traveling with a sleeping bag and disinfectant because you couldn’t have paid me to sleep in that bed.

Somewhere around 9:00, there was a knock on the door and I was introduced to Betty, my roommate for the trip. She’s a really nice Chinese-Canadian and we’re getting along great. She’s done a lot of traveling like this so she makes a good roommate for me, the inexperienced adventure traveler.

In the evening, we had a meeting with our group leader and all of the travelers who had already arrived. There are 15 of us total – 10 Canadians, 3 Australians and 2 Americ

ans. Our leader is this guy named Adel (pronounced like “paddle”) and he’s really knowledgeable about all things pertaining to his country’s history. All of us in the group are pretty normal except for the other American. His name is Jeff and he’s terribly annoying. He drinks a lot, makes the most unnecessary comments and asks the strangest questions. After the group meeting, Betty and I dined together in the hotel restaurant before heading to bed in hopes of getting a good night’s sleep for all of Saturday’s activities.

We got up pretty early on Saturday and had breakfast in the hotel. All of our breakfasts are provided during the trip. We had to meet the group downstairs at 7:45 to load our bags onto the bus. Then we headed to Giza to see the 3 most famous pyramids and the Sphinx. After spending a

few hours in Giza, we went to a papyrus gallery where they demonstrated how the papyrus plant is used to make paper. They had a lot of interesting artwork done on papyrus and explained all of the stories and symbols to us.

When we left the gallery we went to a restaurant in the countryside for lunch and then drove downtown to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities which houses a large collection of ancient artifacts from Egypt’s history. It is also home to all of the riches from King Tut’s tomb.

After leaving the museum, we went to the train station where we caught a sleeper train to Aswan. I had never been in a sleeper car before, and the experience was pretty cool. We had a 14-hour trip from Cairo in the north to Aswan, which is not far from the southern border of Egypt and Sudan.

Our hotel here in Aswan is absolutely beautiful and I’m currently blogging to you poolside. Anyway, it’s almost noon and I need to get going. We have a few free hours here today to explore the city on our own and Betty and I want to see the market. Later today we’re going for a camel ride and then having dinner in a Nubian village.

This trip has been great so far and it’s just the beginning. I can’t wait to tell you more.


Bises,

Mlle. Alicia