Arrival in Egypt

As it turns out, I do have internet access tonight. I arrived in Egypt around 4 pm. Getting through the Visa process was much simpler this time. However, Egypt charges you to get in. $15. I was greeted outside of the airport by two drivers sent by my guide. They drove me to the hotel. I am staying at the Barcelo 3 Pyramids Hotel. Check out the website, this place is sweet.


I ate dinner at the Ramses restaurant, attached to the hotel. I ordered a Scallopina (Veal) with Gorgonzola Cheese sauce. It was yummy. The total, sadly, was 92.40 Egyptian Pounds. Whats that? Never fear, the exchange rate is finally in my favor. It was only $17. Much better than the meal in France, yuck.


But, here are some of my initial thoughts in Egypt. I don't have much to go on here, but the drive into the city was definitely something. Tomorrow, there is a huge soccer game between Algerian and Egypt. So, there were quite a few cards waving the Egyptian flag. And if that were all, I suppose I wouldn't have much to say. Traffic and crowd control here is, well, out of control. On the way in, there were many broken down cards on the side of the highway, numerous piles of garbage, herds of sheep and goats (on the main road), horse-drawn carts, and people running across 6 line highways. I am glad that I hired a guide, because I am not sure if I could have navigated this city. It is somewhat scary. I went outside of the hotel to snap some pictures, and actually felt somewhat concerned. It probably wasn't necessary, but I felt more out of place here than anywhere else. Here is the crowd outside of the hotel.


Later on, I went out to the swimming pool. It was closed, but I was able to take some pictures of the city from the balcony.


Another interesting bit of trivia is that Egyptian currency has paper money for what is essentially our quarter. Neat! Tomorrow, I will tour Egypt prior to heading to the airport and then Johannesburg. Thanks to everyone for reading. Again, I don't know how many more updates there will be, but I will try whenever possible.