After starting this forum and reading the posts from other members about different places in Egypt I could not wait much longer and decided to go and see some of these places for myself.
My son is studying Arabic for a year in Alexandria and he had a week off University, so I thought it would be good to see him and we could do the trip together, also I could see how his Arabic is coming along
I booked a return flight to Cairo with British Airways online couple of days before the flight date, I am a member of their frequent flyer club I use BA when I can because I get my preferred seat allocated, my preferred meals already selected (bonus, you get served 1st too
) and check-in is fast.
British Airways
Because my dates are usually flexible I was able to pick the cheapest days to fly, this worked out at about £370 inc. taxes etc. I think I could have got it a little cheaper if I had booked a little earlier.
Now I had to book a hotel in Cairo and work out where I want to go within Egypt (I don't do things the right way round
)
After spending couple of days looking on the Internet, I came across
http://www.octopustravel.com/ (I think they are part of Lufthansa Airline) found some cheap hotels and as I was running out of time had to pick one and choose PHARAOH EGYPT which is located in MOHANDESSIN area, not too far out of the way. The cost for three nights was £60 (sterling) for the two of us on B&B basis, which was pretty good.
So far so good, my flight was landing late in the evening, my son was going to get a train from from Alexandria to Cairo earlier on the day, so I arranged with the hotel that he could check-in that afternoon, they said so problem.
Couple of hours before I was due to leave for the airport my son calls and says he has arrived at the hotel and they will not let him check in without his passport or a photocopy of his passport (which he left behind thinking he wouldn't need it), he had been told by the university when they issued him with a student photo ID that he only needs to carry that when travelling within Egypt.
I made a few calls to the hotel, spoke to the duty manager explained the situation, and he said don't worry he will call the reception and will sort it out, I get another call from my son to say the receptionist would not do it, because rules are rules, as I was now getting late I quickly found a scan of his passport (I did that before he left in-case I needed it) and emailed it to the hotel, called the hotel to make sure they got it and had checked him in.
Phew.... now rush to the airport to catch my flight, made it without any further hiccups and a quick check in and I was relaxing in the lounge to board the plane.
Flight was good, comfortable seats, in flight service was great, and I had mu seafood meal served before anyone else
I had arranged the transfer from the airport with the hotel for $30 one way, this meant a guy was there to meet me before passport control and got my visa for me and then collected my case and took me outside to wait for a car, I had assumed he was to take me to the hotel, but he just did that part of the service and I was to take a cab from there (which they already had arranged) I was left a bit confused by all this and didn't feel the service was worth $30 especially as I had to wait outside for the cab to turn up, the guy who met me got his tip and went off to greet someone else.
Arrived at the hotel, no sign of the bellboy and cab driver didn't bother to help with the case, so I took my own case and went to the reception to check in, after I checked in I had to pay for the transfer, the cab driver then appeared (to collect his cut I suppose) and asked for a tip, I walked off with my case, just then the bell boy (must be about 12 years old) must have woken up and came over to help.
Tipped the bell boy 5 LE, the room was clean and tidy on the 11th floor, so not too bad, time for some sleep....feeling tired now and looking forward to the morning when we start to discover Cairo.
View of Cairo from the hotel window
Egypt March 2007 - Arriving in Cairo
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