This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw.

Sunday October 25, 2015

Egypt: Day 4, Part 6 – Starting the Tour

Upon entering my hotel room I noted that none of my friend Elizabeth’s luggage was in the room. I figured she left her bags at the front desk and had gone out sight seeing. So took a shower and then I crawled into bed, and slept until 5:30 PM. When I woke up and Elizabeth still hadn’t returned I got a bad feeling that the front desk didn’t put her in the right room. So I got up and headed to the lobby, which was the only place with WiFi, where I met Elizabeth. She told me that they front desk was actually waiting for me to check out of my old room so I could relocate to my new room, with a slight view of the pyramids on the 2nd floor. (I was sad to see we didn’t get a balcony like some of the others in our group.) I grabbed the key to my new room, and ran back to my old one to pack up and drag it up the stairs and through the various buildings of the hotel. I got lost a few times but eventually found it.

It was almost 6PM, time for the G Adventure’s welcome meeting so I out of breath when I took my seat. After chatting a bit with Elizabeth and the others I suddenly remembered I had to pick up my cartouche necklace that night. I knew I was too tired and wouldn’t have the energy to get it later, and as we were still waiting for some others to arrive, I bolted quickly to the shop to get it. After retrieving my necklace I again sat down and showed the others why I had gone away so quickly. It was great to chat with the people I’d be spending the next two weeks with. We then met our guide G Adventure’s guide, Mikel. He was so bright and funny I knew this would be a good trip.

He went over the typical tour details (getting copies of insurance, passport information, collecting the tipping funds, and the brief overview of the itinerary). I mentioned to Elizabeth that I’d love to try to go to Abydos & Dendera, but it would likely mean we’d need to do Karnak a day earlier. I didn’t want to derail the discussion and figured I’d try to bring it up later. But as we were filling out information, one of the group members, Thomas, asked exactly that. A few people nodded in agreement. I was glad to find other ancient history geeks as excited about this trip!

After getting everything all sorted Mikel lead us to a nearby place for dinner. But first we had to be tested. We needed to cross two sections of a busy street. I had researched so much of Egypt that I knew the recommendations. Cross with other people. Walk firmly and with purpose, but quickly if necessary. Look drivers in the eye. And so with that knowledge, we walked with Mikel through the cars as they temporarily paused at an intersection. We then were on a great median covered in grass and mud. Walking quickly over this we had another busy street to cross, but made it across safely.

I recalled that this was the exact area that the bomb had been found a few days previously. I could see the Le Méridien Pyramids & Spa hotel, with a few of the lobby windows still damaged from the blast. Thomas had come a few days earlier and said he had heard the bomb go off, and knew exactly what it was when he heard it. The story got relayed to the others in the group. We then continued down the road, passing a small side street and then into the restaurant.

The restaurant is called Felfela, and had an English version of the menu. The main meals come with two sides, but the other options on the menu should be ordered together. I got the shish taouk meal which is essentially chicken and veggies on a kabab with rice and french fries. While as a travel blogger I wanted to get exotic and try lots of different foods, the reality is that my stomach doesn’t play nice and I had already realized that I would need to play it safe on this trip. This trip was all go, go, go! And I had no downtime if I got sick. So chicken it was! My friend Elizabeth got the falafel and various side “salads” & bread – which turned out to be everything you’d need to make a delicious falafel sandwich. The food was pretty good. (I ended up going back on my last day as well!)

While we ate we got to know each other better. I sat with Elizabeth, Magda, and James. We also looked at the unique decorations of the restaurant. For each window and column were sculpted to look like trees with dozens of flowers. Stones and Seashells were painted as well as bark, leaves, flowers, and stars. It was a very interesting way to decorate. After eating we walked back, but some of us wanted to use the wifi in the lobby before going to bed, so we walked on ahead of the main group. We were quite proud of ourselves for being able to scurry across the two main roads without help (or getting hit.)  Elizabeth mentioned she thought we had wifi in our room, and so we headed back to it. Thankfully there was internet and we talked a bit before going to bed, as we’d be heading to the Great Pyramids early in the morning.

Photos below of the dinner are by Magda.

Members of the Group:

From Left to Right (Top to Bottom):

Mikel, our fearless leader at the Egyptian Museum. Carol & Lillian at the Citadel of Qaitbay. Magda at the Old Cataract Hotel. Tara at Abu Simbel.

Marilyn at Trajan’s Kiosk. Myself, Sharon, & John on a felucca on the Nile. Jane and Thomas at the Egyptian Museum. Richard at the Sphinx.

Lynda and George on a EgyptAir flight. Elizabeth at the Cenotaph Temple of Ramesses II at Abydos. James at the Great Pyramids of Giza. Maxine at the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.