It is definitely easy for me to say that visiting Egypt was always been a dream of mine since I was a child. How could it not be? Stories of pharaohs in their elaborate temples decorated with colorful murals of different gods and goddess shaped like animals and golden sarcophaguses shimmering brightly from text book pages were more than enough to tickle the imagination. Why on earth would you want to go to Tennessee when you go to Egypt?

Brad & I went back and forth on the idea of Egypt for quite a while. We both really wanted to go, but had reservations due to the more recent life threatening occurrences, shall we say? I did my research. I was visiting the US Department of State travel website reading up on all of the safety advisories and visiting many social media outlets to see how many tourists seemed to be visiting, and also, just general online research through travel sites and blogs (like this one!). It seemed that while our Department of State was suggesting strong vigilance, many tourists were saying it was perfectly fine. (Now it's about level with France.)

I don't know if I talked Brad into it, or strong armed him.... but one way or the other I got him onboard. Really though, how could he resist walking in the footsteps of so many great historical figures?

It wasn't long before I had our three week long itinerary mapped out (it included Tanzania), and I was in the air crossing over to Egypt. I had a couple of stops along the way which were Chicago, Illinois & Amman, Jordan. The Chicago airport clearly wasn't memorable unlike my experience in Amman.

Since we were headed to Tanzania, obviously to safari, I had my Fjallraven Kanken packed so perfectly and full with all of my camera gear. The Amman security was very unsure of why I was packing so much "heat", we will call it. Apparently, they aren't fond of excessive camera gear there. They had me basically empty the entire backpack so they could examine everything. They asked me where I was going, what this was, what that was, and why I had it. It was nothing short of the 3rd degree all over my Nikon equipment. Finally, when they asked me my nationality... I answered American, they quit caring. Apparently, Americans aren't much of a threat to Jordan. Who would have thought?

Finally, after a short flight across the Sinai, I was in Cairo. I made my way through all of the customs checkpoints (oi vey!!!) and my way outside to find my driver that I had hired prior to arrival. If you still aren't sure what to expect after reading this, I would suggest doing the same. You can make arrangements here. It was $12.50 from the airport to the Ritz Carlton which was a 30-45 minute drive. I did find out later, that they do have Uber in Cairo, so if you have service or wifi at the airport, you can make arrangements, and it is insanely cheap too.

I made prior arrangements for two reasons: I knew I would be exhausted, and I had no clue what to expect, especially as a woman. I had done my research on hiring a car while at the airport, but I knew it would be too overwhelming when I got there. So, that night, my drivers (yes, there were two. lol) took me all through the city to The Ritz Carlton - Nile River. (This is probably one of the few places in the world where you can crash at the Ritz for under $250 a night.) When we arrived at the hotel gate, the car had to go through security. The driver popped the trunk, and the armed guard and his German shepherd made a trip around the car. Once we were through, the door man helped me out. I was in such a tizzy with two doorman helping me and two drivers that I overtipped my drivers. I tipped them $5 US a piece, $10 total (I think). ... and then I did the same with the man that delivered the bags to my room. As soon as I was in the calm quiet solitude of my room I could think clearly... I did the math, and damn, was I generous. haha.

I don't know what came over me once I was in the room getting cleaned up, but after a quick shower and change of clothes, I felt so revived. I was hungry, so I decided to head back down stairs to find food. I headed to the main restaurant, and was pleasantly surprised to find it packed at 11 at night. Everywhere I looked, people were smoking shisha (hookah) & enjoying the environment which included some great live music and belly dancing on the patio.

After feasting on hummus, kababs & rice.... I knew it was time to retire. The staff had been incredible... shifting me from point A to point B just so I could have a better view of the entertainment, but sleep was beginning to call. I couldn't believe it was after midnight when I got back to the room. In no time at all, I was in bed and passed out.

The next morning, I was in no rush. I took my time, I slept in, got ready at a leisurely pace, and headed down stairs to wait for Brad. I knew his flight had landed, so it was just a matter of time before he would waltz into the lobby. I grabbed a fresh orange juice (so sour) and a chocolate croissant in the small pastry shop, and posted up in a chair by the front door. I watch the people come and go through the metal detectors. Women in birkas floated across the floor while the men (so many in sweat pants) did what they do throughout the lobby. I was fascinated, and so ready to see my main squeeze. I really wasn't sure what was customary, so when Brad arrived, we had a good strong hug, but saved our kisses for the privacy of our room. I didn't want any dirty looks while we were downstairs.

I had Brad hustle to get ready so that we could find a place for lunch. We talked to man at reception who pointed us in the direction of a couple different places on the island just across the bridge where the Cairo Tower is.... so we walked and we looked, but all that we could find seemed to be places that were closed or were private for members only. We were hot, hungry, and I could feel it.... a respiratory infection coming on quick.

We had no choice. We had to go back to the hotel for lunch or starve. haha. Sooo, we wandered into the lounge for a nice relaxing lunch. It was soups, salads, and sandwiches, and we enjoyed all it entirely. We were satisfied. ...or as satisfied as we could be.

We wanted to wander more, and one of the things we were dying to see was the Egyptian Museum. They have a large collection of Egyptian antiquities that we were desperate to see. Unfortunately when we got to the exterior entrance, the armed guard at the metal detector informed us that they stopped letting people in at 4PM. His english was very broken so it took a bit to translate it. It was only a few minutes past, and we were incredibly disappointed especially since this information was not provided online. So, we decided to walk on.

It wasn't long before we ran into the man we met earlier on our way to find lunch. Apparently, he owned a shop and a 7-11. He wanted to show us his shop, and for whatever reason, I was thinking he meant his 7-11. I was excited thinking we could get some bottled water for the room. Brad & I had no idea where we were going or what was happening. haha. As it turned out, the man meant his souvenir shop full of papyrus paintings. As soon as we were all in, he introduced us to the man & woman that were working there.... getting ready to work us. Yes, work us, not work with us.

The man who brought us in picked a painting from the stack and said it was a gift for me. He asked my name, and the next thing we knew his associate was painting my name on the picture in arabic and hieroglyphics. They offered us hot tea, and began talking to us about our life and why were in Egypt. They start showing us more paintings & and asking us which we like. As we picked, the man painted our name on each and continued to make conversation. For whatever reason, probably because of time changes, sleep deprivation & the true pleasure of this couple's company, we let this go on for 6 paintings.... (WHAT THE HELL WERE WE THINKING!!!) Brad and I just kept looking at each other through out the entire process unsure of how to get out of this or how to process it which now we find hilarious. Such travelers as us, should have never ended up in this mess... but it happened. Eventually, we had to a stop to it, despite the mans continued efforts to keep putting our names on more and more paintings... I’m confidant that he would have gone through the entire cabinet stack trying to get us to buy all of them. We said we wanted no more... we already had too many... sure enough the man was trying to sell us all six for like $200 US. We were able to get him down to $120, which was still way too much money if you ask me... When we closed the deal on our paintings & had finished out sweet mint tea, we were saying our goodbyes... Then something interesting happened... They separated us. I went with the wife, and Brad with the husband. They initially began trying to sell us on different items. For instance, the woman was trying to sell me perfume, or so I thought... she let me smell different ones and told me about a few and why they were special.. ..but I didn't expect what came next. She had asked me what type of phone case I had, and when I told her that it was for an iPhone 10 (an apple case, mind you)... She asked if she could have it to give to her brother who was in need of a phone case. Naturally, I declined since I actually needed a phone case too. When we left, I told Brad she wanted my phone case, and as it turned out... the man had wanted Brad's too. Our theory.... They made up stories to get us to give them our phone cases for free, so that they could turn around and sell them for a profit.... We were completely dumbfounded by how the Egyptians operate. It was on another level. It was 100% nothing but scheming.

...and I realized after, we should have only paid for five paintings because one was supposed to be a “gift”. haha! It was safe to say we realized quickly (on day one), that Egyptians are relentless and tricky. They want your money and they will make it happen if you are not on your game.

We were not on our A- game, and were kicking ourselves all the way to our hotel room. Even in the hotel room we were so frustrated, but we were laughing about it as we unwrapped and unrolled each one. We were duped, we were idiots... we were the epitome of Americans.

With exhausted bodies and bruised travel-egos, we pulled back the covers for a nap.... the nap last for a couple hours & when we woke back up, food wasn't enough of a reason to go back out. We decided to keep sleeping until the next morning.

When we woke up, we got cleaned up, started to pack, and then headed downstairs for breakfast. It was a buffet. The most elaborate and beautiful breakfast buffet I have ever seen. We were in absolute heaven. There was free flowing honey, fish, cheeses, omelettes, croissants, pomegranate, Egyptian cuisine.... we were not without. Bottle water, tea, coffee, assorted juices were all brought to us & we were so happy. ...Well, I was trying to be, despite my nasal suffering.

I was hoping the respiratory infection might have just been a glitch due all the travel and exhaustion, but it was not. It was the worst case scenario. We were in Egypt, a third world country where the smog is so thick (in Cairo) you can only see a few miles ahead of you, and I had a full brewing respiratory infection kicking in. I had no way to find medicine. It was just me, that I had to rely on. Thank God, I packed plenty of Kleenex. I was holding it together as best I could as we finished preparing to head to the airport. We were Aswan bound.

ISSUE 46: Cairo, Egypt 2018 (Part 1)