Today was an all time record for us! Our alarm went off at 6am, we were packed, dressed & ready for our international flight by 6.38am.
Our hostel reception organized our Uber & we were on our way to the India Ghandi international airport. The drive through Delhi was about 40 minutes & fairly uneventful.
We are so excited to be changing continents & to be crossing off a huge bucket list item for me; Egypt!
I've wanted to see Egypt since I was a little girl, I think I was 10 or 11 when I first watched the movie, The Mummy & became totally obsessed with the ancient civilisation & terrified of scarab beetles.
Checking our bags in, customs & immigration was super easy & quick. By 8am we had found an Irish bar for 'breakfast' in the form of 2 bloody Mary's.
It was the coolest little bar we had been in while in India.
I love rustic, unique places like this, full of recycled materials, wood, leather & an eye for detail.
Our hostel reception organized our Uber & we were on our way to the India Ghandi international airport. The drive through Delhi was about 40 minutes & fairly uneventful.
We are so excited to be changing continents & to be crossing off a huge bucket list item for me; Egypt!
I've wanted to see Egypt since I was a little girl, I think I was 10 or 11 when I first watched the movie, The Mummy & became totally obsessed with the ancient civilisation & terrified of scarab beetles.
Checking our bags in, customs & immigration was super easy & quick. By 8am we had found an Irish bar for 'breakfast' in the form of 2 bloody Mary's.
It was the coolest little bar we had been in while in India.
I love rustic, unique places like this, full of recycled materials, wood, leather & an eye for detail.
The first leg of our journey was to Dubai, we boarded our flight at 10.30am & easily got comfortable. Emirates is known for its flight service & we weren't flying cheaply while entering middle eastern countries.
The plane's wheels eventually left the ground at 11.40am, immediately the plane was engulfed in a thick pollution haze. A likely reason for the delay in our take off. It was a real shame, I had the window seat & there was a monitor to watch a live camera feed positioned on the nose of the plane. I love flying, the novelty never ends for me, despite all the flights I've done in massive passenger planes & tiny light planes. Truly, one of mans greatest achievements, thank you once again Wright brothers.
Our flight touched down in Dubai at 1.07pm, 2 hours behind Delhi, to a scorching 46 degrees.
One thing that has continued to shock me throughout the flight has been the blatant arrogance & disregard for instructions & management. Of course all of this was by men, determined to argue with flight attendants, ignore them & jeopardize their safety as well as everyone else's. Amazingly as soon as the plane touched down & started taxing towards a parking bay, these people jumped out of their seats, opened the overhead storage & started pulling their luggage out, while trying to maintain balance. The poor flight attendants who were still seated with safety belts on, were thoroughly ignored, as was the captain who announced multiple times that the plane was still moving & to remain seated.
I was disappointed none of them looked embarrassed or awkward when they had to stand in the aisle, obstructing all exits, for 15 minutes.
The Dubai airport is really nice featuring lots of polished steel, marble & indoor water floors. We don't really have time to explore which is a shame.
It takes us about 20 minutes, fast paced walking & a train to get to our next departure gate. On our arrival we have 20 minutes to sit down & message relatives before we are greeted with a boarding announcement.
Our flight touched down in Dubai at 1.07pm, 2 hours behind Delhi, to a scorching 46 degrees.
One thing that has continued to shock me throughout the flight has been the blatant arrogance & disregard for instructions & management. Of course all of this was by men, determined to argue with flight attendants, ignore them & jeopardize their safety as well as everyone else's. Amazingly as soon as the plane touched down & started taxing towards a parking bay, these people jumped out of their seats, opened the overhead storage & started pulling their luggage out, while trying to maintain balance. The poor flight attendants who were still seated with safety belts on, were thoroughly ignored, as was the captain who announced multiple times that the plane was still moving & to remain seated.
I was disappointed none of them looked embarrassed or awkward when they had to stand in the aisle, obstructing all exits, for 15 minutes.
The Dubai airport is really nice featuring lots of polished steel, marble & indoor water floors. We don't really have time to explore which is a shame.
It takes us about 20 minutes, fast paced walking & a train to get to our next departure gate. On our arrival we have 20 minutes to sit down & message relatives before we are greeted with a boarding announcement.
Once boarded, our take off is delayed by some passengers not arriving at the boarding gate on time, which requires their baggage to be found & removed.
The flight is pretty uneventful & we arrive in Cairo at 5pm, gaining another few hours. Surprisingly the men on this flight are very well mannered & the flight attendants seem to be having a good time.
The Egyptian lady sitting next to me has waaaaay too much musky perfume on & I couldn't get out of my seat or exit the plane fast enough. I felt like I was suffocating from the fumes.
The Egyptian lady sitting next to me has waaaaay too much musky perfume on & I couldn't get out of my seat or exit the plane fast enough. I felt like I was suffocating from the fumes.
Applying for the Egypt Visa was so easy, he literally asked us if we wanted a Visa, then gave us a sticker. I don't even think anybody checked our arrival cards.
By the time we cleared the large queues for immigration & customs, collected our bags it was 6pm.
Unfortunately our airport transfer was not waiting for us, despite us sending 2 emails, 1 the day before to confirm. There was a tourist desk and some really helpful people there who made some phone calls & relayed confusing information. The first lot of information was the transfer was 5 minutes away, 10 minutes later we were told it wasn't coming.
Unfortunately our airport transfer was not waiting for us, despite us sending 2 emails, 1 the day before to confirm. There was a tourist desk and some really helpful people there who made some phone calls & relayed confusing information. The first lot of information was the transfer was 5 minutes away, 10 minutes later we were told it wasn't coming.
Then we were approached by a gentleman who must of been contacted by the hotel to organize our transfer. Once we were in the car with our luggage it was with relief to sit back & watch the world go by. The sun was just starting to set, throwing up gorgeous shades of purple, pink, orange, red & blue. There really is nothing like an African sunset.
The drive to our hotel took 90 minutes due to heavy traffic. Tom is quick to point out the lack of obnoxious, relentless beeping! How did I miss it ? It's so good to be in a country where indicators are used & ear drums aren't sacrificed. We could really appreciate our drivers choice of Arabian pop music!
Cairo is full of development & is an interesting blend of ancient & modern Egypt. It is significantly cleaner than India & Nepal, I saw hardly any rubbish. Of course it's a desert, it's still a bit shocking to see the red & yellow sun scorched sand in every direction.
The outer suburbs of the city have some abandoned building projects and some shanty dwellings, I think I saw 5 individual dwellings. Very different to the thousands we saw in India.
The wealth of this country must be more evenly distributed, people do seem happier & friendly. I'm sure poverty does exist in rural areas, this is Africa after all!
We get to our hotel & check in with no problems, it's a great spot on the outskirts of Cairo. There are a lot of people riding horses, donkeys & camels in the neighborhood. All the animals do seem to be in good shape. Life is quieter & more relaxed here. We can see lots of outdoor table settings on the sidewalks & people enjoying drinks & shisha.
From our roof top we can see the 3 pyramids of Giza & just glimpse the Sphinx tucked behind a building.
We are both very emotional. We are happy to have left India & to be in Egypt, it feels very momentous. For Tom it's a huge moment, it's been 24 years since he's been in Africa, his continent of birth. I am very happy to be back & to have finally made it to Egypt. A huge bucket list moment for me & something I've wanted to do since I was 10. We drink cold beers, while our eyes hungrily drink in the sight. I definitely shed a few happy tears before messaging Mum.
Cairo is full of development & is an interesting blend of ancient & modern Egypt. It is significantly cleaner than India & Nepal, I saw hardly any rubbish. Of course it's a desert, it's still a bit shocking to see the red & yellow sun scorched sand in every direction.
The outer suburbs of the city have some abandoned building projects and some shanty dwellings, I think I saw 5 individual dwellings. Very different to the thousands we saw in India.
The wealth of this country must be more evenly distributed, people do seem happier & friendly. I'm sure poverty does exist in rural areas, this is Africa after all!
We get to our hotel & check in with no problems, it's a great spot on the outskirts of Cairo. There are a lot of people riding horses, donkeys & camels in the neighborhood. All the animals do seem to be in good shape. Life is quieter & more relaxed here. We can see lots of outdoor table settings on the sidewalks & people enjoying drinks & shisha.
From our roof top we can see the 3 pyramids of Giza & just glimpse the Sphinx tucked behind a building.
We are both very emotional. We are happy to have left India & to be in Egypt, it feels very momentous. For Tom it's a huge moment, it's been 24 years since he's been in Africa, his continent of birth. I am very happy to be back & to have finally made it to Egypt. A huge bucket list moment for me & something I've wanted to do since I was 10. We drink cold beers, while our eyes hungrily drink in the sight. I definitely shed a few happy tears before messaging Mum.
- Alli
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