We awoke much earlier today, minus the hangover's & plus the advantage of the free buffet breakfast which we missed out on yesterday.
There was an overwhelming sense of deja-vu as we packed, checked out & headed for the same booth in the bar as yesterday.
It was another day of technology, I managed to do 3 blog posts before the computer insisted on updating & stressing Tom out. After updating, the computer decided to insinuate it had lost all 13,700 photos from our travel's we had already saved online, thankfully this was not the case & it identified what was saved locally & could merge with the online back up.
Technology really feels like the bane of our existence at times like this.
At 4.30pm it was time for our airport transfer. Because of the heavy traffic through Cairo at this time of day, the distance & the fact that we were unable to check in for our flight online, we wanted to get there with plenty of time to spare.
We arrived 70 minutes later & were told before the first security gate that we were too early for our flight which didn't leave till 9.45pm & to have a seat for 2 hours. For an international airport terminal, it does look pretty small, therefore it probably doesn't need the 3-4 hours to get through airport procedures & arrive on time at the gate.
Just after 7pm we went through security, checked our bags in & went through immigration. By the time we browsed through duty free, indulged in a bottle of amarula & walked to the appropriate gate it was 8.15pm. The time taken to do this in a small, quiet airport was the fault of the check in staff who seemed too busy to check us in until the line of people had been standing in front of the counter for 20 minutes & several people had complained.
I was really grumpy to discover that we weren't seated together & were 10 rows apart. How does that even happen on the one booking purchased 6 months ago ?
At 9pm we finally went through our 3rd lot of security to get to the gate. All 3 security checks have included baggage screening & the most intense metal detection with thorough body pat downs. Everyone had to take all hats, belts, big jewellery items, jumpers & shoes off to walk through.
We finally started boarding at 9.45pm, the time that our flight was meant to take off. I was very amused to see that people were still going through the 3rd set of security at 9.45pm. Our tickets & passports were checked another 2 times before we boarded the plane.
Finally at 10.23pm we started to feel the plane reverse out of the parking space & make it's way to the runway. By the time we were in the air, it was pretty much 1 hour late. I hope they make up for it in the air & we aren't 1 hour late. Our next accommodation is a guesthouse & the owner is already being amazingly accommodating by picking us up at the ridiculous time of 4am.
People, honestly, never cease to amaze me with how dumb they can be. While we are taxing towards the end of the runway to take off, a man gets up out of his seat to ask the flight attendant's who are seated, for another pillow. Is that really worth being in the aisle when the plane accelerates ? The flight attendants are quite grumpy & exasperated at him & make no effort to hide their emotions as they shove a pillow at him & tell him to sit down.
The same man a few hours later gets up out of his chair with a hot cup of coffee to open his overhead compartment & walk around, after the captain announces for everyone, including cabin crew, to be seated as there is turbulence ahead. He looks really offended when cabin crew yell at him to close the compartment & sit down. He only half gets it right by sitting down, a flight attendant has to rush over & close the compartment so bags don't fall out & injure someone in the turbulence.
I hope as soon as he leaves the airport that a large african bird flies overhead & pooh's on his head.
Our plane touched down an hour late, unfortunately not arriving on time. By the time we passed through immigration, a process made quicker by our approved online EVISA and cleared the non existent customs it was close to 5am.
We met our airport transfer after making a phone call with a friendly local's phone. The mans name was George & he lives/owns the guesthouse we are staying at with his wife Caroline.
We finally arrived at the guesthouse at 5.30am, it was 9 degrees outside & we were very ready for bed.
- Alli
There was an overwhelming sense of deja-vu as we packed, checked out & headed for the same booth in the bar as yesterday.
It was another day of technology, I managed to do 3 blog posts before the computer insisted on updating & stressing Tom out. After updating, the computer decided to insinuate it had lost all 13,700 photos from our travel's we had already saved online, thankfully this was not the case & it identified what was saved locally & could merge with the online back up.
Technology really feels like the bane of our existence at times like this.
At 4.30pm it was time for our airport transfer. Because of the heavy traffic through Cairo at this time of day, the distance & the fact that we were unable to check in for our flight online, we wanted to get there with plenty of time to spare.
We arrived 70 minutes later & were told before the first security gate that we were too early for our flight which didn't leave till 9.45pm & to have a seat for 2 hours. For an international airport terminal, it does look pretty small, therefore it probably doesn't need the 3-4 hours to get through airport procedures & arrive on time at the gate.
Just after 7pm we went through security, checked our bags in & went through immigration. By the time we browsed through duty free, indulged in a bottle of amarula & walked to the appropriate gate it was 8.15pm. The time taken to do this in a small, quiet airport was the fault of the check in staff who seemed too busy to check us in until the line of people had been standing in front of the counter for 20 minutes & several people had complained.
I was really grumpy to discover that we weren't seated together & were 10 rows apart. How does that even happen on the one booking purchased 6 months ago ?
At 9pm we finally went through our 3rd lot of security to get to the gate. All 3 security checks have included baggage screening & the most intense metal detection with thorough body pat downs. Everyone had to take all hats, belts, big jewellery items, jumpers & shoes off to walk through.
We finally started boarding at 9.45pm, the time that our flight was meant to take off. I was very amused to see that people were still going through the 3rd set of security at 9.45pm. Our tickets & passports were checked another 2 times before we boarded the plane.
Finally at 10.23pm we started to feel the plane reverse out of the parking space & make it's way to the runway. By the time we were in the air, it was pretty much 1 hour late. I hope they make up for it in the air & we aren't 1 hour late. Our next accommodation is a guesthouse & the owner is already being amazingly accommodating by picking us up at the ridiculous time of 4am.
People, honestly, never cease to amaze me with how dumb they can be. While we are taxing towards the end of the runway to take off, a man gets up out of his seat to ask the flight attendant's who are seated, for another pillow. Is that really worth being in the aisle when the plane accelerates ? The flight attendants are quite grumpy & exasperated at him & make no effort to hide their emotions as they shove a pillow at him & tell him to sit down.
The same man a few hours later gets up out of his chair with a hot cup of coffee to open his overhead compartment & walk around, after the captain announces for everyone, including cabin crew, to be seated as there is turbulence ahead. He looks really offended when cabin crew yell at him to close the compartment & sit down. He only half gets it right by sitting down, a flight attendant has to rush over & close the compartment so bags don't fall out & injure someone in the turbulence.
I hope as soon as he leaves the airport that a large african bird flies overhead & pooh's on his head.
Our plane touched down an hour late, unfortunately not arriving on time. By the time we passed through immigration, a process made quicker by our approved online EVISA and cleared the non existent customs it was close to 5am.
We met our airport transfer after making a phone call with a friendly local's phone. The mans name was George & he lives/owns the guesthouse we are staying at with his wife Caroline.
We finally arrived at the guesthouse at 5.30am, it was 9 degrees outside & we were very ready for bed.
- Alli
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