The first stop on our Egyptian adventure (3/11-17) was Cairo. We took a low cost carrier Transavia from AMS to Cairo International. Upon arrival, a foreigner must buy a visa for the stay. It was $30 for each of us and took about twenty minutes to get through the line and get it, then another twenty waiting for passport control. Our tour company seemed to have some issues with our pickup. Despite having our flight number and information, they were not there for us. After several texts back and fort, they finally showed up to get us. Discussions with our fellow tour travelers make it sound like none of the pickups went smoothly. After getting to the hotel, The Gewan Hotel Cairo, I realized I had lost my wallet. I used it on the plane for a cup of coffee and must have dropped it at that point. I tried calling both the airline and airport lost and found offices, but in the end just cancelled my credit cards and chalked it up as a loss. I wasn’t going to let it spoil the trip.

Our first big stop was at the pyramids. I was not sure what exactly to expect as I had seen very cool pictures as well as the “real view” pictures showing the pyramids surrounded by city sprawl. They were miles out, standing alone in the desert. Due to concerns about bombings by the USA in Iran and threats of retaliation by that country, the guides told us many reservations and trips had been cancelled. That meant many of the areas had low numbers of tourists even though it was the high season. Good for us, bad for them.

During this excursion, we also visited the Sphinx and the Grand Egyptian Museum. The Sphinx was a bit of a surprise as it was smaller than I thought it would be. The GEM was amazing with incredible displays, including the sarcophogus and death mask of legendary King Tut.