Egypt

We arrived in Cairo late at night and had only that night before we boarded a flight in the morning to Aswan to begin our cruise. If you have read my posts about suitcases, this is where that hard sided suitcase comes into play. My carry-on had to be checked on Egypt Air as it was too big for the overhead (the under seat was also extremely small). My carry-on has a laptop case (empty of course) which may have played a part in what happened next. When we arrived, my suitcase did not come out. It had everything I needed for the trip, it was late, we were flying out the next morning, so you can see what I am getting at (I was tired, panicked and upset). We waited, filed a report and got ready to leave the airport. Suddenly the guy is yelling at me across the airport that they found it. He told us to wait by the conveyor belt. I do not understand what the problem was in Egypt with conveyor belts, but they would back up with luggage no matter where we went. This one was no exception and suddenly my suitcase was at the top of a 7 foot high pile of luggage. I was relieved. At least they found it and I could see it. It then fell off said pile and had a huge dent in the side. At this point I realized that filing a report was a waste of time, so we left. Now it is almost 10pm and we haven’t had dinner. Remember when I said the drinking water in Marrakesh was fine? Well I got used to it. In our Cairo airport Marriott at 10pm eating dinner I had beer (to avoid water) but when we go to the room at 11:30 pm I brushed my teeth. The next morning we were leaving at 8am and I brushed my teeth. Tip: When you research water quality ahead of time, do not get so tired you forget! We touched down in Ashwin to much less craziness and were met by our tour guide. We were supposed to go to the dam and then to a linen place before boarding the cruise. We went to the dam and I started to feel sick. I did not remember that I had drank the water and attributed it to the heat. I opted to skip the linen store (I was bummed) and asked to go to the ship. Good call. By the time I got there, I was down for the count for 24 hours. And that is with starting the US medication I got. Our tour guide, John, was so kind and went out to get me medicine, but I immediately started what I had brought. I missed the sunset cruise on the sailboat and 3 meals, but by the next day I was ok. These Nile cruises are small and the whole staff knew. I spent the rest of the cruise telling them I was fine. It was a great time and I highly recommend it. Our tour company was Journey to Egypt. If you use them I highly recommend John. It is a law in Egypt that if you do any tour it must be with an Egyptian company. All the tour guides have masters in Egyptology so it is well worth it. Before we flew out of Luxor, he took us to Valley of the Kings and was able to squeeze in a linen tour for me. Tip: Be prepared to tip everyone on cruise and your tour guide. Of course, the tour guides gets more than the rest. We had already tipped the spa when we got massages, so this was for the crew. We tipped John after Valley of the Kings. You can get tipping ideas on-line. We flew out of Luxor and back to Cairo. This time it was my bucket list. We stayed at the Marriott Cairo Mena House with view of the pyramids. I am a Marriott member and we were upgraded. This was by far the best hotel room Andy and I have ever stayed in. The accommodations and staff are exceptional. Andy asked where I wanted to go for dinner and I said here. We ended up getting room service and sitting on our balcony looking the pyramids. It was heaven. We used a tour guide for the next day to see the pyramids, Sphinx and museum. The tour guide price got us transportation, admission and lunch all included. Again, we got a guide with a masters in Egyptology. A great way to learn so much, even in the museum. Would I go in the Pyramid again? I don’t know. I am glad I went in and got the experience, but there was nothing to see once you got to the top. Tip: IF you are going in the pyramid, do it first thing in the morning. It was not crowded (like you see on the internet) but still hot. I can’t imagine what it feels like in there with all those people if you go at 1 in the afternoon. She ended up getting us a cut through to reduce walk time to get up close to the Sphinx. Tip: Get the guides in Egypt, you will not be disappointed. They are so kind and open to you asking any question you have, even if it is about the roads, etc. And don’t forget to tip!