Egypt: Land of Mystery
Arriving in Egypt the day after Christmas in 1986, I started an extraordinary two week long adventure. Having never been out of the us before, I had certainly picked a fascinating place to begin my international travels. To top everything off, I was just recovering from an intense attack with the intestinal flu and was really in no shape to travel.Due to the international situation in the middle east in 1986, safety at Kennedy airport was very high and flying by Egypt Air didn't help matters any. An Iranian airliner had just been shut down the day before, so as we were about to board the plane, we were escorted to a little door behind which were 5 Big Egyptian security guards with semi-automatic weapons, who thoroughly searched all of our carry on baggage, even taking the lens caps and lenses off cameras.
As with most flights to that part of the world, we left New york at about 10 PM, flying all night we ultimately landed in Paris. A brief stop in Paris to add fuel and passengers and it was on to Cairo. It ended up to be a beautiful flight, not a cloud in the sky, flying over the snow covered French Alps, Genoa Italy and proceeding down the west coast of Italy, it couldn't happen to be more beautiful.As dusk approached Cairo, so did we, landing at about 5:30 PM, the sun was just placing more than the Egyptian desert. To say the minimum, Cairo airport was absolutely nothing like Kennedy, as we landed, the airplane flew more than a junk yard exactly where numerous crashed aircraft had been stored.
Climbing down the steps of the airplane and taking an airport bus across the tarmac, I suddenly entered a different world. Mass confusion abounded every exactly where, the airport was extremely old and dirty,with cats and dogs running through the airport, people were hurriedly trying to find their luggage.Extension cords lying everywhere on the floor, a Tv crew was setting up to broadcast live the arrival of some dignitaries. I'm sure they weren't there to see me, should they were, they missed me, OSHA would have a field day here. I find myself thinking,"What have I gotten into?"As I was part of a group, our tour guide met us and we were escorted to our waiting bus which would transport us to our motel for the night. Passing through Cairo, I observed people living in numerous story apartments with only a few walls, no roofs and they had built fires in their living rooms to stave off the chill of the cold Egyptian nights.With the roads being shared by vehicles, trucks, horses, camels, and motorcycles, visitors was terrible, moving along at a snails pace, I soon learned what travel would be like for the next 2 weeks.
After substantial effort, we eventually arrived at the Bel-Air Hotel, a stylish motel located near the quarries where the stones for the pyramids had been excavated. Checking in and finding our room, it had been time to have a Stella, the local beer, and dinner. Our group had plenty of time to get acquainted, as we soon learned, a typical Egyptian dining experience normally lasted about three hours.
Arriving in Egypt the day after Christmas in 1986, I started an extraordinary two week long adventure. Having never been out of the us before, I had certainly picked a fascinating place to begin my international travels. To top everything off, I was just recovering from an intense attack with the intestinal flu and was really in no shape to travel.Due to the international situation in the middle east in 1986, safety at Kennedy airport was very high and flying by Egypt Air didn't help matters any. An Iranian airliner had just been shut down the day before, so as we were about to board the plane, we were escorted to a little door behind which were 5 Big Egyptian security guards with semi-automatic weapons, who thoroughly searched all of our carry on baggage, even taking the lens caps and lenses off cameras.
As with most flights to that part of the world, we left New york at about 10 PM, flying all night we ultimately landed in Paris. A brief stop in Paris to add fuel and passengers and it was on to Cairo. It ended up to be a beautiful flight, not a cloud in the sky, flying over the snow covered French Alps, Genoa Italy and proceeding down the west coast of Italy, it couldn't happen to be more beautiful.As dusk approached Cairo, so did we, landing at about 5:30 PM, the sun was just placing more than the Egyptian desert. To say the minimum, Cairo airport was absolutely nothing like Kennedy, as we landed, the airplane flew more than a junk yard exactly where numerous crashed aircraft had been stored.
Climbing down the steps of the airplane and taking an airport bus across the tarmac, I suddenly entered a different world. Mass confusion abounded every exactly where, the airport was extremely old and dirty,with cats and dogs running through the airport, people were hurriedly trying to find their luggage.Extension cords lying everywhere on the floor, a Tv crew was setting up to broadcast live the arrival of some dignitaries. I'm sure they weren't there to see me, should they were, they missed me, OSHA would have a field day here. I find myself thinking,"What have I gotten into?"As I was part of a group, our tour guide met us and we were escorted to our waiting bus which would transport us to our motel for the night. Passing through Cairo, I observed people living in numerous story apartments with only a few walls, no roofs and they had built fires in their living rooms to stave off the chill of the cold Egyptian nights.With the roads being shared by vehicles, trucks, horses, camels, and motorcycles, visitors was terrible, moving along at a snails pace, I soon learned what travel would be like for the next 2 weeks.
After substantial effort, we eventually arrived at the Bel-Air Hotel, a stylish motel located near the quarries where the stones for the pyramids had been excavated. Checking in and finding our room, it had been time to have a Stella, the local beer, and dinner. Our group had plenty of time to get acquainted, as we soon learned, a typical Egyptian dining experience normally lasted about three hours.
About the Author:
If you want more information on Egypt Tours, don't read just rehashed articles online to avoid getting ripped off. Go here: Travel in Cairo
No comments:
Post a Comment