Memories of Egypt: Cairo Calling

We arrived at Cairo and the temperature at 10.30pm was 28 degrees Celsius! The blast of hot air that hit us when we got out of the plane was surprising but welcoming.

We were not going to need any of the warm stuff we packed.

We just blindly followed the crowd and climbed aboard the bus that they did. Luckily it took us to arrivals, where we were met by the Imaginative Traveller rep (despite being about 3 hours late, we were a bit worried that we would have to make our own way to the hotel).

We already had our VISAs so we were in the fast queue, but had to spend ages waiting for our bags and then we discovered the delights of Cairo traffic...

Now considering it was midnight by this time, driving consisted of a lot of horn tooting and weaving in and out Wacky Races style.

(Mental note: Never drive or own a car in Egypt, or attempt to cross the road for that matter).

It was about a 45-minute drive and although it was dark, we glimpsed a peek at the citadel, crossed the Nile, which is a hotbed of activity, with fishing and people sitting chatting. We were told that this is where the poorer Egyptians congregate.

Not long after that, we got our first glimpse of the pyramids all lit up. They were breathtaking.

When we got to our five star Hotel Mena House (thank you Dad for funding this amazing trip of a lifetime), the hotel was gorgeous.

They took us on a tour down this corridor and that, showing us the room that Tony Blair had stayed in and lots of photos showing the last 100 years of history.

He finally took us to our room and promised us that there was a wonderful view of the pyramids from our balcony (at this point it was pitch black).

When showing us the bathroom, he said "show the queen the bathroom" and my husband walked in first. I did laugh.

This is the view we woke up to..

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