Dubai, UAE and Cairo/Giza, Egypt
Today, the apartment man had said that he would come to the apartment to check us out at 11:00. At 11:00, Joshua was still gathering the last of his belongings while the apartment guy and the cleaning guy started flipping the apartment to get it ready for the next renters. I like Joshua's summation of Dubai from the first day we were there--he said that it is like a Disneyworld for adults. Very apt! As promised, these are the pics of our apartment:
We left and called an Uber to get to the airport for our 3:00 flight. In all of our past travels, we have primarly walked or taken public transit to everything (even on those trips where we rented a car). This trip however, we have taken Ubers and other transit primarily because of the heat but also the lack of comprehensive public transit systems.
Very unremarkable time through security and at the gate and on the flight. Except, of course, for the baby to the right of us and the baby to the left of us and the kid behind me who kept hitting the headrest of my seat. We were in the first row of steerage in the center. First row had perks and drawbacks. The perks are superb leg room and space to stand up and move around. The drawbacks are that you have to stow your bags for takeoff and landing in the upper bins and you have to stow your entertainment screen as well during those times (I missed the last 10 minutes of The Aftermath with Keira Knightley). I think I know what happened.
At the airport, a man met us (with a sign like we were VIPs!). He helped smooth us through immigration and customs quickly. He bought the visas for us and put them in our passports. Then a driver took over. Our apartment is in Giza, a small city that has become absorbed into Cairo. We can see the pyramids from our windows! As we drove through Cairo, we realized that the roads aren't as bad as India (though worse than Dubai) and that there is so much poverty. Joshua's view was that Cairo seems to have the density of Hong Kong combined with the poverty of India.
The owner met us and showed us the apartment, then sat down to talk about how to manage in the neighborhood and city (number 1, ignore the hackers; number 2, everyone is going to try to charge you more than they should). Also, what we should see besides the pyramids--we have two days. He is a tour guide by trade and came up with 2 great tours for us. He can't do the tours because he is going fishing, but his brother will. He said that our neighborhood is very safe and that only four families live in the area--the same four families that have lived there for 300 years. They just intermarry and have many children! He took us to the grocery store so that we could buy water and to show us how much money it should cost--that everyone will try to charge us waaaayyyy more than the normal rate because we're tourists.
We ate at Pizza Hut, up on the rooftop to watch the light show on the pyramids across the street. Tomorrow night we're going to eat at the kebabs place that should have a great view during daylight. Tomorrow we will see the Giza pyramids and the Cairo museum. The guide will be here at 8:30 (so much for sleeping in!).
Today, the apartment man had said that he would come to the apartment to check us out at 11:00. At 11:00, Joshua was still gathering the last of his belongings while the apartment guy and the cleaning guy started flipping the apartment to get it ready for the next renters. I like Joshua's summation of Dubai from the first day we were there--he said that it is like a Disneyworld for adults. Very apt! As promised, these are the pics of our apartment:
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| living room/dining room combo |
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| kitchen |
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| balcony from the living room (with a view of the Burj Khalifa) |
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| Bedroom |
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| Bathroom off the bedroom |
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| balcony off the bedroom |
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| view of the bedroom from the balcony |
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| View towards the kitchen from the living room balcony |
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| Powder room |
We left and called an Uber to get to the airport for our 3:00 flight. In all of our past travels, we have primarly walked or taken public transit to everything (even on those trips where we rented a car). This trip however, we have taken Ubers and other transit primarily because of the heat but also the lack of comprehensive public transit systems.
Very unremarkable time through security and at the gate and on the flight. Except, of course, for the baby to the right of us and the baby to the left of us and the kid behind me who kept hitting the headrest of my seat. We were in the first row of steerage in the center. First row had perks and drawbacks. The perks are superb leg room and space to stand up and move around. The drawbacks are that you have to stow your bags for takeoff and landing in the upper bins and you have to stow your entertainment screen as well during those times (I missed the last 10 minutes of The Aftermath with Keira Knightley). I think I know what happened.
At the airport, a man met us (with a sign like we were VIPs!). He helped smooth us through immigration and customs quickly. He bought the visas for us and put them in our passports. Then a driver took over. Our apartment is in Giza, a small city that has become absorbed into Cairo. We can see the pyramids from our windows! As we drove through Cairo, we realized that the roads aren't as bad as India (though worse than Dubai) and that there is so much poverty. Joshua's view was that Cairo seems to have the density of Hong Kong combined with the poverty of India.
The owner met us and showed us the apartment, then sat down to talk about how to manage in the neighborhood and city (number 1, ignore the hackers; number 2, everyone is going to try to charge you more than they should). Also, what we should see besides the pyramids--we have two days. He is a tour guide by trade and came up with 2 great tours for us. He can't do the tours because he is going fishing, but his brother will. He said that our neighborhood is very safe and that only four families live in the area--the same four families that have lived there for 300 years. They just intermarry and have many children! He took us to the grocery store so that we could buy water and to show us how much money it should cost--that everyone will try to charge us waaaayyyy more than the normal rate because we're tourists.
We ate at Pizza Hut, up on the rooftop to watch the light show on the pyramids across the street. Tomorrow night we're going to eat at the kebabs place that should have a great view during daylight. Tomorrow we will see the Giza pyramids and the Cairo museum. The guide will be here at 8:30 (so much for sleeping in!).
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| The pharmacy and grocery store from the rooftop |
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| The pyramids |
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| The pyramids lit up during the light show |
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