Made It!

10 1/2 hours in the air turned out to be not so bad after all notwithstanding a few wailing babies and a surprising amount of modest turbulence.  Cairo airport is in the desert and I do mean truly in the desert. To the east is…..nothing. To the west, 40 million residents of the city. Our G Adventures local rep shepparded us through getting a visa and customs. Finally on the road through the city to our hotel, which, it turns out, literally looks out at the Giza Plain and the world famous pyramids.  First impression of Cairo is fairly harsh. Massive amounts of seemingly derelict buildings, garbage piled along the streets, wild dogs roaming about, and tons of rubble apparently abandoned. Everything one might have read or heard about Cairo traffic is true. Total, absolute chaos which somehow works. No lanes, no lights, no stop signs, no give.  The fact virtually every vehicle bears the scars of one or more other transport is reflective of the driving style. Oh, and the wandering pedestrians are simply slower moving targets. A desperately needed 3 1/2 hours of sleep later we met our guide, Michael, who will be with us for the entire trip.  As we four (Mo, Mark, Allie & Sean) were the only tour members here early we chose an optional trip to Saraqqah and Memphis, both about 40 minutes south of the city. The former is the site of Egypt’s earliest pyramid and the latter the original capital (3100 BC) of the Old Kingdom. A great small sample of what lies ahead including I mpressive story telling wall carvings, a lesson in reading a cartouche (look it up),  marveling at the statue carvings and our first appreciation that you can’t drink enough bottled water given the heat and dust. Back to the hotel late afternoon where we met the rest of the group for an itinerary review after which we all trooped to a local restaurant. Long day to say the least.