Egypt - Getting Here

At the moment I am sitting on a boat, sailing down the Nile between Luxor and Aswan, drinking a Stella. This Stella isn’t the Stella Artois that you’re familiar with (I don’t think), but is an “Authentic Egyptian Lager Beer” named Stella that is eerily similar to Stella Artois. Since Muslims don’t drink (for the most part) and Egypt is 85% Muslim, it hasn’t been easy to find Egyptian beer, but here we are. I’ve got the afternoon with little to do between lunch and afternoon tea, so I thought I’d draft some entries on Egypt. I’m not sure when I’ll post them, but it’ll be as soon as I can. (Note: I finally found some WiFi in Aswan and I'm posting about a half-dozen entries to show up at 16-hour intervals, so they are on their way.)

First up – the trip to Egypt.

The trip to Egypt really wasn’t too bad. It started with a two-hour flight from RDU to JFK in New York. I arrived at RDU three hours early because I’m a good little traveler (and because it was necessary in my last international flight out of Buenos Aires) but it was sort of a waste of time. American Airlines isn’t busy at all at RDU, so I was through check-in within ten minutes of arriving at the airport.

Getting to JFK, I had a five-hour wait before I hopped on my plane to Cairo. I actually needed much of this time because I had to get back in line to check-in for my flight to Egypt. From JFK to Cairo, I flew a direct flight on Egyptair. The flight I took to Cairo is the only flight on Egyptair per day out of JFK, so the counters weren’t open when I arrived five-hours prior to my flight. I had to wait around for an hour or so and then I was near-first in line when the counter opened. I went through with no problems and went to the gate.

The JFK terminal for international flights, at least international flights on smaller, foreign airlines, was dead. Fortunately, I ate before I went through security because there was virtually nothing there one I got through. Fortunately, there was free internet, so I played around online while I waited for my flight to board.

Everything went pretty much on time and I hopped on my plane to Cairo. This was my first time flying on Egyptair and I was pleasantly surprised in some aspects and not particularly pleased with others. Among the pleasant surprises was the care package that we received on the plane. It included earphones, a sleeping mask that I desperately needed and a toothbrush. That was more than I received on any of my other flights. Among the disappointments was the lack of entertainment on the flight – which was particularly disappointing on an eleven-hour flight.

Having flown a lot of long flights recently, I’ve learned a little. For this trip, I brought earplugs. This was particularly fortunate considering there was a child who is certain to have a future in horror movies as a screamer. Generally, I have a lot of trouble sleeping on airplanes, but between the earplugs, complimentary sleeping mask and a handful of Tylenol PM, I did manage to get about three or four hours of sleep on the plane, for which I was very thankful.

I usually get nervous before I go through security, immigration and customs on foreign flights because you never really know what to expect. I think I was more nervous about Egypt than I usually am because this was my first trip to the Middle East. Unexpectedly, the trip through immigration and customs was a breeze. I got to immigration and there was no line. I got to the agent and he asked if I had a visa. I though “damn, did I screw this up somehow?” I said “no, where can I get a visa?” He directed me to the bank directly behind me. I went to the bank and they charged me $15 for a visa sticker. (This was a pleasant surprise because I had read that an Egyptian visa cost $45.) I purchased the visa and returned to the line, which still was empty. Without a single question about why I was in Egypt or the intended length of my stay, I got my passport stamped and went through.

On the other side of immigration, I was met by a representative of my tour group. I picked up my luggage and was taken to the Great Pyramids Hotel in Giza. It was surprisingly easy. We’ll see how it goes when I head to Jordan, Israel and then back into the United States.

Stay tuned for more.