Cairo is Off to a Good Start……

The flight from Cameroon went through Brussels and Zurich and then to Cairo and was long but pretty much eventful. We arrived in Cairo in mid-afternoon so I got a good luck at the city from the air as we approached. It is a very large city and as you might expect very old. The one-hour drive from the airport to the hotel was interesting—the architecture of the buildings ranges from European colonial to Arab traditional. There are small neighborhood mosques everywhere with their minarets and towers and the architecture is elaborate and detailed. Later I plan to do a historical mosque tour in the central city but these tend to be newer but retain the old architectural (often Turkish) features.

The hotel is five-star and expensive to the point I will have to watch my daily meal allowance if I don’t find some small shops nearby. The hotel is right on the Nile River and I can see part of it from my room on the 22nd floor. Last night after dark I spent about an hour walking along the promenade beside the river and it is absolutely beautiful—colored lights every, slow moving boats on the river (many of them serving meals to tourists), and just a general ambiance of serene beauty. In many ways it reminds me of the Chao Praya River in Bangkok. I ate supper at one of the hotel restaurants and splurged a little—sushi and a fish dinner and then pretty much collapsed in bed after the long trip from Cameroon. Tomorrow I plan to walk around the downtown Cairo area (that’s where my hotel is) and look around taking pictures but not really visit anything yet. I have two days off next weekend—probably a “pyramid trip” and have taken an extra four days at the end of the job so tomorrow I’m really just going to “scout the area” for later. I really feel this is going to be a rewarding adventure.