A day in Cairo

Flight to Cairo terminal 3, due at 00:50, arrives late, no not Ryanair.

Visa process is easy, buy a token from a bank counter. Then take it with you to passport control.
25 USD25 USD single entry.

Can also exchange your cash for Egyptian Pounds at basically the exchange rate, which my friend did. I should have too, but always the sceptic. As a result I spend most of the day relying on my friend’s Egyptian Pounds.

Excited and in Egypt we make our way to arrivals. Carry on bags only folks.

There we meet our pre-arranged hostel pick up service.
170 EGP170 EGP for a car and driver.

The guy is holding a sign with my name on it, a crappy photo, but another one to tick off my bucket list.

Arrive to hostel, had originally booked accommodation for that night, but thanks to their great suggestion had changed it for that morning.
345 EGP345 EGP Deluxe twin, en suite, air con.

Booked the hostel’s pyramid tour for 10:30am, they recommended starting earlier.
28 USD28 USD Air con car with private driver.

Tried to order food. But too late/early.
Shower.

1.5 litre water from the hostel.
6 EGP6 EGP

We’ll pay our whole tab in the morning. Bed at 3/4am.

Wake at 6am. Jamie has changed our tour booking to 9am.
Order breakfast for 7am.
20 EGP20 EGP each.

Pay our tab in cash.

Sit outside with all the cats.

Another breakfast, but to share.
10 EGP10 EGP

Put our bags in hostel storage. Rest up before heading out.

Our driver is cool. We will buy our bus tickets at the end of the tour.

Drive quite a while. Arrive to camel tour place as we want to ride camels. Can choose various routes and durations, prices differ accordingly. Bargain a little.
700 EGP700 EGP

Someone comes in selling headdresses, I bite. I’m thinking of the photos and also the sun. Jamie would rather not. I pull the rookie mistake of asking the price for two in my attempts to barter.
50 EGP50 EGP each, and told off by Jamie.

Meet our guides and mount our camels.

Guide is funny and takes photos for us, we entrust him with our phones. He appears to pay off guards as we go along.

Abdul leaves us to relieve his friend who is suffering from heatstroke. We give him a tip, which we are later told by Mohamed to be too little.
50 EGP50 EGP

I get to ride the camel for real now, leading and using neck reining.

I need to buy more water.
20 EGP20 EGP for a small bottle, but we are near the pyramids.

Guides work for tips apparently, and don’t get paid by the camel owners. If you don’t tip enough, your positive experience will be tainted by the guilt they will make you feel, or their genuine disappointment.
360 EGP360 EGP tip for Mohamed. Plus some more to give to Abdul.

Pay for the tour on completion. Count out the 700 EGP700 EGP and then they say that is each.
700 EGP700 EGP each!

Back in air con car. It’s now noon.

Reluctantly visit a papyrus shop. We tell our driver we just want to visit the pyramids. True to our word we don’t buy a thing. Demonstration on papyrus is interesting enough.

Back on the road. Get the driver to stop for water.
5 EGP5 EGP for 1.5 litre.

Visit Dahshur, a pyramid you can climb down inside.
60 EGP60 EGP each. Plus 5 EGP5 EGP for the car. Didn’t make a fuss over 5 EGP5 EGP.

Hungry and pressed for time, the driver suggests Koshari which he says we can eat in the car. We stop at a roadside shop and the driver and I go in to buy.
Koshari with chicken.
12 EGP12 EGP each.
250ml can of 7up.
4 EGP4 EGP

Headdress serves well as a tablecloth.

14:15 stop at an ATM for more cash, as real low. Don’t manage to withdraw any cash.

We’re trying to make the Egyptian Museum before 4pm when the driver says it closes. Internet says otherwise. And we need money for the Museum. Mummy room costs extra.

Go to money exchange, change 400 USD400 USD to Egyptian Pounds. Decide we wouldn’t have enough time at the museum if we went.

Think we pay the driver, even though we’ve already payed this morning.

Walk to the bus terminal to make sure we have our bus sorted. Realise we need to take a numbered ticket and wait our turn. Book the later bus as don’t want to arrive too early in the morning.
225 EGP225 EGP deluxe bus, with air con and a toilet. Cairo to Dahab.

Grab a couple beers from a small bottle shop.
37 EGP37 EGP big 750ml bottles.

Chill at the Hostel. Ring a dive company using the luck method, book diving for tomorrow and accommodation too. Big Blue Dahab. They will also pick us up from the bus stop.

Water from the hostel. 1.5 litre.
6 EGP6 EGP

Some other travellers are thinking about going to a sunset viewpoint in Cairo. But it’s a bit late to get there in time.

Take a shower. Then go for a walk in the dark by myself to get more Koshari.
15 EGP15 EGP each.

Pass lots of shisha on the streets.

Medium packet of chips from a small shop.
5 EGP5 EGP

Another bottle of beer for Jamie.
17.5 EGP17.5 EGP pay 17 EGP17 EGP.

Back to the hostel. Eat. Chill. Nap. Charge. Shower. Sleep. Shower.

Another big water. 1.5 litre.
6 EGP6 EGP

Walk to bus station. Cross the road Terminator style.

Wait for the bus. Ask people which bus, but just have to wait and trust the system. People trying to sell us stuff. Try to avoid eye contact and talking to anyone.

Get on the bus. Only have a small backpack, but they want me to stick it below. Simply hope for the best. Hopefully no stops or more passengers as then can sleep better.

Few more stops and more passengers do get on.

Turns into a 12 hour bus ride, with many checkpoints. Check- for any strange bags twice and passport checked 4 times.

Total spent: 1831 EGP1831 EGP