at CAI at 810pm. And during the flight the cabin attendant never
came to serve drinks to us.
Even domestic flights serve at least one drink... This is an
international flight! Won't they even sell a glass of water to their
customers? And when I went to the back of the plane to use the lavatory,
I found a group of cabin attendants resting and a cart full of beverages
and meals.
I asked the attendants, "When are you going to start flight service?
Do we need to special order anything? Or can I buy it here?"
An attendant answered responded, "Because of Ramadan we are not
showing any food or drinks to passengers. If you want something
I can give it to you now."
...After the sun went down...People started eating...
This was a total culture shock for us. Islamic people, during Ramadan,
do not eat any food or drink while the sun is up... not even one drop
of water!
Finally, We arrived at CAI at 810pm.
It always takes extra time after international flights in some countries...
after a long wait in the immigration line my turn finally comes.
The officer tells me, “You must go and purchase a visa.” I then had to
wait in another long line - we didn't know that we had to wait in line for
a “visa on arrival.” And when we finally arrived at the Sheraton Cairo
Hotel it was midnight.
After checking into the Five Star hotel, we immediately visited the
“Limousine Service Desk.” We then asked the attendant that, “We would
like to go somewhere where we can take picture with the pyramids in the
background.” They then told us it would cost 270 Egyptian pounds
(about 54 USD). That is about the average weekly income of people in the area.
It costed much more than a taxi on the street but we were willing pay extra
for using a hotel car for the extra security... a Mitsubishi Lancer pulled up
and Brad and I left for the pyramid tour around 1230am.
Although it was midnight the city of Cairo was full of life as if it was broad
daylight. Even small children were playing outside. The bright fluorescent
lighting created an unusual atmosphere in the darkness of the night.
This strange spectacle continued for a while after coming out of the hotel.
After about 45 minute the car stopped at a place in what looked like a
strange village. One man who looked about 30 years old came by the
car and the chauffeur went out to see the friend. They made us come out
of the car - we didn't want to come out but the chauffer was already out.
We had no choice but to come out of the car. The chauffer did not speak
English at all....
The other man spoke in English and told us “I am a friend of this chauffer
for many years” Soon after, 3 young men with horses came. They seemed
to be hill bandits." The man then told us "the only way to see the pyramids
is by horse or camel" We were then forced to get on the horses.
(Continue)
