Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Day 3 Thursday, 27 October 2011 Cairo




We arrived early afternoon at Cairo Airport and after customs formalities were transported to our hotel in Giza, the Mena House Oberoi.

The trip from the airport was an experience as it was peak hour. No one driving in Cairo worries about lanes and traffic converges from all sides into whatever lane he or she thinks will be quicker. Most of the cars have some form of damage as it it just part of driving in Cairo. The roads are shared by modern cars including Mercedes, bikes (manual and petrol driven) horses and carts, donkeys and carts minibuses and pedestrians. Minibuses stop in the centre lane of three lane roads and the passengers take their life in their hands running to the curb. It is totally chaotic.

Everyone was fascinated with the passing scenes particularly when we saw our first glimpse of the The Nile as we passed over it.

Our hotel, the Mena House Oberoi, is very large and luxurious and is located next to the Giza pyramids. Most rooms have a wonderful view of the pyramids from the balcony. I was blown away to be able to sit on the balcony and take photos of them.