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Night Location: Cairo, Egypt
Mummysode of the Day: Mum has been concerned about ingesting stagnant Nile water while showering and so has brought along some hospital grade medical tape to seal her mouth and thus avoid the stray droplet that might get in. Episode 1 of David's gasping laughter.
It's been a busy and long day! Gemma's had three job interviews, Mum and Amber have both been to school and David has been out to coffee. After Gemma frantically finished packing once arriving home from her last interview, we left Newcastle on our way to Sydney. Upon arrival we were greeted by Mum sitting on the front porch with one Merrel on and the other waiting for her attention. The four Katmandu backpacks (at somewhat less than capacity) were effortlessly loaded into the R36 boot, and Dad was instructed to drive to the airport and to not 'spare the horses!'
En route, Mum disclosed to us two 'Mummysode' gems:
The first was Mum's water-flavoring plan. Under fear of dehydration, Mum was instructed that she was going to have to drink plain water or bring some sort of flavouring with her to make the water more palatable. Thinking she was very clever, Mum brought along Benefibre (orange flavoured fibre supplement). We thought this was going to be very helpful when Mum gets Egyptian gastro.
The second, which evokes a much funnier image, we have used as our official Mummysode of the day.
Dad loitered outside the airport doors and waved forlornly as his 'whole family' left him to his own devices for 17 days. We boarded the Emirates A380 and Gemma was particularly impressed with the leg room. Thus began the 22 hour transit to Cairo. Special mention goes to the Dubai airport with it's magnificent architecture, clever use of light and space, and Haagen Dazs Belgian chocolate milkshakes.
Arriving in Cairo we were very relieved to see an 'On The Go' paddle waving in the air and as Mum said, we were drawn to him "Like bees to a honeypot." He whisked us here and there, getting our visas, our passports stamped and through the customs 'check'. It definitely pays to know people in Cairo.
Then came the anxious 25 minute wait for our bags where fortunately another Australian family from Melbourne made us feel better as they hadn't received any of their bags either! At last Amber's exceptional long-range vision spotted David's green Katmandu bag and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
We were ushered outside into the Egyptian sun and heat and into an air-conditioned van that seamlessly negotiated the somewhat manic traffic. Weekends start on Fridays here and therefore the traffic was supposedly quiet according to the tour guide. To us, we saw dusty vehicles of all sizes with bonnets up, dings in the side, mismatched wheels, usually full of people inside, (and some outside sitting in through the car window or in the back of a utility truck), all hooning as they dodged and weaved through the traffic narrowly avoiding the donkeys pulling carts loaded with vegetables and pedestrians that would either take a chance and cross the road or were trying to sell food, cigarettes or dusters.
In addition to the traffic we saw several huge mosques, a medieval castle, a military camp lodged high on the side of a cliff that was accessible only by a rampart, and the 'city of the dead' that is a dusty, single-storied expanse of crypts that now house 5000 homeless Egyptians. The highlight of the journey however was definitely seeing the familiar shape of the pyramids take form behind the urban sprawl. In our heads we had imagined the pyramids to be in a vast expanse of desert. In reality they are on the outskirts of the city.
Before entering Le Meridien Pyramids our van was inspected for possible bombs with a sniffer dog and mirror and then we went through airport style security to get into the lobby. Beds were a welcome sight as was the incredible swimming pool. True to the name of our hotel the pyramids form a spectacular backdrop. It is such a bizarre feeling to be floating in a modern pool and gazing up at 5000 year old pyramids.
Our 46 hour day was nicely concluded with Tex Mex that is located in our hotel. Hooray for vegetarian but we have all already broken the no salad rule. Fingers crossed!
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