Post from Wednesday...

Wednesday……Amman - Cairo

Well…..we had to get up with the chickens…..errrrr, pigeons..…in order to have breakfast when the dining room opened. Actually…..we went in before it was time for it to open and ate then. Our guide…..he had told us he would pick us up to take us to the Queen Ali International Airport south of Amman about 15 miles……and even though he was a few minutes late because of morning traffice…..we arrived at the airport in plenty of time.

At the airport, the agent from the reciprocating tour agency in Amman met us and did very little……he was a regular wuss!! (sp??). Had nothing to say, was very timid, and he did so little that we didn’t even tip him……a BIG first for us on this trip. By 10:15 we had landed in Cairo. Along the flight path we flew over the Sinai peninsula and it was all desert….but, the most interesting thing was that we could see the Suez Canal from the air. In fact, I could even see some ships going along in the straight-bank channel.

Our own agent, Ahmed, met us and got us our new Egyptian visa which we had to have since when we flew to Amman, the visa we received upon arrival from NYC two weeks ago was canceled upon our departure. Soooo, he picked them up, put them in our passports, we gathered up our checked bags, and off we went through the Chaotic Cairo traffic…..again!! HAHAHA……honest to God, you cannot imagine the way that EVERYONE drives over here. It is an aggressive battle from the time they turn on the engine until they turn it off……..and as I said earlier, the lines on the streets to determine the lanes are simply used for decoration. There are soooooo damned many cars/trucks/buses/vans that there is just not enough space for all of them. THEN……..the people have no lights to cross the streets with so the just wander out into the streets and work their way across the streets………..haven’t seen a casualty yet, but a couple of times we thought might be the first ones!!! It is a challenge to make it successfully…….you simply step in front of an oncoming car and then see who gives up first in the Chaotic Cairo Chicken game!

After our check-in at the Ramses Hilton Hotel, on the Nile River, we just kicked back for about an hour…..and then decided to go the Souk……the Khan(and more Arabic names to this place)……which is the HUGE Bazaar/Market that we went to a couple of weeks ago. We took our first cab ride to get there………WOW…….more “just inches to spare” almost collisions, but we made it safely…..and it is FUN to do.

Then we wandered for almost three hours…….IT IS HUGE!!!!!!! We finally became exhausted with the constant urgings, pleadings, high-sales pitches of the shop owners. We bought a couple of things…….AFTER we had haggled for 15 minutes and then just turned and walked down the alleyway…..and after about 20 feet, the shop owner was with us lowering the prices!!!!! Yep…….guess we still paid too much because he agreed to our price there, away from his shop……and so he probably STILL got the better of us…..hahaha!!!

Then we headed our of the maze…..actually it is much worse than a maze. Don’t think there are any good, if any, maps of this Bazaar: clothing, souvenirs for us travelers, brass, copper, silver, gold, scarves, spices of all kinds and colors and aromas(I can still smell them now), coffee shops where almost everyone…including other foreigners….were sipping coffee or tea and smoking the sisha’s. They are the glass contraptions with the long “cord” from which you inhale the smoke which has also been filtered through smoking coals of different woods. Apple wood is the local favorite here….and it smells wonderful. Not being a smoker….EVER….I didn’t try it…thought I might choke to death at this ripening age of my sagging hulk.

Then arriving at the perimeter of the Souk, we sat down at a coffee house outside on the street/plaza and sipped coffee/tea while doing some people watching……and OMG…..WHAT people watching this is here!!!!!!! It is almost impossible to take it all in…….such sights, such sounds, such smells!!!!!!! And, of course….the usual “touts” who stop by the table to get you to buy their goods….or to take a picture of their poor little baby in their arms(for a price), etc., etc. Great fun……but it does make you weary. That is the real reason we left the Souk…….just toooooooo tiring fighting off the sales people in the hundreds of shops and stalls.

Catching a tax back to the hotel………and again, the drive of your/our Life!!!!! The traffic was worse and it took longer, however……..they do not have timers so you once again just have to haggle/barter on the price from the place that you start to the final destination. We had agreed on a price fairly quickly with this fellow……and it was about 40 minutes and we were at the barricaded entrance to our hotel. The dogs sniffed the car, they looked inside, and then we were allowed to enter through the barricades. Entering the hotel…..EACH TIME…..you must go through the x-ray security machines, have your bags/packages/purse checked, etc., etc.

We were neither one of us hungry, but…….inside our room was a small chocolate cake, on a very contemporary plate with chocolate sauce on the plate, two forks and a serving plate from the manager. Now…….sounds great, doesn’t it, BUT…..it said “Happy Wedding” on the cake….HAHAHAHA. Someone had delivered it to the wrong room. We held off from trying it for awhile, but then we gave it a taste and it wasn’t tooo bad.

We went through our bags……for security purposes on the flight tomorrow….and then re-packed them for our early pick-up by Ahmed tomorrow.

A GREAT day again……..a fun-filled three hours or so in the Souk……and even though we are tired……

LIFE IS SOOOOOO GREAT……And I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!