My Egypt Trip -I

There is so much to say, but so few ways to express it. That’s what sums up my recent Egypt trip. I have never written a travelogue before. The best attempt was a narrative of my experiences in India in the early part of this year. I will try, nevertheless, to present a vivid and honest description of each and every thing I encountered and experienced during my short trip to Egypt.

It all started during my pan-India trip, mentioned earlier, when I felt that distinct joy and joviality, and the related travails associated with a travel. I experienced India and her people as never before. Then and there itself, I had decided to undertake several more journeys of the ilk, time and money permitting.

Coming back to Cyprus, I was able to coax one of my friends, Saurabh, to undertake a journey to the mystical land of Egypt during mid-March. Egypt had always fascinated me by its uniqueness and universal appeal. Moreover, it is only an hour flight distant from Cyprus. So, it was the apt destination as a starting point for my travel plans.

After much deliberation, we decided on 13^th-17^th March as our trip duration, and booked DeCastro Tours as our tour agent in Egypt. We had to arrange for visa and the to-and-fro flight tickets between Cyprus and Egypt. The rest of our arrangement, viz. taxi, hotel, food, guide etc., in Egypt was taken care of by them.

It was all arranged perfectly by and for us. Unfortunately, as the D-day got nearer, I developed an unwanted fit of restlessness due to the boredom set in my mundane office and personal lives. In the week, running up to Thursday, 13^th March, I including Saurabh got heaps of work suddenly. So, it wasn’t an expected run up to the journey date. Finishing or better said, managing, our assignments somehow on Thursday, we left for the airport after lunch. It was really a much deserved break for us.

Our flight operator was Egypt Air and without much ado at the airport, we were through the travel formalities and soon inside the carrier, which took off sharply at 04:00 pm. On that day, I, for the first time, got some time to reflect upon the impending travel. And it invariably wandered off to the fear of the unknown. I shouldn’t say fear but thoughts of doubt about going to an unknown land, populated by the much-derided Muslims. We didn’t know anybody there, save our travel company communicated through e-mails. But again it all imparted that same travel-induced sense of excitement. And I decided to soak in all which would come my way thence forth.

Our flight landed at the Cairo airport at its right time of 05:20 pm, and we went out excitedly to meet the land of mysticism. Our first encounter wasn’t a very exciting one though, as there was a veritable bedlam at the airport. We could spot our Travel Representative, holding Saurabh’s name in his company’s placard, in the crowd, and had to really keep up with him all the time for fear of losing him out in the mess, which we admittedly did once (grin). He placed us in the serpentine and long queue for Immigration Check. Ever wondering this shabby arrangement, we came to know about the computer network failure which had occurred just before our arrival. Certainly not an auspicious start! After going through the long procedure of then manually-done passport check, we exchanged some US Dollars for Egyptian Pounds, and were finally outside the airport. A different well-attired gentleman greeted us outside, and we were off with him to our hotel.

Cairo looked to me like New York! Even better. Exaggerated, but I certainly didn’t feel that way then, because it came unexpected to me. It was so marvelously developed in its infrastructure that it belied my image of Egypt being a third-world country. Night life added a distinct glamour to it. Traffic was huge, but certainly better managed than in a similar city in India. Cairo’s views that night will certainly remain with me for a long time.

The gentleman, Mr. Michael, with us in the car then broke my daze. He asked where we came from; the answer of which, I suspect, he knew. When we answered India in chorus, he blithely said about his fascination with Indian movies and Amitabh Bachchan in particular. We were both surprised and pleased to know about his Indian association.

We reached ‘Santana Hotel’ located somewhat in the interiors of the city. There the tour company manager, Mr. Soliman, was waiting for us. We finalized our itinerary, and then we paid and signed the formal paper of agreement. He, sadly but expectedly, told us about the cancellation of our plan of Nile Cruise accompanying Dinner and Belly Dance that night, owing to the delay caused at the airport. But he suggested where we could go out nearby for dinner and recreation. He finally asked us to be ready by 09:00 am in the morning the next day, when our tour guide, Miss Neevin, would meet us and show Cairo the whole day.

We were slightly disappointed with the Hotel, as it didn’t look like a 4-star hotel promised to us. But we were prepared for it, as we knew beforehand that we, as tourists, would be the prime target of some leeching. We strolled out to the nearby shops, and to my no-surprise then, even at 11:00 pm, the life was buzzing. We went to KFC to buy some food, and it was really heartening to see that particular branch being run by the disabled people; something novel for us.

We came back to our hotel and had our meal. Bracing ourselves for the wonderful would-be tour the next day, we went to sleep. The parting shot before our retiring to bed was, “Let’s hope our tour guide tomorrow is as exciting and beautiful as this place.” We were soon to find out.

To be continued …….