FLIGHT. We arrive in London/Heathrow at 7:50 am on 5/16/2011. I had written down the directions for flight connections. Security. Terminal/Airline desk. Departure gate. Now we are with Egypt Air. Our flight is Egypt Air#9231 from London to Cairo. We depart London at 9:15 am and are supposed to arrive in Cairo at 4:20 pm.
CAIRO. We arrive in Cairo a bit early at 4:10 pm. We collect our luggage which made it through thank goodness. Customs, immigration. Fine. I don't remember if I used my debit card to get Egyptian currency which is the Egyptian pound or LE. I'm almost positive I did. Currently $1.00 USD=5.75 LE. We get our visas $15.00 USD per person. We are 7 hours ahead of east coast time. We see a sign with our name. This is our meet and greet with transfer to our hotel in Cairo. He is not the guide we will have for our trip. Fairid has a lovely bouquet of flowers for me. What a nice welcome. Traffic is heavy and it takes us about an hour or so to get to our hotel.
MENA HOUSE OBEROI. Our hotel in Cairo will be for 3 nights-from 5/16-5/19/2011. This property is very close to the Giza Pyramids. Check in very smooth, friendly. This property has several swimming pools open from 8:00 am-sunset, a fitness center open 6:00 am-9:00 pm, a spa with 6 therapy rooms, a 9 hole golf course. Several restaurants. Breakfast is included with our stay and is at Khan el Khalili Cafe located in this main building. The Moghul Room located in this main building also is well known for its gourmet Indian food. I buy a few rolls of Egyptian 1 LE coins.
We are in room #230 which is located in the Mena Garden building away from the reception building. We are taken there via golf cart. It's a bit of a distance to walk but we are told we can call for a golf cart to collect us for breakfast, etc. Our room is very nice-just like the picture in the brochure-and has the pyramid view I had requested. The beds are a good size-full I think. It has a sit-in area consisting of a small couch and a table with 2 chairs. On the table is some fruit and other snacks. The bathroom has a tub/shower combo. The balcony has a small table and 2 chairs. I had also read that this property has a few extraordinary rooms-Churchill and Montgomery suites. Maybe I'll ask to see them. Out of our price range!
We are so tired. Too tired to get ourselves to the restaurant for dinner. We make do with the fruit and snacks. Tomorrow we have a pick up of 9:00 am for an excursion to Sakkara, Dashour, and Memphis so an early night to get some rest is in order for us now. Originally our pick up time was supposed to be 7:30 am but I'm glad it's later because we are exhausted from all our flights, amount of time to get here.....
 |
| Our flight is #9231 to Cairo |
 |
CAIRO. We arrive in Cairo a bit early at 4:10 pm. We collect our luggage which made it through thank goodness. Customs, immigration. Fine. I don't remember if I used my debit card to get Egyptian currency which is the Egyptian pound or LE. I'm almost positive I did. Currently $1.00 USD=5.75 LE. We get our visas $15.00 USD per person. We are 7 hours ahead of east coast time. We see a sign with our name. This is our meet and greet with transfer to our hotel in Cairo. He is not the guide we will have for our trip. Fairid has a lovely bouquet of flowers for me. What a nice welcome. Traffic is heavy and it takes us about an hour or so to get to our hotel.
 |
| My welcome to Egypt flowers |
 |
| Driving from the airport to our hotel |
 |
| Lots of traffic |
 |
| Funny! |
 |
| Egyptian money and stamps |
 |
| Hotel brochure |
 |
 |
 |
| Beautiful furniture |
 |
| Churchill and Montgomery suites have terraces overlooking the Pyramids |
 |
| Elegance |
 |
| Lavish interiors with rich fabrics and hand knotted carpets |
 |
| Views from a room circa 1920 and 1930 |
 |
 |
| Khan el Khalili restaurant |
 |
| Moghul Room on the left and Al Rubayyat restaurant on the right |
 |
| Swimming pool and 9 hole golf course |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Bathroom |
 |
 |
| Balcony |
 |
| View from our room |
We are so tired. Too tired to get ourselves to the restaurant for dinner. We make do with the fruit and snacks. Tomorrow we have a pick up of 9:00 am for an excursion to Sakkara, Dashour, and Memphis so an early night to get some rest is in order for us now. Originally our pick up time was supposed to be 7:30 am but I'm glad it's later because we are exhausted from all our flights, amount of time to get here.....
No comments:
Post a Comment