Three Flights in One Day!

Our time in Egypt has come to an end. While we are sad to leave, we are also ready for our next adventure: Dubai!

We would recommend visiting Egypt to anyone reading this. While there are many areas that are very poor, there are also many areas that are amazingly beautiful and rich in history. The people of Egypt were scary to us at first (especially Erin), simply because they were extremely pushy about pushing us to buy goods or services. Once we stopped making eye contact and learned how to say, “no thank you” in Arabic, we had a much easier time avoiding aggressive Egyptian vendors. By the end of our trip we didn't really feel as threatened by them as we did initially, and we were quite comfortable walking around together in the cities, even at night.

We only saw ONE store in Egypt that actually had prices marked. Everywhere else we went we had to negotiate a price for things. Usually the vendor would tell you a price, and then you suggested a lower price, and this went on until you meet somewhere in the middle. Being an American tourist was a considerable disadvantage when it came to buying things because we were not used to this type of activity, and people liked to try take advantage of us. There were many places that tried to charge us the "tourist" price for for bottled water or soda - or would just straight-out overcharge us.

If we couldn't get the price we wanted, we just walked away. For this reason, you really have to be willing to not purchase the product and keep looking, even though you may want it. This type of bargaining was really uncomfortable for Erin because she didn't like the way it felt when people were pushy about absurd prices and didn't want to come down. James, and many of the other tour group members, felt pretty comfortable with it and actually got pretty good at it by the end of the trip.

Egypt was the first country in which we experienced difficulties using our credit card. In fact, we couldn't use it anywhere – all of the vendor stands, and restaurants we visited only accepted cash (Egyptian Pounds). This is just an example of how behind the times things are in parts of Egypt. This was frustrating for us because both times we used the ATM to withdraw money, we were charged an additional fee for converting currencies. On our way out of the Cairo International Airport, we tried to use our credit card at McDonalds and we even had difficulties there. (One would think that an International Airport would have a way to accept multiple currencies).

In Egypt the food was very heavy in carbohydrates. Each meal had plenty of bread (oftentimes hot-dog type buns for breakfasts, and pita-type bread for lunch or dinner). We were warned that the water could make us sick in certain parts of Egypt – this made trying to eat fruits and vegetables a problem because many of them are washed in the water. We were able to have some fruits and vegetables when they were cooked in dishes, and at some of the restaurants we felt the foods were safe for tourists. We ate a lot of rice and bread while in Egypt. This made it pretty exciting for us anytime we got to eat chicken or beef.

We exited Egypt today en route for Dubai and it was another day dedicated solely to travel. We met up with our tour group at 5:30am and headed to the airport in Luxor, where we boarded a flight on Egypt Air to Cairo. Once we arrived at the Cairo airport we waited a very long time for our checked luggage with the rest of our tour group before saying goodbye. It was a bit sad to leave everyone because after the time we spent together we had created a bond. We exchanged e-mails and promised to keep in touch and all parted ways.

Our next flight left from the Cairo Airport, so we were pretty lucky that our tour ended at the airport. We didn't have to worry about taking a taxi or paying any additional money for transportation. We did have to change terminals – which meant we had to leave Terminal 3 via the big blue bus and head to Terminal 1. Once we entered Terminal 1, we tried to go through the 1^st round of security (there are 2), but were told that we had to wait 30 more minutes because the Gulf Air desk wasn't open yet. So, we waited, and waited, and waited. Nearly an hour later, the desk had finally opened and we were able to go through to get our tickets.

We did see the Delta Airlines and Air France KLM desks, and stopped in to see if we could use the lounge (because James has “Diamond Elite” Status on Delta due to all of his work travel this past year). The attendant told us, that yes, we should be able to use the lounge without a problem. We were both pretty excited because airport lounges are usually very nice (sometimes with free food, drinks, showers, wifi, television, etc...). However, our spirits were quickly dampened when we attempted to enter the lounge and told that the Skyteam Elite lounge wasn't available for us right now. James tried to show the desk attendant the sign that clearly said it was, but the person was adamant about not allowing us access. We were both disappointed by this, but realized we had little control over the situation and decided to head to Starbucks or McDonalds where we could purchase some food and try to find wifi.

We ended up at McDonalds, where we had difficulties with the credit card (as mentioned above). James was really hungry and frustrated by the situation, but we were able to resolve it and get our food. We both felt better after refueling and we were also able to use the internet for a bit – which was great. We've had a hard time getting consistent internet connections in both Italy and Egypt. It was nice to finally have a solid connection. We sat at McDonalds until our flight to Dubai was ready to board.

The McDonald's in the Cairo airport where we ate before boarding our plane.

James had a McArabia for lunch - which was actually quite good.

As we headed through the 3^rd round of security at the gate before boarding, we began to notice that we were the only Caucasian people in the gate. This was both exciting and scary. It made us feel like we were finally traveling to places that were a bit more exotic, but it also made us feel more vulnerable. Our flight from Cairo to Bahrain was about 3 hours and was uneventful. We were served a nice meal during the flight, which is always a nice surprise.

Cabbage, rice pudding, cheese, chicken with rice, and a roll.  Not bad for a late lunch.

We entered the Bahrain airport pretty easily. We had to go through security and then we were able to head directly to the gate for our next flight. The airport was full of shops and had more American products than we had seen in a while, so it was fun to look around. Erin enjoyed looking at the American beauty products and fantasized about using some of her favorite products instead of random brand travel-size items she has been using. James enjoyed looking at some of the Duty Free shops where they had everything, from Kit Kat chocolate, soccer jerseys, computers and phones to very high-end expensive sunglasses and perfumes.

We boarded our flight to Dubai without any problems. The plane was very large (Airbus 330), and even though the flight was only about an hour and a half, we still received a small meal! (We are beginning to realize how stingy the US Airlines are when compared to those across the globe). We lost 2 more hours in our trip to Dubai, so we are now 9 hours ahead of friends and family back home.

A chicken sandwich, crackers, lemon drink, and a generic Kit Kat.

We were very lucky in that we did not have to obtain a visa at the airport in Dubai.  The USA is one of 33 "privileged countries" that Dubai allows 30 days of travel within the country without a required visa.  We got our passports stamped and made our way through customs.  James has a friend from graduate school who lives in Dubai, and he agreed to pick us up from the airport.  James's friend, Luis, and his wife Eunice were kind enough to wait for us even though our flight was delayed. By the time we met up with Luis and Eunice, it was nearly 11:30pm Dubai time.  However, because James hadn't seen Luis in such a long time, we all decided to go out for a drink.  We went to the Fairmont Hotel lounge and enjoyed a lot of conversations about travel, babies (as Luis and his wife are currently expecting!), and work.  Around 2:30am, we finally made it into the hotel and were exausted.  We were in bed withing about 15 minutes of checking in.

Eunice, Luis, and James in Bar Juman, Dubai.