We slept in for the first time in about 10 days. In fact, we did not get out of bed until around noon. We did not have any concrete plans. We had told Ahmed that we would give him a call so that he could take us whereever we were going, and he had also promised to try to find some coins for my mom. When we did call we found out that he was working the 7:00 p.m to 7:00 a.m. shift. Oh well.

So we eventually decided that mom and I would get a driver and go to the zoo so that mom could feed the hippos. Then we would go to the perfume factory from the first day, and then a little shopping at the Bazaar if we had time. While we were out, Anne and Becca planned to hang out and sleep, read, write postcards, etc. Before heading out, Becca and I went to the Garden Room to try out this pizza that mom and Anne had liked so much. We actually got reasonably quick service and the pizza was fine . . . Becca really liked it.

At 2:30 mom and I met up at the lobby and got our driver. Unfortunately, we somehow failed to get the driver to understand exactly what we were trying to accomplish. We made it to the zoo OK, but our driver felt obliged to show us stuff and explain things that, having already spent 3-4 days in Cairo, we already knew or had seen. We made it to the hippo pen and I took a couple of pictures of mom feeding the hippos. From there it went downhill. We gave the driver the address of the perfume factory, but apparently it only listed the road, which was a long one. He seemed to think that we just wanted to sight-see along this road, which bordered a large cemetery and lots of mosques. It took us a while to figure out that we had not made clear that we just wanted to go to this shop and not get yet another tour of Cairo. It was at this point that we got out of him that the address we had given was not complete and that he had no idea what shop we were talking about.

We eventually just came back to the hotel, arriving at about 4:45. I had wanted to take some pictures of the sun going down over the pyramids -- sunset is around 5:00. However, the pyramid complex closes at 4:00 p.m. and I couldn't figure out any way to get someplace that would afford me a view of the setting sun. So I went back to the room and wrote out a couple of dozen postcards.

Becca and I went back to the Garden Room for another dinner pizza at around 7:00. We stopped in the lobby to see if Ahmed was at work yet, but he was not around. Then we headed up to see the rest of the hotel. The casino was a single room and was empty of patrons. There were some cool pictures on the walls, and I suspect that the rooms in the Old Wing were much nicer than ours. Probably cost about as much as our entire trip, too. We headed back down and Becca picked up a couple of little gifts for the kids and some stuff for her friends at work.

I finished writing postcards and did a little packing and then headed back to the lobby to mail the last of my postcards. I ran into Ahmed and he took me to a perfume place he knew . . . and got a commission from. I had a long chat with the owner, who was a big fan of Americans . . . especially tourists! We got back to the hotel and he gave me the peastra notes and coin that he had found for mom. I headed back to the room. I think Becca took it pretty well that I said I was just going to mail some postcards and I came back a little over an hour later smelling like perfume!

< Previous | Next >