Egypt > Arrival in Cairo

At quarter to five in the afternoon, our holiday to Egypt begins with the drive to Schiphol Airport. First, I have to pick up Geert. He is still wrestling with his luggage, trying to fit everything into his bag. The sleeping bag, in particular, gives him quite a hard time packing it. At half past five, we check in with the lady holding the Shoestring sign at Schiphol. She has our tickets. We join the long line at the KLM counter to check in. Since many counters are open, the line moves along fairly quickly. At Schiphol, we have a cup of coffee and an ice cream — probably the last ice cream we’ll have for the next two weeks.

Egypt - Geert and Ronald on the plane to Cairo

Then we head to the plane. It’s always a long walk at Schiphol. On the plane, we sit together in two middle seats near the back. We have a good view of the video screen, but no view outside. The plane takes off on schedule, and our holiday has officially begun. The KLM peanuts, a beer, and a glass of wine complete the experience. During the terrible movie (The Cinderella Story), but you have to do something, we both make another round for drinks at the galley. While picking them up, the empty wine glass meets a tragic fate. The flight attendant drops it right on Geert’s hat, leaving a wine stain. She tries in vain to clean it, but the stain won’t come out. As an apology, Geert receives a KLM little house souvenir and is offered to have the hat steamed. Since the hat only cost two euros, he thanks her — much to the flight attendant’s relief. Around one o’clock Egyptian time, one hour ahead of the Netherlands, we land at Cairo Airport. In the hall, we get our visas and can legally enter Egypt. Already, we meet several fellow travelers in the middle of the night. Outside, we also meet our guide, Mohammed, who will be with us for the next two weeks. He is in his late twenties and greets us politely in a suit. We drive by bus to our hotel in downtown Cairo in just over half an hour. By now, it is around two o’clock, and it is still 22°C outside. Along the way, we get a beautiful night view of Cairo. At the hotel, we meet all the other travelers, receive a welcome drink, and finally get our room keys. Exhausted from the trip and the late hour, we go to our room and are in bed by three o’clock.