We got to the airport on time even though the driver said that they thought out trip was at 5 PM. I started texting a half hour before we were to leave so that saved the day. The plane ride was already eventful as the guy in 1A seemed a but squirrelly. He was talking loud, gesturing and he seemed off. We were landing and the flight attendants were already strapped in the jump seats when he gets up out of his seat and begins to rummage in his bags. They were yelling at him to get back down but they were not going to get out of their seats to make him. He took this opportunity to light up a cigarette and he was able to smoke half of it before we actually landed. At this point one of the attendants finally got up, grabbed his cigarette right out of his mouth and stubbed it out. She then called the burly male attendant who came over, took the guys passport and boarding pass and the last we saw of him was when security came to give him a private ride into the airport. We hired a full service van to the hotel. It came with a "fixer" who met us before the duty free and walked us through immigration, customs and baggage claim. He even had our tourist visas ready to put into our passports. Isaac was very friendly and gave us tips and advice for Egyptian travel. We had only a single night in the Intercontinental but as it turns out it is the same hotel that we will stay in three weeks hence. So as a bonus we were able to leave our big bags there for the entire time we will be tramping around Egypt. We got to the hotel and checked in. There is an adjacent mall that we decided to visit. They had their own door to the mall so we headed ove and got some steps in. Oh no, have we become mall walkers?
Ordinary sparrows in the airport, not the dead sea sparrows that I was hoping for
This is the yahoo who lit up a cigarette on the approach to landing
Welcome statue in the terminal
The Intercontinental Cairo has the whole ancient vibe going
Very tall ceilings
Some Pharaoh getting a tan
Oh Christmas Sphynx
A very odd mix of Pharaohs and Christmas
Tasty bits for all
A nice hair-do
Big tall walls
High fashion
The mannikins need to see the chiropractor
The multistory mall was very large
