This transfer to Alexandria went off without a problem. At 11:00 the driver came and we loaded up. As we approached the van there was a mob of luggage grabber, I tried unsuccessfully to dodge them as they all wanted to wheel out our luggage. The ride was a long 3 hours. Our driver slowed down inexplicable several times on the wide open highway. Sometimes it seemed that he was worried about the folks walking across the highway. Sometimes it seemed like there may be a speed trap but we never saw police. But he certainly sped up when we reached the chaos of Alexandria. Maybe that was his home turf so he just could not resist zigging, zagging, taking up two lanes and non stop honking. We tried to check in to the hotel online and found out that we had been "upgraded." This is not the first time we have been upgraded into a room that we did not want and ended up refusing. Only this time they did not have the room we booked in the first place. There are only two floors out of 10 that are non-smoking and these rooms were now a premium. So we agreed to a rollaway to go with the king bed in a non-smoking room with the promise that we would move the next day. Happy New Years! The hotel was fully booked and executive lounge was serving up a feast. We had a great dinner and some drinks and than headed back upstairs. We were tired and did not intend to last to midnight. Listening to the non-stop honking of horns was our way of ringing in the new year.
Leaving Cairo, notice the blue and white guard shack bottom right
Many beautifully decorated walls
Opulent gates everywhere
Classic scenes of battle
Four wheeled motorcycles
Bridge over the River Nile
Breadbasket of Egypt
A mobile guard shack, ready to guard anywhere
Palm trees!
This is a serious toll booth
Mosques and overloaded vehicles everywhere
Wild Horses
A home for the pigeons
Doughnuts? Michelin Man?
Triple your pigeons
Sadat city sign
Rain off in the distance
Lots of oranges
No adherence to safety rules
The bananas on the bottom will not be good
Just sitting on a chair in the back of the truck
Here comes the rain
Tonka vans
Watch out!
Lone boatman
Egyptian traffic lanes are ignored
Classic old building
I would guess it is a good old fashioned termite tenting
An abandoned old mansion on a large parcel of land
Helpful arrow to show the direction that Mecca can be found
Not much room for any more cars to the south
To the west either
We booked a non-smoking room with two beds. We got "upgraded" to a smoking room with a king bed!!! Grrrr. We had to make due with a roll away for one night but at least it is non-smoking
Blue on blue
So much Christmas stuff all around
Different hours for ladies and for men
High rises as far as the eye can see
There are shoreline erosion issues, these huge concrete tacks should help
Classic old pictures in the hotel
Fez and medals
A tiny park just down the street
Two cats waiting for a fresh fish dinner
The sun setting behind some storm clouds
Draw two hearts in the sand and then stomp one out
Our first night in Alexandria
Some rain for the New Year
