Sunday 15th April
All went to plan getting to the airport and arrived at checkin 2 hours before the flight as expected. Had a slight concern when the Egyptian clerk didn't seem able to check me in. After frantically pressing lots of buttons, muttering to himself, he called the supervisor over who pushed a couple of buttons and printed out my boarding card.... phew panic over !
The flight was good and was only 10 minutes late taking off. I was nervous about the arrival process but once in the Air they issues the entry card and customs card to fill out. My Marriott "meet and greet" was immediately visible in the arrivals hall once I stepped off the bus and proceeded to very quickly and efficiently buy my entry visa, get the passport stamped and through to the baggage collection. The bags from my flight were already on the belt but had to wait ages for my bag but it did come eventually. He then escorted me to the Mercedes taxi which took me to the hotel.
The first taste of Cairo driving was very interesting. It was very reminiscent of my racing days and the white lines in the road seem to be used only as a suggestion. Despite there being only three lanes, as there was physically enough room for 4 cars... the Egyptians will be very efficient and create 4 lanes of traffic ! All you have to do is took the horn as you whiz by slower traffic and it seems to ensure everyone avoids each other. You can overtake on any part of the road and dodging in and out of the lanes is essential for best progress. All this at around 120 kph (80 mph)
What I saw of the hotel was very nice, but went straight to the room to unpack and sleep.
Monday 16th
The team manager (Sharif) picked me up from the hotel in his new BMW 320i The state of the majority of the cars and driving style would have discouraged me from owning a nice car, but he was certainly a capable driver and enjoyed his driving.
The offices were on a newly built industrial estate and had shopping mall nearby were we went for lunch. The normal American chains for eating and drinking were there, alongside the Egyptian local brands.
The class started OK and first days training was on schedule. In the evening Shariff drove me back and insisted to take me to dinner. The restaurant was "oriental" which in Egypt means Egytian food. He ordered a variety of appetisers to give me a chance to sample many different flavours. Some were nice and some were not to my taste, but was well prepared and nice ambiance to the restaurant. Didn't feel very hungry and was quite tired after the day so was probably not very good company and didn't eat much.
Tuesday 17th
Went outside the hotel to meet the taxi driver. The cars can only stop to let people in and out the cars briefly, so wasn't sure how it would work so went down 5 minutes early. Then saw the taxi driver walking around with my name on a card... apparently he thought we were to meet at 8am, but wasn't a problem.
In the office things started to unravel as some of the copying (estimated at 4 hours) had failed overnight. Switched the course around so started to talk about day 3 topics, then the power went for a few seconds and they had to restart the copying again ! Went out for another lunch "hour" (more like 2!) and struggled through the day but ended up getting some stuff done so had a chance to catch up tomorrow. Weatherwise there was a sandstorm, which apparently only happens two or three times a year, so there was some debate about where to go for lunch. We ended up in the local mall again as it was indoors.
The Egyptians seemed to expect to be taking me out each evening so seemed surprised when I said I would not go out tonight. I hope this was not taken as a huge insult ! but really wanted a relaxing evening and early night.
At the hotel I nearly didn't bother to even leave my room, but did decide to go downstairs to eat. Had a nice BBQ chicken meal in the American Diner restaurant in the hotel. It didn't come with anything, so was just Chicken but actually was enough for me as still not feeling hungry. Being quite early decided to go to the Casino in the Hotel. Ended up spending 100 USD on the Stud Poker (didn't get any good luck when I needed it rater than bad play) but had an enjoyable and relaxing hour.
Back in the room I utilised the in-room broadband to have an even more enjoyable and relaxing couple of games of Poker (and only lost 4 USD) :-)
Wednesday 18th
Managed to progress on the class during the day and went to lunch in the mall again. The Egyptians often have lunch at their desks, but seem to really enjoy the times they go out !
In the evening three of the lads on the course took me out into Egypt downtown. The plan was to meet at 7pm have a tour around and then eat at 8pm, unfortunately the traffic was worse than normal, probably due to everyone staying indoors the day before due to the sandstorm... It took an hour to get to the spot where we were meeting, and Ahmed was another hour later... so in the meantime we toured around some of the ancient mosques and shopping streets. It was interesting to see although it started to rain slightly. By the time we had finished the rain was more persistent so was getting soaked through, but luckily we could get back to the car to go to the restaurant. We went to a park, which is quite high so got some beautiful views of the city in lights. We first we to the restaurant by the lake, but this restaurant was open air and as it was still raining we went to another restaurant. I tried the Veal Kebab which was very nice. In the end we ate at 10pm but was back in my room by midnight
Thursday 19th
Despite warnings from my colleagues that the rain may mess up the roads (it only rains 3-4 times a year) the taxi picked me up at 8am and was in the office by 8:25am which was earlier than normal.... this in spite of the taxi having an accident just after leaving the hotel.... someone went into the back of us when we had stopped for traffic, I thought it would take ages to sort out, with lots of talking and police involved, but in the end it was a quick conflab then we went on our way. I was also taking photos during the journey and the Taxi driver kindly (but unnecessarily!) pulled over for me to take photos on the equivalent to their motorway. I took a couple of quick photos and thanked him, but didn't feel like taking any more photos in case he stopped again!
The day was bright and sunny so lunch was taken outside one of the cafes in the Mall. Apparnetly the weather is normally too hot to sit outside so was unusual to be able to take in the air this time of year.
In the evening we met up at a French/Italian restaurant owned by one of Sharif;s friends. I was also presented with some gifts from the colleagues I was training and from Sharif himself to thank me for going there and training them. It was most unexpected and generous of them, especially after all the time and trouble they had gone to ensure my stay was enjoyable and entertaining. The food was very nice and even managed some of the desert this time.
Sharif also took me to a local bar for a drink (not all restaurants serve alcohol) which was heaving, as it was the end of the week for most people. Got back at midnight again, but was already packed and ready to go.
Friday 20th
Woke up too early but dozed until the alarm went off. Was a bit nervous about facing the chaos of Eyptian Airports, but was heartened when my taxi turned up just as I walked out of the hotel (10 minutes early). The hotel concierge had suggested it would take 1 hour to get to the airport but the night before Sheriff said it would take 20 minutes. To my astonishment there was NO traffic at all and the streets were clear of people and cars - it was like a ghost town !! Sure enough ended up taking 20 mins so arrived at 8:40am There was a small shock when the taxi driver demanded 100 EGP to pay for the ticket to the terminal but luckily had Egyptian currency to hand.
Walking into the terminal building I faced the chaos. Correctly as it turned out, I assumed you had to take yourself and your luggage through a huge rugby scrum to get through one of the four gates the authorities had provided. You also had to put your luggage through the X-ray and show your passport and ticket to the single guard at each gate. Luckily (again!) they opened up gate 5 as I was queuing at gate 4 so got right to the front of the queue. Even so, it took me about 20 minutes to get to the queue for checking. Checkin was very quick and efficient once I had worked my way to the front. There were lots of desks (all flights from any desk) so it was puzzling why it took so long to process the people in front of me as it took about 30 minutes to process 8 or 9 people for my turn. The counter clerk had given me my "non Egyptian exit card" but I still had to fill in name and passport details, which I noticed caught out some people at the passport desk (the next queue) Again there were only about 10 people in front of me but still took about 20 minutes to get to the front of the queue... and again it took a very short time for the guard to look at my passport and stamp it. All in all it took just over an hour to traverse the chaos and enter the tranquility of the Duty Free zone. It takes about 15 minutes to walk all around the area. It has many good facilities for eating and drinking, not many shops but 2 WiFi zones ! This area seems very quiet and relaxed, with not many people around, so wonder where everyone has gone !
Just when you think nothing else can go wrong, there was one more surprise from Egytpair before I left. The gate for the flight was 2 on my ticket, but checking the main board it said gate 7. I checked with the desk and they said it was gate 2, so went along there. The gate said the flight was going to Paris, so went to gate 7 which said Heathrow so queued up there with some other Brits. We then got told it was Gate 2 after all, even though it said Paris... it wasn't until we got onto the Plane itself that I was really confident about where I would be landing.
Overall the experiance was very interesting and enjoyable. Cairo has many facets to explore and much to see. It would have been nice to have been there on holiday but having the local lads to show me around for the few hours available was definately a huge advantage. I would certainly be happy to go back there again if circumstances dictated, especially now have had the experiance of how to get through Cairo airport.
All went to plan getting to the airport and arrived at checkin 2 hours before the flight as expected. Had a slight concern when the Egyptian clerk didn't seem able to check me in. After frantically pressing lots of buttons, muttering to himself, he called the supervisor over who pushed a couple of buttons and printed out my boarding card.... phew panic over !
The flight was good and was only 10 minutes late taking off. I was nervous about the arrival process but once in the Air they issues the entry card and customs card to fill out. My Marriott "meet and greet" was immediately visible in the arrivals hall once I stepped off the bus and proceeded to very quickly and efficiently buy my entry visa, get the passport stamped and through to the baggage collection. The bags from my flight were already on the belt but had to wait ages for my bag but it did come eventually. He then escorted me to the Mercedes taxi which took me to the hotel.
The first taste of Cairo driving was very interesting. It was very reminiscent of my racing days and the white lines in the road seem to be used only as a suggestion. Despite there being only three lanes, as there was physically enough room for 4 cars... the Egyptians will be very efficient and create 4 lanes of traffic ! All you have to do is took the horn as you whiz by slower traffic and it seems to ensure everyone avoids each other. You can overtake on any part of the road and dodging in and out of the lanes is essential for best progress. All this at around 120 kph (80 mph)
What I saw of the hotel was very nice, but went straight to the room to unpack and sleep.
Monday 16th
The team manager (Sharif) picked me up from the hotel in his new BMW 320i The state of the majority of the cars and driving style would have discouraged me from owning a nice car, but he was certainly a capable driver and enjoyed his driving.
The offices were on a newly built industrial estate and had shopping mall nearby were we went for lunch. The normal American chains for eating and drinking were there, alongside the Egyptian local brands.
The class started OK and first days training was on schedule. In the evening Shariff drove me back and insisted to take me to dinner. The restaurant was "oriental" which in Egypt means Egytian food. He ordered a variety of appetisers to give me a chance to sample many different flavours. Some were nice and some were not to my taste, but was well prepared and nice ambiance to the restaurant. Didn't feel very hungry and was quite tired after the day so was probably not very good company and didn't eat much.
Tuesday 17th
Went outside the hotel to meet the taxi driver. The cars can only stop to let people in and out the cars briefly, so wasn't sure how it would work so went down 5 minutes early. Then saw the taxi driver walking around with my name on a card... apparently he thought we were to meet at 8am, but wasn't a problem.
In the office things started to unravel as some of the copying (estimated at 4 hours) had failed overnight. Switched the course around so started to talk about day 3 topics, then the power went for a few seconds and they had to restart the copying again ! Went out for another lunch "hour" (more like 2!) and struggled through the day but ended up getting some stuff done so had a chance to catch up tomorrow. Weatherwise there was a sandstorm, which apparently only happens two or three times a year, so there was some debate about where to go for lunch. We ended up in the local mall again as it was indoors.
The Egyptians seemed to expect to be taking me out each evening so seemed surprised when I said I would not go out tonight. I hope this was not taken as a huge insult ! but really wanted a relaxing evening and early night.
At the hotel I nearly didn't bother to even leave my room, but did decide to go downstairs to eat. Had a nice BBQ chicken meal in the American Diner restaurant in the hotel. It didn't come with anything, so was just Chicken but actually was enough for me as still not feeling hungry. Being quite early decided to go to the Casino in the Hotel. Ended up spending 100 USD on the Stud Poker (didn't get any good luck when I needed it rater than bad play) but had an enjoyable and relaxing hour.
Back in the room I utilised the in-room broadband to have an even more enjoyable and relaxing couple of games of Poker (and only lost 4 USD) :-)
Wednesday 18th
Managed to progress on the class during the day and went to lunch in the mall again. The Egyptians often have lunch at their desks, but seem to really enjoy the times they go out !
In the evening three of the lads on the course took me out into Egypt downtown. The plan was to meet at 7pm have a tour around and then eat at 8pm, unfortunately the traffic was worse than normal, probably due to everyone staying indoors the day before due to the sandstorm... It took an hour to get to the spot where we were meeting, and Ahmed was another hour later... so in the meantime we toured around some of the ancient mosques and shopping streets. It was interesting to see although it started to rain slightly. By the time we had finished the rain was more persistent so was getting soaked through, but luckily we could get back to the car to go to the restaurant. We went to a park, which is quite high so got some beautiful views of the city in lights. We first we to the restaurant by the lake, but this restaurant was open air and as it was still raining we went to another restaurant. I tried the Veal Kebab which was very nice. In the end we ate at 10pm but was back in my room by midnight
Thursday 19th
Despite warnings from my colleagues that the rain may mess up the roads (it only rains 3-4 times a year) the taxi picked me up at 8am and was in the office by 8:25am which was earlier than normal.... this in spite of the taxi having an accident just after leaving the hotel.... someone went into the back of us when we had stopped for traffic, I thought it would take ages to sort out, with lots of talking and police involved, but in the end it was a quick conflab then we went on our way. I was also taking photos during the journey and the Taxi driver kindly (but unnecessarily!) pulled over for me to take photos on the equivalent to their motorway. I took a couple of quick photos and thanked him, but didn't feel like taking any more photos in case he stopped again!
The day was bright and sunny so lunch was taken outside one of the cafes in the Mall. Apparnetly the weather is normally too hot to sit outside so was unusual to be able to take in the air this time of year.
In the evening we met up at a French/Italian restaurant owned by one of Sharif;s friends. I was also presented with some gifts from the colleagues I was training and from Sharif himself to thank me for going there and training them. It was most unexpected and generous of them, especially after all the time and trouble they had gone to ensure my stay was enjoyable and entertaining. The food was very nice and even managed some of the desert this time.
Sharif also took me to a local bar for a drink (not all restaurants serve alcohol) which was heaving, as it was the end of the week for most people. Got back at midnight again, but was already packed and ready to go.
Friday 20th
Woke up too early but dozed until the alarm went off. Was a bit nervous about facing the chaos of Eyptian Airports, but was heartened when my taxi turned up just as I walked out of the hotel (10 minutes early). The hotel concierge had suggested it would take 1 hour to get to the airport but the night before Sheriff said it would take 20 minutes. To my astonishment there was NO traffic at all and the streets were clear of people and cars - it was like a ghost town !! Sure enough ended up taking 20 mins so arrived at 8:40am There was a small shock when the taxi driver demanded 100 EGP to pay for the ticket to the terminal but luckily had Egyptian currency to hand.
Walking into the terminal building I faced the chaos. Correctly as it turned out, I assumed you had to take yourself and your luggage through a huge rugby scrum to get through one of the four gates the authorities had provided. You also had to put your luggage through the X-ray and show your passport and ticket to the single guard at each gate. Luckily (again!) they opened up gate 5 as I was queuing at gate 4 so got right to the front of the queue. Even so, it took me about 20 minutes to get to the queue for checking. Checkin was very quick and efficient once I had worked my way to the front. There were lots of desks (all flights from any desk) so it was puzzling why it took so long to process the people in front of me as it took about 30 minutes to process 8 or 9 people for my turn. The counter clerk had given me my "non Egyptian exit card" but I still had to fill in name and passport details, which I noticed caught out some people at the passport desk (the next queue) Again there were only about 10 people in front of me but still took about 20 minutes to get to the front of the queue... and again it took a very short time for the guard to look at my passport and stamp it. All in all it took just over an hour to traverse the chaos and enter the tranquility of the Duty Free zone. It takes about 15 minutes to walk all around the area. It has many good facilities for eating and drinking, not many shops but 2 WiFi zones ! This area seems very quiet and relaxed, with not many people around, so wonder where everyone has gone !
Just when you think nothing else can go wrong, there was one more surprise from Egytpair before I left. The gate for the flight was 2 on my ticket, but checking the main board it said gate 7. I checked with the desk and they said it was gate 2, so went along there. The gate said the flight was going to Paris, so went to gate 7 which said Heathrow so queued up there with some other Brits. We then got told it was Gate 2 after all, even though it said Paris... it wasn't until we got onto the Plane itself that I was really confident about where I would be landing.
Overall the experiance was very interesting and enjoyable. Cairo has many facets to explore and much to see. It would have been nice to have been there on holiday but having the local lads to show me around for the few hours available was definately a huge advantage. I would certainly be happy to go back there again if circumstances dictated, especially now have had the experiance of how to get through Cairo airport.
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