Egypt is full of contrast. Egypt is the beauty and is the beast. Egypt is the rich and is the poor. Egypt is a full contradiction in which past and present coexist and unfortunately, contradict each other. Egypt is the most magnificent, and the most harsh. I guess it couldn’t have it all.
Our adventure started lading at Cairo International Airport and unfortunately, it was not pleasant as we stepped out of the plane. It was around 5: 30 am. We had what we thought was a long layover -3 hours- as we were heading directly to Luxor. Turns out, we almost missed our flight.
What happened is that an immigration officer -without uniform or any credential- stopped us just after they stamped our passports. Without knowing the language he asked to see just my passport (note: I was travelling with my Colombian ID) and then started making calls. After a few minutes, he handed me the phone and the person on the other side started asking me all types of questions in my native language. The interrogation stopped as soon as he knew that I lived and worked in the USA. Then, I was officially welcomed.
Next, was just finding the shuttle to take us to the Terminal that we needed. Easy right? We approached an information desk inside the airport and we were told to take a free shuttle just outside the door. As soon as we stepped out, the harassment began. Taxis, buses, vans, etc. wanted us to pay them to be taken to the other Terminal. They started saying that the shuttle stopped elsewhere, that is was too early, etc. After 30 minutes waiting, we starting to wonder.
Without internet connection and everybody wanting your money is hard to think straight. We started walking around and then saw an Air Train that was going by. We tried to ask people from businesses and restaurants at the airport and they assured us that it was not going to be in service until later.
With time running against us, we decided to follow our intuition. Walked the right and the wrong way until we got to another Terminal, where I asked again for the Air Train. Turns out it the Air Train stop was in the second floor. Yay me!
The surprise came going into the other Terminal. There was an eternal line for security and we still had to check into the airline. Nothing was short or fast. I tried to make one line, while my husband checked in. But that didn’t end well. The airline agent demanded my physical presence. Lost my place (everyone was not in a good mood as the line was long and the place was crowded) and we kept loosing precious time.
Finally, we checked in and went again into the security line. It seemed like it got to split into two lines, so we picked the one on the left. It took forever, but just when we were about to reach the security screening machines, what I assume was an airport officer (with no uniform) started screaming that ladies had to be in the line to the left and the guys had to be in the line at the right. Of course, people wouldn’t let the girls just go into the right line as they were there before. I couldn’t afford to loose more time, so I found my way in. Dearly noted: in Egypt women and men are always in different lines and apparently travel apart even in the metro system.
Made it through the line. No time to spare. No eating, no bathroom at the gate. We went to another crowded space to wait for a bus that was going to take us to the plane. No fun, but everything was back to normal. I peed as soon as I got into the plane 🙂
Wookitu 