cairo, egypt

January 2018

In January, we got staffed to Egypt for a few months. Our flight got cancelled and they lost our bags but after a few stressful hours we finally settled into the hotel in Cairo. Our work site was located in Alexandria, so we had a day to explore Cairo before we had to drive to site. The second time we came to Cairo we had the whole crew with us as well as some visitors from home.

When we first got to Cairo, we were recommended the Sequoia Restaurant near the embassy district. One of our colleagues is actually named Sequoia! The food here was very good and the shishas were well attended to. The restaurant is right on the Nile River so there’s a pretty view as well.

The second time we were in Cairo we ended up staying at the same hotel and Sequoia got upgraded to a suite that was probably bigger than my old 2bd/2bath apartment in Chicago. I think it’s worth mentioning that in her suite, the toilet lid will open automatically when you open the bathroom door. Amazing.

Actually speaking of toilets, Egypt had a lot of bidet toilets. I’ve never really used one before and when I have, I’ve only seen the digital push-a-button type. The Sheraton we stayed in had a bidet that was just a nozzle in the toilet bowl instead of the digital type.

Anyway, after finally arriving in the Cairo Sheraton (sleep deprived, lost baggage, low key stressed), I called Robert to let him know I got to the hotel safely. While I was walking around the hotel room, I peeked into the bathroom and noticed a nozzle in the toilet bowl. At the time I didn’t know that it was a bidet. I didn’t think much of it, but I did noticed a small valve handle near the base of the toilet. It wasn’t the lever to flush the toilet and didn’t know what it was. So while I was on the phone with Robert, I bent down over the toilet and turned it….

Aaannnd shot myself in the face with the bidet as Robert LAUGHED at me. (I did not end up getting pink eye)

We booked a tour of the pyramids through the Sheraton Concierge. When Robert came and Michael’s brothers came to Egypt, we opted to tour the tomb in the Great Pyramid of Khufu in the Pyramid tour package. It was a lot of stairs in a narrow short hallway. You kind of have to hunch over to fit. During some part of the climb to the tomb my phone fell out of my pocket. I panicked and Robert and I combed through the stairway a few times trying to find it, but by then the stairway was crowded with tourists and we didn’t see it. We figured somebody must have picked it up but there isn’t any cell service in the tomb so our tour guide called my phone until it starting ringing. The person who picked up only spoke Spanish and thankfully our guided did too, so he was able to arrange a meeting place and my phone was returned. #blessed. And it’s been working fine for the last year so it doesn’t seem like it picked up any curses or anything while it was in there haha.

While in Cairo, we also went to the Egyptian Museum. It’s deceivingly large, tons of artifacts to look at. When we were there we were told that the artifacts in the museum were going to be moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum that was finishing construction later that year. We looked at a lot of mummies, sarcophagi, and intricate gold jewelry from King Tut’s tomb.

We made repeat visits to the Khan Al Khalili market while we were in Cairo the second time. I picked up a few gifts here as well as some keepsakes for myself. There were a lot of nice cafes in the market, but two we frequented the most were El-Fishaway Cafe and Naguib Mahfouz Cafe. El-Fishaway is one of the oldest cafes in Cairo and it had a lot of eclectic decor and was partially outside. A very popular place, very crowded into the night. Naguib Mahfouz Cafe was a lot quieter comparatively and was more of a restaurant than a cafe. It had comfortable seating and good service. I tried their rose flavored shisha since I haven’t seen that offered anywhere else. It was alright, it smelled nice but kind of tasted like soap haha. The crew tried the Al Fakher tobacco here which they enjoyed.

One of the engineers at the refinery helped us arrange a Nile River Cruise when we visited Cairo the second time. It was a nice ride down the Nile with dinner and a show of different dancers.

On our way back to Alexandria, our car broke down about 2 hours outside of Cairo on a desert road with a driver who didn’t speak any english. A few motorists pulled over to have a look at the engine and try to help. The first few people who looked at it and couldn’t fix it so they left, but eventually one guy came along and got us going again. We were only stuck for like half an hour to 45 minutes, so it wasn’t so bad. I wasn’t dressed for the dessert cold though haha. It worked out in the end since Robert let me borrow some shirts he overpacked for the trip. 😂😂😂

until next time,

sc