February 26th - Luxor beckons!

We had a leisurely breakfast, having our last look at the pyramids before returning to Luxor this afternoon. Breakfast will not be quite the same at home!

We were being collected at 10am, so we went to pay our bills. What an experience! We were in adjoining rooms and the bills had been mixed up. It took twenty minutes to sort it all out. 

Was this a sign of things to come?

I had arranged that the driver would drop us off in Old Cairo for a short time, then let us see the Citadel, before taking us to the Khan el Khalili and leaving us for a while. Once finished, we would then go to the airport. 

Well, we drove past Old Cairo, with the driver just pointing it out! I only realised he wasn't stopping when the Citadel loomed into view. I asked the driver to stop here, unsure if he actually understood me. In the end I phoned our friend to explain it to him. The driver seemed to get extremely irritated. He said he could understand us, but clearly he couldn't or he would have stuck to the original plan. 

So we stopped at the Citadel for a short time, then, when we got back in the minibus, he took us all the way back to Old Coptic Cairo. We visited the Hanging Church. It was packed with people visiting, as today is a holy day, albeit for Muslims rather than for Christians. 

From here we went to the Khan el Khalili, which was even more packed with people!

This is the tea man, selling to people, then washing the cup, before then selling more 

tea to another person. 

After a while it became unpleasant, so we ducked down some side alleys to seek out the old buildings and non tourist shops and stalls. 

Chickens!

This area was far more interesting than the main tourist area, but it was very overpowering, so we made our way back to where we had arranged to be collected. We were early, but for some reason he was already there, despite telling us he wasn't allowed to wait for us. I never figured that out.  

We were glad to get in the bus and so made our way to the airport. On arriving we thanked him and gave him a tip. Unfortunately he felt the amount wasn't sufficient and became very cross with us. I won't go into detail, but he seemed to think he had been some sort of a tour guide, which he most certainly had not been! He was threatening to call our friend to complain and this annoyed us even more. In the end, my companion gave him more money but then he tried to take the original amount as well! 

We were very unhappy with his attitude and behaviour and this rather spoilt the end of our trip to Cairo. 

This is what comes of me not organising something myself, I won't do it again! We can't wait to get back to Luxor!

We landed at Luxor airport at 6pm and what a relief! The relative peace and quiet of the Luxor roads was more than welcome! As was our arrival at the Winter Palace Pavillon. We felt felt as though we were home! 

It's only now we are back in Luxor we can really appreciate it. The litter, squalor and ramshackle buildings in Cairo have to be seen to be believed!