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The rest of my day yesterday was pretty low key, just trying to let my body adjust to the new time zone. So another nana nap was in order before going down to the restaurant for dinner. The waiter tried to talk me into eating from the buffet, but I insisted on a la carte.
He kept saying "Are you sure. The buffet is very good" but 185 pounds plus drinks, I was more than sure. So I ordered a chicken curry for 75 and a lemon tart and an orange juice, with the total being 139.
I turned the telly on when I got back to my room, I thought I would try to catch up on the BBC news, but my eyes started drooping so I gave in and slept. I awoke around 1am as my room mate was due to arrive sometime around 1.30am. What an awful time to arrive. I decided to try and stay awake until she arrives and read for a while (oh the good news, my kindle is working again. Not sure why or how, all I know is it is working) and I sent my first TouchNote postcard to John and Nathan.
It must have been around 2am when Linda finally made it to the room and we got to introduce ourselves. Linda is from Canada, and is as excited as me to be here in Egypt. I am certain we are going to get along just fine - we are about the same age, we both have one child and two grandchildren, and we were both adopted as babies. Only a couple of major differences - she's still married (married her childhood sweetheart three years ago) and is lucky enough to be retired already, whilst I am still working. We spent a couple of hours chatting before we both drifted off to sleep around 4am.
We went downstairs just after 9am and enjoyed a long leisurely breakfast of fruit and yogurt and a freshly made omelette with capsicum, onion and ham. Really delicious, and I enjoyed another pot of that good coffee before showing Linda the pool and the view of the pyramids.
Linda hadn't changed her money at the airport so we found the tiny bank in the hotel lobby and I cashed in my US cash so have another 1506 pound to spend. I got some smaller notes this time - the money I got from the airport was all in 200 pound notes. The guy in the shop I visited yesterday wasn't there this morning so we met his partner Abraham and he introduced me to the Egyptian perfumes. My two favorites were Lotus Flower and Arabian Secrets, so I will find our from our guide Linda if we come back here for our last night and arrange to pick one of each when we get back from tripping around. Don't want to carry it for the next two weeks.
I also got him to tell me the prices of some of the souvenirs so we could get a measure of how much things cost. In my money this time I got six pound which included a 1 pound coin. I asked him what I could buy for 1 pound and he laughed and said nothing. I asked the price of a cup of coffee - to which he replied 25 pound. The cheapest of his souvenirs, a glitzy looking pyramid was 70 pound and other trinkets were around the 120 - 140 price range. A beautiful silk wall hanging was 2000 pound. So that gave me an idea of what the money was worth.
I am confused about the tipping situation so will be glad when our Guide Linda arrives and can explain it all to us. Don't want to insult anyone and get it wrong. Linda of course is used to tipping in Canada. Our instructions from Venus were to have a supply of change for tipping porters, guides and waiters.
At midday I headed off for my Hot Stone Massage and left Linda to catch up with her sleep. The massage was great, and as always I came away promising my body that I will treat myself to a regular session when I get home, maybe this time I will keep my promise to myself. She found some huge knots in my shoulder - funnily though it was the left shoulder that was so tight and it is my right should that gives me all the pain. The massage cost 385 pound ($71 nz) and I gave my first tip of 40 pound ($7 nz) Hope that was okay - about 10% of the bill. Will check with Linda tonight.
It's now almost 4pm and our guide Linda arrived a couple of hours ago - bringing cake and a handmade carry bag for each of us. Venus Adventures motto is "Life is uncertain - eat cake" so we've had coffee and cake and lots of discussions about what to expect. Apparently another itinerary change - we may not be able to go to the Valley of the Whales and we will be staying at a hotel closer to the airport when we return to Cairo at the end of the trip. Room Service brought in another bed as the three of us are in here for the next two nights.
We're heading down for dinner at 6pm - tonight we get the buffet dinner and our courier will pick us up around 8.30 in the morning, so looks like another early night for us.
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