Flying with Egyptians is very interesting. Many of them do not remain seated during the flight but stand and visit with other people. There was quite a party atmosphere which made it hard to sleep so we didn't bother. Our pilots took their jobs seriously, though, and our flight was smooth except for a very bumpy landing which set the tone for the next few hours. Going through customs was different because there were no line-ups; people just crowded together and jostled for position (much like the traffic in Cairo, we would discover). It was incredibly hot in the terminal, even though it was after 2 am. There were no signs saying where to buy visas so we waited a long time to get to a customs officer, only to discover we had to go to one of the banks on the side to buy our visas (cash only - $15 USD each - no waiting - hmmm… seems more like an entry fee than a visa…). Luckily, our customs officer saw us return from the bank and waved us to the front of the line. We were worried everyone behind us would hate us, so when the customs officer asked us to peel the backing off of our visas to stick them into our passports, we were too flustered to do it. He showed us how, but we still couldn't do it, so he showed us a third time, and Margaret finally got it! We looked up from our combined concentration on this task to see a few of the customs officers laughing at us, so we told them that we're normally much smarter than this, which made them laugh even more. Once through customs, we couldn't find our luggage, but did eventually. Barry had pre-arranged for pickup through our hostel, so now to find our driver! There was a massive crowd of drivers all vying for our business, but across the crowd, we saw a man holding a sign with our name on it. The drive from the airport was absolutely wild, no lines, no lights, no rules!!! AAAAhh!!! However, the driver knew exactly where he was going and we finally got to The New Palace Hotel - very sketchy on the outside, but great on the inside! Metallica met us and introduced us to the hotel staff. It turns out that Metallica doesn't work for the hotel; he's a travel agent who works with the hotel. After check-in, the rest of us quickly jumped into bed while Barry and Metallica sat down and discussed an itinerary, even though it was nearly 4:00 am. Our air conditioner didn't work, so we had the window open and got to hear the first call to prayer of the day, which happens 5 times a day here. When we (Barry and Margaret) got up around 9:30 am, we discussed the itinerary that had been roughed out and then met with Ahmed (Metallica) to firm up the details. The itinerary included hotels and transportation; local agents to meet us and transfer us to and from train and bus stations; and local tours for Cairo, Aswan, Luxor, and Dahab. As the itinerary included a visit to the Citadel, a driver arrived later that morning and took us there through the chaotic traffic. We spent most of our time while at the Citadel visiting the Mohammed Ali Mosque (not the boxer), built in the 1830s. It was spectacular, to say the least. A lovely young woman gave us an hour long tour which we enjoyed very much and from which we learned a lot about Islam. We took off our shoes and wore shawls and discovered that each custom was only indirectly related to the faith. Shoes go off so that the carpets stay clean where people put their foreheads to pray; women cover their arms and legs so they don't distract men from their prayers.

Back at our hotel, the kids worked on their math and science on the internet while Barry got our Kenyan safari squared away.