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Location Date Cairo 
1274742000 Aswan 1274569200 Edfu 1274482800 Luxor 1274396400 Sharm El Shiekh 1274050800 -
Location Date Tue, 25 May 2010 1274821624 Mon, 24 May 2010 1274735042 Thu, 20 May 2010 1274343142 Wed, 19 May 2010 1274256568 Tue, 18 May 2010 1274167922 Thu, 13 May 2010 1273737212 Wed, 12 May 2010 1273650648 Tue, 11 May 2010 1273564096 Mon, 10 May 2010
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Swiss air and first impressions of cairo
We woke upto a rainy milan at 4am in the morning. I didnt sleep much at all that night so was completly nakered. We got a taxi to the bus stop at central station and had prepurchased some malpensa airport shuttle tickets for €7.50. The journey was quick and the bus was driven as if the driver was a formula 1 driver dodging in and out of lanes to ensure he got the best racing line.
We jumped off the bus at the first stop grabbed our bags and then looked up, terminal 2, damn we jumped back on the bus and it took us to terminal 1, good job we did as it was a mile away! Now swiss air are the best airline ive ever flown with. Free drinks, including booze, free swiss chocs and the air hostesses actually smiled at you. We had two flights one to zurich which was like going from manchester to dublin and the other zurich to cairo. On the second flight i watched shutter island and just starting to watch men who stare at goats then we were landing shame as i actually was getting into it! At cairo airport we bought our visas and went through with no problems, unlike the american in zurich who had spent over his 3 months visa, dont know what happened to him now, probably being feed a lot of swiss chocolate.
After we collected our luggage we walked into the main hall, we immediatly were pounched on by people asking if we needed a taxi or hotels etc. We chatted to one bloke who offered us £90 egp to our hotel about £12 gbp, but he was more interested in where our hotel was and had we paid etc. We left him and another guy offered it for £80 egp i tried to negotiate but that was his lowest. We jumped in the taxi and off we went. Cairo traffic was choatic at best no one obeys any rules expect what direction the traffic flows. Cairo is needless to say quite a dump, old buildings falling apart, then there are some amazing new buildings which must be owned by the rich or the government. We arrived at our hotel after the taxi driver asked every guard going where it was, it wasnt a normal hotel, it was weird but for £10 a night it would do.
Cairo was a massive culture shock, it didnt seem safe, but trust me it is, there are military guards and police everywhere, you do get pestered as people want to befriend you, then sell you something. we went out that night to kfc for tea and it was completly safe, we even got befriended by a guard, who was trying to show us arabic, english and some other language in a book. We had kfc then went back and hit the sack id been up nearly 24 hours by then and was completly shattered.
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Sarah Facey The Colonel has shops in Cairo! That's amazing! Hope you're having a fab time. We miss you in the office. It's quiet without you. 2 weeks till the wedding, getting a bit nervous now. Wish me luck. :-)
Ian Crompton KFC!! Cairo!!?? WOW, That is like, totally AWESOME!!! Gotta love Americanisms. Didn't know you were marrying Sarah, Congratulations.
TareX Ok, first things first: Foodwise: Sure there’s Cinnabon, a McDonald’s and KFC on every corner, and almost every single Western restaurant you know in Cairo, but that’s not what you’re there for, right? Egyptian food is super, super, super-delicious and here’re a few must-have meals: 1) Kebab, Kofta and Tarb: Super awesome grilled beef like no other. The best place in Cairo is called “Abou Shakra”. There's one in Mohandiseen is at 17 Gamat el Dawal al Arabeya street. Call 19090 for delivery. Make sure you order Baba Ganoog and Tehina (Hummus) if you’re ordering on the phone. I recommend going there yourself, because the Tehina spreads with Pita bread are just unforgivingly amazing. The official website is: http://www.aboushakra.com 2) Koshari: The country’s national dish. A heavy feast of carbohydrates (Rice, pasta, lentils) covered in seasoned tomato sauce. DO NOT FORGET to spill in some garlic-vinegar sauce (called Dakka, or as pronounced in Egyptian Arabic “Da’ah”). Easy on the hot sauce. Use all your tomato sauce. The best place (that tourists seem to like) is Abou-Tarek. His website: http://www.aboutarek.com Located at 16 Maarouf St., Champollion, Cairo, Egypt. My Dad ate there last month and swears by it. I haven’t tried it, and before AbouTarek, the best Koshari was at “Koshary El-Tahrir”. Anyway, if both are too far, then try ANY Koshari in Cairo. I haven’t tasted any Koshari in Cairo which wasn’t sublime. 3) Fiteer (Egyptian pies): It’s like a pizza, but the dough is very thin, soft, buttery and the toppings are all stuffed. It comes in both sweet and non-sweet forms. I recommend sausage fiteer wherever you go. If you don’t like Romano cheese, let the guy use Mozarella instead (like what I do). Like Koshari, any feteer place in Cairo is super tasty, but Tebesty is my favorite. The best sweet feteer is Cream (Eshta) and Honey (’asal), and CHOCOLATE feteer (note: the latter could be addictive) 4) Shawerma: Basically, if you see a shawerma stand, don’t think twice. Like Koshari and Feteer, there is a minimum requirement of quality that all Cairo vendors need to maintain to survive. Egyptian beef shawerma tastes amazing. However, lebanese shawerma also rules (I prefer it), and you’ll find places like “Abou Mazen” and “Yamal El-Sham” who make them best. If you want to take it up a notch, try Yamal El-Sham’s Shawerma Fettah. A fettah is basically a layer of crispy bread, covered by a layer of seasoned rice, covered by a layer of shawerma and (sometimes) tomatoes. This should all be topped by extra-creamy garlic sauce (called “toomeyya”). At some places, you need to order it specifically. 5) Stuffed pigeons: Also an Egyptian exclusive. Everyone’s mom has a different recipe for the rice. Anyway, I can’t remember the name of the famous restaurants who do it, simply because my mom’s was unbeatable. Of course there are countless cafes, and restaurants in Cairo. You’ll notice that food is dirt cheap. ENJOY MALLS: The biggest mall is City Stars. A taxi from Mohandiseen to City Stars will probably cost you $9. It’ll take you across the 6th of October Bridge which will give you a chance to see a huge deal of the city from above. I recommend watching the “No Reservations Egypt” videos on youtube (5 parts) to get a better idea about the city and make the most out of your stay. It’s a 20 million city, but extremely safe (violent crime is way, way below almost all Western cities) and you can feel free to have a walk anytime no matter what time it is. Oh, and every restaurant and its mother delivers food (for free, and at most for around 50 cents). Yes, including McDonald’s. Here’s the videos I was talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS_hRtksgwE Let me know how it goes for you :) Depending on where in Cairo you're staying, I think I could help you if you have any questions. Enjoy your stay! T (Halifax, Canada)
TareX Apparently since I left, Tebesty became “Majesty” Here’s their official website: http://tebesty.net/site/doc_en/indexen.php Go to Menu —> Sweet Pies —> And get the Chocolate Pie (Hazel + Honey + Chocolate + Milk + Suger + Custard)… the Alexandria Pie was also delicious. Then go to Menu —> Hadeq Pies —> and get the Tebesty Pie or the Sausage Pie… They translated “Romano cheese” to “Turkey cheese”, which is of course a mistake… Anyway, ENJOY :)