Packed rucksack and left the monastery guesthouse at 5.30am. Really enjoyed my stay and would like to return again one day!
Arrived at bus stop and my japanese friend who travelled on the bus coming to St Katherine was also at the bus stop. He was with 2 other japanese men who tried so hard to talk english to me and did very well. They invited me to Tokyo to stay with them. A taxi passed us at the bus stop and tried to tout for business by saying that the bus doesnt come today and he would do special price or us. They really try every trick in the book and whilst i ignored the loud taxi driver the japanese tried to barter to get the price down - the japanese are cleverer than they look and when it comes to money they are good with the numbers. In the end the younger japanese guy got the bus whilst the other 2 japanese men tried to haggle with the taxi driver to take them to Dahab. It was too early in the morning for me and was relieved when the bus arrived. The japanese guy was called Dai and he was very kind and offered me bread rolls and jam but declined as too early for breakfast.....
Bus got really full and at one point i thought i was going to have to share my seat, lots of army lads got on the bus and i was the only female on the bus and got some funny stares and hello and welcome to Egypt....
Bus arrived in Cairo 1 hour early which was excellent. Said goodbye to Dai and exchanged e-mails and went by metro to the Dahab hostal in Cairo.
Was going to return to the same hostal that i stayed in when i first set foot in Cairo but decided to go to the Dahab hostal as only 30 Egyptian pounds (£3.75)
The streets were deserted and then i remembered it was friday which are prayer days and many people don't work on fridays.
Received a very warm welcome from the Dahab hostal. Got greeted by Mahmoud and even offered me a sandwich which was much appreciated. The hostal was on the seventh floor and had really good views of the city. It was ideal because the rooms were on the roof top and lots of seating areas to socialise. An english guy recommended the hostal to me whilst i was in Luxor.
Got a taxi to another hotel where they had a swimming pool on the 10th floor. I dont suffer from vertigo but when i looked over the edge it was a long way down to the ground... Pool was very small but it was wet and cool and had the desired effect!
There were a few foreigners and egyptians seated around the pool side and when i was in the pool i met an english girl who was travelling in egypt with her friend for a few weeks. She was called Lisa and living in Manchester and had a good laugh with her and her friend whose name i cannot remember. We didnt get any hassle from the egyptian men because they were in the minority!!
Had lunch at the pool and then we (the english girls and i ) went to find a bar to get a cold drink. Found the bar but it was closed so got a taxi back to Midan square. Arranged to meet them later for dinner as they wanted to eat somewhere cheap and said i would show them the place where i ate with the canadians Gail and Tim.
Returned to hostal and some very interesting characters staying there, an american who was studying arabic at Cairo university and also a canadian who was a massage therapist and pilates instructor. The hostal staff Mahmoud gave me some more food (maybe he thinks i need fattening up) which was chicken and fed the cats the bones.
Went to meet the english girls and they didnt show up, think something must have happened as they seemed very genuine about meeting up. Had a wonder round the shops and was a good thing they didnt show as i had pigged out on the chicken i was given earlier......
Chatted to the canadian, acutally he wasnt canadian, he was half german and half egyptian with a canadian accent. He was very kind and let me borrow his laptop so i was able to check in online for my flight tomorrow and catch up on blog.
Just before bed started talking to an american who was studying Egyptology. She was on a voluntary placement at the eyptian museum and told me how she was cataloging 3 databases of all the exhibits in the museum. Half the stuff in the museum is not labelled and said it was a very challenging task but felt honoured to work there as not many students get accepted on these kind of placements. Even though there is no air con and she has to work 9-5pm she is still enjoying it.
Booked a wake up call for 5.30am for tomorrow and went to sleep at midnight.