Travel Day: Vancouver >Cairo

January 9, 2019 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

The flight plan for this trip: Vancouver>Toronto>Frankfurt>Cairo on an Air Canada/Lufthansa combination. I've done the Vancouver-Toronto leg many times, but this would be a first stop into Frankfurt, and of course, Cairo itself. This trip also marks the first time I've flown with Lufthansa, though I've always wanted to try, it's just not worked out in the past.

A bit of a bumpier than usual ride to Toronto, I take it as due to the weather. A Dreamliner over the Atlantic to Frankfurt, but I found the flight a little warm. One of the windows was also funny, glowing blue while the rest were dark, and then purple while the rest were blue. Didn't spot the pyramids on our descent into Cairo, but I didn't expect to.

The visa on arrival process is very simple. Head to the counter next to the bank counter, put down $25USD to receive your sticker. Then take your sticker to immigration, where you should put it in your passport. My arrival transfer rep found me at this point, how they pick us out of the crowd, I will never know. I suppose there probably aren't too many foreigners coming off the plane, but still, it's a bit trippy.

The rest of the arrival process was smooth and after a quick stamp at immigration, it was off to pick up my backpack. Traffic was inching along bumper to bumper and even at a standstill at certain times. It's "Friday night" in Egypt, as they take Friday and Saturday off, and I happened to arrive on Thursday night, aka 'Friday night' if you know what I mean. Despite the traffic, it's actually a good thing, but more on that later on.

It took about an hour and a half to get to the hotel. There's a few sites to see along the way, but I nodded off here and there due to the travel. Jetlag wise, not bad, crashed at a normal hour and out like a lightbulb. My room was on the cold side, so i pulled out the extra blanket and slept in my hoodie and woolly socks, while scrunched up in a ball trying to keep warm. Outside, the horns are blaring, but somehow I'm able to tune them out.Read more