Sleepless in Cairo...

Conned at the Cairo Airport lobby!

- This person (whom I later discovered was a tout) came up to me as soon as I came up from the plane and asked if I've already have any transportation to go to the city. It was still before the immigration, there was a 'Ministry of Tourism' tag hanging from his neck, and I thought that since I'm not out in the arrival hall yet, and that ONLY authorized personnel should be allowed in this area, he must have been a real officer and I told him that I don't have any transportation to the city yet. He then asked me to follow him and I did. He lead me to a booth at the airport lobby manned by a fat lady. The 'officer' and the lady talked something in Arabic, and she suddenly asked me to pay 95 Egyptian Pound (EP)! I told her that I've read that it only costs around 30~40 EP by taxi to the city centre, but she claimed that the hours are already late. Whatever...I'm tired and would like to get to the hotel asap, so without thinking much, I gave her the money, knowing quite well that I'm being ripped off.

The 'officer' than took me to meet a man who introduced himself as Hussain and told me to board his 'taxi' (which looks every bit the usual run down Nissan Daihatsu car) and he sped all the way to the city. 

In 25 minutes, I was at standing in front of my Hotel. I paid Hussain some tip (called 'baksheeh') but he insisted on more. I was getting tired, sticky all over because of the time spent on the plane, and don't exactly want to end my first night in Egypt, haggling over tip with a local, so I just paid him another wad of EP! This time, Hussain smiled and gave me a flying kiss!

Room

-I checked myself in, and after another set of 'baksheeh' I was sent to my room. First impression? Well, the room's quite decent, I guess. The view? Nothing much to write about. The toilet's condition was so so. After settling down, I went straight to the check in counter and asked for a copy of Cairo's map. I plan to walk to Mahattat Ramses tomorrow morning. Have to sleep well tonight, coz I'll have an early start tomorrow.

-Can't sleep too well. Maybe its the excitement. But, I also believe that its really noisy out there on the street! So many cars honking around, and its already wayyy past midnight!!! I've no idea why people/drivers have to honk all the time... Finally, after lots of tossing around on the bed in the middle of the night, I managed to get a wink. 

                                                                                                 ....to be continued