I'm here! Arrival at Aswan

I can't believe it's been almost 24 hours since I left JFK, or at least I think it's been 24 hours, as with the travel and the time change, my clock is pretty messed up.

I'm in Aswan! So far, so good. The 12-hour flight went pretty well, I think. For once I believe I got some sleep, probably thanks to some advil pm, and the fact that I had an exit row seat with a little room probably didn't hurt either. Arrival at Cairo airport was nearly as confusing as finding the entrance to the Delta terminal at JFK. Thanks to some detailed posts, and honestly, just following a guy who seemed to know what he was doing, I bought my visa for $15 [USD] at the money exchange window [different] then went to stand in line to enter the country.

Traveling with just a backpack and a ... backpack, so carry-on items only, I didn't have to wait around for the baggage claim, so it was directly on to running the gauntlet at the International Arrivals Hall. Having been to Delhi and to Lima, I have to say that Cairo was not bad. Lots of "La Shukruns" later, I almost walked past the tourist info helper, who pointed me to the general direction of the bus that travels between terminals. Signage is a little lacking in the entire area, but I was soon on the bus on my way to Terminal 3, while watching an awesome sunset from the bus' windows.

One thing I didn't realize, so wasted a lot of time looking for... you actually go through security BEFORE you get your boarding pass here. Duh! I kept looking for the check-in counters. Since things had been moving pretty smoothly so far, I was able to get on an earlier flight - no mention of change fees. I dozed for most of the one hour flight, and upon landing once again had to figure out where to go. Since I was early, and couldn't quite figure out how to work a phone before I left Cairo to let my hotel know, I had to gear up for some stiff negotiation with the cab drivers. No metered yellow cabs when you need one! We started at 60EGP [guidebook that was three years old had said 25EGP, and ended up at 45. I just wanted out at that point. So I probably paid a little more than a local, but the dude was friendly, and is now going to be my driver for all of tomorrow for an incredibly cheap price.

Keylany Hotel is a few steps off the main street, with it's tooting car horns, but thankfully I have an inside room. No view, but it's quiet, which is my preference. It's a cute hotel typical of budget places anywhere, with a very friendly staff. They pointed me to a local joint where I picked up my first local shawarma sandwich, served on a hamburger bun, not pita, and also my first ever french fry sandwich.... that part was probably miscommunication! I realize that one of the things on my to-do list was to brush up on arabic.... Crash course coming up!

I spent probably a half hour or so walking through the bazar. Since I can't obscure that I don't look Egyptian or American, I'm sticking with people's guesses of Indian. The bazaar is pretty cool. Lots of fresh spices, scarves, shoes, purses, etc, and it looks like this is not just for tourists but locals shop here too.

So I haven't yet taken a photograph or broken my camera out. I'm enjoying just taking in the sites. I thought I would feel a little weird being Muslim in a Muslim country, and looking somewhat like the locals but not covering my head, and I do. But I think the reason I get some stares is because I'm out and about by myself, without either a male or female escort. Or perhaps it's all in my head, which is also possible. The people are friendly and very helpful. I'm not sure what to make of the "Come into my shop and I'll get you some coffee... No hassle, just hospitality" line, so I'm going by gut and wandering in when I see something interesting but otherwise moving on. The best line so far was... "Let me tell you how much that scarf is... it's FREE!". Yes, I pretty much ran in the other direction :)

Looking forward to an equally enjoyable tomorrow. On the slate is the Philae Temple, the unfinished obelisk, the Aswan High Dam, the Kalabsha Temple, and the Nubian Museum. Hmmmm.... better get to sleep, I'm getting a 7:30 AM start!