04JUN10

00:01 - Sitting at the gate in Tel Aviv airport waiting for our flight to Cairo. We've been sitting here 3 hours; we are tired. We got to the airport with so much time before the flight because many of the sites worth seeing close by 5pm and our flight is at 1am. We had dinner and took our time getting here, but there is only so much you can do...

00:30 - Frustrated by the inability to log onto the free Wi-Fi at Ben-Gurion; annoyed by the mob of American teenagers nearby boarding the flight to Newark. Relieved to no longer have to worry about driving us around. We drove up from Eilat this morning, stopping at a few places, primarily the Mahktesh Ramon (a crater formed by running water) in the Negev desert. Also had to be back at the airport in time to return the rental car and not incur an extra day's charges.

00:45 - Board flight for Cairo; immediately pass out. Possibly offered a snack by the attendant, based on neighbors' garbage, did not wake for it though.

02:00 - Land in Cairo, taxied for a moment, then disembarked onto the tarmac.

02:05 - Snazzy bus to the terminal building.

02:10 - Walk by the banks, exchange guys and visa booth. Stand in line for passport control.

02:20 - Realize we need to get the visa first. Head back to one of the banks (doesn't matter which one) which are also the places to get visas. Contrary to reports (I think by the State Department) the visa is not 5 Egyptian Pounds (abbreviated LE 5), they are $15 each - cash. If you're visiting, have that on you (Nolan). NB: LE 5 is about $1 - the visas are 15 times more expensive than expected. Not a big deal, but annoying at 02:20.

02:30 - Moved through the passport control fairly easily. Visa here is a sticker (with $15 printed on it - the guy at the bank wasn't pulling one over on me). Guy in the booth stuck the handsome sticker in my passport and stamped it and then sent it down a little chute to a woman (completely covered up) who checked my passport against the identification form completed on the plane, took the form and gave the passport back to the guy who handed it to me. Maybe not 100% efficient, but a smooth operation nonetheless.

02:45 - Collect our bags and meet our friendly Egyptian the tour sent to bring us to our hotel (which, happily, is within sight of the airport). He explained our itinerary for the tour (reiterating many times that we must be ready - packed, checked out and breakfasted - by 8am Sunday) on the way to the hotel.

03:00 - Helpful tour guy brought us in to the hotel, had us plop down on comfy couches and talked to reception for us. Since we weren't booked in until tonight (Friday PM; it is currently Friday 3am), we asked if he could check on the possibility of getting in to our room early - we even would be willing to pay the full day's rate.

03:10 - Tour guy says that they are able to take us in no problem (for free) and asks me what time it is; after I tell him, he says "go up to the guy in glasses in 1 hour and ask if you can have your room". I'm not sure if this is a test of our resolve, 'payment' for the convenience or they just have to get the room ready, but I don't care as it means we are only 50 minutes away from a bed.

03:11 - Not sure if I should tip the tour guy, we stand there awkwardly for a moment. After not getting a tip, the tour guide points out the store across the street where I can buy bottled water and goes on his way.

03:13 - I understand that this is an airport hotel at an airport that runs 24/7, but the hotel lobby is PACKED. A couple families are lounging on the couches, including many young kids (like 5-6 year olds, wide awake, playing like it's the middle of the day). There are almost 10 people at the bar. At least 6 tables of 4-10 people outside at the restaurant, many with delicious smelling hookas. A good number of hotel employees and more than a few police wander the lobby. Outside, cars drop people off and reception is busy. Is it like this at the airport Hilton at Logan at 3am?

03:15 - I walk across the gated drive of the hotel, something of a highway on-ramp and a parking lot below an overpass to the store. I get two big bottles of water and a dark Kit Kat. LE 7. That's like $1.25. I head back to the hotel (the other way around the store, to avoid the loading dock wall I had to jump down from), passing a group of 16 kids playing soccer (note - it is still 3:15am!).

03:30 - Diana wakes up when I get back; claims that sleeping on the couch is her way of expressing her distress about me wandering around at 3:15, alone, in this strange land.

04:00 - After we both doze a bit more, I am woken by the guy cleaning the floors. In Egypt, one cleans the hotel lobby floor by tossing water around from a bucket and then squeegeeing the water from one end of the floor to the other (indeed the water is much worse looking when he has finished). Didn't catch where the dirty water went. We woke when he was moving furniture around the lobby. No matter - it is time to check in.

04:05 - With Diana vigilantly guarding our luggage through her eyelids, I approach the man in the glasses at reception, timing my visit to when there are a couple of high-maintenance English people with lots of baggage. They succeed in attracting most of the attention of the hovering manager. We pass under the radar and indeed get in for free.

04:10 - Check in is a breeze (thankfully), I write my name and passport info (but no credit card numbers) on a sheet, he gives me a key, we collect our baggage and we're off. 3rd floor, nice room, I believe we brushed our teeth and we pass out.

12:00 - Wake up to pee.

16:30 - Wake up for real, finally. Haven't slept 12 hours in a go since college. Wonder why not.

17:00 - Catch the last half hour of The Simpsons Movie (hey - we're on vacation).

18:30 - Showered and dressed, we head downstairs for dinner. This place, especially for an airport hotel, is very nice. There are 6 "restaurants" - places of differing decor where one could get a bite and a drink: an outdoor traditional Egyptian cuisine restaurant, the big place for breakfast and dinner buffets, an Italian place, the bistro, the bar and another place out by the pool. Another note: while Egypt is a Muslim country and they do not drink, Egypt also derives the majority of its national income from tourism (in second place are Suez tolls), so they cater well to alcohol loving tourists (except during Ramadan and on the Prophet's birthday). In any event we sit at the bar for a beer / wine and bar snacks. Across the way, BBC World is on a TV - apparently another aid ship is headed for Gaza, oil is still spewing into the Gulf, and the President knows how to wave when boarding Air Force One (no subtitles, didn't know where he was going).

19:45 - A couple young girls come by and buy bottled water from the bar. I didn't look too close, but I'm pretty sure they paid LE 9 each for a small bottle of water. Remember, I paid LE 7 for 2 big bottles (and a Kit Kat) at the market. Big mark up at the hotel, even for Egyptian customers.

20:00 - Apparently we arrived at our hotel along with a wedding party. A couple of camera men, a bag-piper, a guy with a reed-instrument of some sort (oboe-esque), a gang of drummers and a bevy of wedding guests are congregating in the lobby, 10m from us. Suddenly with fanfare aplenty and quite the to-do, the band in playing, ladies are singing, and the happy couple walks through. It's a good 15 minutes of music and dancing around the couple in the lobby. They get all the way to the door to the garden when another song and merryment springs up around them. Finally they get out to the garden where the party may have already been going without them. We see lights and hear music for the rest of the night...

20:30 - Sit at the Italian restaurant (lowest profile, 2 other tables occupied, 'safe' menu choices). Food is very good, bordering on exceptional; probably because we love the spices from this area.

21:45 - Proud of last night's explorations, I guide Diana to the distant land of the supermarket. This is as far as we dare travel without a guide or any idea of the language. (The airport, and our hotel, is a good distance from the city center and I am not yet of the mood to figure out taxis) Another two big bottles of water and a Twix (still LE 7, apparently that wasn't just the middle-of-the-night price).

22:00 - Back to the room, a little tired.

22:01 - Diana turns on the computer (ugh) and points out that the daily rate for internet is pretty cheap.

23:59 - Although I (weakly) insist that we should get back on a normal sleeping schedule, we both catch up on news and email, facebook etc. until almost 2 in the morning.