Goodbye Group

Day 13

Up after not enough sleep (as usual!). Refused breakfast. Worth saying here that breakfast in Egypt is terrible. It usually consists of lots of dry bread, with an occasional piece of cheese or hard-boiled egg if you're lucky. Whenever we have headed out early, we've been equipped with "breakfast boxes", big cardboard cake boxes with aforementioned items. Annoying to lug around and the contents to not inspire.. What's more funny though is that if you eat in the hotel it's really no better! Anyway, said goodbye to group, and tipped Shady a pair of anti-mozzy bands, which will be infinitely more appreciated than money, I'm sure ;)

Back to bed. Sleep for a couple of hours, badly, as housekeeping are doing their best to make noise. Banging on other doors as if to break them down, and a shrill phone ringing incessantly in their "den" next to our room. This gets so bad at one point that I go out, grab it and leave it off the hook.

Finally up at about 2:30pm, and Ray (with full pack - off to airport after) and I head over to Meridien Pyramids, where Jason and Tarny are now camped out. Took a dodgy looking cab for 17E£. Fifty yards down the road he stopped to replace one of his tyres which was flat. He swapped it out for one that was only marginally better, as Ray and I looked on, taking particular note of the fact that three of four nuts were finger-loose already. Not good. Accelerated away only to hear a flapping noise. Stopped, couldn't work out what was causing it. So on we go. Slowly, as the cabbie had no idea where to go, so was slowing next to every other cab to ask their advice. Why he didn't ask us, I don't know. Anyway, all these shenanigans resulted in us missing entry to the Pyramid site (even though we arrived before 4:30pm?), so instead we watched sunset from the hotel, then moved round the happy hours in the hotel restaurants, eating in the tex mex surrounded by college student girls on the Semester at Sea program. For those who haven't heard of it, it is a scheme whereby American students take a term out and travel round the world on a cruise ship, with teachers on board for all subjects, then they get free time everywhere they dock. I last encountered them in Japan, where I legged up Fuji with four of them.

A beer in the Shisha bar, then called it a night and cabbed back to my hotel, where I have to say bad bad things were going on with bowels! Not pleasant. Tried to go to net café and had to run back! Packed up then grabbed a few hours sleep before heading to the airport.