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Saturday morning in Sharm El Sheikh. My friend and I stayed in Marriott Red Sea Resort. We booked the cheapest room. When we checked in they upgraded us to a suite.

After spending three nights in Sinai, we were leaving for Cairo. I was a little sad because we didn’t have time to visit St. Catherine Monastery and Mount Horeb, but I was also looking forward to leave the boondocks for civilization.

Breakfast was brief. We had little time to spare since we had to catch a flight. When we missed the hotel’s shuttle bus, we ran outside to catch a public van. It costs 10 Egyptian Pounds for two, although the price may vary according to one’s bargaining capacity.

The van dropped us just outside the airport’s entrance. As we approached the entrance, a plainclothes police officer stopped us to check our passports. I handed both of our travel documents. He looked at mine, then my friend’s, and asked “Your wife?”. “Umm… yeah!”, I replied, a little unsure whether I should say otherwise.

Now, it did cross my mind. According to the Bible, when Abraham went to Egypt with his wife Sarah, he told the Egyptians that she wasn’t his wife but his sister.

Our flight journey from Sharm El Sheikh to Cairo took us a little over an hour.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by bunch of touts. I was a quite agitated at that moment, that I saw the Arab touts as nothing more than clowns with bees in their pants. If I had a baseball bat I would have used it (to smash the bees). Amazingly, with what little patients I had left, we walked away from the airport to a bus terminal nearby where the average public are actually decent human beings.

Indeed, a decent local gentleman advised us which bus to ride on to get to Cairo city center, and he didn’t even asked for tips!

It then became very clear that knowing how to read Arabic numerals is crucial to getting around on public bus. My friend was prepared. My admiration for her escalated to a new level there and then, and I told myself never to belittle ten minutes of committing foreign symbols to memory. That’s what it took me to memorize Arabic numeral.

…

We got off the bus in Medan Ramses. I believe Medan means square, but that’s just a guess. A good one. It was chaotic with cars, vans, buses and people trying to go places. It got a little bit confusing, and amidst the entropies all around us we managed to get on a van to get to our hotel in Saray El Gezira.

And the only reason we managed that is because a kind hearted aged man whom speaks English showed us how. Egyptians are nice and helpful, but touts in any country are flea-infested loose monkeys in need of a fix.

We checked into our hotel in Zamalek. Cairo Marriott Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino is one of the better hotels in Cairo, albeit a little pricey. We didn’t get any room upgrades this time, but I booked on executive floor with a view of Nile River from the balcony.

It was a little posh, given that we were carrying backpacks and was supposed to be backpacking, but considering it was going to be our last night in Egypt, I wanted extra luxury and comfort before our long flight home.

Now, we weren’t too impressed with the hotel staffs. This Marriott, like the one we stayed in Sharm El Sheikh, lacked attention to detail. And I couldn’t get the room to cool down. The air conditioner was weak. Also, location wise, Nile Hilton would have been a better spot.

We went walking from the hotel to some place nearby Medan Tahrir. We were just strolling down along the banks of Nile River until we reached there. Along the way, a little girl was selling roses and offered me to buy a stalk for my girl. It costs 1 American Dollar. I was tempted to, but I didn’t know how my girl would take it.

We had a late lunch at Hardee’s.

One of the most interesting sight we saw in this city was a group of men standing outside a building, and a woman dropped a pail of water on them from a window on the second floor. It didn’t seem threatening. An old lady stood next by us and explained. We would have understood, except she was speaking in Arabic.

…

Out of respect, we spent some time listening to her anyway. I came up with my own conclusion. I figured it was some sort of a weird engagement custom. One of the guys on the street was definitely courting the lady at the window.

The next weirdest thing to it would probably be a Vulcan mating ritual.

While we were in a shopping district hunting for a pair of walking shoes, an aged man approached us and started talking.

He was friendly. He wasn’t old, but he was definitely in his late 30s. He was a big sized guy, the kind that could take on a lion. At first he seemed mild mannered and was just being tourist-friendly, but I didn’t trust him.

We told him we were shopping for a pair of shoes, and he pointed us in a general direction. He then said he wanted to hand us his name card, just in case, except that his name card was in his office nearby. Just across the street.

So we went. Once in his office (which was basically a souvenir store) he asked me to write down my contact. We suspected something was amiss, and we turned to leave. I held my friend tight around her waist in one arm while I scanned the room. There was another man in the room, and he could easily block the door. The street outside wasn’t crowded. No one would hear a shout coming from this store. My senses were on full alert.

Just as I was about to walk away, the big guy pushed me hard on my shoulder and asked why I was leaving. I smiled and told him we’re not interested. I had my friend held tight in one arm, and was concerned for her safety. For a moment, she wasn’t just a friend. She was a Lady and she needs to be away from that place. My eyes scanned the room for anything that could be use as a weapon, in case things got ugly. Above all, I prayed.

We continued walking through the door and we left. I was glad, but I remember his disgruntled looks. Then I thought, maybe he wasn’t dangerous after all. I don’t buy that he was being tourist-friendly, but maybe he was just an average conman that posed no physical harm. Whoever he might be, I was glad that we were safe.

Later in the evening, we retired to bed early after a day of walking around the city.