Walk Like an Egyptian

All I could think of that day was "OMG pyramids! Nda sabar!" but it wasn't all that simple. I got lost at Cairo Int'l airport for 2 hours!!

          

Here's a rundown

1. Cairo Airport has 3 terminals + 1 Seasonal terminal
2. Most of the people I met don't speak english
3. There were a lot of security screenings even when you exit the airport
4. Giza is a city outside of Cairo (distance macam KK pegi Papar la lebih kurang)

Because it was my first time travelling solo, most of my delays were caused by miscommunication & language barrier and self-stupidity ada juga la sikit.

Vital thing to take note, never take taxis to change terminals. They'll scam you big time. They offered me 10USD to go to a different terminal.

If you land in Terminal 1, Hall 3, which was where I was, there's a shuttle bus stop for inter-terminal travels FOC (free of charge). Located behind a building of travel agents. There wasn't any signboards to lead the way so at 3AM I trusted my guts and whad'ya know?, there it was the bus!

Picked up my car rental from cars.airasia.com, received a courtesy upgrade from manual to auto transmission (which I'm thankful for)

I underestimated the road in Cairo, thought It was very straight forward like KK roads, but no, I made so many wrong turns and had to take faaaaaar exits (again, driving without GPS/Wifi, bad idea) so consider getting a local sim or a WiFi dongle. I tried Vodafone.

Rented 2 nights at the Pyramids Loft from airbnb, The view, the majestic Pyramids! Check out photo below!

Things to take note before renting a car in Egypt

1. Gas price is more or less the same as Malaysia (easy conversion)
2. They drive on the opposite side
3. They don't follow the road rules
4. Lanes don't exist
5. Pedestrians often cross roads without noticing
6. WAZE app, It's not the best way to navigate
7. Traffic jam 24 hours!
8. There's NO free parking
9. I'd strongly advice against driving a manual car

The Egyptian pound is super easy to convert. 10LE = RM5. Egypt generally accepts USDs but It's better if you have a local currency and If you're flying from Malaysia, make sure to convert your cash from MYR to USD/Euro first then only when you reach Egypt, change it to their local currency as it is not available at money changers in Malaysia.

If you have never travelled on your own before, I strongly recommend you doing so. Provided that you have enough research of your destination country. Don't be like me ok. Egypt was my first real solo trip. 

Places of interest in Cairo/Giza (for a fee. You may refer this link)

1. Egyptian Museum (in Tahrir Square) 
2. The Citadel
3. Khan el-Khalili
4. The Shpinx & Pyramids of Giza (of course)

End of Egypt part 1.. To be continued...