Last Day in Egypt

 We stayed at an amazing hotel called the Steinberger Hotel. The security alone was impressive. If coming into the hotel from a car, the car had to go through a gate, have a guard dog smell all around the car, guards would then inspect the car and ask the driver who it was bringing in and their credentials. If coming in from the street, you had to go through a metal detector and put your bag through a screener. The guard would then scan your body with a metal scanner.
Once you stepped foot into the hotel, you then had to go through the same process. Bag through the scanner, go through the metal detector and a body scan. Honestly I loved it. It made me feel very safe in the place we were staying.

The breakfast was SO impressive! We had crepes every morning with mango, vanilla and strawberry sauce! We would also have mango and guava juice every morning and a shot of mango puree. One thing that I loved as well was the rice pudding topped with pistachios. Some mornings I would have a fresh falafel with tahini and pita bread. Seriously, we looked forward to the breakfasts each morning.

Since we had a whole free day on our last day, we went back to the Khan al Khalili to do some shopping. We were there early in the mooring before all of the crowds and it was easier to look in the shops. Regan is the master negotiator! I seriously get so uncomfortable with bartering, but Regan has a natural talent for it. 

We were able to get some really cool souvenirs for the kids and some cool things for our house. 

Every time Regan would speak Arabic to a shop keeper, they would be so surprised. I think that helped in his bartering since they were able to communicate better with him. 

 Do you spot the cat? Cats were EVERYWHERE in Egypt, as well as hundreds of stray dogs. I felt so bad for the cats and dogs because they would just wander the streets searching for anything to eat.

 We went to a stable outside of the pyramids to have an hour camel ride in the dessert. This was so much better than riding camels right by the pyramids since it is so touristy and expensive. Our guide did not speak any English, so thank goodness for Regan's arabic skills.

 Our guide was so awesome to take pictures for us in the desert. The weather was a perfect 65 degrees most of the time we were in Cairo.

 The Egyptian guide knew all of the funny pictures to do with the pyramids in the background.

 WOW! Seriously, riding camels in the Egyptian desert was amazing! They were actually so much more comfortable riding than horses because they had more padding on top.

 Our guide motioned for Regan to stand on top of his horse, so Regan did. I seriously have NO idea how he was able to balance on top of the horse but it turned into a cool picture!

So riding camels in the desert with he pyramids in the background was amazing! Once in a lifetime experience. The next thing that happened was just pure crazy and looking back, Regan is glad we had this experience to show us true Egyptian culture. Me, not so much...

While riding back to the stables, I noticed that my selfie stick had fallen out of my pocket. I had just felt it minutes before, so I knew it couldn't be far. Regan told our guide that I had lost something so he told us to stay on our camels in the middle of the desert while he went on his horse to find the stick.

I was so mad at myself because I should have put it in a more secure place. Once our guide was gone for 10 minutes, I was getting pretty nervous. Luckily, our camels were being really good and staying put. Out of nowhere, an Egyptian on a donkey came riding up to us. He asked Regan what we were doing. Regan explained to him that our guide was trying to find a selfie stick I had lost. He then said, "how much will you give me if I find it?" Regan told him 100 pounds which is 6 dollars. The guy then rode away searching for the stick as well.

At this point, I was over the selfie stick and wanting our guide to come back so we could get going. The Egyptian on a donkey came back and showed Regan a camera lens he had found. Regan told him we didn't want the lens but he wouldn't leave us alone so Regan gave him so money to make him leave us alone. Our guide finally came back with no selfie stick. I tried to communicate to him that it wasn't a big deal and that we could just go. The donkey guy came back up to us and was asking for money if he found the stick. Somehow, our Egyptian guide could tell something was weird.

Our guide immediately got on his horse and led us and the camels to the nearest police check point which was close by. He told the police to keep an eye on us and then he left. At this point, I was getting pretty nervous and I was ready to end the camel ride. Keep in mind we were stuck on top of the tall camels this whole time. Our guide was gone for 10 minutes while the police just looked at us. Very uncomfortable. Finally our guide came back and he had the guy on the donkey with him. We think what happened is that he lured the donkey guy back with him saying that the Americans would pay him for the selfie stick since he knew he had stolen it. Our guide got off of his horse and told the police that the donkey guy had stolen something from us. They immediately took him off of his donkey and found the selfie stick on the donkey guy.

Regan and I were so confused. Then, out of nowhere, an Egyptian all dressed in white from head to toe came out, started yelling at the donkey guy and just slapped him as hard as he could. The sound of the slap took me by surprise since it was so loud and I just felt so bad that I started crying. Regan told me to stop crying since the police were looking at us weird. Apparently, the man dressed in white was some kind of a Muslim Priest and was discipling the guy who had stolen our property. The donkey man gave the selfie stick back to me and we were on our way with our guide while the police and priest kept the thief.

I was so taken back by the justice system we had just witnessed. Regan thinks that the Muslim priest that came out and slapped the guy was discipling the thief which was better than the police doing something more extreme. I was so proud of our guide who didn't speak any English because he truly wanted to just keep us safe and to have our lost property back, even though I didn't even care at that point about the selfie stick. All I could say to him was shukran.

I was so freaked out by the whole experience, but Regan thought it was cool to see it right in front of us. We got off of our camels and were on our way. The total cost for us riding camels in the desert for an hour was $15! Regan told the stable the price we wanted to pay and they accepted. I think they were fine with that price is because they don't get any tourists coming to their stables. Tourists usually just ride horses and camels at the pyramids for 20 minutes for a much higher price from their stables.

 Our über driver couldn't find us at the stables, so we got a taxi. Regan told the taxi driver we wanted to go to the Mena House which was pretty close by and that we would pay 20 pounds. The taxi driver accepted and mid way into the drive, he said, "you pay me 10 dollars!" By this time, we were so done with Egyptians trying to scam us so Regan pulled out his new arabic word he had just learned. He said, are you a Haraami? The Egyptian taxi driver just laughed and laughed at Regan. When we finally got to our destination, Regan paid him the 20 pounds and were were glad to be out of his taxi.

Once at the Mena House, which is a palace hotel the Marriots bought, we sat under an umbrella table, ordered Mango, Guava, Strawberry puree drinks and just chilled. We couldn't stop talking about the craziness we had just experienced and just laughed and laughed.

 We ordered a traditional Egyptian lunch. Fresh Pita Bread, stuffed grape leaves, tahini, hummus, baba ganoush, tabouli, falafel and shawarma. We kind of felt like we deserved a nice feast after our crazy police encounter and our last day in Cairo.

Besides the whole crazy fiasco with the selfie stick, I felt safe in Egypt and was pleasantly surprised how much security was all over! If I would have known this, I don't think I would had been so nervous to travel to Cairo. I think that Egypt's tourist economy is struggling, so they want people to feel safe. The police presence was even more heightened when leaders from other countries came to visit.