Day 1. Sat 13th September
The flight out.
Somewhat against my better judgment I have been persuaded to take the 16:35
flight from Heathrow to Cairo via Athens. There were a couple of alternatives,
one from Manchester via somewhere, and also a direct flight from Heathrow,
but I am advised that these are more expensive because Explore get a discount
on "their" flight, plus I shall get to meet my fellow travellers on the
way over.
The train is miraculously only 15 minutes late. I have booked tickets
over the web, and the recommended route to Heathrow is by bus from Watford
Junction rather than through town, which seems to make sense. The Railtrack
itinerary allows 1.5 hours for the drive on the Virgin red airport bus
to Heathrow, a drive which should take 1 hour, the extra half hour allowing
for a) the train being late (the buses only run every half hour), and b)
the traffic on the M25. [Note to self - allow 2 hours for this in future.]
Bearing in mind my travels in Africa with Ken Smith I decide to stock
up with a bottle of hooch, and treat myself to a litre of Southern Comfort.
As we shall see, I end up toting this around Egypt for quite a while before
it finally gets opened in the Western Desert.
The choice of flight turns out to be a big mistake. The direct flight
to Cairo is only about 4 hours, but we have a 3 hour stop in Athens. I
do meet a couple of people that are travelling with Explore, but it turns
out that they are on a different trip, and although out paths cross briefly
on a few occasions, I never really see them again. It seems that no one
from my trip is on this plane, they have all very sensibly taken other
flights. I arrive in Cairo at about 2am and am bundled into a coach and
whisked off to the New President Hotel where I finally get to bed about
half past four