We started with a very early wake up at 4:00am from Ria’s Guest House outside Athens, a very nice host who gave us ice cream (obviously I liked her). 😁🍦

Anyway, we took a car ride to the airport; I was half asleep when we got out. We got there early with lots of time to spare. We amused ourselves by taking serial killer selfies. 

When we got on the plane we found our seats right behind first class. This is good and bad. Good because sometimes we get extra stuff that they give to first class. Bad because you have to watch first class get their great food and drinks 🍷.  

This airplane was bad. At first.  We had to watch them get their food when we where starving and could not have anything on the plane because you weren’t allowed to bring food on the flight. Then when we where nearing one hour it started getting better. The lady gave us extra candies and a big box of food. We got Sprite and a croissant 🥐 then a blanket and a pillow and a phone (that was from our parents to read though). When we finally landed, I got off and sleep walked to the taxi that drove us to our next destination. I immediately fell asleep. While my mom bent in every way possible to get a better view of the passing city of Cairo and the pyramids.  

When we got to the house my dad went out and got Schweps, a sugary drink like soda, so that we could have energy to get through dinner. We went to bed and slept till 12:00 pm the next day. We ate breakfast and lazed around for a bit, read slept, and ate. That night, the lunar eclipse happened and my parents somehow found a Swedish couple and talked to them til midnight. I don’t know this but Kai seems to think so. After my sugar rush, which included running around in circles and singing Frozen at the top of my lungs, I crashed on my dad’s lap. 

The next day, we went and visited the most ancient pyramids that came before the great pyramids of Egypt. These were the tombs of the older pharaohs of Egypt, Kufu’s father, grandfather, etc. We saw the queens’ too. On the second day, we went to the Great pyramids, and I got increasingly claustrophobic. My mom almost passed out. Kai was having an anxiety attack and my dad was fine because he is  always fine. I will leave the rest of the details for Kai to explain.

That afternoon  we got a very exhilarating camel 🐪 ride that my parents got down from 1600 Egyptian pounds to 350 (impressive right?) I got to share a camel with Kai and my parents got their own. Now, riding with Kai may be good if you want to lose a few pounds. She squeezes them right out of you. 

That night we went out for dinner, followed by a sugary drink and the light show for the pyramids. I had yet another sugar rush after that and instead of running in circles and belting Frozen at the top of my lungs, I screamed Taylor Swift and ran around in circles. 

We went to the Cairo museum the next day and visited a couple more temples, then had dinner at the hotel and crashed. I was really exited for the train the next day. I hoped to get a room to ourselves with no smoking since we were in first class.

When we finally got to the train, it was not a nice one with a room to yourself and your own
bed. No, it was a rickety dirty filthy train. You had one tiny seat with air conditioning blasting on you. It made you feel good at first but after 6 hours it started getting really cold. Then as we were 3 hours away the train stopped and we had to sit there for an hour and a half while they tried to fix the malfunctioning. We played cards, three rounds. I got the queen twice and my points added up to 37. As you can see I was very depressed. 

 

After the 16 1/2 train ride that was filled with cigarette smoke, we got off and into a rickety car that drove us to a stop and almost broke down when the man turned the key. After that we went down to the dock and I  immediately went to the big boat that looked like a really fancy ferry. My parents called me and I turned around. They had gotten into the a tiny boat that was very lopsided with the weight of them both. As usual Kai got in without a word and lost focus while looking into space. I stepped on the dock and said “ You want me to ride that?” My mom looked at my dad and smiled. They were laughing at a boat that was going to sink if I got on. I was tired and angry so I just said, “This is not going to end well!” and got on. Apparently this was even funnier than my last remark and they laughed even harder. I sighed and sat down while the guy pulled on a greasy rope to get the motor to go. 

We got to our hotel and  brushed our teeth and took a shower. As soon as I was done I jumped in my own bed and jumped on it only to reveal that the sheets were musty and I would need to sleep in my silk blanket GREAT!! Not. Blanket or none I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. What a day. 

The next day we slept in till 12:00 and lazed around all day. We used the free WiFi to watch videos on the Sphinx, we read, and we slept. After the train that was soo what I needed. Little did I know that I would go to heaven the next day. 

We went on the ferry again the next day and met a van that loaded our bags in and drove us to an ancient temple. We went with our private guide and learned about some history. Of course for me it went in one ear and out the other, so I amused myself by yet again taking selfies. My parents seemed to enjoy it though. 

After the temple we finally got to see our cruise boat. Yup, a cruise boat. I prepared myself for another “ferry” and hoped I was wrong. Thankfully I was. We walked into the ship and I gasped. We had walked into a huge room with marble floors and a chandelier. There were sculptures and a huge staircase. There was even soft jazz playing in the background. OK, maybe I imagined the jazz but still…

Sadly, our guide had lead us onto the wrong boat. I was so disappointed I did not even complain about my backpack once. Our guide kept saying that it was the same company but when we reached it, it was scratched up and dirty and I sighed and slowly trudged in. We walked in and the boat was still kind of good other than the fact that it smelled like cigarettes and looked like the rug had not been washed in ten years. 

Surprisingly, our guide kept walking and I followed. He walked out of the ship into another that smelled like jasmine and was just like the first one we walked into except it was really playing soft jazz and serving hibiscus tea. 

You will not believe what happened next. I could not believe it. Kai and I got our own room!!!!!!! We slept in a different room than our parents and we had our own key. I jumped on the bed for 10 minutes after that. Now I knew what heaven felt like. The ship had a living room with books and a huge comfy chair that I claimed as mine for our trip.      

Sadly, we only got to spend 3 days there. .. but they were the BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE!!!!!!! In the mornings we got breakfast: eggs and croissants and so much other stuff but if I said all if it I would be writing for three thousand pages. Anyway, after breakfast we would go see some ancient temples, learn a lot and take a BUNCH of selfies. 

Then we had lunch: amazing western food, such as pasta, chicken potatoes, corn, salad, and more. But my favorite part was the…. KETCHUP!!!!There was actually ketchup. I was so happy I used a full bottle – no joke. Then we went in the pool on the roof. Yes, it had a pool on the roof. and if we could squeeze in another temple we would and then dinner: rice, potato stew, peas, chicken tenders, KETCHUP… I loved it. 

But since we always have to leave heaven to go to reality again that is sadly what we did. And, yup, we went on another train ride except this time we were blessed with 2nd class, not 1st, oh dear. 

It actually was not too bad getting there. We got a van with AC  and that did not smell like cigarettes. We got there fifteen minutes early and my mom found lice in my hair – my sister did not have any. Just my luck. We got the stuff to get it out, then went aboard where we were immediately hit by the smell of cigarettes. 

I won’t tell you word by word the awful ride, because it was basically the same as the last one and I don’t want to make you depressed, too. The only difference is that a man moved my hand so that he could sit down on my seat with his butt in my face for an hour. 

Well, that is all from Egypt for now stay tuned for the next car ride….