1 November

I slept in, although it wasn’t quite as satisfying as I would have hoped as I had the iPod in my ears all night to mask the traffic noise. Then, just after 0800 I was up and prepared myself for the coming day, heading over to breakfast at 0830.
There was a very wide selection, including toast, so I could enjoy my Vegemite in its proper environment. I took some time over eating, as the day until 1300 is very limited. The weather outside is slightly humid (I hoped that it would have been dry), the traffic on the freeway is providing a cacophony of noise but the people staying here are not prone to answering either a “Hello” or a “G’day”. It seems the larger the place, the more reserved the people are.
Just on that, this place offers a “turn-down service” by request. I really can’t think of anyone, except disabled, who really need such a service. When it happened on the Moscow – St Petersburg cruise, I couldn’t help thinking what a waste of time and effort. It is different on trains such as the Ghan and the Indian-Pacific, where your seat during the day becomes your bed overnight and the staff turn it down and prepare it while you are eating.
Now at 1000 I have repacked (again unnecessary if I had been staying as planned) and will wander around later.
After a look around I read my Lonely Planet guide to Turkey until about 1130 and then checked out and left my bags at the luggage area ad kept reading until about 1250, whereupon I wandered back and got my bags out. At this stage I met two ladies from New Zealand who were in the same position as myself – they had booked in early, to the hotel we were to leave from, so they could settle in, explore the area and become familiar with the surrounds. At 1300 we were all ready to leave. And at 1400 we were all ready to leave. And at 1425 we were all ready to leave. However, still no transport. I rang the number in the Cosmos booklet but received a nonsensical reply. I asked the desk to try – they found it was a wrong number. I asked if they could chase it up (from the booking details for all of us) and ten minutes later they had the correct number. Walleed (I think) then said it would be a few minutes as the car had been involved in an accident. By about 1440 the car and Walleed turned up. We all got in and then were driven a back way to the hotel we should have been in (which turned out to only be about seven hundred metres from the hotel we had been in). Here we quickly got out, were checked in and went to our rooms. I asked about Internet access (buy time at so many Egyptian pounds per hour – no thank you) and the lady I had promised to meet and was told the room she was in (tried to ring – no answer and tried to knock – no answer) so ended up going for a walk. Somehow I ended up being shown around the block by a perfume salesman. Although the perfume was nice, I wasn’t after any, but (surprise, surprise) they did have a papyrus shop next door. The prices seemed reasonable, so I got some for Fran. Then I wandered back to the hotel to find Devika (the lady I had promised to meet) waiting in the lobby, as she had checked and found I still wasn’t checked in (when I was, two hours before). She saw my papyrus and wanted some, so we went out there to the same shop. On the way we went up to a café on the balcony of either this or the hotel next door, where the pyramids were the only background visible. At the shop she selected some papyrus and then was convinced to have a look at the perfumes. To my surprise I ended up buying some, and some small shaped bottles, so there are some who will get them as filled perfume bottles, most likely as a hand-delivered present.
The saving grace was I got a free drink of coke each time, and am now looked on by them as a “middle-man”.
Back at the hotel Sue and Lyn had not checked in (as far as we could find out, so we chatted while keeping an eye out for them. By 1900 they still had not arrived so we went in to have dinner – and ended up with Bob from Georgia, who had done seven Cosmos tours already and now was about to start his eighth. After a pleasant dinner, we all retried and I did some washing (second-last I hope) and then went to bed, to listen to some music and get a good night’s sleep.