The last days
Four years later, and I am finally finishing this part of the journey. What I thought would be the second in the series came to be the last. Ah, but alas, allow me to share with you the last two days of the trip and wrap up this amazing tale that will soon be made into one story, one book, and five trips!
I remember we left our stuff at a small hotel near the Giza pyramids, where we would then take a bus to get closer to the sphinx. Today was our last day, or second-to-last day, from what I can remember. There was a security guard with us that I took a picture of on the rooftop of the hotel. It had a great view. He was really thankful he offered to shake my hand. It was when I went to the bathroom that I realized just how heavily armed the people guarding us were. This man had a full Uzi, grenades, and I don’t even know what else under this huge jacket he had.
When we went to the Sphinx, it actually looked smaller than it does in pictures up close. It’s maybe the size of a small 3 or 4-story building? Closer to a 3-story, I would say. We ate at a café that had a great view of the pyramids around lunch time later on. Of course, this is what I remember, but I just remember two Egyptian girls smoking hookah with one of them staring at me the whole time.
In the afternoon, before we returned to the Steigenberger hotel, we stopped at a man’s perfume shop. He was some sort of psychic as well, who said he even remembered Julio from a past life here, where he was an Egyptian mayor. Truth be told, the man was quite rude to the women in the group, and he was too much of a “salesman.” Hmm, but well, that was much of our experience as tourists, huh?
I don’t recall them selling to us as hard as these people did on the other trips. Anyways, we headed back to the hotel and had one last place to see. The pyramids, but at night! I forgot, but I think it was either before or after here we draw the cards like we usually do. Out of all the trips now, looking back on it, I think this was the only trip where we did not draw the cards on the first and the last day. We got to see the inside of the pyramids and visit them at night!
Inside the pyramid
This part I’m not supposed to tell too much about, from what I remember, Mayk had told us. It was really cool, but nothing too crazy, perhaps? The trip did continue for three or four more days for those who went to Mount Sinai, but my mom and I did not go.
The last day
The last hours and moments of this escape me now. I will retell what I can remember when we were leaving the hotel and the airport now. We did not pay as much of a hefty fee to have these “negative” covid tests. What a shit show. On arrival at the Cairo airport, I remember we had to go through four different security checkpoints and one last security check before we boarded the plane! Our flight left quite early, which, to my shock, I remember seeing some of the Egyptian staff kneeling on the prayer mats as the sun was rising.
Even in the airport, and what was more, some of the cleaning staff had asked us for money for no apparent reason. Egypt is unique and special. There are many memories there for me, and perhaps maybe even some of you who have read this far.
We returned through Heathrow airport, where, upon leaving the plane, a tall British woman pulled me aside and started asking me where I was going. My mom came over to tell her I’m her son, and she backed off. Strange woman. The airport staff working at the security were all South Asians. I have to say, out of all the airports I have passed through, these people were super polite, especially compared to good ole Philly!
The flight back to Philly from London was nearly empty. It was just my mom and maybe five or six other people in this large plane built for a few hundred people! The British Airways flight attendants were extremely lovely once again. The top three airlines, if not the number one, that I have flown with for sure. When we returned to the States, the people were quite friendly, I must say. One man, after the one security checkpoint we had passed, asked to see my bookbag. Inside, I still had a Rowan College at Gloucester County (RCGC) folder.
Once he saw I had this, he lowered his guard, welcomed us back, and had a good conversation with us. The last man to check us in was quite friendly, but I forget now if he was from this trip or another one I took. So many trips, so many memories.
This journey began with Mt. Shasta, and it opened up quite a lot of unexpected and good moments I would have never imagined following Egypt. 2022 was a pivotal, if not the most pivotal, year of my life thus far! Without a doubt. Enjoy my writing, and I hope you will gain much after reading this. I plan on writing more now, as I finish this, I am still traveling and now even teaching! There will be more, and I hope you will be there as I continue to write and share more and more of what I have to offer. Thank you all, and I hope this writing blesses you as my experiences and your contributions have for me. Cheers!
