Cairo and we wrap up our Egypt adventure--Days 20-22

It was time to leave Alexandria and head back to Cairo.  We have one more mode of transportation to experience while in Egypt....the train!

 It was a very pleasant ride through the Nile Delta to Cairo, taking about 2.5 hours.

We arrive in Cairo.

The station is quite elaborate inside.

 And on the outside.

We check into the Cairo Marriott hotel....for the third time so we are quite familiar with it now.

In the evening we have our farewell dinner at a local restaurant.  It is time to say goodbye to our Trip Leader and fellow travelers.  We had such a fun time with everyone.

Here we are with our friends, Margaret and Ken.  We met on a river cruise a couple years ago and discovered we all live in the same town.  We planned this trip with them and also the next one.

We stay in Cairo for two extra nights as we will be flying to Morocco next to start another trip with Overseas Adventure Travel.  Why not?  We are already over here so we save the time and expense of another long flight.

But before we talk about that trip, I want to wrap up this Egypt trip by saying it was an AWESOME experience.  I am so glad that we set aside any fears about traveling to this part of the world and took the opportunity to experience the culture, the history, and interaction with the local people as they shared with us their daily lives "off the beaten path" of the typical tourist.

We never felt threatened or afraid.  Every day we heard shouts of "Welcome!" and "We are so glad you are here" as we traveled along.

The Egyptian government very much wants tourism to thrive here once again, and for the travelers to feel safe.  While we were in the big cities of Cairo, Luxor, and Alexandria, we usually had a police car following our coach bus.  It did depend on the district we were traveling through as to whether a police escort was provided.

And we also had a security guard with us on the bus and at the tourist sites that we visited.  The guards were off-duty policemen.  I believe they were paid by the government, but Tarek also saw to it that each one received a nice tip from O.A.T.  This was only for the time were in the cities.  While traveling on the dehabeya on the River Nile in the rural areas, we did not have extra security and never felt we needed it.

Every time we entered a hotel or a tourist site, we went through a security check of scanning our backpacks, etc.  In fact, one could not enter the parking lot at the hotel in Cairo until a security dog sniffed all around the vehicle.

We did feel safe, but unfortunately things do happen.  While at home writing this blog, a Vietnamese tourist bus was hit with a roadside bomb near the Giza pyramids.  The Egyptian government swiftly found and killed 40 suspected terrorists.

Hopefully with the security measures in effect, this won't happen again.  But it does...not just in a country like Egypt, but also London, Paris, etc.  The terrorists want to put the fear in people and to hurt the country's economy and security.  We can't give in to them.  We hope to continue to travel and experience this wonderful, beautiful world.

We spent our two extra days in Cairo just relaxing at the pool and getting things repacked for the next adventure in Morocco.

We did walk over to the Cairo Tower, about a mile from the hotel to get a panoramic view of Cairo from the top of the tower.

And turning toward the desert, maybe...if you look real close....you might see the Giza pyramids through the smog.

So that's it for the Egypt adventure.  Stay tuned as we next travel to Morocco and the Sahara Desert!