All is good

October 8th - 3:00am
I can't sleep so I thought I would explain why in my last post I think Egypt is trying to kill me. I was kidding but yesterday was a bit tough. It started good and I slept a little late, got up and had breakfast at the hotel,... cheese, bread, olives, and cucumbers. I packed my bag, checked out, and headded for the train station. It was about a 20 to 25 minute walk. I asked one of the police officers where the ticket window was when I arrived and was directed down platform 1. Next, I had to figure out which window, the first one was not it and I was told be the laddy behind the glass to go in another line, she didn't say which one. So, I get in another line and was able to ask someone before I waisted a lot of time again. This line was good. I get to the window and find that first class is sold out, I get a second class ticket which is pretty cheap, EL 19.00. The first class ticket is either EL 35.00 or EL 55.00, depending on the time you pick to leave. I have my ticket and I'm not really sure about traveling second class but I leave the station to find the Roman amphitheater ruins. It's easy enough to find, just one block over from the train station. I have several hours before I need to get back and I spend most of my time walking around the ruins at the theater. I was going to walk to another sight but had run into a person I meant on the plane. She and her husband are in Egypt for a conferance and are from the UTC neighborhood of San Diego. We talked for 15 minutes or so and then her tour group started boarding the bus. After talking with her about the location I wanted to visit I decided not to walk there and instead walk around Alexandria with no destination. 

It was time to head back to the train station and find out what platform I needed to be on. One of the things I've done on this trip when traveling by train is to double check and ask a few people where I'm supposed to be. Yesterday, I had five differnet answers and one person just said not here and brushed me away with his hand. The consistant answer was platform 8. I went to platform 8, bought some drinks from a vendor and asked one more time where I should be, he told me I was in the right place. I sit and relaxas I have a half hour before departure. As I'm waiting I notice that after about fiftenn minutes no one else is on the platform. Everyone left. A train pulled in but it's on platform 6. The vendor yells over at me, "hey mister, that train." I get up and run over to the other platform. I get in my car, find the seat and all is good. Second class isn't bad. A little more run down than first class but it's good. By the end of the trip though, we've picked up so many people that they're standing and have packed the car. I am the only white boy on the train so everyone is looking at me like what's he doing here. We pull into Cairo around 6:30pm. I head for the subway and get a ticket. I'm off to Sadat square. I'm looking forward to getting to the hotel and relaxing but when I walk the mile and arrive I find that they gave my room to someone else. I get my EL 100 deposit back but now have to look for something. I spend a half hour online searching and making some phone calls. Nothing. I also find that a friend I had been talking to online for a couple of weeks is also in Cairo and she wants to meet at the hotel. I wait until 9 for her and have to leave for food. I walk back downtown because I know there's hostels close to the area. I eat find a hostel, the first one I walk into. By this time it's 10:30. My friend went to the other hostel but we were able to connect through msn. She grabbs a cab to Talaat Harb circle and comes to meet me. We spend a couple hours talking and I walk her back to her hostel around 1am. Daisy had some great story about her travels in Egypt and I shared mine. It was really cool to connect online with someone from another country (she's from China) and then meet up with them.

Speaking of China, there are so many Chinese, and Japanese, people touring Egypt. Lots of people from Europe too. I've seen very few Americans though. I think the largest American group I've seen is a tour group at the Roman aphitheater,... It was a retirement home let loose.