Transiting Munich, and then Arriving in Egypt
22.03.2018 - 22.03.2018
Our flight to Munich was uneventful,
and we all managed to get some decent sleep. Our layover in Germany was
less than two hours, but enough time to regroup in the lounge and get
some strong coffee. The EgyptAir flight to Cairo left around 2:00pm and
was fully booked. Still, the flight was quite comfortable and the
service much better than expected, and we landed about 20 minutes ahead
of schedule.
I had distinct memories of the old airport in Cairo, which was a proverbial third-world mess of inefficiency and filth. Since my last visit more than 20 years earlier, two entirely new terminals have been built, and I was sufficiently impressed by what we saw upon arrival. Our local tour director for Memphis Tours was to meet us before immigration, to secure our tourist visas, expedite us through customs, and then get us to our hotel -- the Le Meridien Pyramids, located in Giza, southwest of downtown Cairo. We were among the first people off the plane, and as we approached the visa area, we encountered a large number of expediters, all holding placards with individual or group names. Our names, however, were nowhere to be seen. As soon as we'd walked as far as we could before hitting immigration, I was about to make a call to the agency, but then our expediter -- Mahmoud -- appeared through a side door. Our early arrival had surprised him, but he made it. He took our passports, got our visas, walked us through immigration and customs, helped collect our bags, and then had us on a large 15-passenger van with a driver for our hotel transfer, all within 20-30 minutes of landing. Not too shabby.
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| Our Flight from Munich to Cairo |
I had distinct memories of the old airport in Cairo, which was a proverbial third-world mess of inefficiency and filth. Since my last visit more than 20 years earlier, two entirely new terminals have been built, and I was sufficiently impressed by what we saw upon arrival. Our local tour director for Memphis Tours was to meet us before immigration, to secure our tourist visas, expedite us through customs, and then get us to our hotel -- the Le Meridien Pyramids, located in Giza, southwest of downtown Cairo. We were among the first people off the plane, and as we approached the visa area, we encountered a large number of expediters, all holding placards with individual or group names. Our names, however, were nowhere to be seen. As soon as we'd walked as far as we could before hitting immigration, I was about to make a call to the agency, but then our expediter -- Mahmoud -- appeared through a side door. Our early arrival had surprised him, but he made it. He took our passports, got our visas, walked us through immigration and customs, helped collect our bags, and then had us on a large 15-passenger van with a driver for our hotel transfer, all within 20-30 minutes of landing. Not too shabby.
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| Cairo Airport |
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