Day 2? What happened to Day 1? That’s tour group speak; Day 1 was departure from Tampa. Day 2 is arrival in Cairo. Day 3 will be the first day of touring.

We arrived at 4 PM and so the only thing I can do tonight is to report initial impressions.

• Flying on approach to Cairo International we had a good view of the ground. It looked like one giant sand dune. Even the buildings appeared to be something you would make in a sandbox. The only green we saw was right along the Nile river. But that’s Egypt for you: a giant desert with a verdant green swath that for 5,000 plus years has made Egypt what it was then and is today. I was going to say that everything appears earth colored, but that’s not quite right. Everything is shades of sand. OK, maybe the haze distorted the colors.
• Nope, our in-flight impression was correct. Everything is sand colored. We saw only one building that was painted non-neutral colors in the 45-minute trip to the hotel. It’s quite a switcheroo from your typical South American city where the buildings present a broad pallet of bright colors.
• We traveled in a small van (eight fellow travelers this load) with small windows and it almost killed me, photographically speaking. The sun was setting and one vista after another passed by with no good camera angle. The mosques and minarets were silhouetted by the sun, which was muted by a heavy layer of haze. Nat Geo cover material. Maybe tomorrow night.
• We had to buy a visa for $25 each at a kiosk. The passport guy glued it into our passport and gave it an official Egyptian stamp. What a nice souvenir. Well worth $25.
• We were met by a representative of Odysseys who escorted us to the hotel. While waiting in the passport line there was a floor tile inscribed with the word “Uber.” I asked our guide, “Do you use Uber here.” “It’s great!” he replied with a smile. “What about renting a car and driving in Cairo?” “Don’t. It’s crazy.” Of course, everyone says their city has the craziest drivers. Pastor Charlie preached the other day and said he’s in trouble, theologically, because of the naughty things he says while playing golf and driving in Tampa traffic. And after the ride in from the airport, I can tell you that Pastor Charlie would be in big trouble with Allah too.

Flights were pleasant enough and uneventful. Nine hours to Frankfurt, a two-hour layover and four hours to Cairo. We actually connected with Doug and Judy in Frankfurt. They’re on a later flight, but we spent a few minutes together before our flight was called.

It’s 6:30 PM Cairo time, we’re checked in to the Kempinski Nile hotel and are about to go for dinner here in the hotel. Two choices: Italian or Turkish. “Which one?” Judy asked me. “Never mind. I know you’ll want Turkish.” After almost 48 years of traveling she knows Old Jon won’t go for the ordinary. This ain’t Turkey but it’s closer to Cairo than Italy.

Now it’s 8:30 and we’ve finished dinner. Three specials were offered: Lamb shank in a pastry shell, an eggplant dish and lamb shank over rice. I ordered, “Special 1 for me and Special 3 for madam.” “What???” asked Judy, suspiciously. “Trust me.” She did and they both were great.

It’s breakfast at 6:30 AM an introductory meeting at 7:30 and on the bus to the pyramids at 9:00. Morning prayers? Fajr is at 5:19 AM tomorrow and Sunrise at 6:49. It’ll be a busy morning. Prayer times, it turns out, are dependent on sunrise. I can send you the link if you want to calculate it for your location. Fair warning: it involves calculation of an arccosine.