00 - Departure

At the beginning of the year, my friend and colleague in the Geneva office reached out to me with some wonderful news: he was engaged to be wed in August.  Even better news, we were invited to their wedding!  Why am I talking about this in a blog about Egypt?  Well, said friend is an Egyptian and the ceremony was to take place in Alexandria (Egypt, not any US state).  

We were, of course, excited at the idea of visiting a country with such esteemed archaeological significance (in addition to nuptial news, of course).  So we made a plan: blocking out the window around August 6th for travel to & around Egypt.  It would have been the first time either Iram or I would have visited the African continent, and we were able to piece together a decent-looking itinerary based on a few recommendations our friend had made (Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Luxor, Hurgada, Sharm El-Sheikh).  

Since neither of us spoke Arabic, it seemed prudent to use a tour agency for managing guides, drivers, and even hotels (but we managed our own flights).  Our friend, Ahmed, recommended the Khadmar travel agency and we were able to arrive on a quoted itinerary that we found satisfactory (all via Whatsapp).

Turns out the tourist visa for Egypt is very straight forward: you go online, enter some info, pay $25, and print out your E-visa.  In printing out my E-visa, the printer used the 11x17 paper for some reason and I ended up with a royal decree about my privilege to enter.  

In the lead up to departure, we faced all sorts of ups & downs with regards to Iram's immigration team: her team was recommending to apply for her Visa extension early.  With plenty of time left on her Visa that seemed like it would be no problem, but in discussing our travel plans for Egypt, the team decided it'd be best to wait to apply until after Iram had returned to the US.  Ok, great, we have a plan ...but then one of the lawyers suddenly submitted the application prior to going on her own vacation 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♀️

Going into panic mode, we did a quick risk assessment.  After some hemming and hawing (down to the last day), we finally decided to pack our bags and take the plunge (across the Atlantic and perhaps into the Nile).  

So, here's to fun, friends, and (ph)aroahs!