I awakened to a bit of a rainy morning in Port Said. All in all, I haven't had too much to deal with in terms of rain and such all the way along, and this was only a bit of a sprinkle of rain. I thought I would head out for a look around in the daylight before I headed back to Cairo. I headed to the canal and had a look in the light. It was still pretty impressive, at least in my mind. As I was approaching the canal, there was a large ship passing the spot I was approaching. It is always an impressive sight when I see a big ship passing such a short distance from the shore. I don't know how deep the channel is, but it must be quite deep. And it left me wondering again how one engineers and then accomplishes such a feat as a canal, when water is fighting to get in.
I went up on the walkway and was walking along the path when I happened to pass a bunch of young people. They got my attention and beckoned me over. We chatted for a while. They were really friendly. We took some photos together before I headed off on my way. The boys were both named Mohammed. The girls in the photo with me are Summer, Rayid, Shushu, and Aya. After a while it was time to head off.
I walked around for a while longer before refinding the candy store I visited the night before. I couldn't help it. I wanted a bit more. I got some gummy worms and coke bottles as well as some fuzzy peaches. Heaven!!! I want them to be famous. They were another little taste of what I know. I was glad to see them. Then I headed to the bus station. What had been supposed to cost me 10 pounds the evening before, but had really cost 20, today cost me 5 to get back. I hate taxi drivers who prey on those who don't know the area and are visiting. I hate them!!!
My taxi driver on the way back was really nice. He talked to me and told me about his family. Because he was such a nice guy, I gave him my change as a tip. He appreciated it.
I walked into the bus station and the same guy from the night before, the damn taxi driver, was in the station. He came up to me like we were friends. Apparently he really had missed the part where I was supremely pissed off at him. He made to ask if I remembered him. Heh heh, yeah, I remember you, uh huh, right. Get away from me. But he pulled me to one of the kiosks to “help” me get a ticket to Cairo. I imagine he was fishing for more money, but I just resisted his help as much as possible. Then he tried to get me to follow him to the waiting lounge. I stopped and figured where I was was good enough. He got a bit surly and had someone come over who could speak English and ask me what I needed. I told him to make the bozo go away because he was annoying me and I didn't like him much. I think the message even got relayed because the taxi asshole kind of slouched angrily away.
I sat in the coffee shop and waited for my bus. Eventually it came up and I got on and headed back to Cairo. On the way, I saw a rather astonishing sight. It looked as though a bunch of ships were cruising through the desert. I knew it was in all likelihood ships in the Suez Canal, which cuts right through the desert, but it really did look like they were just sitting in the sand. It was eerie even though I knew the real story.
It was only 180 kilometers to Cairo, which should have come to about 2 and a half hours all things considered. It took three and a half, although we were back in the Cairo area after about 2 and a quarter. The rest of the time was spent getting through the very crowded streets of Cairo.
From where the bus let me off, I walked back to Brothers Hostel. They didn't recognize me at first, as I had gotten a haircut, but they were happy to see me again. Or at least that was how it seemed. With all that I had paid them and experienced because of that, I was on guard. When I said I needed to get to the airport early in the morning, they told me that the only way would be to take a taxi. But they could arrange a car for 70 pounds. I questioned the amount, and they told me that because of the early morning and the fact they were going to the airport with no guarantee of a fare back, they would charge about double getting in from the airport. Baloney!!! I call BS. There is no cabbie in the world who will take a trip to an airport, where people are arriving all the time, and not return with a fare. He was just spinning a story to be able to get as much money from me in their own transport as possible. They really were all about the money.
Another thing that showed that was that despite all the money I paid for them to set three different excursions during my time in Egypt, not one of them asked how it went. And that speaks volumes to me about what they considered the most important part of “helping” me get out and see Egypt. It's kind of sad really. They won't ever know, or probably even care, that they screwed up and that they are just having more and more people trash them. It's not something they will probably ever realize that they could be having a soaring reputation and people telling all their friends about the hostel. And all it would take is just some customer focus, instead of money focus, which is how it feels after having dealt with them. It's too bad.
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