Weddingbee Blog

So, I’m back and behind my beloved computer once more (OK, I lie. This is Mr Lightning’s laptop, as mine decided to crash most inconveniently while I was finishing up name cards, and hasn’t been resurrected yet).

We spent much of our first day back dealing with gift admin and lots of honeymoon washing, but we’re almost back on top of things and looking forward to using all our new goodies. Because our photographs will be delivered on Thursday (as well as those taken in the photobooth), I thought I’d start my recaps with the thing freshest in my mind: our honeymoon. As it was indeed quite an adventure and I have a lot of tips to share for anyone traveling there in the future, I’ll break the honeymoon up into parts.

The honeymoon was slightly neglected with the hoopla of the wedding preparations, and I found myself packing last minute on Sunday morning (the morning after the wedding). And before I knew it, we were reminiscing in the car with my new in laws and on our way to Cape Town International Airport.

We decided to pack lightly and take only carry on luggage, but after our domestic flight to Johannesburg, we realised our error. Our travel agent had insisted there were no liquid regulations, but silly me, I had neglected to check myself. So there we were, rummaging through our neatly packed mini bag, looking for shampoo and sun cream. Our turnaround for our next flight to Cairo was very tight, and so our peaceful Sunday became very stressful indeed, running from terminal to terminal in the newly expanded Oliver Thambo Airport.

Deciding to check the luggage last minute, we ran to our gate and boarded the plane, exhausted.

An 8 hour flight later, and a little worse for wear, we arrived in Cairo - without our luggage.

An hour later, thanks to the help of our tour operator representative, we had a claim number and were on our way to our hotel in the heart of the city.

Cairo is a dusty, noisy city that rarely sleeps. The noise is deafening at first, but for seasoned city dwellers such as ourselves, we quickly adjusted.

With only the clothes on our back, no sun cream, and a few hours sleep, we kept our spirits up and headed for the Egyptian museum. Here you can see the pink icon from our hotel balcony (and the giant motorway we had to cross to get it. They don’t obey road rules, lights, or signs so it is best to cross roads with caution and a bit of bravery, as they only slow down when you start crossing the road).

Sadly, we couldn’t take any pictures in the museum, but we did spend a great deal of time exploring the treasures, sculptures, statues, jewelry and mummies. You have to pay extra to go into the mummy rooms, but I highly recommend it if you have ever watched and enjoyed documentaries on the topic. It is truly remarkable to see them in person. And of course, we visited the Tutankhamen display, which was thankfully in Egypt while we were there.

After a few hours in the poorly ventilated museum, we headed back to the hotel to assess what we were going to do about our lack of clothing and cosmetics. (Below is the view from our balcony of the Nile.)

In part 2, I’ll share how we became unofficially sponsored by Adidas (the only western store near our hotel) and ventured to the great pyramids of Giza. In part 3, I’ll share how we became reunited with our luggage and our journey down the Nile. And finally in part 4, I’ll share my personal tips for travelling to Egypt.

Have you ever been to Egypt? What was your favorite thing to do while there?