Arrival in Egypt

I landed at Cairo Airport at 20:25 and took an Uber to my hotel. Driving across the city, I was struck by the endless neighborhoods of seemingly unfinished and rather unattractive apartment buildings. Many of them looked incomplete — the top floors exposed with only beams or columns visible, or entire sections left hollow and without windows. Yet, on the lower floors, people had clearly been living there for years.

Later, I learned that buildings are deliberately left “unfinished” for at least three different reasons:

1. To avoid paying taxes on a completed building,

2. Because the building lacks the necessary permits, including construction permits,

3. Because the money simply runs out before construction is completed.

When I arrived at the hotel and had just checked in and taken my bags to the room, the electricity went out. I was guided up to the rooftop terrace, where it was explained that power outages are common in Egypt. Due to electricity production shortages, power is cut in different areas on a rotating hourly basis.

Although the hotel is located a little distance from the pyramids, the largest of them — the Great Pyramid of Cheops — is clearly visible from the rooftop terrace. The hotel’s name reflects this proud feature: King Cheops Inn – Pyramid View.

On the terrace, I was invited to sit down at a table and was served a complimentary smoothie-like welcome drink. A local man introduced himself as one of the hotel’s owners and began asking about my plans in Cairo and Egypt. He spoke at length about various tours they could offer — or rather arrange for a substantial fee, since hotels themselves do not actually operate tours.

When I told him I preferred to explore on my own, he replied that visiting the pyramids independently was fine, but he strongly advised against going into the desert alone, describing it as very dangerous. I thanked him for the advice and said I would think about it.

Although the power outage was supposed to last only one hour, the electricity had still not returned by the time I went to bed. Several hours later, it suddenly came back on — and all the lights in my room switched on at once, waking me up. I turned them off again and went back to sleep.