天堂與地獄之旅 (6) - 19天自由行 自駕遊埃及和阿布扎比/杜拜 (Feel the warmth / People in non-tourist district tried their best to help you as much as possible)

Travel period : 7 Nov 2017 to 25 Nov 2017, total 19 days

Hong Kong > (flight duration 9.5 hours)  Abu Dhabi (4 hours behind HKT) > (flight duration 4.1 hours) Cairo (6 hours behind HKT)
Plane (1N) > Cairo (1N) > Bahariya Oasis White Desert (1N) > Cairo (3N) > Car Crashed in Asyut - delayed 12 hours - Highway 75 (1N) > Luxor (1N) > Aswan (1N) > Abu Simbel (1N) > Luxor (1N) > Hurghada (3N) > Cairo 
Cairo > Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (3N) > Dubai > Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi > Hong Kong
Plane (1N)

Exchange Rate

• USD1 = HKD7.95 (百年找換)
• USD1 = EGP17.6 (Bank in Cairo)[approx. EGP1 = HKD0.45]
• USD1 = AED3.59 (Travelex)+ service charge [approx. AED1 = HKD2.28]

Feel the warmth / People in non-tourist district try their best to help you as much as possible

Toilet - Cairo outbound / inbound

• On the way to Luxor, I met a group of kind people in Egypt when I was looking for toilet at suburb of Cairo.  After 2 hours driving from Cairo CBD, there was a residential area; I asked a young man who speaks English and he brought me to a house with a few old men sitting outside.  They communicated with local language and then an old lady came out from the house and brought me in.  Although the toilet was the dirtiest I have even been, (much worst than the one in Tibet) I truly thank them heartfully.  The old lady didn't speak English but used body language to ask me whether I was hungry or not.  She had some bread wanted to share with me.  Then I tried to thank them with tips but they declined, so I gave them some cool ointment as gift.

• Similar case happened while on the way from Hurghada back to Cairo Airport.  I "borrowed"  toilet from a closed restaurant and the staff declined my tips.  Again, I gave him some cool ointment.

Lunch - HyperPanda supermarket in Asyut

• We planned to have our lunch in Asyut, however, the cafe only provides cakes and drinks.  We met a kind businessman who speaks English and sent his driver to drive his car to guide us to a nearby supermarket to buy food for lunch.  The driver didn't speak English and used body language to tell us that he would wait until we had bought our food.  We  declined his suggestion and had our lunch at the sitting area of the supermarket.

Car crashed in Asyut at a roundabout (Day 7)

• We continued our journey to Luxor at 2:45pm after lunch, and unfortunately our car hit a lamp post at a roundabout.  Many pass-by drivers stopped and offered help to us.  We tried to communicate with the car rental company through mobile phone in English but was unable to understand each other.  One of those drivers helped us to communicate with the car rental company in local language, then the rental company informed the police about our car accident.  During that period, around 40 locals stopped their car and tried to give us help.  Some of them even called others who speak English to come and help us.
• Many thanks to Universe that both of us had 0% injury

• At 4:30pm the police came and took husband's passport for registration and our car was sent to repair.  The staff of rental company told us a replacement car would be sent from Cairo and be arrived Asyut in 5 hours (eventually it took 7.5 hours).  Then we followed their advice to wait at sitting area of the supermarket until the arrival of replacement car.
• Meanwhile, an English speaking off-duty senior police came to see if we need any help.  As our sim card was almost out of airtime and need to recharge, he sent a policeman to go to purchase for us.  Moreover, he gave his mobile number in case of further assistance was needed.
• The supermarket manager came to see if we need any assistance too.  My husband needed cigarettes so he tried to find someone to guide him to buy.  A local took my husband a 10 minutes round trip by motor-cycle to buy cigarettes.
• I was extremely tired and slept on the leg of my husband.  Pass-by customers and also cleaning lady suggested me to sleep in the prayer room but I declined.
• The 1st replacement car arrived at 12:00am and we continued our journey to Luxor at 12:30am from a nearby gas station after refilled the petrol.  We arrived Achti Resort (Luxor) at 6:30am (behind schedule 12 hours then cancelled few activities).
• At 4:30am, we both holding up for quite a period of time and suddenly a toilet appeared which saved us.

Car issues on the West Bank highway from Luxor to Aswan (Day 9)

• We found a small crack on the windshield early morning in Achti Resort (Luxor).
• Around 3pm on the way to Aswan, we noticed a yellow engine alarm on the display.

• It was supposed further 2.5 hours driving to Helnan Aswan Hotel (East Bank), so we ignored the sign and continued our journey.
• However, when we tried to speed up and reached 100km, the car slowed down and dropped to 60km automatically.  Therefore, we stopped the car and switched off the engine for 5 minutes.
• The drop happened again and again, so we pulled over right away on the highway and found someone for assistance.  We asked for help from a local who was sitting in a van parking on the side of the road, then the local called a group of people from a construction site nearby to help us.  Luckily a gentleman who speaks English came and helped us to communicate with the car rental company for the issues.
• After their communication, the man guided us to a farm and asked an engineer there to reset the car system.
• Those farmers were very nice and shared their organic hibiscus drinks with us and we "borrowed" the toilet as well.

• After resetting the car system, the yellow engine alarm disappeared, the man told us he would go to Aswan and he drove his car to lead our car as well.  During the drive, he called us a few times to check whether our engine was fine or not.
• Since the man had appointment to deal with in Aswan, he called his driver to drive a van and lead us to Aswan hotel before he left.
• The car rental company arranged a service man from repair centre in Aswan to pick up our car at the hotel next morning for repairing and replacing the windshield.
• What a coincidence, we met the gentleman again when we were having our breakfast buffet.  He passed his name card to us for we could call him anytime if we need help in Egypt.
• We gave 20 tins of 清涼油 cool ointment to him and the farmers.

Go back to (5) Watch your money / People in tourist district try their best to take advantage of you
Let's go to (7) Car issues in Egypt; Hotel and passport issues in Abu Dhabi