Thursday, January 10, 2008

Cairo



Cairo is a busy, dirty, loud, friendly, and amazing city. I arrived at 4:00 am to my hotel. All went well and all pieces of my luggage has arrived. The next morning I met two of the riders that I have been communicating with by Facebook and we have bonded. A group of us toured the pyramids of Giza, and Sakkara yesterday. Very impressive and amazing that these marvels have withstood the test of time. The Sphinx had the most pull over me as you can get up fairly close and see the detail of the eyes, tail, and body. No wonder it's name in Arabic translates to "Beholder of Power."

We had an Egyptian lunch of goat meet, chicken, eggplant with baba ganoosh (sp?), pickled vegetable (yuck), fried dough balls and yummy bread. The bread is the best. I even got to hold a small lion cub for a photo. For a price, of course, but it was so cute I couldn't resist.

I have met a lot of riders so far. All are very nice, excited to ride, and worried about the same things (water, traffic, food, their bike, will they have the stamina, etc.) Good to know I am in good company. Tomorrow is our rider briefing where we will learn more of what to expect.

Once again, I must say how much I appreciate everyone's support, especially the community of Petoskey. This sabbatical is a little daunting for me. I am sure with time I will feel more comfortable. Biking through the traffic will be the first thing to overcome come Saturday morning. There are still some riders who haven't received their bikes and I do feel very bad for them. Hopefully, this will be resolved by Saturday. In Shallah or God Willing.

Take care everyone and I'll try to update in a few days.
Kerri Finlayson

5 comments:

Andrea said...

So glad you arrived safe and sound with all luggage intact! I'll be thinking of you on Saturday and sending your "hard core" karma. I would have gotten the picture taken with the baby lion too :)
Love and hugs!
Andrea

Angie Bradley said...

Glad you made it safely! I hope day one of the tour went well. I enjoyed reading the profiles of the group - you seem to be in very good company. I can't wait to hear more! Wishing you WELL every day of your journey!
Love Angie

Anonymous said...

Well, Kerri, we miss you of course, but wish you the very best as you head off down the road. You're missing a lot of Petoskey snow, ice, and frigid temperatures, so I know you wish you were back home here on the banks of Little Traverse Bay...:) And today the sun is even shining after several days of gray. How's the weather there? Love and hugs, Cliff

Anonymous said...

You are my shero!! I'm glad to hear you made it safe and sound. I can't wait to hear all about your adventures:)

Happy Trails!
Love ya,
Katie

Anonymous said...

Who give a shit?