I woke up to my alarm and not feeling any real rush got myself packed and ready to check out in a little less than an hour, which is far from my fastest but I did not want to miss anything or leave anything behind.
Once I got downstairts to the reception I could see the heavy rain coming down from above and I instantly regretted not booking a taxi last night and ensuring I could get to the airport in plenty of time. I also regretted not getting any change or of checking out which terminal I was meant to leave from.
This regret was doubled when the hotel was unable to find either a public or a private taxi for me for ages and when in the end they did manage to find a guy who was willing to take me, I had to sit in the front, not in the rear where my rucksack was and when we finally arrived at the airport he suddenly fleeced me big time by the fare.
First he claimed that because of the heavy traffic he wanted a bigger commission and then finally that he only had 20 dhs on him, which meant that as I had only two 10's myself or a few 100's left and he was asking for at least 50, I ended up being blackmailed into giving him a 100 and taking his 20 as change, thus a net cost of 80 almost triple what I paid only 36 ours ago to do the same journey only in reverse.
I would have haggled more but I was in a rush to beat the 90 minute deadline for overseas flights checkin and he knew it, playing on it and that he could either drive away or lock me out and apart form my rucksack if I tried to pull a fast one.
After cursing him plenty of times under my breath, I left and checked in and then cursed even louder when I found out that I had plenty of time as their check in deadline was 60 minutes, not the 90 or more as standard for most other airlines times for overseas flights.
HoweverI barely had enough time to have breakfast adn go through security which was a bit tighter than I expected before I was boarding the plane and ready to fly across to Bahrain to meet my friends there.
The flight as smooth and barely more than an hour and then I had a mix of luck as for the first time I won my game of luggage, being the very first piece of luggage send out on the carosel but then having my handluggage torn and ripped by the hand luggage metal detector belt.
Once through customs that was easy thanks to having prepaid and organised my entry visa online, and then jsust as luckily was that my friend A', along with her daughter, was there waiting for me in arrivals. It was with a lot of emotion that we greeted each other, not having seen each other for at least six years, and then we headed on back to her apartment where I was once again reunited with her son M' the one whom I had travelled to Ireland and rescued only the other year.
After a bite to eat in a nearby Nandos restaurant it was back to their apartment for a nice long catch up natter and then also reunite with her husband S' when he got back from work.
It was great to share a meal and drink with my friends once more, especially as we had somehow narrowly missed each other in Fiji and then again in Australia, so finally catching up with them before the end was such a nice touch.
I had thought that the night would end with us just sitting down chatting but S' wanted to show me a few of the local watering holes that were close to their apartment, and here it was nice as a nearby hotel complex had three bars side by side on its ground floor leve, all catering to a different crowd. A sports bar, a more western lounge bar and a Arabian bar were the three themes, and all with plenty of pretty female hostesses and waitresses all eagre to push the slightly overpriced drinks but in a very friendly and casual way.
The hostesses were from a variety of countries, with surprisingly many of them being from the Philippines, but they made a real effort to get to know you and engage you in conversation while they were wearing modest clothing, instead of similar places in other cities where they just rely on push up bras and short skirts, and the fact that none of them asked me to buy them a drink and together S' and I were out for a couple of hours equaly spoke volumes.
The final stop was the Arab bar where a trio of Morrocan female dancers were on the stage ready to dance for our enjoyment, but being a Sunday it was a very quiet night and we were the only patrons, so they didnt quite put their full energy into it and for myself the music was far too loud considering it was otherwise empty, so we just stayed for the one before heading back.
If I had ever doubted my rain making abilities then tonight completely quashed then as by the time we were leaving the nights sky was lit up with the flashes of lightening and the thunder was not far behind it, which by my count is now 31 countries in a row ( or 32 if you include the day I left England ), though admittedly it has not been raining every day, not in every city and not always enough to cause much of a fuss over.
S' said that the rain was very unseasonal, but then added that the climate had been changing in recent years, and I jokingly told him to place a bet that it would be raining in Cairo within a week as I was only due to remain here another few days.
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