Cairo Capers of a Canadian Belly-Dancing Dropout (Cairo)

My name is Yasmin. At age twelve I was married off to Adan for 2000 camels and 100 horses. Personally, I think he got a bargain.

Okay, so I’m not really married, and gratefully I am a long way from twelve. But you may ask, how did a mild-mannered marketer at the corporate offices of a luxury company become Yasmin, Belly-Dancing Queen of Cairo?

Not one to do things half measure, after sixteen hours of exhausting phonication with Aeroplan I finally wrestled out of them a business-class flight that didn’t route me through Winnipeg and brought me back within a time frame that wouldn’t seriously compromise my career. Despite a delay in Heathrow and consequent feverish sprint through Frankfurt, I arrived in Cairo relatively refreshed. If you get the chance to fly Lufthansa’s business class, do — the beds extend fully, and I highly endorse the built-in massage feature. The plane was so new that frequently I’d hear the German equivalent of “aha!” coming from the flight staff as they discovered new and wondrous buttons. The Lufthansa legs were a far more positive experience than Air Canada Toronto to London where I had the misfortune of being sat next to The Drunk.  He managed to spill wine on me (white – mine), and on himself (red – his). His constant yawning in my ear was a singular pleasure.

The arrival experience in Cairo was painless, especially given that I was fully escorted by a Greeter, arranged by our hotel, who whisked me through a line-less immigration. I was delighted to see my bags and my travelling friend, Alison, who had been waiting for me for three hours in the very grubby and female-free airport, and was thus even more thrilled to see me.

Our hotel, needless to say, was fantastic. We were given a gorgeous suite – with two beds! – overlooking the Nile, a short walk from the Egyptian Museum. We were extremely well taken care of, from the Mercedes transfer to the in-person lobby greeting to my friend, the Director of Marketing, who said “call the Spa whenever you’re ready for your free massages”.

Best view of the Nile