Saturday morning has finally arrived, We drove round to junction 3 of the M4 to meet with Emma Marsh @ 9:30.

My stomach by now was in knots, excitement filled the car. Just a short drive from here to Heathrow. In fact it took seconds to get there.
Upon arriving at terminal 3, we soon took our minds off of the daunting task ahead by spotting the tags on the bags, It was quite simple with the cleverly coloured Classic Tours luggage labels - Brilliant Yellow.

A few more minutes passed before the group started to multiply, a few of us were speaking for the first time and you could feel the nervousness of us all, the same sheepish look and dreaded look of "Oh no what have I signed up to"

Before long Someone started to hand out the tickets and we could go and check in. That is when all of our emotions arrived together. "We're finally going" I said to Emma, who looked towards Paul for support.

We checked in at the same time but with different people hoping to get seated next to each other, unfortunately this wasn't to be, we both said goodbye to our Partners and wandered to the departure lounge, "It's a city in itself" I remember saying as we turned a corner.
We strolled a little further before the signs of hunger started, a bagel shop, an excellent way to calm the nerves.

We looked around for some familiar faces and spotted Corrine and Monica, we sat and began to talk them both, These two ladies are to cycle on a tandem as Monica is visually impaired, but is a real sport.

Before we knew it we were called to the gate and a 20 minute walk was shown on the boards, thankfully someone invented the Lazy walkway.

Traveling with EgyptAir has gone so far without incident, the legroom , meals and staff have been excellent, even to the point of letting us watch the take off from the on board camera which was pointing at the ground, we all watched as the runway soon turned into a distant object and the ground became clouds.
Unfortunately Emma was sat two rows in front of me so some clever hand signals and lip synching were needed to communicate.

The distance came up on screen that we would travel in our 5 hour flight, 3580km. Halfway through this the food arrived, Chicken Curry and Rice with a chocolate cake for desert.

The flight started to become the longest 4.5hrs of my life, but the virtual map has just shown us flying over Alexandria, with only about 30 minutes before we touch down we were 215 miles away.

None of us know what to expect from Cairo airport, but we will.

Cairo Airport
What an Airport, If it wasn't for Doctor Sophie, most of us would still be there now, She wandered around with her helmet held high for all of us to follow, once in a group we had to open our passports for the official visa to be stuck in.
We were then asked to join a queue for the immigration part of the trip, always a joy, the queue just didn't seem to be moving at all. It took ages and thankfully Emma had been through moments earlier as she was able to spot my bag going round the carousel.

The temperature outside was a cool 21 degrees C and it was about 2200hrs.
Walking down to the bus, I started to talk with Georgina, We sat next to each other on the Coach that would eventually take us to hotel for the Evening, The Zoser Partnership a 5 star hotel on the way to the Pyramids.
Georgina was from Wales and her first real words to me were "I tell you, I am just Mental" in a great welsh accent, Like the majority of us this was her first challenge and she was raising money for JDRF. We also had another guest almost sat on our laps, the tandem had been launched up the stairs of the Coach and was balancing on the headrest in front of us.

We laughed all the way to the hotel, just over an hour from the Airport.

Zoser Hotel
We arrived at this stunning looking hotel with marble floors and bellboys running around trying to get all the bags in, We stood patiently and waited for our keys only to be told there was a problem with the booking. Adrian, our tour manager was sorting it out, a few people disappeared to the bar, They are probably still waiting to be served.

I have been allocated a double bed, not too bad, I am also sharing with William, (Will) great we both look at each other, "Just don't cuddle me" was the first thing out of my mouth. Will is 23 and a great laugh, going back to the double bed issue, we both decided as long as we rolled away from each other we'd get on great.

I meet a few more people in the Bar after sorting the room and i eventually had a few beers before retiring like an old man for his bed as we were up early for the Trips tomorrow.

Really looking forward to the trips tomorrow, Hopefully the weather is not rain as forecast.