Day 16 ~ Flying from Cairo to Amman

We expected to have no problem catching our 11:00 am flight to Amman, Jordan.  Because of the curfew and all the blockades, our driver was an hour late picking us up, but we still had plenty of time to get to the airport.  We never imagined what we would find. It was pure mayhem.  Some people have been trying to get out for 3 days.  We had tickets, and our airlines was flying in and out of Cairo, but little did we know that the Royal Jordanian Airlines was evacuating Jordanian citizens first, regardless of tickets.  Hani or representative for Sakkara Travel, is our hero.  He elbowed his way up to the counter and fought to get us tickets on the 4:00 pm flight. With great relief we were finally on our plane by 9:00.

One person compared the airport crowd to a mosh pit.  To get our luggage to the ticket counter with Hani, we literally hoisted it in the air and men lifted it from one to another until it made its way.  We then had to navigate our way through the obstacle course of bodies, suitcases, and luggage carts to the ticketing area and find our luggage among the piles of suitcases.  Both Anne and I were near panic when we could not find our luggage, but finally she located both.

The Cairo curfew started at 3:00.  By the time Hani got us safely to our first document check, it was 3:45 which met he could not leave the airport and had to spend the night until the curfew was lifted at 8:00 am.  I really don’t understand the curfew.  The protesters are still out at night and the young men are requested to stay out all night to protect their neighborhoods.  Yet poor Hani couldn’t leave the airport to go home.

Once in Amman, we were met by our tour company and began our nearly three hour drive to Petra.  We arrived about 2:30 am and look forward to our day in Petra tomorrow.