We decamped quickly and with little fuss, then drove in to Cairo today, so that the inspectors could receive their certificates. The ceremony, lunch and presentation came off without a hitch, except that Zahi Hawass sent a deputy rather than attend himself.

After this, Tom and I went to the nearby EgyptAir office to reconfirm our flights. But since we did not do this at least 72 hours ahead of time, our seats were given away. After much time discussing options and waiting to see what they would come up with, it now appears most likely that we will not get out of here until 1:30 am on Saturday morning.

It's still not clear what connecting flight we'll be able to get from New York to LAX. Details should be clearer tomorrow about 6 pm my time. :-( There's still a chance that we will actually make all our original flights, and of course we hope that's the case.

So tomorrow Tom and I and Nigel will be getting a special guided tour of the pyramids, and then check back at the airline office about our flights. After that, we'll go shopping at the Khan al-Khalili bazaar, which should be open to around 10 pm.

Thus, I am pretty down about the possibility of not catching the scheduled flight home. Maybe it will work out. Lousy airline. Why would I not want my seat, for crying out loud? Guess they need to give some jobs to people so they can spend time typing at terminals making alternate flight arrangements.



It's sad to break up camp and have everyone head their separate ways.