United States of America - East Coast Itinerray

Map: We visited White Mountains (New Hampshire), Boston, Washington DC, Orlando, and New York

Pending the detailed travelogue, here goes the brief itinerary of our recent, first time, family trip to the United States:

December 8, 2015

Left Karachi through Emirates. Luckily, got a good fare and that too at the last minute!

December 9, 2015

Reached New York's JFK Airport. Took AirTrain to Manhattan.

From Manhattan caught Megabus to Boston - 5 hours. Pre-booked online.

Reached Boston, Massachusetts. Stayed with Noman's family.

December 10, 2015

Did day trip to White Mountains, New Hampshire. Drove through the scenic Kancamagus Highway - courtesy Noman.

Stayed with Noman's family.

December 11, 2015

Roamed around Stoneham and Boston, Massachusetts.

Took overnight Megabus to Washington, DC - 10 hours.

December 12, 2015

Reached Washington DC. Visited the White House.

Stayed with Katie's family (Couch Surfing).

December 13, 2015

Visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the Capitol Hill.

Took overnight Megabus to New York City - 5 hours.

December 14, 2015

Reached NYC early morning. Took NJ Transit to Newark Airport, New Jersey.

Flew through JetBlue to Orlando, Florida - 3 hours. Pre-booked online.

Stayed with Ryan et all (Couch Surfing).

December 15, 2015

Day trip to Wikewa Springs, Florida - courtesy Ryan.

Stayed with Ryan et all (Couch Surfing).

December 16, 2015

Visited Disney's Magic Kingdom. Stayed there till 12 am!

Stayed with Ryan et all (Couch Surfing).

December 17, 2015

Rested after a long day at Disney.

Stayed with Ryan et all (Couch Surfing).

December 18, 2015

Took Uber (first time) to the Daytona Beach, Florida.

Stayed at Day's Inn Daytona. Booked through booking.com while on the way to the beach! Got a value deal!

December 19

Took taxi to Orlando airport. Took JetBlue to Newark, New Jersey - 3 hours.

Stayed with Salman Mirza's family.

December 20 

Reached Middletown, New York State - courtesy Salman Karimi.

Stayed with Maria Karimi's family.

December 21

Did half day trip to Newburgh, Hudson River - courtesy Maria Karimi

Stayed with Maria Karimi's family.

December 22

Reached Queens, New York City.

Did Staten Island Ferry to see the Statute of Liberty.

Visited 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Times Square for Christmas decorations and Light Show.

Stayed with Salman Karimi.

December 23

Visited Manhattan in the morning then headed to the Bronx Zoo.

Stayed with Salman Karimi.

December 24

Did morning walk on the Brooklyn Bridge and then some shopping!

Return flight from JFK Airport through Emirates.

December 25

Half of the day evaporated due to the time difference while rest of it spent in the plane and airports!

December 26

Arrived back at Karachi Airport safe and sound Alhamdolillah after two weeks of fun.

Comments on the Itinerary:

With some unwanted to and fro, I accept that it was not a perfect itinerary; did not get enough time for planning. For the starting point, I booked the return flight: Karachi - New York - Karachi. Usually I prefer 'open jaw' but Emirates fare for the simple return flight for this sector was too lucrative. Otherwise, landing into Boston and flying out of Orlando would have been a good idea, logistically speaking.

One of the targets for this trip was to take kids to Disney, Orlando. Therefore, I booked JetBlue for Newark - Orlando - Newark. There was not much thought behind choosing the Newark Airport except for that it was close to New York.

Washington DC came in late into the itinerary otherwise Washington DC - Orlando flight would have been a saner option than Newark - Orlando one and could have saved us from the hassle of taking bus from Washington DC to Newark via Manhattan!

Still we managed to squeeze White Mountains, Washington DC, Magic Kingdom Disney, Wikewa Springs Florida, Daytona Beach, Manhattan, Bronx Zoo, etc into our first ever trip to the US - again a big thanks to all the friends who supported us in making it possible.

Travelogue: Of Pharaohs - Ancient and the Modern

This is Day Zero of the Egyptian Journey 2011

Day 1: Cairo - the City of Minarets and Pyramids

 Day 2: Beauty, Enchantment, and the Suez Crossing of Ismailia
Day 3: The Best of Free Cairo
Day 4: Mummies and the Nile
Day 5: The Colourful Friday Cairo

Taxi Tips: Know Your Numbers

Video: Egyptian Magic

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Spinx: A Masterpiece or a Symbol of Tyranny!?

Some Surprises are so Pleasant!
It was all so sudden; got the visa on Friday, booked the ticket on Saturday, and on Sunday morning we were in the CIP lounge of the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi waiting for the Emirates EK-601 to open for boarding! 

While I was babysitting, Urooba was hastily noting the ‘Must Dos’ of Cairo from the internet. Pyramids, Mummies, the Nile Cruise, historical mosques, and Khan El Khalili bazaar were some of the findings while I added Suez Canal, Tanura, and the Coptic Cairo to the list. However, in the subconscious, I was dreaming of watching the rebellious Egyptian youth around the infamous Tahrir square pushing back the remains of the tyranny!

Now We Know How to Travel Light!

Coming Down

Mashallah!

With only two hours layover in Dubai, the journey from Karachi to Cairo was smooth except that the flight attendant refused to give Misha the baby bassinet. “She has grown up”, Urooba muttered.

Baby Stroller at Dubai Airport

Not All Taxi Drivers in Cairo are Cons
The frank and amicable Ashraf picked us from the Cairo Airport and took us straight to the Cairo Palace Hotel located in the downtown Cairo. He looked antithesis of those notorious drivers who always want to take you to their uncle’s perfume shop, a typical tourist trap in Cairo! But Ashraf is a common being like us; a hardworking father on one hand who strives to make sure his children get good education and a concerned citizen on the other who spoke high about his presence at Tahrir Square in the toughest of days. 
 

Was He Really a Salafi?
Despite making his bread and butter from the tourist industry, he was blunt in expressing his dissatisfaction on the disco clubs on the other side of Nile, called Giza. “We Egyptians don’t like that. It is against our values”. 

“Which party you voted for?”, I reacted unbelievingly while looking at the hustle bustle of downtown markets from the cab window. “All my brothers and I are Salafis but we voted for the Freedom and Justice Party, حزب الحرية والعدالة, as there was no candidate of Noor Party in our constituency”, he replied in a firm note.

While familiarizing myself with the emerging political system in Egypt, I was not sure if the clean shaved Ashraf was preempting the imminent Islamist rule, or he was actually one of those Salafis stereotyped in the in-flight newspaper as long-bearded, mustache-less, and women-eaters!

The Football Craze
Cutting through a couple of traffic jams we reached our destination at around 7pm, where the young Muhammad, the football freak, greeted us at the reception. We had already realized that every third Egyptian goes by the name ‘Muhammad’ and every first is a football crazy!

The 11th Hour
After dumping our luggage in the big family room, we took a brief stroll around, basically to have some food. Fool فول and Shawarma were our first meal on the Egyptian land which we had at a local eatery آخر السا عہ or “the 11^th Hour” as per Muhammad’s recommendation!

Cairo Palace Hotel

Its Modern Elevator (Reference: Pyramids)

The Cairo Downtown; A View from the Balcony

Lonely as it can be! Down from the Balcony

Tip of the Day; Currency Exchange is easily done at Cairo Airport without the fear of being ripped-off. Before the immigration counter you will notice currency exchange kiosks of big Egyptian banks. For 1000 UAE Dirham, AED, I got 1620 Egyptian Pounds, EGP, against 1635 as quoted on the internet, which translates into just 1% transaction cost. A fair deal indeed! 

These shops happily accept USD, Euro, GBP, AED, SAR, etc on clearly displayed rates.