Cairo - Backpack Missing

Dedicated to the efficient baggage handlers of the world - you are underacknowledged heros.

Hello folks,

I have arrived in Cairo. It is a vast, sprawling and eye-catching city. It is completely covered in dust, the buildings are laden with air conditioner units and satellite dishes. They are mostly pretty ugly repetitive apartment towers, but every so often a stunning piece of decaying French colonial period architecture emerges, or a spectacular mosque with skyscraper-like minarets.

But I have arrived with a certain lightness on my shoulders. My backpack did not show up. Several other passengers from my flight were milling around the lost baggage area, so it looks like a shipping container was left off the plane. The officials here are professional and seem on top of things - certainly Dad's Embassy staff are amazingly organised - so I have good hopes it will show up soon.

The house here is huge, beautiful, and feels very empty. Mum and Dad must have been lonely here without the kids, or the pets. Two local cats have been adopted, Mish-Mish ("Apricot") and Mubarraf ("I don't know"), and although they are scrawny little kittens, Mum and Dad are clearly very fond of them. They are cute in a gangly sort of way.

Now I'm off to wander the streets in search of food.

Seeya,
Sam.