Because we were only going to be in Paris for about 14 hours, we decided not to get a hotel. Having recently spent the night in the Incheon airport in Korea, this seemed like a reasonable thing to do. But the Charles DeGaulle Airport (CDG) is nothing like ICN. Instead of sleeping in a comfortable visitors lounge on a soft chair, we laid out on a marble floor just off a major hallway. It was noisy and cold, and we got no sleep. We had stored our carryon luggage with an agent, and we just counted the minutes until we could claim it again in the morning.

Morning finally came, and we boarded an Air France jet to Cairo. Having just come from rainy 50-degree weather in Paris, we were struck with the contrast of the dry Sahara Desert and 90+ degrees.

The airport was chaotic. Many "government tourist" agents and tax drivers descended upon us, but we managed to get to the information desk for our hotel and arrange a driver. After a few minutes in the cab, we weren't sure this was any better than just choosing a random taxi on the street. Our driver didn't know where he was going, didn't look were he was going, and came within millimeters of several wrecks. He spent the whole drive with his fist firmly planted on his horn, and weaved through the traffic, making up lanes as he went.

His main concern was "baksheesh" (a unique blend of a tip, a bribe and a handout). Once we finally got to the hotel, after asking many bystanders for directions, he looked appropriately hurt when we only tipped him 20% of the fare (customary "baksheesh" would be 5-10%, but we didn't have any smaller Egyptian money).

Speaking of money, that's been one of the most interesting challenges on this trip. So far, we've dealt with US dollars, Japanese Yen (about 100 per USD), Korean Won (about 1000 per USD), Chinese Yuan (about 8 per USD), Euros (about 1.40 USD per Euro), and now Egyptian Pounds (about 6 per USD). It's difficult to keep the exchange rate straight on such a rapid rotation, so we're being especially careful whenever we purchase anything.

Since we hadn't really slept since Beijing, we managed to stay awake just long enough to arrange for a driver to take us to the Pyramids and downtown Cairo tomorrow, then we ate and fell into bed.