Trip to Rehab

It seems that I liked the idea of trip rehearsal so I decided to repeat it once again yet this time the destination was Rehab City.

Planning

My initial idea early on was to take my i10 and follow the Rehab bus from Nasr City (in front of Tiba Mall) till it reaches its final destination inside Al Rehab City. I later dismissed this idea not only because the bus stopped repeatedly during the trip to Rehab but because the path the Rehab bus took turned out to be a longer-than-usual path.

Ever since I thought of trying to drive to Rehab I been repeatedly contemplating this and wondering how come the bus takes so long to reach Rehab City from Nasr City when several others have told me it takes only 20 minutes to reach Rehab by car! I thus concluded that it can't be that those reaching Rehab city in 20 minutes by car were taking the same path as the Rehab bus. Indeed, upon checking Google Earth I discovered a parallel path, yet from the south rather than the north of Rehab City, that goes directly from Nasr City to Rehab City without passing through the many hurdles of the bus path and presumably is less busy.

Taking Off

After making a final revision of the Google Earth map very early today I got dressed and started warming up the car. It was around 5:20 AM which is after Fajr yet before again before sunrise.

The round trip was around 40.5 km door-to-door including entering Rehab City itself (from Gate 9), parking in front of the Office Building inside Rehab City then leaving from Gate 6. It took me around 1 hour 20 minutes to complete the trip 50 minutes of which were spent on my way to Rehab City and only 30 minutes on my way back. Again the reason why I returned faster was that it took me more time to go to Rehab due to taking my time to slow down and read the various signs. On my way back I drove with a higher speed yet still was mostly driving at around 60 km/hour which was anyhow better than the average 40 km/hour I was making on my way to Rehab City.

Impression

I was satisfied to have made the trip. I was especially glad to have entered Rehab City easily from the gates and having parked there. I'm looking forward to making this trip again yet that time not as a rehearsal.

Trip Rehersal

Heliopolis Trip

Having become better in driving I decided yesterday to go to my destination in Helopolis by car. My original trip to Heliopolis was supposed to take place somewhere before noon yet I woke up early in the morning and made the drive to Heliopolis right after sunrise. I arrived to my destination their, did not even park and came back home once again. It was merely a rehearsal for the real thing!

The reason why I went through this early-in-the-day rehearsal was that the streets had very low traffic in the morning, specially on a Friday (which is a holiday in Egypt). I was able to take my time, learn the road well and practice the different maneuvers needed to complete the trip. When the time came later in the day to make the real trip I found myself driving with confidence and ease most of the way despite the slightly heavier traffic that was present around noon.

Lesson: If you are planning to make a new trip that you have not done before it is a good idea to make a rehearsal first by driving all the way to your planned destination and back during a time when the streets have low traffic. This exercise will make you drive more confidently when you make the trip again while the streets are busy.

Mohandeseen Trip

Today I though of making my (much farther) trip to Mohandeseen by car instead of taking the ACT bus. I remembered the successful trip I made the day before to Heliopolis and how rehearsal had played a great role in that so I decided to try and do the same for the Mohandeseen trip. I woke up very early in the morning and headed to Mohandiseen at around 5:30 AM which is before sunrise. Having checked the road through Google Maps and finding that the 6th of October Bridge was a good way to go I took the bridge all the way to there from Nasr City to Mohandeseen.

The round trip was around 33 km. It took me around an hour to reach Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandeseen around 40 minutes to reach my destination and just above 20 minutes on my way back. I kept looking at the signs to know my way as I headed to Mohandeseen which slowed me down while I came with a much higher speed on my way back.

It's really interesting to make such road rehearsals. Perhaps I should try that again with other roads and tips in the future God willing.