Egypt 2023. hotel towels

Egypt 2023. Homeward Bound

Egypt 2023. Homeward bound

Last day.  Sad times. 

We spent most of the day by the pool,  Toby joining in pool Olympics and all of us saying goodbye to our holiday friends,  and the fab staff who made our stay so enjoyable. 

As our fight was not until 21.25, we waited in the bar for our transfer and the lovely barman Kiro kept us stocked up with drinks. 

A final farewell to our holiday friends and we were off to the airport..

Sharm El Sheikh Airport has the strictest security I've ever experienced. We had to show passports to enter,  scan all our bags to get into the bag drop area,  and then scan our hands to get our exit stamp in the passport.  Then someone checked passports for the exit stamp,  all before regular airport security. 

Made it through that and a couple of random bag checks in time to eat before our flight.  

An expensive Burger King meal was disappointing,  as was the flight delay of 2 hours,  but we carried home some fond memories of this foray into Africa/ Middle East.  

Egypt 2023. Final full day

On our final full day we made the most of the hotel, sunshine and snorkeling. 

In the evening we took the hotel transfer out to Soho Square to do some last minute shopping and to experience the Ice Bar, something Jon and I had not done in Iceland!

Through security we headed straight to the Ice Bar and paid to get in,  which included a drink in the price.  

One thing about the holiday that is unlike anywhere else we've been is the payment in any currency. We took USD$ and a few Egyptian pounds (exchange rates about 40 of them to 1 GBP).

At every point of payment they would ask which currency you want to pay in, often with pricing in Euros, and you'd have to choose. We worked out that the cheapest option was always Egyptian pounds but on more than one occasion we got the maths wrong and paid more than we thought. 

Back to the Ice bar,  we paid in USD as that's what cash we had left,  and after being served our drinks and provided with a coat (more like a dressing gown) we entered into the icy world.  

Strange to be in an ice bar in the desert, especially as the ice sculptures were of Egyptian Kings,  with bobble hats on top!

After about 15 mins we left and I'd actually forgotten it was so hot outside.  Hit by the wall of 38c heat with a breeze,  we looked round the shops and saw the fountain display again before heading back to the hotel.  

Egypt 2023. Into the desert

We'd booked 3 trips out for this holiday but after Peter's injury we delayed the quad bikes trip so Peter could join us. 

So on Tuesday 22 August we were collected late afternoon and taken to a compound on the edge of the desert.  We were all equipped with Shemagh (traditional scarves) and sunglasses.  

After about 45 min of waiting for enough quad bikes to arrive for us to use,  we set off about 6.30pm, heading across the desert on quad bikes,  in a group of about 20 people.  

After about 20 minutes we all parked up and we're taken for a ride on some camels, led by small Bedouin children who also took photos for us and expected a tip when we got off the camels.  

We then went into a Bedouin area for a rest, taking a seat on the carpet and cushions and enjoying a cup of tea. 

Toby and Peter helped to make traditional flat bread and after about 30 minutes we carried on our way on the quad bikes,  keeping in our line with the group name "hot chicken soup"!

Although it was busy with other quad bike tours returning it was special to be driving into the sunset with a huge flock of storks flying overhead.  We arrived at another Bedouin place in total darkness,  following the path with little lamps lighting the way.  

Sitting on the floor around low tables,  we watched a show and had some delicious food,  including what we guessed was quail, which made us think of the Israelites being fed in the wilderness.  

The show included a belly dancer, a fire juggler,  which the boys thought was going to be basic, but was totally amazing,  and a Bedouin dancer who started wearing a dress but ended up spinning the skirt in one hand over his head.  

With the cry of "hot chicken soup" we knew it was our time to leave so it was back to the quads and on to the star gazing.

A powerful telescope under dark skies gave us amazing views of the moon,  and Saturn with the rings visible.  

The final part of the journey was back to the compound on the quad bikes,  at speed, keeping up with the person in front.  

At one point there was also a full size coach on the same tracks,  which made us feel very small,  and keen to keep out of its way. 

A commercial trip with a lot of people,  and other groups there too, but very enjoyable and a number of firsts.

Egypt 2023. More hotel days and a museum

Matthew,  Jon and I had planned to go to the Sharm El Sheikh museum on Saturday eve as we would be quad biking on Sunday,  but it was not to be.  

Peter cut his foot quite badly on a loose pool tile on Saturday afternoon and the hotel called the Dr out.

After a lot of iodine and some steri strips, Peter's cut was patched up but he was rightly upset and we did not want to leave him. 

He was given a wheelchair to get around and it was fortunate that on Sunday it was the women's world cup final so he had lots of company inside at the bar with Brits watching. 

On Sunday evening the 3 of us did go to the museum and it was good,  lots of statues of animals and a tomb with mummies, but our favourite thing was the Egyptian boats, especially as these were a Playmobil staple when the boys were younger.  

The museum is brand new and next to a huge mosque.  As with all our journeys. Security was tight. The taxi driver had to show his papers and we were asked which country we're from.  

All good until we were waiting outside for the taxi to collect us and he didn't return. Fortunately Jon had some data and Toby and Peter sorted it out at the hotel end. The driver arrived very apologetic about 15 mins later. We'd asked for 9.40pm pick up and he'd thought it was 10.40pm. Lesson learnt,  show the taxi driver the time written down!

Egypt 2023. Hotel days

18 Aug

Hotel days have got a routine of starting at the bottom pool,  where the pool guy puts out our towels for us. 

After that Toby is keen on the water polo at the top pool, and there is yoga, aqua fit and other stuff at intervals.  

Jon negotiated a price for a couple of dives and a wake board today, good fun!

Egypt 2023. Old Market

15 August

After a day of relaxing at the hotel we took the hotel trip to the Old Market,  where we ate out and shopped for bargains. 

Next to the main square with the mosque is another smaller square with 2 waterfalls flowing over fake rocks,  into a pool at the bottom.  Water in the desert to represent luxury?

 When you looked beyond our behind the shops or restaurants you could see the rubbish piled up and poor living conditions.   

The restaurant we chose (quickly to get into the air conditioning) had views of the huge mosque which dominates the square. Between us we ate tagine,  fajitas, kofta and lamb shank. The staff were very friendly and keen we were enjoying ourselves and the food. 

The market is more a huge range of shops, some of them big and others very small,  rarely with prices on display,  so haggling is important. 

We set the boys a challenge to get the best items for USD$10. Peter won with 2 football shirts, but in general we discovered it was best to have Egyptian pounds to get the best prices.  

After thinking we'd be killing time before the bus home 3 hours after we set off,  we were dashing to check out the final shops. Haggling for each item takes time! One of the shops had some luxury leather items but with limited time we didn't even venture into bartering. 

Egypt 2023. Boat to Ras Mohamed and White Island

17 Aug 2023

Like all our trips this holiday,  we started with a transfer pick up from the hotel.  

Waiting outside at 7.45am there was a hustle and bustle of mini buses arriving and leaving the hotel, collecting guests for trips,  the driver getting out of the van to ask for the room number to identify the right people.  

After asking a few drivers, the right one finally arrived and we were relieved to get into the air conditioned vehicle.  It was already more than 30c.

After collecting the other passengers we were driven to the marina, confirmed our hotel and room number with a guy with a clip board and were asked to wait on some benches under a shade. 

Unlike in England,  no one explains what will happen next and it's pretty confusing.  A few of our bus companions were called by hotel name and taken to their trip but we were still waiting, seeing shade from the heat. 

After 15 min or so we found the person with the clipboard and he matched us with our tour guide and boat name Masa Tours.  

The guide took us through security.  Again,  a full bag search and a walk through a scanner. The guards even opened a pack of cards that was in Toby's bag.

We walked along a marina full of very similar boats and were taken onto the Masa Tours boat,  asked to take our shoes off and we went to find a place to sit. 

The middle deck in the shade provided a great view,  and was already breezy before we set off. 

We'd booked to both snorkel and dive,  and during the journey,  the instructor gave us a demo of how to use the equipment for an accompanied scuba.

At the first stop there was a reef to snorkel on and we were given a number to show the order we would dive in.  No diving for Peter as he has had a perforated ear drum,  so whilst the rest of us waited for our diving turn,  he joined the group snorkeling on the reef, with his camera in a waterproof case to capture some photos. 

The dive was amazing,  getting lower down the reef and seeing different fish,  including a Moray eel I definitely didn't like the look of. The photographer took underwater photos (obv tried to sell us these at inflated prices later).

We did a brief journey to a second reef and did more snorkeling there. I love the peace and beauty of it,  when the sounds stop as you put your head in the water and see what's not visible from above the surface.  

We were all hungry after the swimming,  and lunch on the boat did not disappoint, with rice,  pasta,  beef and fried chicken served with salads.

Our final stop was White Island,  a patch of stunning white sand rising just above the turquoise sea.  It was crowded with people from all the boat tours,  and we had to swim to get to it,  then walk on sand with hard bits of coral and rock sticking through it. 

We arrived with a few minor scratches on our feet and had 15 mins to take in the beauty of the surroundings, and take photos, before the walk and swim back to the boat.  

On the return to port we were shown and pressed to buy the full set of photos from the trips,  but we resisted without too much temptation when the bartering was to no avail in terms of buying one photo of each of us rather than all of them,  or reducing the price.  

The journey back was filled with music and dancing by the crew. Crazy Egyptian dance moves we were drawn into.

We also took a load of photos of each other in the surroundings of the boat. 

Arriving back to port we waited on the same benches and were matched with our driver for the return to the hotel, chatting with our fellow passengers who were on the same bus but had been on a different boat tour.  

Safely back in the hotel we showered and changed for a very welcome dinner after a tiring day.

Egypt 2023. Soho Square

Having missed booking onto the hotel transfer to Soho Square,  we decided to take a taxi. Mainly prompted by the need for Jon to buy some clothes as his car still hasn't arrived 48 hours after we did. 

It was hard to believe we were in the middle of a desert when we had been through the security point into a sleek modern shopping area.

On the hour the fountains dance to music,  and it is surrounded by modern shops,  hotels and restaurants.  There is even an ice bar and an ice rink. 

The giveaway that you're not in Europe is the 30c great and warm breeze despite it being 9pm. 

After exploring the shops,  some of which are more like market stalls with no prices,  and haggling essential,  we came away with some original fake Adidas sliders and some shorts and a shirt, not to mention Peter's pink Messi shirt,  a bargain after his haggling. 

As we were leaving at 10pm, crowds of people were still arriving. This is clearly the Egyptian night time economy.  

Egypt 2023. Mount Sinai climb

Staying in Sharm El Sheikh in an all inclusive resort,  Xperience Sea Breeze, with day trips out. 

Mount Sinai 13 Aug 2023

Overnight adventure to see the sunrise. 

We were collected from the hotel at 8.40pm and travelled a few hours before being told at 23.15 we had a police escort until the national park.  At 1:00 the next morning we had a crazy stop where we were in the middle of the desert, escorted into a building with a load of relics, copies of paintings at St Catherine's monastery and crosses made from the burning bush at about $20. 

Second toilet stop of the journey and it was now £10 Egyptian (25p) to use the pretty grim facilities. 

Pitch black and we were told to sleep on the coach until we arrived, which was about 2.30am. Once through the security checkpoint,  which was a thorough bag search and a walk through the detector,  we met our Befouin guides Ashraf and Tahir. The trek up the mountain started off on shallow upward inclines, with regular stops to drink and catch our breath.  The stops were at bedouin shelters where they were selling drinks,  with all the cans on the shelves upside down to stop the sand getting on the lid.  

At each corner we turned,  in the pitch black,  there was a surprisingly hard to see Bedouin with a camel,  offering rides and shouting out "camel". 

It was a sandy,  dusty walk and really hot,  sweating anywhere the rucksack was leaning on my back and shoulders.  

The last part of the climb was steep uneven steps and it was hard to concentrate on anything but the next rocky step. At one stop someone in our group asked how many more and was told, only 200 left! We wished she hadn't asked as we were weary. 

We reached the last resting point before the top at about 5.40am with sunrise expected at 6.10am. The bedouin shop owner was shouting "tea, coffee,  chai, hot chocolate" and on the end i succumbed to a coffee.  

After a rest,  drink and explanation of when to be back,  we headed to the top of the mountain where there is a church,  mosque and the cans Moses stayed in for 40 days and nights before receiving the 10 Commandments from God. 

It was busy with people but we found a spot to watch the sunrise. 

The family of 5 factor played into the experience as Toby had wandered off with his big camera and no one else knew where he was,  so I went back to the resting place to see if he was there.  He wasn't,  but it was a less crowded place to watch the glorious sunrise and Ashraf, the Bedouin guide was keen to capture it on my phone camera so he took charge and got some great shots. 

At 6.30am we all made our way down the mountain, which was much quicker than the way up, mainly as we could see clearly!

We had a tour of St Catherine's monastery but it was very hasty so we mainly saw the burning bush and the Chapel before walking the last 1.5km to the coach for the return journey,  getting to our hotel in time for lunch,  with some happy memories of our adventure.