Travel – Egypt – Days 10, 11

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I took some time to contemplate the feelings towards Sharm El-Sheikh from the day before. The place is beautiful. Yes, not my style but that’s nothing to do with the people. In fact, I did my best to support the local people. So, why was I feeling so bad about the hotel and the day?

I think it had to do with the guests of the hotel. Apparently the hotel some deal with operators in that country. I seemed to be the exception. I don’t like to generalize so I won’t name the country. This is the third time I find myself in a hotel full of tourists from this particular country and the experience has been the same… rudness towards the staff, drunkiness, entitlment.

One of the nights, around 11pm, I heard this loud knocking on the door close to my room. Someone was left outside of their room by their spouse. The repeated knocks didn’t have any effect. I didn’t want to cause a scene so I didn’t do anything. But it went on for about 30mins. So I opened the door to see what was going on. I couldn’t have timed it “better” 🙁 The guy had taken a break from knocking on the door to urinate in one of the trash/cigarette bins in the corridor. Classy 🙁

Oh yes… the guests smoked throughout the hotel, inside and out.

They didn’t care about the corals either. There was a floating platform in place so that we wouldn’t damage the reef. It couldn’t have been more obvious. Still, many of them ignored the ramp and just walked on the rocks.

While snorkeling, I saw a lady hitting the corals with her fins. She was trying to get some reaction. It was obvious that she was doing it on purpose. I did intervene on that occasion and asked her to stop.

Anyway… while the Sharm El-Sheikh isn’t really my place for vacation, I think it was the behavior of the guests at the hotel that made me feel crampy. Good thing I am moving on.

Feb  17,  2019

I am picked up for an hour drive to Dahab for the last two days of my visit to Egypt. The driver is awesome. We had a great chat about politics in Egypt. Originally from Cairo. He studied computer science but decided that he wanted to stay in Sharm El-Sheikh because of the lifestyle. He’s married to a Polish lady who’s apparently a huge fun of SecondLife!

The landscape along the way is beautiful. Yes, I do like Seattle’s green scenery but there is something to be said about the beauty of the desert and the mountains here. Bedouin land.

Swimming and chilling at my new hotel, Le Meridien, Dahab. Very very nice!

Feb 18, 2019

Last full day in Egypt and it’s dedicated to the famous local Blue Hole. My driver, a local Bedouin, picks me up from the hotel. It’s a 20mins drive. I am flying the next day so no scuba diving. Just snorkeling.

I set camp at a local restaurant, get the equipment, I get directions for a route, and off I go…

Wow wow wow!

I felt even worse than the other day, when I snorkeled at Sharm El-Sheikh and didn’t have my underwater camera. It was like being in the Blue Planet documentary. If you don’t watch documentaries, it was like being in a live action version of “Finding Nemo“. Fish of all possible sizes, of all possible colors. The corals came in so many different colors! It was fantastic.

I stayed in the water for 90-120mins. When I went into the Blue Hole, I saw some jelly fish. That was the reason I went out immediately 🙂

I enjoyed the sun and dried out at the restaurant over lunch. I made friends with the waiters. What a great day!

The Blue Hole and the underwater cave system represents a challenge for many scuba divers. Unfortunately, that means some don’t make it while persuing their passion 🙁

It  was the perfect ending to a beautiful time in Egypt. I still have to write the summary post but that’s it for the daily updates. The next day is a transit day (drive from Dahab to the Sharm El-Sheikh airport, flight to Cairo, flight to Rome, flight to Greece, flight to Alexandroupolis). It’s going to be a long day.

Closing with a beautiful snow moon over the Red Sea. My photo is not doing it justice.

 

And this is me, on the last night, not having shaved for 3-4 weeks or so!

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