Sharm El Sheik Tour

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Another wondrous day in Egypt, just putzing around mostly, but did get out and about Sharm el Sheikh for a little tour with our guide and a mini van of other people later in the afternoon after spending most of the morning answering e-mails and working on my blog.

First we stopped at a mosque and we were able to look around, although not go inside. Apparently on a Friday one can see 4,000-5,000 men going to prayer there…so many that 2-3,000 must be outside. Our guide explained that they must all face Saudi Arabia towards Mecca and how the women are divided from the men, but there aren’t many Muslim women here in Sharm el Sheik, because this is strictly a tourist city. Many people who work here live in Cairo or some place else as they can’t afford to buy property here. Only the very rich can live here, and of those few they are mostly from other countries, such as Tony Blair from England, who lives in a gated community.

Those who work here, mostly stay in little hovels. I know that at the little Internet place I go that the guy who runs it sleeps in a curtained off corner of the narrow room (the shop is like a hallway.). He opens the shop when he wakes up and today I was there about 9:30 and he was closed, but one of the people in the other shops banged on the door and he opened up and let me in though he was still in his night shirt/robe. He did his religious prostrations a few minutes later, praying on a little mat, slightly behind me, but oblivious to me.



When I went to take photos of the perfume shop later, I had to wait because someone’s brother was sleeping inside.

























They are all quite a friendly bunch, though at times a little too friendly. I’ve had my hotel buddy tell me he loved me this morning, but I had to disappoint him and tell him I didn’t love him. I avoided the diving guy/owner of the bar and will continue to do so.





And then tonight, my buddy from the shops across the road (he's on the right in the photo) asked if I would go to the 1001 Nights Entertainment place with him. I told him no as I have to be up for 4:00 am to leave for Cairo. I’ve never had so much unwanted attention for quite a while. Trust me, I will not be coming home with an Egyptian! They are lovely, polite men, but women are not well respected here.

One of the places we went to today was a place where there had been an air crash and 76 people had died in the Red Sea (photo below of Red Sea). Apparently art students form the university in Cairo had designed the memorial in memory of the people who perished. Their names are engraved in both English and Arabic on the wall of the structure and there are 76 birds flying in the sculpture in front of it. The water is so deep there- at least 1,000 feet so that they could not rescue any bodies, nor any of the aircraft…they couldn’t reach them and at those depths there are many sharks as well. Very sad to see whole families named.







The next stop was the Old Market --- what a place! Merchants and stores everywhere. Then we went to the “new” market where it was a little more upscale, at least in terms of new buildings and restaurants and fashionable stores….still lots of gaudy touristy stuff.










I chuckled when our guide ordered what I thought of as a hookah and began smoking it. He was smoking tobacco though, not hashish, which I accused him of. Hashish is illegal here too. The scent of the tobacco was a lovely mix with apples in it and it was quite a sight to see various people sitting there calmly as could be smoking from these floor standing "hookahs," while sipping coffee from glasses. I've discovered in Arab countries this water-based pipe is actually called a "shisha." (Hookah is the Hindi word for the same thing, apparently.)




His wife came along as she had never seen his work before. They have only been married three months and they live in Cairo, though he comes here to work.

I’m off to Cairo at 4 a.m…..wonder what I’ll see there. Got a smoking deal on a return flight, and guided tour, plus lunch, entrance fees, etc…..$150.00 Canadian (Regular $220, which was still a good price, I figured).

I'm in Egypt

Tuesday - December 4, 2007

I made it to Egypt and to my hotel about 4 a.m. On first impressions, I have a great hotel – The Rock Hotel - with a pool outside my patio doors….it’s an inexpensive one. In fact, it’s only a three star hotel with cigarette burns on the edge of the tub and so far away from the main tourist drag that it’s not on the tourist map, but fine and the people are so friendly. I have my own personal ‘attendant’ in that he takes care of me and my room, so anything I need he helps me with. His name is Mohamed. (What else?)

Everything is written in Arabic here so I wouldn’t have a chance in hell of driving and following road signs (except for street signs in the tourist area), but it’s all so neat. Tonight my tour guide comes back to give me my options on going to Cairo, riding camels and doing the Bedouin thing….I can hardly wait. I’m just resting and relaxing today as I’m tired after the trip.

One of the very conspicuous things I’ve noticed so far is that there are no women working anywhere in the hotel, shops, bars, etc. It’s very strange only having men to deal with. It’s all part of the culture here that woman are rarely seen and definitely not heard.

My breakfast is included in my package and I had an interesting one partly of N. American food and partly Egyptian….with a little European thrown in: A croissant, small omelette, tiny folded crepes (they call them pancakes), sliced sausages that looked more like diagonally cut wieners than a breakfast sausage, hash browns with some interesting herbs in them, and some kind of refried beans with herbs or spices in them, and a very strange red-coloured juice that comes from a plant grown in the desert. I think I’ll avoid it tomorrow…the taste wasn’t strong, but different and although I’m not a big sweetener fan, it could have used something to give it a boost to be more palatable.

I missed lunch altogether, but had supper in the pub attached to the hotel, although it’s not it’s run privately. It had a Mexican menu and I had the strangest chicken cassedia served with sour cream and finely chopped tomato and lettuce, but not even close to being salsa, nor being Mexican!

Cats are prevalent here too, wondering around the pool side and of course begging at the patio doors. It reminds me of the resorts in Mexico.


Everywhere is desert sand, so it’s quite surprising to see plenty of green foliage on the hotel grounds everywhere. I was particularly struck by bushes bursting with beautifully coloured flowers like twists of paper, along with other flowering shrubs and trees. Of course there are palm trees, but a different shape than I’ve seen before.

Right next door is a diving college- a group of Italians were in the bar, fretting over an exam they were about to write. I was there trying to use the free Wireless Internet, but my computer battery was too low and I didn’t have the right plug adapter. Tonight I met the Irish pub owner, a friendly chap who has lived here for the past 12 years, having come because of the superb diving in the Red Sea. He’s offered to take me out diving, but he’s altogether too friendly for my liking, so I’ll be declining. I do look forward to going out on a glass bottomed boat to see the amazing multi-colour coral and fish. Being in amongst them isn’t really my thing, though I know some of you would give your eye teeth to be here scuba diving and snorkelling.

The tourist industry is relatively new here, having grown a great deal over the last dozen years. The streets are wide and new...great for driving on...the traffic seems swift here and the drivers toot their horns everywhere; you're never sure where to look.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I’m going with the tour group for a trip around Sharm el Sheikh (Sheikh is pronounced ‘shake’) to get an overview of the place, then I’ll be more confident about getting around. One has been warned that the taxi drivers try to take advantage of unsuspecting tourists and jack up the prices, but I’m prepared for them.

There is amazing security here, at least in the tourist areas. We were told that this is a high priority here as Sharm depends solely on tourism and they take good care of their visitors. The police are highly visible and there are security gates of one kind or another at the entrance with guards to every hotel, along with a security door to pass through to actually enter the hotel lobby. Good thing as the lock systems on the room and patio doors aren’t the best….though we are warned to put our valuables in the hotel safe at the reception desk when we’re not in our rooms. When I go out I leave my laptop there. If they want the rest of my stuff (clothes) they can have it, as I’m ready for some new things anyway. I carry my other valuables with me (purse, camera, passport, etc.)

The money here is amazing in that everything sounds like it costs so much…my lunch was 37 Egyptian pounds, but this translates to about $5.00 Canadian.

I was in this very cool perfume shop this afternoon….I didn’t realize that was their speciality here….the owners served me Egyptian tea in this incredible shop that looked a little like a cozy sitting room for intimate conversations – yes I was a little concerned that they may have spiked it with something as two men attended me, but I soon realized that I was worth more to them to be kept conscious so that they could introduce me to the rest of their family members who all owned various shops in the area. I was whisked into a travel agency, café, gift shop, ‘supermarket' (really little convenience stores), Internet Café and papyrus shop, all owned by various brothers, cousins, etc.

This was about the time I realized only men waited on customers and owned shops here, and I felt a little less intimidated, so I let him plaster some kind of cleansing cream on my face and sat their sipping tea like royalty, enjoying their entertaining conversation. Of course, I bought a little perfume and got an exquisite glass bottle to use after it’s transported home. (More pics to come of the interior.)

I haven’t even been here 24 hours and already I’m loving it. Wednesday I go to Cairo to see the relics of the ancient civilizations…..

Traditional Cypriot House

Typical traditional Cypriot Houses can be found in some of the old neighbourhoods. The one I was in had very narrow roads where a car could go only one direction.

The doors were along the street built into the side of a wall (which was actually the exterior wall of the house).

One knocked on the door like usual, but entered into an inner courtyard, open to the air. The house itself is built around the courtyard and all rooms are accessed from tit.

Looking back on the entranceway, you would see to the left a stairway that leads up to a bedroom.

As you follow the house around, you come to a main floor bedroom, and then the dining and living room.

Continuing to the left one comes across the outdoor patio, which is partly enclosed by glass.

Across from it is the kitchen, and the shower room, the bathroom, and laundry room. Everything is very rustic and well-used, but has an incredible charm.

If you go around the corner from the enclosed patio, you see the garden, where once a goat would be tied, along with chickens clucking about, though now it is full of flowers, and other vegetation.

Looking back from the garden and laundry area, once can again see the entrance past the bathroom and kitchen doorways on the right and the patio on the left.