Final Holiday Post

Tags

Egyptian Adventure, Gatwick, home

So, I’m back at home, with my own laptop in front of me, the familiar keys clacking away beneath my fingertips. When I was using Alex’s laptop I wrote all the entries in Word, which I think really has helped me even though I am aware there are the occasional typo’s in all my entries [it makes no difference whose laptop/computer I use for that]. Also, it’s great being back on fast and reliable Wi-Fi. Sometimes you think that it’s really slow, then you go to Egypt and realise that it’s actually really, really fast.

Our flight back was a good one, except for the landing which seemed a little bumpy. Naturally being on a plane there are going to be the irritating passengers that just have to fidget in the seat in front, lay the seat back and generally be a nuisance. This passenger managed to aggravate Alex’s knee a bit, and when we got up to swap places she gave us the biggest evil that I have received in recent years. Yet she was the one that was the awkward to us. Makes all the sense in the world doesn’t it?

Alex’s parents picked us up from the airport, and aside from a slight mishap of temporally losing the car, we ended up getting back to his and into bed for about 4 am. Yesterday was one of those days that you use to just chill and relax. Sort of. We had to pick Alex’s car up from the garage as it had a dent in the bodywork that they were working on for the two weeks. [Plenty of time, right?]

Yesterday afternoon we went out for dinner and to the cinema. I wasn’t feeling very well throughout the day, and today I have been really sick. I don’t know what’s caused it but it’s not pleasant, so I have spent the majority of my day on my bed trying to chill and watch some Criminal Minds and American Dad. I even braved getting some chocolate from the shop, although didn’t feel so hot after that. It sucks that I’ve had to end this holiday feeling rough, but I’ll leave that at that for now.

The holiday was amazing. I had two of my lifetime dreams come true whilst in Egypt – the seeing the stars in the desert and visiting the Great Pyramid. I loved spending the time with Alex as well as we haven’t spent all that much time together before the holiday – work schedules and everything just clashed. It means now that I’ll have to create more dreams to work on at coming true. It seems to be a very good year in that respect for me – car, holiday etc. – supposed I could update my 43things webpage now.

So, the holiday is over, and work is fast approaching. The end of a holiday always has the whole “I don’t want to go back” thing, but if I want to go away again, I need to save some more pennies for it all! I plan to travel to so many countries now that I have my passport.

Speaking of passports when we got into Gatwick they have these fancy self service check in/out things if you have a chipped passport. We used these when we went out, although I was convinced that I was going to have to ask for help as it took ages for the gate to open for me. Alex was through in about five seconds. But it’s cool that you can get through like that.

Anyways, the shortest blog of them all, but I don’t feel well and just wanted to end the series of holiday related blogs.

I am hoping to update this far more frequently, I have really enjoyed writing these so frequently, even if very few people have been reading them.

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Soho Square, Mega Water Park, Neama Bay… and the End of it All…

Tags

Benidorm, Cleo Park, Egyptian Adventure, Ice Bar Africa, Neama Bay, Soho Square, Taxi Drivers

So, here it is. What will be, most probably, the last blog entry before we fly home. I very much doubt that I’ll write anything tomorrow, even if I had the time to do so [I have A Game of Thrones to read that I am determined to finish before my holiday is up – at on the plus side of 75 per cent that isn’t doing too badly as it’s over 800 Kindle pages long – it is really good].

It’s sad that we are going to be leaving, but at the same time I think it would be far too much to stay out here any longer than the two weeks that we have had. I have managed to procure a slight tan, perhaps a shade or two darker according the to the Dulux colour chart, which is more impressive than my normal shade of white anyhow. I think I mentioned before that there are people here that simply sit at the same place by the pool each and every day and don’t do anything but work on their skin colour. I have factor 50’d my way through the whole holiday, and feel much better for it. Plus, I don’t think the tanned look would really suit me anyways.

So, things to mention in this blog. We have actually had a really busy few days.

There are three main shopping districts in Sharm el Sheikh, the Old Market, a more traditional shopping area, Soho Square, hassle free and more pleasant, and Neama Bay which is where the main night life of Sharm is situated with clubs, bars and all sorts going on. I have already told you about the experiences of the Old Market in a previous blog entry. It was a place I didn’t like so much because of all the hassling that you get walking around [it was also here that we discovered the small camera had a broken screen].

In my previous entry I mentioned Soho Square and the Ice Bar. Soho Square was a really pleasant place for me as there was quite literally no hassling. Because it is owned by one of the Al Fyed’s [the one that owned Harrods’s in London], and because it is part of the Savoy group, it was not only pleasant because of the lack of hassle, it was also beautiful. And probably the most Westernised part of Egypt that I’ve seen. There was a bowling alley, ice rink, a cinema, lots of restaurants, a live singer/band and a funky water fountain. And, of course, the Ice Bar – the only one in Africa. [Except, technically, we are in Asia…].

Before we went to the Ice Bar we went to a restaurant called Mai Thai – which I am sure you can figure out by the name, was a Thai restaurant. It was a really good experience for the both of us as we haven’t actually eaten outside of the hotel restaurants until this point. I think we’d forgotten what really good food tasted like. Plus, at the tail end of the holiday we realised that we had a bit more money left than we anticipated so we thought we would treat ourselves. The food here was really good. Before this point I’d never tried Thai food, and this was lovely. I had a hot Thai Green Curry, with rice, and Alex got his hands on the beef versions of every dish he had. I think he’s missing the beef more than he thought he would. Originally he wanted to eat at a steak house here, but I veto’d the idea when I saw the price of the dished – something like £L460 for one dish, where at the Mai Thai it was £L550 for the pair of us for the whole meal. Not a chance in hell was I going to pay that amount.

So, after the dinner we moved on to the Ice Bar. Alex was really looking forwards to this more than I was as you know he was struggling with the heat more than me. Before you enter you have to put on these really long, thick, slightly smelly, coats. Alex didn’t want one, but he was told he had to have one, and that he could take it off inside the Bar. The entry fee covered one free drink too, so I thought I would try a Vanilla vodka and coke. Didn’t like it, so gave it over to Alex who did. Me and alcohol don’t get along taste wise, which is strange. All the waiters and servers out here struggle to believe that I don’t like alcohol. [I suppose, being that sometimes this feels like a prime setting for Benidorm they are used to people drinking from when the bars open at 10:00 to late at night].

The Ice Bar itself was small. For some reason I thought it would be much bigger than it was. I guess the best way to explain it is that felt like a very large freezer, which I guess that was just what it was. All the surfaces, and the seat blocks were made of ice, except the cushions they provide as covers to the ice. There are ice sculptures all around in the forms of various animals and sea waves, the word “Soho” on the wall in ice [there is no mistaking the amount of stuff in here, it was all just very cramped]. I’m sure we were supposed to have a glass made of ice as well, but it wasn’t, not that it put a dampener on it or anything. Alex didn’t wear his coat the whole time we were in there, which all the other people that came in afterwards were a bit amazed at the fact that he really didn’t need a coat.

After leaving the Bar we had a wonder around for a bit before heading back to the taxi. There wasn’t as much at Soho Square as I thought there would be, but it was a pleasant enough place, and the two and a half hours that we had booked the taxi for was more than enough time without rushing to see everything that it had to offer.

The next day, Tuesday, was our last excursion out of the hotel. Again this was through Thompson, and we both sort of felt that this day was a bit of a letdown. Advertised as the “Mega day” out at a water park, you would think that it would be quite a big place to visit, but it really wasn’t. There were about 8 water slides [and to be fair I didn’t go on two of them], a kids area [which was the coolest part of the park to be in], and a pool with a wave machine. I would have thought that there would have been at least a normal pool to lounge in, and maybe some rides like a log flume ride or something like that. Something to make it slightly more interesting. This was more of a family place rather than adults I guess. Although there was still the fair share of women and men lounging around getting their sun tan by each of the pools.

On the first ride that we went on, and bearing in mind that this is a water park, the water stopped working. Yes, you read that right. We had to wait about 10 minutes before it was working again. Luckily we weren’t the couple that were stuck in the actual slide when the water cut out. There were a couple of slides we went on twice, but seriously this was a disappointing day, and we are both agreed that we were glad that this wasn’t our first excursion with Thompson, or at all really, as it was truly the one that we both didn’t enjoy as much as we hoped too.

After we finished at the water park, we returned to the hotel, and literally walked back out again after getting changed and having a quick drink. We decided to ensure that we went to all the shopping areas as it would have sucked to have missed out on one just because we were tired, so to Neama Bay we went – which it turned out was pretty close to Old Market anyways.

This place was a mixture of both Soho Square and Old Market. You got hassled, but not as much as when we were at Old Market as it was much busier here, it was bigger than both Soho and Old Market, with certainly more life. There were loads of night clubs, bars and restaurants here, and a lot of taxi drivers trying to hustle  their trade – no matter how many times that you have pre-booked and paid for taxi waiting for you – or how many times you walk past them.

Here at Neama Bay I had my first ever taste of the Hard Rock Cafe. And, to Alex’s delight, they had a fat juicy steak waiting for his taste buds. Yeah, I had the steak too. The whole “I was going to be a vegetarian for two weeks” thing hasn’t worked, but then, the quality of food has been pretty high, even in the main restaurant here at the hotel. Plus, the choices for veggies have been pretty low.

We brought a whole bunch of toys at the Hard Rock Cafe as well, probably the most we have spent in a single session on anything here. But they are cute, and more souvenir-y than a lot of the tacky stuff that is everywhere. And it’s unique to this Hard Rock Cafe too. We also bought the glasses that our drinks were served in as they say Sharm el Sheikh on them. Cool, right? But I can’t decide if putting mine in the suitcase will be alright or not.

So here we are, the last day, the last night… maybe I’ll blog about the rest of it all when I get home on Friday at some point…

Well, the last of the holiday blogs is done, so take care and peace out folks… and enjoy the sunshine!

V.I.P Cruise at Ras Mohammed National Park

Tags

Game of Thornes, Ras Mohammed National Park, Sharm Club, Snorkelling, Thompson Excursion

There’s this niggling thought in the back on my mind. It’s like a worm, except it has a voice, and that voice is getting louder and louder. Today is Monday. Thursday is the day we fly back home. Which means, excluding today, that’s two days left in which to do anything – aside from the fact that we have plans for tomorrow – spending the whole day at a water park – and today we are planning to go to an ice bar, which just leaves Wednesday – which is meant for packing and all sorts of boring things like that.

The way we’ve done things on this trip have been quite well planned I think. We’ve had a day of activity, followed by a rest day with that pattern continuing on throughout. Most of the activities take a lot of out you – more than you realised because of the blinding heat of it all in the first place. Saying that though, I have had, and am continuing to have, the most wonderful time here. I think my favourite excursions have been to Cairo, and seeing the Pyramids and all, and the stargazing/Bedouin dinner with the camel riding. When I get back [to faster internet more than anything] I plan to post some pictures on this blog, and of course to Facebook, and my favourites, I am sure, will end up on DeviantArt.

I haven’t actually used my camera as much as I thought I would. I honestly thought I’d be there all the time with it, but there comes a point wherein you think –it’s too big. When we go out we take Alex’s camera bag – which is big enough to fit both our dSLR’s in, plus my backpack which has all the essential stuff in, and yesterday, we took another bag that had the towels in for yestertday’s excursion. So it always seems like we are carrying loads of stuff. But it’s good to have the cameras. I love to take the pictures, and I really hope I have some from yesterdays trip to be proud of.

All around the resort, and well out into the sea there are coral reefs everywhere. Some are pretty shallow, and others so deep that when you are snorkelling you cannot see all the way down. Yesterday Alex and I went on a VIP Cruise. This cruise was organised through Thompson, and not Sharm Club, and whilst I tried hard not to compare the two companies, it was hard not too – for the simple fact that Sharm Club provide a much more personal and interesting experience than Thompson – who work out more expensive than Sharm as they take a commission on what they sell. Thompson are very much bums on seats to fill a coach, whereas Sharm Club – they work on a smaller network, and provide the experiences and we have generally had much more fun through them. Plus, on the coaches Thompson keep trying to sell their other excursions and it’s downright annoying hearing about them all the time when we were told about them at the welcome meeting.

So the VIP Cruise then. We were back a Ras Mohammed National Park, where we were for our first excursion. This was essentially the same sort of thing – snorkelling in various parts of the National Park, some dinner on board, some more snorkelling, then back to the hotel. I’m not quite sure what part of this tour was actually VIP though. The only real differences were that there were no children – over 18’s only – and there was a server/waiter to occasionally would pour some drinks for us.

We went to different areas than the previous tour, which I was quite pleased with. And whilst at the first area we saw Syed again – the one that helped me with my mask and stuff on the first tour – part of Mohammed’s crew – although he was on a different boat today. We were looking out for Mohammed but he was nowhere to be found. Syed said something about him being on the glass bottomed boat, a sort of semi-submarine type thing that allows you to look at the corals and not get a splash of water on you.

One of the areas that we went to had the remains of a Russian ship wreck, which was really cool to see. A part of me [you know the part] wanted to scrambled across the shallow corals and to climb into the wreck and see what was there, however, I was the good child and stayed with the group. I have to say, then dips into the water seemed more rushed, only about 30 minutes or so for each dive, whereas the first one we went on was at least 45 minutes.  And the areas were pretty congested, both on the surface of the water and the underneath where divers were. That was an odd experience, swimming through the bubbles made by their masks, especially on the ears – like a frequent crackling sensation.

One this trip I went on all three dives, unlike my previous excursion. I love having the life jacket – I don’t know how people manage to float without one – you kind of just bob along and don’t really have to do much work with it. Alex can do it, but where I am not such a strong swimmer I need the jacket more than the flippers I think. We took the camera underwater with us in a special bag as well, but as of yet we haven’t looked at the pictures to see what they are like. The back of the screen cracked on the small camera a couple of days into the holiday so we don’t actually know what we are taking a picture of exactly.

On our rest days we have been spending them beside the pool, under the shade of a parasol. I’ll take a dip in the pool, go and read some of Game of Thrones on my Kindle, take another dip and carry on like that. It’s nice and pleasant. And so far I managed to avoid getting burnt like that. But, saying that I did get burnt on the excursion, on the backs of my legs and shoulders. Not too bad, after sun will help, and I’m sure it will be fine. It’s strange how it can affect your sleep though, as you realise how rough the blankets and the sheets are! You only notice these when you’re burnt!

Right, short and sweet blog today, compared to the others! We are planning to go to an ice bar later today, mega park tomorrow, then…. prepare to come home I guess.

Take care folks, and stay safe!

Of Camel Rides and Star Gazing in the Desert

Tags

Bedouin, Camel ride, Culture, desert, Egyptian Adventure, Star gazing

So, it’s time for me to make another blog already – I genuinely cannot believe how fast the time has been going. It seems like we have done so much. When we planned our trip here, we planned to do an activity every other day meaning that it wouldn’t take it out of us too much on the rest days, and when you think about the hot sun beating down on you with highs of 42 degrees, it can’t get any better. It literally reads as sun, sea and bliss. With the occasional adventure added in to make it interesting.

There are people who sit by the pool all day and not move, except to turn their bodies over. I don’t think I could do that every day. On our rest days Alex and I have been spending it by the pool, but we generally get there about 9ish, and leave about 1pm, in time for lunch at the restaurant, then return to our room and perhaps go out in the evening, or return to the pool. It is on these days that I’ve been getting my reading in, and have made fairly steady progress through Game of Thrones, although I can’t actually tell if I like this book yet – but when I am not reading it I am thinking about the characters and why they were written and what purpose they have served.

I haven’t really tanned. I am frequently putting on the factor 50 sunscreen, although I could probably safely go down to a 30, I’m not here to get a tan. I don’t really see the point in a tan in the first place to be honest; I suppose it’s all about that sun kissed look. Tan = healthy, right? People that talk to us here can scarcely believe that we have been here over a week and still look like we’ve just stepped off the plane.

So, what about our most recent adventure, which is really the reason that I am typing, and that you dear readers, are reading. This adventure was one that I have been looking forwards to for a long time as it is another of those things that I have always wanted to do – we went camel riding in the desert, watched the sunset over the Dahab mountains, had dinner with the Bedouin people, and saw the stars in all their beauty.

Camels, I think, are the oddest creatures that I have ever known to – well – exist. They walk oddly, both left legs forwards, then both right, which then makes for a strange ride when you are going along causing you to sit in this weird back and forth motion that I am pretty sure if I were on there for a long time would cause me some sort of motion sickness. Getting on and off the camel is another matter all together. When you get on – the saddle is a carefully constructed seat across the animal, near to the camel’s neck, covered in Bedouin blankets with a hold at the front and the back of the saddle. It’s also pretty big – as is the animal. So getting your leg over with these can be quite difficult. Their legs bend at strange angles too – it doesn’t look natural. You have to brace yourself getting up and down and it really isn’t the smoothest of rides.

We were on the camels for about 20-25 minutes making our way to the camps. The camels were led by children, which I don’t really know what to make of. They begged for “tips” at the end of the rid – but… I refused to give them tips. Their service had already been paid for… I think it’s like a guilt thing really – have children to lead the ride to get more money out of the tourists… I don’t know. Really, I don’t want to think too much about it. Children in work is obviously a contentious issue but it’s sort of part of the Bedouin culture – well it must be – I haven’t seen any children Egyptian’s in Sharm at all, thinking about it, except for those with adults trying to tout “free” Camel rides outside the hotels.

Much like the Quad bikes, I was certain I was going to get the moody camel. My luck was in as aside from a couple of camels [including mine] walking into other camels where the children were more concerned with talking rather than leading the animals in a fairly straight line, it was good. Before we got to the camel station we were warned about the camel’s temperament and how they could be. Alex kept quoting Aladdin “Careful, they spit!” As it turns out, Camel’s are the most expensive animal in Egypt costing approx £1000 [£E10,000 approx]. I think horses are more expensive back in the UK.

Once the camel ride was over we spent some time with these “modern Bedouin’s” who even had a TV and a working toilet. After we had spent a small amount of time here, we climbed one of the smaller Dahab mountains to watch the sunset. Dahab, it turns out, means “gold” or “city of gold” because of the way that the colours of the Sun hit the mountain as it sets. I have a few pictures of this, and hopefully my camera can do the sunset justice. It was so nice to just sit there and watch the sun go down behind the mountains. The temperature didn’t drop at all though; apparently it’s the wrong time of year for it to go cold anywhere in Sinai at least. Oh, before we actually climbed the mountain our guide showed us some stuff unique to the desert – things like beetle homes, special herbs that the Bedouin use to fight diseases and snake bites, and the two types of trees that grow in this region.

Once we returned from the mountain – I did the nice thing of helping someone down as she was wearing totally the wrong shoes to be climbing a mountain [and she wasn’t even part of our group of tourists]  – we returned to the tents where we had some more of that tea mentioned in the last post. I believe it’s called Habuk tea, but I really can’t remember. It’s a nice tea, but difficult to describe – very sweet – more so than you would expect from tea.

After a small while we had some dinner with the Bedouins – we learned to make their special flat bread, and see it cooked. It’s kind of like a bread pancake, cooked over a hot iron condiment – quite nice really. The closest thing to describing it would be a tortilla wrap – but thinner and nicer. Dinner was rice, vegetables, BBQ chicken… and some camel’s milk. Which I tried and it was actually very very nice. It’s quite a sweet milk.

Next the Bedouin’s put on a show. First there was some singing and music playing, then this creepy voice started up and I was utterly, completely convinced that a Combichrist song was about to follow, then this guy walked onto this stage clearly designed for this sort of thing – and starts playing with fire! It was pretty awesome – and I was able to get a few pictures along the lines of light painting which looked pretty cool on the camera but I haven’t yet looked at them on the computer.

Next up on stage was a Bedouin man dressed in, well they looked like skirts, but I assume they have some sort of ceremonial purpose, and well… he spun. And spun. And spun for a very long time [to music]. After some time lights appeared on his skirts and starting glowing too – to which I got some light painting orientated pictures from as well. There was also a point when he got members of the audience to dance on the stage with him, which was funny.

Then again with the creepy music – and the fire guy came back, but this time with two big pillows full of metal prongs – and he proved to the audience that this is what they were by going round and making them touch it. He also had a big heavy looking bag as well, full with broken glass. Can you see where this little bit is going? Add in some volunteers from the audience and this man was stepped on, quite a bit, in all areas of his body – including his head on the nails – by the volunteers. It was fascinating to watch, it really was!

Once the show had ended – and what a show it was too – we were taken by our guides into the desert – to do the stargazing part. You won’t have seen anything like it, it just took my breath away! You could see the whole of the Milky Way. Seriously, the whole of it. It was so beautiful! And pretty difficult to photograph as well, but I walked away with a few shots that I was proud of – I just hope that they come out on the computer. This moment in time – it was one of those times that make you realise just how insignificant our little planet is, and how beautiful the natural world is. We would probably see it at home, if there wasn’t all the light pollution clogging up the night sky.

We had an astronomer as well, telling us where certain constellations were, and how to find the North Star [which isn’t the brightest star in the sky – which I always thought that it was]. It was pleasant, and relaxing and I enjoyed it so much! The only thing that made my night awkward was the fact that my eye started playing up – which it hasn’t done for ages – and it was sore until the sun went down and the lights weren’t as bright.

Right, well, I’ll leave it there for the time being.

Take care folks!

Quad Biking Adventure, and the Choas Caused!

Tags

Quad Biking Adventure, Sharm Club, Sinai Desert, Swimming

So whilst I have been writing these blogs I have been browsing the internet at the same time, talking to people on Facebook and all that entails… except for today. For some reason and for the first time I can remember, I cannot access the social network. I suspect it is because the wireless here needs a passkey, but that employees have that same passkey and have been social networking more than working. Perhaps. I am unsure whether I believe this, but this is the only answer I have. Either that or there’s a blanket on it, which again sucks as it’s the best form of communication with everyone back in the UK without it costing me an arm and a leg for the phone bill.

Anyways, that is beside the point really. This blog is about the adventures here that Alex and I are having, and so far I like to think that I have been pretty regular at updating and sharing our adventures with you all. I hope that you like these posts as much as I enjoy typing them. I forgot how much I love blogging in general, so when I get back perhaps I will try to keep it up a bit more. She says rather optimistically.

Today’s blog will be shorter than the previous one – mainly because I don’t have a greater time period/series if events to cover.

We started yesterday just relaxing and swimming around in the hotel pool – well, most of the morning that was. We are finding ourselves better in the sun now, and whilst I have a light burning around my shoulders, this is because I wasn’t quick enough at reapplying the sun screen in the heat of the midday sun. It’s been fun though, especially after catching up after the Cairo trip, more so because we were just spending the time in between just relaxing and catching up on the sleep that the coach trip robbed us of.

In the afternoon we went on a quad “bike” [that’s for you Ma, I know they can’t really be “bikes”] adventure in the desert, which was an experience. For those who know me well, you can guess what is coming in the next few lines right?

This trip was the first one that we organised through Thompson, rather than Sharm Club. It was hard to not compare the experiences of the two in terms of travel, how we got there and back. With the Sharm guys we had transport from the hotel to a meeting point with a larger group of people, but there was only a few of us at a time. It was more personal. Thompson’s approach was to fill a coach full of people, collected from the hotels also, and then go straight to the centre where the Quad biking stuff was. At this point in time, I am not so sure I like this coach thing, but then, that’s what the transport across the board boils down too at the end of it all.

So, we arrived at the Quad centre, off the main strip of Sharm and into the desert. We choose to go on the adventure that had the meeting point of 3pm as we felt that it would be better to be out of the midday sun in that sort of environment. [We still made sure to wear plenty of sunscreen]. I have never ridden a Quad of any kind before in life, and Bessie my car really doesn’t help. Before we actually went on the actual adventure, we had to have a safety and training exercise to ensure that we could handle to bikes properly. Which was fine, although I was fairly certain I was going to make a show of myself during this part of the day, however, it turns out that this part was fine. It would be later on in the adventure that I made a bit of an arse of myself. As I say – can you guess what’s coming? Out of everyone that had to do the training and test, there was one girl who didn’t finish [don’t worry, it wasn’t me!], and in the end she didn’t go on the actual ride into the desert. I felt a bit sorry for her companion though, as he didn’t get to go either.

So we weren’t a massive group really, although I think there must have been about 20 of us in total making our way across the desert. The tour was divided into three sections, so drive a bit, break, drive a bit, break, and then back to the main camp. On the second break we got to meet some Bedouin people at a settlement, see some camels and relax under their hospitality. For this journey we also had to have some goggles [mine kept falling down, naturally] and a scarf. We had already bought the scarves when we went to the Old Market which meant I got a pretty black and purple/pink one.

I have to confess I found this adventure the most difficult out of what we have experienced so far. The first leg of the journey was difficult because of how I was holding the accelerator button, which was below the handle bars. I honestly kept wishing for the leg to be over with so that I could try and adjust the way I was holding myself on the bike. This leg lasted about 35 minutes or so, which when you are experiencing pain seems like an eternity. And, as I mentioned above, my goggles kept coming off, leaving my eyes exposed to the dusty environment, which did nothing for my contacts, and I had decided to leave my glasses at the hotel. Good move right?

Not as good as the next move at least. Remember I told you there were approximately 20 or so people in our convoy of bikes? When entering the first camp for the first break… I was the only fricking person to crash my Quad. I crashed into a thankfully empty Quad, which had a knock on effect to an equally empty sand buggy. I bet my family are laughing stupidly at this – only me, right? I  nearly went over the handle bars, but thankfully I didn’t, and I was fine. I’m not sure if my body hurts today because of that, or because I have actually been trying to swim more in the pool as I’d like to build up my strength.

My penalty for this crash was that I had to ride first behind the tour leader/guide person on the second leg of the journey. Again, this second ride wasn’t too bad, but I wanted it to be over as I was starting to feel motion sick – for the first time since I was our in Arizona – and I still hadn’t mastered the grip on the handlebars. Again, the ride lasted for about 35-30 minutes, but during the ride we all stopped… because I was having trouble with my mask and the leader saw this and took the time out to readjust it for me. I still felt like a pleb.

On the break of the second leg we met with the Bedouins and learnt about some of their culture. It was here that we learnt that there are actually no native Egyptians to the Sinai region, but that all the workers come here from the great cities like Cairo to find work. And they don’t bring their women with them as it would be too expensive. This means that the Bedouins are the locals, and that really, this is their land. I wonder what they really think of all the rubbish and trash that piles up alongside almost every part of the desert that I have seen so far.

Here we had a special tea with herbal healing qualities. It actually did wonders for my stomach, settled it for the final leg. Alex and I bought some souvenirs here too, as most of it looked pretty unique unlike the stuff that is sold in every shop in and outside of the hotel which was cool.

The remaining journey back to the centre was good – I mastered the grip on the bike which meant that my hand didn’t hurt, and the herbal tea had settled my stomach. The only thing about this journey was that my bike had disappeared! One of the rangers must have used my bike to go to the other camp whilst we were with the Bedouins as we basically refused to pay for water when it had been free at the other camp.

Alex was totally in his element out here though, and he just wanted to go faster lol!

So in all it was a pretty eventful few hours. But I enjoyed them despite the feeling sick. And the crashing. And the losing my bike. But it was all good!

So, until the next time, take care and be safe… and hope the weather isn’t *too* bad in the UK…

The Old Market and The Ancient Wonder of the World.

Tags

Ancient Wonder, Cairo, Egyptian Adventure, Great Pyramid, King Tutankhmun, Perfumes

The Old Market and Cairo.

I think the best way to describe the past couple of days is simply this: tiring. This isn’t a bad kind of tired though, this is the good kind. As mentioned in my previous post, one of my life long dreams was realised – but this is something that I’ll get into in a moment, I’m trying to keep things in order so that when I read this over in how ever many years time I can think… yeah, I remember that really clearly.

Alex, I think I should mention before I get to far stuck into my typing, is feeling better. I don’t know whether it was a combination of the heat and him not eating properly, but he’s feeling fine now. I found some Dairy Milk [there is actually loads of English/American brands of food, Pringles, chocolate bars etc] and fed him that, then went down to dinner with him and he actually ate more than he had so far. Which was good, because I think that was part of the problem.

We seem to be managing the heat better now – I would say that we are acclimatising better, but I didn’t generally feel too bad in the heat until Cairo. I am happy to say that I am still un-burnt, and that, whilst a lot of people laughed at me for buying factor 50 sun cream, it is certainly doing the trick. I have freckles appearing on my shoulders, and even along my arms, which I haven’t seen in quite literally years. My legs however are still pale pins that stand out like a sore thumb. I may have to do the cheesy sit and just spend a day sun bathing if I want to go home with them a distinctly different colour. I would imagine if they tanned, it would wash off in the shower though.

The area of Egypt that we are staying in is in the Sinai part. It is part of both Asia and Africa, and is typically the hottest part of Egypt to have travelled too. In some places, my guidebook tells me, the areas along the coastline can reach 50 degrees Celsius. I would like to add that taking our holiday here at this time of year was Alex’s idea – which is even more spectacular as he struggles in the heat of home on a sunny day. Maybe he’ll realise how easy we have it with our rainy days and drinkable tap water. Apparently the water in the whole of the Sinai area is not drinkable, and I’d really like to find out why. Perhaps once I’ve posted this, and the internet is fast enough, I’ll look it up on Wikipedia.

So on Sunday we went out to somewhere called the “Old Market” which is Sharm’s traditional marketplace where you can get what you need. My impression of it however was that it may be a traditional market – I think I was expecting something like the Brighton Lanes – the Old Market is a tourist traditional market – with all your typical Egyptian souvenirs available to be bought [I am not going to lie, I will probably get something typical for when I go home]. The only thing that I found that was off putting for me was that you can’t simply go round and look at the items on sale. Pretty much as soon as we stepped out of the taxi all the traders were there trying to get our attention and to practically force us into their shops. This is typical of most places, but it means that you just can’t browse the items. And as soon as you appear to be interested in something, then they are on you. If you decide that you would actually like t buy something, then you have to haggle the price that you want to pay. It’s a lot like hard work, so naturally I got Alex to do that haggling. I don’t think I’d have the confidence to.

We walked away from the Old Market with two scarves – we need these for when we go Quad Biking in the dessert tomorrow – two hats, because quite frankly they were really cool and would offer more protection for me than the hat that I came out here with, and a really cool Egyptian themed photo frame. With all the other stuff we’ve got – the snorkels for instance – I am a little concerned that we are going to exceed the weight limit for the stuff on the way back! But all things considered, we got the stuff from the Old Market for a really good price, and the hats seem to be made of a really good quality too. Not bad for £3.50, and £3.00 each [English money].

In terms of money everything out here seems to be really cheap, you just have to ensure that you apply the conversion rate which is approximately £E9.55 for every £1. It is also cheaper to convert the money in the Central Egyptian Bank, rather than book money through a travel company like we did. If I had known this in advance I think I would have brought more English money and exchanged what I needed when I needed it rather than having a big wedge of Egyptian notes.

So; to the bit that I’ve really been wanting to tell you about! Like I say, I am trying to do this in a bit of order, partly because I am writing it in my head when I am out and about as well as here in the lobby [I have Alex with me this time…]

Cairo.

First, let me begin. Cairo as a place isn’t somewhere that I have ever desired to go, but the Pyramids have been a lifelong dream of mine to go and visit. Ever since I was young and discovered what a vast and interesting history the Egyptians have, I remember even now, reading the history books, learning the letters of the hieroglyphs and thinking how amazing they were – that this ancient civilisation could build something so big, so lasting, for it to still exist in the modern world, through the wars, turbulence, and well… something like 7000 years! For something to last that length of time is just amazing. Just think about the stuff that’s about at the moment, I really doubt that today’s modern constructions will stand the test of time.

We went to Cairo by bus. From where we are staying in Sharm to the city it was approximately a 6 hour bus ride. With one stop about four hours in. We were one of the last to arrive for the coach, which meant that we were stuck at the back, above the engine, which was blowing out hot air, to which the air conditioning was not really combating the heat. So it was a long, uncomfortable bus ride. Did I mention we had to be up at 1 am for it as well? We were able to get some sleep for the excursion, but it was only a couple of hours. I didn’t sleep well on the coach at all. It actually made me feel sick, especially as I was desperate for a wee and refused to use the coach toilet. [Oh, you even get hassled in the restrooms – people hand you toilet roll, and expect you to pay them for it… there’s a reason I bought baby wipes with me!]

Whilst you are traveling along the route, because it can be quite a dangerous route [this wasn’t really gone into when we were told this] all the coaches that are leaving to Cairo have to go together. And there were a lot of coaches. Which meant that we had a lot of waiting around for them at certain points along the journey, making it more uncomfortable. I don’t think many people realised just how dangerous our journey could have been – really, if you think about it, if there are dangerous people/things out there, a convey of coaches with tourists on it is a moving target. The previous two trips that had been arranged by the Sharm Club [the guys we booked through] had been cancelled, so I think we were really quite lucky to go].

So some 6 hours later, although I am inclined to think it was much longer than that, we arrived in Cairo. The coach was filled with people from different hotels and booking agents, which meant that we didn’t go as one group, but that we splintered off into our groups which had our own representative. Our guy was an awesome guide, his name was Ali, and his enthusiasm in his history, his culture was just amazing. I later learnt he is doing his Masters in the links between the ancient cultures and how they are represented in Egyptian history – from the Egyptians themselves, through to the ancient Greeks to the Romans. This sounds like to most amazing history/ masters ever.

We started at the Museum in Cairo that houses the exhibitions of King Tutankhamun [I have to apologise, I can’t remember what the name of the museum is called!]. There was so much stuff there, and not all related to the Boy King. There were sections devoted to the Royal Mummies [you could see just how well the Egyptians embalmed their dead, their features, skin hair, everything is still visible today!] and there was a room for papyrus, scrolls and the such like. I always assumed that the colours used on the scrolls were obtained from flowers, but no, they used chemical reactions – copper, soot, all sorts to make the colours – which is why they are still long lasting into today!

After the museum we headed to the pyramids. This is what I have waited so long to see! My obsession with a certain video game character has inspired this as well. As you can imagine, this is a typical tourist trap – but you know what? I don’t care! It was amazing. You had to pay extra, but we went inside the Great Pyramid. I mean…. THE GREAT PYRAMID. It was a big, dark, steep incline to the top of the pyramid, and there wasn’t much there except a sarcophagus [empty, of course] but still. This was one of the things that I have always wanted to do, and I can say that I have officially done it. Alex did it too, but struggled a bit inside because it was really steep, and low in some places. Also, to get to the entrance, you had to climb the outside of the pyramid. I was so in my element it was unreal!

After the Great Pyramid, we moved round to the Sphinx. When I was younger I did a presentation on the Sphinx, about how it could possibly be older than the Great Pyramid, how it could have a sister sitting somewhere across the Nile. I found the whole thing really, really fascinating. We got some pictures too, but I’m not sure how they’ve come out as we let Ali loose with the dSLR, and someone who doesn’t necessarily use them they may not be cool. But we have pictures. Oh, and inside the tomb as well! [Our guide took these, and naturally expected a tip…]

Once we had finished at the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid we moved to a perfume shop. This brand of shops is owned by the brother of Al Fyed, the guy that owned Harrods. This perfume shop was such a contrast to Cairo itself, calm, unassuming, and more than that, they didn’t pressure you to buy. But it was really interesting as we learned about the history of the perfumes – and this shop, this place, supplies the WORLDS perfumes. We ended up buying some of the scents, Alex got some that are the base for Hugo Boss, and Diesel, and I got some that are unique to Egypt and are not allowed to be exported by the company by contract to the government. One of them is the scent of Lotus flower, and the other is called “Queen of the Desert” [I think, maybe queen of the night]. But these oils, they will never evaporate, or anything like that. And they will never loose their scent because they are pure. [There was some jars at the museum that housed scents like this, and if you could open the cabinet, you would still be able to smell the perfume of 4000 years ago].

Lastly, we visited a papyrus shop and learned how papyrus was made, and how to spot the fakes. We didn’t buy anything from here though, as much as we wanted to, because they were really expensive. But they were pretty!

The journey back to Sharm wasn’t the nicest. We managed to sit in a different place this time, so we weren’t boiled out by the engine…. instead I froze. I sort of slept on the journey back, but it was uncomfortable. Because of the whole convey situation it took us far longer to get back than it did to get there, but there wasn’t any explanation for it, I think they just assumed that we knew what was going on. When we stopped at the diner on the way back I couldn’t be bothered to move, so didn’t have any more food or a bathroom break. We actually didn’t get back to the hotel until four am this morning. You can imagine I slept like a trooper today – which has been filled with relaxing, sleeping, reading, swimming, and about to go and get some dinner-ing.

Take care folks, and hope I have bored you silly with my Egyptian Adventure posts!

Arrival and Ras Mohammed National Park

Tags

Africa, Aisa, Cairo, Ras Mohammed National Park, Snorkelling, Swimming

So we arrived at Sharm el Sheikh Airport late Thursday night. The last time I flew anywhere it was to the USA with a friend to celebrate the end of GCSEs, and a parting of the ways in a sense. I don’t really remember either flight, but I do remember that I wasn’t nervous at all. I mean, first time travelling at all and of all places to the USA. [Arizona, to be precise, it would seem that I have a penchant for hot destinations, yet I am not the sun, sand and sea type of person – naturally Alex wants to do Alaska the next time we travel anywhere… brrr!]

Sitting on the plane I was filled with this nervous energy, butterflies doing a number deep in the pit of my stomach. I can only assume that this is because I am older and more aware of what happens in the world. I can honestly say that all sorts of thoughts were going through my head… then the planes engines started, the take off beginning and I was fine for the rest of the journey. I have no idea what brought that nervousness on. Perhaps it is simply because I have been watching too much Criminal Minds recently.

The descent into Sharm Airport, Egypt was a night time decent. Which meant that all the lights, excluding the emergency lights , were put out! This has to be, in my personal opinion, one of the oddest experiences I have ever had. With all the lights out, and looking out into a desert – it was actually quite disconcerting when the plane tilted/turned left or right! Especially when you think you’re looking at the ground, and it turns out it was the sky, with the only point of reference being the flashing light outside the window where the engine is [oh yeah, window seats!]. Of course, once you voice these thoughts, you cannot take them back, and you tend to look like a pleb. However, this is me, so you guys already know that I am a bit “special” in that sense anyways!

So the first night we got to our hotel, which by the way is amazing. And huge. Most definitely huge – our room number starts 21— [like I’d put the whole number on there!]. It took a long time for the luggage to be collected for some reason though, as it would seem there had been a problem on the other side. Plus you kind of had to guess where your luggage was coming out as some of the information screens weren’t working that night. There was the “Windows has encountered an error” sign on one, and on another the Windows [XP] unlocking code required! You know the one I mean, the control, alt, delete one. However, after my nasty visions of my luggage having gone astray, we wound up at the hotel. Even though it was something like 22:00 local time the heat! The heat was immense, I just didn’t expect it. I assumed that once the sun had set that the temperature would drop as well, but that wasn’t, and isn’t, the case.

One of the main things we are trying to ensure is to keep out of the midday sun – which it kind of goes without saying is the most harmful part of the day. Unlike my trip to Cornwall last year, I haven’t yet burnt, and have been applying my factor 50 [yes, I know] very regularly, especially today as we went on our first excursion to the Ras Mohammed National Park – Egypt’s first national park. Being a park, you would have thought that mean land, but it was all in the water – which means…. swimming and snorkelling in the bluest sea that I have ever seen! Even now I can feel the sea salt on my hands, under my nails – yeah, I have yet to wash it out – my hair is the crunchiest I have ever known it. The coral reefs were amazing to look at as well! We got an underwater camera, an old school one that you have to wind the film on in – but as with any film camera I am unsure how the pictures will turn out. We saw a shark, and a stingray, down at the bottom of the ocean, and I managed to swim right into a coral reef – which is called being “stung” so when I got back to the boat I had to have some medical treatment for even though it didn’t bleed or anything. I think it was antiseptic more than anything. It turned my leg brown for bit though. In all there were three dives that you had the opportunity to go on. The first one was pretty long though, and being as though I am not a great swimmer I had to wear a life jacket [I wans’t going to drown before you all laugh at me!]. Snorkelling is a very strange experience though, and whilst it was really awesome to see the coral and the fishes, my mask, which we had bought the precious day, was leaking in one side a bit and was causing my eyes to sting – that water was most definitely salty. I made sure I was wearing my contacts for this trip or I wouldn’t have seen anything at all! The second dive we both didn’t go on, me because of my lack of swimmers status meant that my legs were pretty weak by that time, and Alex because he wasn’t feeling too well – I have yet to decide whether this is because he is suffering heat stroke, or because he hasn’t been eating/drinking as much as me. Which makes me sound really quite greedy but I am very conscious of the fact that I really do not want to get ill. Hence, all the sunscreen – which to be fair Alex has been putting on regularly [factor 30].

The last dive was also pretty interesting but again I didn’t do the whole dive as I really am a weak swimmer – something that I really want to work on when we return home. The guys that ran the tour were brilliant as well! Syed has got to be one of the best swimmers in the world. And Mohammed “Like every other Egyptian [named] man you have met” , I think he was the tour guide-y type person had such personality and character that it made the whole experience so much better! Plus he looked after Alex when he wasn’t feeling well, and after he had also been “stung” by some coral reef – right below his bum – I should add for my amusement more than anything. Some of Mohammed’s colleagues were saying that people remembered him, even four or five years after their first tour. In this world of anonymity that has to count for something, right?

During the dives we crossed from the Gulf of Suez [where I geeked out my history knowledge to Alex a little bit, until I saw the glazed expression in his eyes…] to the Gulf of Aqaba [which being honest, doesn’t it sound like a name straight from Aladdin?]. So, swimming and being in both these waters means that I have technically have visited Asia today as well! It sounds strange to think that I am currently staying in Africa – I mean, in my head Africa and Egypt are two different places, but it really isn’t. I know, this is one of those comments that cannot be unsaid.

Our next excursion is to Cairo – although the Sharm Club representative did tell us today that there is a possibility that the excursion may be cancelled if the Egyptian tourist board see fit. He said it wasn’t because of trouble in Cairo – apparently there it’s “perfectly safe” – and nor was it to do with that fact that we are coming from Sharm, it’s to do with the in-between bit. Which is about 500km from where we are staying, and is about a 6 hour coach trip between the two destinations. He has that the last two trips to Cairo by coach were cancelled, and that we will find out tomorrow sometime as to what is going on with it all. I suppose it’s not the end of the world if it is cancelled – money is refunded and all that – but Egypt is all about the Pyramids. Naturally, safety first [ooo, talking of safety first – I have spotted one Esso site – that sort of looked like a S&S from the outside, and a few Mobil sites too] For anyone that didn’t know I work for Esso. It’s sort of my thing to spot them when I go abroad.

As I write this I have left Alex in the hotel room resting and sat in the lobby as he isn’t feeling a hundred per cent. This is probably because he isn’t adjusting to the Egyptian sun/heat as well as I am. Well, I say that, I am making sure that I eat enough and drink enough more than anything. Even if I am eating a lot of carbs, I feel as though I need it! Also, the lobby is the only place to get WiFi – it’s the slowest internet connection ever, but it’s a connection! Also, I apologise if there are many typo’s as I have been writing this on Alex’s laptop, which I really am not used to! I miss mine already! The air conditioning is also the best in the lobby, although it makes that whole avoid going from extreme heat to extreme cold thing pretty hard to avoid.

Anyways, that is all for now, and I hope to blog again soon – probably after the Cairo trip – assuming it goes ahead!

Take care folks, and hope that it isn’t raining too much in the UK!!

Holiday – Phase One – The Leaving Part…

Tags

Egypt, Gatwick Airport, holiday, phase one, vacation

Today is the day that one of my dreams will be coming true. Dreams coming true is a bit of an odd experience for me, mainly because I am not overly sure what constitutes a “dream” and whether it coming true actually makes it a dream in the first place. I mean, there’s the unrealistic stuff, like winning the lottery – that’s a dream, right? – And that coming true isn’t something that you can predict, you just have to “be in it to win it”. That’s just luck.

This year, one of my “dreams” came true when I got my Fiat 500. My “dream” car. [I love it by the way, it is simply made of win. I have decided to name her Bessie – as it is another thing to name inanimate objects… Nuri has this thing about naming iPods, I name my cars]. So anyway, this dream came true and I now have/own Bessie the Fiat 500.

Today I leave for my first ever holiday to Africa/Egypt. I have always wanted to go to Egypt more so because I get to pretend to be Lara Croft for two weeks. Sort of. Not really. When I was a kid I used to think that I would discover a new Pharaohs tomb that would change the understanding of Egyptian history. Of course, this is very unlikely to happen, but I can dream about that right? [There we go, I mentioned that word again! Dream!]

This is going to be an interesting couple of week. I cannot wait to experience the Egyptian culture, the sites and sounds!

And of course, avoid any kind of Mozzie because I have not had any injections as nobody told me that it was recommended that I had them until it was too late! Whoops!

Anyways, shortly Alex will be here, and Mims too. We’re going to have some breakfast – nothing like bacon butties for breakfast right? Then make our way to the airport. With lots of sunscreen for me as I burn after two seconds in the sun, let alone going to Egypt whilst the temp is approximately 40 degrees Celsius! Depending on what the internet connection is like when we get out there, and what I mean by that is depending on whether we actually get some form of internet connection, I’ll post a few blogs whilst I am out there and share it with all my readers.

And perhaps will write some of my novel whilst I am out there!

Take care folks, and see you on the other side if  I cannot get and internet connection.