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Published: October 17th 2005
While we were in Athens, we went to a tourist agent for tickets to a Greek island and walked out with a full-blown booking to Egypt! We arrived at the Cairo airport very early on Thursday morning and had a short layover before we caught a flight to Sharm El Sheikh, a city on the Red Sea. We caught a beautiful sunrise at the airport there before we went to the resort. We stayed at an "all-inclusive" (more on that later) resort for a few days of diving, snorkeling and R&R.
We were on a boat full of Russians and one German guy who looked a lot like Jacques Cousteau; he had the hat and everything. Doug signed up for 2 dives and I had 2 snorkels; unfortunately, Doug only went on the first dive. Due to equipment problems (he ran out of air!!!), he wasn't comfortable going on the second dive. Yes, he is okay, but the crew on the boat had such an unconcerned attitude about the whole thing, he didn't trust them or their equipment. Three of them asked how things were and when he told them he ran out of air, all of them had the
same response...."it happens". F*%$& unbelievable!!!! As for the sites, the coral was amazing. The reef went down as far as you could see. There were so many varieties and colors; it was beautiful. And we got to see some new species of fish too.
After all of that, we wanted a day to relax at the resort. These people have no idea what all-inclusive means. The very first thing they showed us when we checked in was the list of things that was excluded. And try to find a drink! We had to walk around from bar to bar trying to find one that was open and serving. Plus, one bar only had beer, another one didn't have vodka, another one didn't have any liquor. They even charged for ice cream! We about went crazy!!!! Needless to say, the gorgeous aesthetics didn't compensate for the lack of amenities and inconsistent (90% poor) service.
After the few days there, we returned to Cairo, where we did an all-day tour of the pyramids, museum and papyrus factory. We had an excellent English-speaking guide, who is a Cairo native, who showed us the highlights of the museum pieces and gave us
a lot of information on them. Both of us were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the pieces and amount of things to see. Just the few pieces of King Tut's treasures are worth a visit.
After the museum we went to the pyramids. Here is where the two of us differ. I thought they would be bigger and more impressive than they are and Doug's expectations were exceeded. We did get our camel ride in though!
We also went to the bazaar......what a place! If persistance could win wars, they would rule the world. These people just don't take no for an answer. And if we have to hear "hi, ho, Silver" one more time, I'm going to scream. You cannot grasp how big this place is from the couple of pictures, but it just goes on and on, with so many side streets. One could easily spend all day here. Both Doug and I made a couple of purchases while we were there.
The food and beverage review will be short and sweet. There was nothing remarkable, but we didn't starve either. Food = C; beverages = C.
We do have to make mention
of the traffic here. This is the worst place we've been to by far. Riding in the cab, you feel like you're part of a video game. No rules are followed at all. They have turned off their traffic signals. People literally weave in and out of the lanes that aren't there. Even the locals say they swim through the streets.
Well, that's it for now. We've got a really early flight to Bangkok.
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Terry Dixon
non-member comment
What a great trip
Thanks for all the pictures, it's been great seeing all the places you've been. I'm definitely jealous seeing these pictures of Egypt, it's one of the places I've always wanted to visit, really makes me want to go, I'll just have to watch out for those all-inclusive ads.