One word....Sharm

October 8, 9, 10, 11, 2008
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

I have combined my 4 days in Sharm to one entry because pretty much everyday looked the same but let’s go back to my night in the airport. Around midnight a bunch of other people had shown up, also to sleep in the airport, but I had my territory staked out so no worries. I had set my alarm for 0400 so I would have plenty of time to gather myself and head to the check-in desk. Some very nice man saw me sleeping and woke me up at 0358...he was worried I might miss my flight. Little did he know I had plenty of time. I managed to change my flight and arrived in Sharm right around 0630 (a short one hour flight but nothing leaves on time in Egypt).I figured if I had to hang out somewhere I should do it where there was a beach. I wandered around the airport for a bit, took a look at a map and then headed to my hotel. I was WAY over charged my the cab driver and should have know better but I was tired and not in the mood to barter and in Canadian dollars it was still a very cheap cab ride from the airport.

I lucked out and my room was ready so I did not have to wait until 1500 to check-in but was in my room by 0900.…which was good because I needed some sleep and a shower. The king sized bed was certainly welcome after the airport bench.

Downtown Sharm

So Sharm El Sheikh use to be a sleepy little diving village until someone saw it as a lot more. In the 1990’s there was a huge boom in construction and now pretty much every single major international hotel chain has at least one resort there. Sharm of course is a resort town and has nothing to do with the rest of Egypt (kind of like Varaderro Cuba) and every resort there is a 5 star resort (except for about 4 which are 5-plus star resorts…this includes the Ritz Carlton…..which I couldn’t afford to stay at). The big difference is that these are not (for the most part) all inclusive resorts so the drinks can put the costs up pretty quick (but hey I am on vacation so who cares). It is similar to Hurghada except for the clientele. Sharm is certainly a step up and I was much more comfortable here than in Hurghada. I had no issues walking down the streets by myself here.

One of the streets in downtown Sharm

So I stayed at the Marriott Mountain Side Resort (thanks to a family discount) but it is only separated from the beach resort by the highway so I had free use of everything there as well… I just had to dodge the taxi cabs. The resort was really great and I have no complaints. Just for reference, there is a Ritz Carlton, Marriott and Renaissance resort in Sharm…..and they are all the same company.

Me with the resort from my room.

My days in Sharm went kind of like this, got up in time for breakfast (excellent buffet with French toast and waffles and all that fun kind of stuff) and then hang out by the pool for a couple hours. I even read some of my book for the first time in a while (currently reading W.E. B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk…a must in black literature if you ask me). I would then grab snack, maybe a drink and then hang out on the beach for a couple of hours. There was some coral just off the shore so did not have to go far to find some fish. I was also reminded why they bite as I watched a group of stupid people hand feeding them. I would then head back to my hotel for a quick shower and then wander downtown for some dinner and maybe a drink. It was all very relaxing and I must say I enjoyed every minute of it. The days were hot but the nights were perfect. The sun sets pretty early (usually down by 1800) but nothing else does.

What I looked at while lying in the sun.

Unfortunatly he was also in my view.

Friday night rolled around and I figured I would see if anything changed from any other day of the week. I went to the Hard Rock Café because I figured they will be something going on there later. It was pretty quiet until this table full of boys pulled up beside me. It took me all of 2 seconds to figure out they were American and about half that to figure out they were some kind of military (Army as it turns out….the hair cuts always give it away). It turns out they are peacekeeping in the area (they watch the boarder between Egypt and Israel to make sure nobody does anything they aren’t suppose to…..they are pretty bored most of the time) but South Camp is at Sharm so they come in for fun. They happened to be celebrating a birthday (turning 22...can you imagine...... but you know how I love those boys in uniform). They were a lot of fun but most of them had to be back on base by midnight (where the celebration would continue, just as long as they were back on-time). Anyway, they will be home by Thanksgiving (American thanksgiving) and very much looking forward to it.

A couple of the boys, Michael and Trevor (the birthday boy). We actually lost him for a minute when we switched bars but he found us.

So in short, my four days in Sharm…nice, relaxing and just what I needed before I head into the next part of my trip.

Julie