7DaysinParadise
Travel => General Travel => Topic started by: Harlequin on April 22, 2006, 04:45:00 AM
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Just got back from Hurgadha on the Red Sea, Egypt is a great place to visit and a fantastic experience the locals are really friendly and welcoming, our hotel was in Hurgardha which is a busy vibrant town with loads of shops bars and clubs that keep going all night.
WE had planned to go to the valley of the kings at Luxor but decided against it as I would rather go back in to Egypt and spend a week in Luxor to do the Valley of the Kings and Queens and the Karnak Temple, we did a few local tours that we booked through a local travel shop these was less than half price of the holiday company especially if you haggle, haggling is a way of life going shopping and booking taxis all take a bit of time.
Traveling around Egypt is safe as security is taken seriously there are army checkpoints around the town and these guys are seriously armed, tourist coach trips to Luxor and Cairo are taken in convoy by army escort, and around the town there are tourist police and one on the door of every hotel with a metal detector which went of every time we went through it, the cop just laughed and waved us through, Egyptians don't get into the hotels without a good reason and they get the full search.
Egypt is a poor country and capitalism is at it's worst, the workers are paid around £30 a month and rely on tips as they have to pay for everything a visit to the Doctors cost £50, there are a lot of Russians as it is cheap for them to travel from what we saw of them we was not impressed with there behavior and neither are the locals.
We have made many friends and plan to go back in a couple of years and on the way out picked up a few bottles of Havana Club Anejo Blanco at $10 a litre at the Airport when we were leaving.
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Hurghada is south of Sharm-el-Sheikh isn't it Garin? Did you do any snorkelling or diving while you were there?
Were you able to get over to Gifton Island?
:7:
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Hurghada is a short ferry ride from Sharm, we could see Gifton Island from the beach, we did the trip to Gifton which included snorkeling of the beach which was amazing on the way there we could see turtles, we also went to a reef near the island, but I didn't go in there as I had just had lunch, Val went in and got cramp so all the lifesaving training I have done got put to good use.
We also went down in a submarine to a depth of 25 meters and did the boat trip to El Gouna (known as the Venice of Egypt) on the way 2 Dolphins came up to the boat which is unusual these days as the Russians have frightened them off by diving in and trying to grab them, the snorkeling on that trip at a reef about 10 mile out was excellent, will post some photos later when I have had time to organize them
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It's a beautiful part of the world Garin and you're lucky to be so close.
Val's cramp sounds rather scary. :(
I have also heard that the dolphins have been scared off from that area. That is sad, as it used to be teaming with dolphins.
I look forward to seeing your photos.
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(http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_30_8.gif) Garin and Val. So far your trip sounds very interesting and I am looking forward to hearing some more. It sounds like you had a great two weeks.
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Hey guys, welcome back.
Sounds like it was some trip. :D
can't wait to see pictures.
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Did I miss something? There was just a link here to pictures wasn't there?
Anyway: :) Great pictures Garin - you've got my interest ;) I can see why some of your family members found the town a bit intimidating at first.
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Fantastic photos Garin.
It brought back such memories for me of the Mid-east -- especially the bread carts, the camel, the hustle and bustle of the streets with cars constantly honking their horns no doubt, the vibrant nightlife and the desert!!
LOL, the submarine ride looks like a lot of fun!
I went to look up pics of "El Gouna" which I had never heard of before. It really looks interesting. Is it primarily wealthy Arabs that live there Garin?
I really appreciate you posting the photos.
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Originally posted by millybess:
I really appreciate you posting the photos.
......which no longer seem to be here? :(
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Sorry my fault thought I had down loaded them all and put them in some sort of order most of them are there now, I can't even blame it on the jet lag
http://www.7daysinparadise.com/gallery/Egypt-06 (http://www.7daysinparadise.com/gallery/Egypt-06)
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Originally posted by Garin:
I can't even blame it on the jet lag
LOL Garin. I was about to put it on the "honey-do" list for JC. Gotta keep him on his toes. A week isn't that long! :D
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El Gouna is a area that has private villas and hotels it is known as the Venice of Egypt, and is only open to the rich and tourists, Omar Sharif owns a villa there, this area does not represent what life is like in Egypt
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Garin
We really enjoyed your pics...Mmmmmm Egypt, never really considered the possibilities but certainly would now!
Cheers...F&T
PS. Was that you in the Western style hat... Maybe a trip to the wild Canadian west should be in order??? (LOL)
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Originally posted by FredTracie:
Tracie and I have been to Cuba 10 times now and feel we could take another 10 trips to totally different areas!
Cheers...F&T
PERFECT!
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Originally posted by Garin:
El Gouna is a area that has private villas and hotels it is known as the Venice of Egypt, and is only open to the rich and tourists, Omar Sharif owns a villa there, this area does not represent what life is like in Egypt
Are there hotels there Garin? Are some of the villas leased out?
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Yes that was me in the hat, not sure if the villas can be let out in El Gouna, but there are a lot of hotels there that are available for tourists, if you want to stay in a dream resort this is the ideal location
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Great pictures Chris, looks like it was quite the adventure. How was the water, it looks like it was comparable to caribbean waters? Egypt has always been on my "one day" list. Those pictures just puts it higher on that list.
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Glad you had a nice time Garin, we are headed out to Sharm - 5 weeks today, I had heard that there are alot of Russians and that some of them can be quite rude - we'll see about that one ;) .
We orignally looked at where you went, but as we are taking the children we decided sharm was probaby better for them.
And its good news that you picked up some Havana rum on the way - I am running short and the thought of waiting until Oct when we go back didm't sound to appealing, though they do sell it in Sainsburys at £20 per bottle.
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Originally posted by johnnycastaway:
Great pictures Chris, looks like it was quite the adventure. How was the water, it looks like it was comparable to caribbean waters? Egypt has always been on my "one day" list. Those pictures just puts it higher on that list.
Egypt is a divers paradise the boat trips take most of the day with the option of diving or snorkeling they are a lot of dive centers so the prices are very competitive and most of them seemed to be professional.
Huskypup you will have a great time in Egypt, Sharm is a resort that has been built around tourism so it's a bit more relaxed, Hurgahda is very active with a lot of resorts a few miles out of town, we stayed in the center of Hurgahda which was really active and a lot of Brits found it itimidating at first, the lads were happy as the Ministry of Sound night club was on the doorstep. There is a police and army presence around town this was more low key than we thought it would be, the tourist police are all everywhere and are very helpful and will sort any problems out, the locals stay well clear of them as if them upset them they will get hassle in the future
There was a lot of mini buses acting as taxis and they will try to scam you especially when you first arrive, make sure you agree a price first we got one for 30 Egyptian ponds for 8 people and thought it was cheap we later found out that we should not be paying more than 10 Egyptian pounds, if you have any problems with taxi drivers you can threaten to take there number and report them to the tourist police, we booked trips at a local shop these worked out around half the price that T Cook charged, we left a deposit of 10% and paid the rest when they turned up, Girton island was £10 pp, El Gouna £15 the Sub was £25 and the Jeep safari was including star gazing and watching the sun go down which only takes a few minutes was £15, we was offered trips on the street if you take these you are funding the Russian mafia and will be ripped of, they mainly scam the Russians who in general totally deserve it we met a few who were OK the locals don't like or trust them.
Shopping is great fun and takes a bit of time, gold is a good buy and they only use 18 or 22 carat it took use over a hour and several cups of coffee to finally get to the price which was all good natured, when battering I aimed for around 40 to 50% of the original price and most times it worked, there are some fixed price shops if you buy a few thing ask for a gift they normally smile and let you choose something.
The visa was $18 or £12 I paid with dollars which I exchange a few months back when the exchange rate was better, take a pen on the plane as you will have to fill out a entry card and a form at the hotel, the entry card asks for you flight No hotel name and passport No and type which is P and nationality I put UK and GB the, when leaving you will also have a exit card our rep gave to us at the hotel to make things easier at the airport. The exchange rate was better in Egypt just over 10 Egyptian pounds to £1, all the shops accepted GBP USD, Euros, GBP are easier to work out the exchange rate, the duty free shops at the airport do not take Egyptian pounds, there was 2 duty free shops at the airport only one of them had Havana Club and only white rum all I have to do now is grow some more mint :moj:
Take some mozzie stuff we got a few bites but 2 of our group really suffered and the repellant they took was not much good, we used boots brand with deet and the plug in for the room
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Thanks Garin, we are looking forward to it, have stocked up on the mossie stuff, got bitten badly in Cuba last year so not taking risks with children - (children both are taller than me and are only 11 & 13!!).
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Originally posted by huskypup:
(children both are taller than me and are only 11 & 13!!).
Mine are also 11 & 13 and thank my lucky stars they're not taller than me. (but they are probably taller than Huskypup! ;) )
Bigjohn.
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Big John
Step-daughter (13) is 5ft 9" and has size 8 feet and Stepson (11) is 5ft 4" and has size 6 feet, where as this little huskypup is only 5ft 2" and has size 3 feet, daughter is now the same height as HB, they take after there mum though she is nearly 6ft tall.
But as they spend most of there time with us, we do get alot of strange looks, when they look at the size of the children and the size of me - we feel sorry for daughter though as no-one actually belives she is 13, though she def has the attitude at times :p
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Sadly, Egypt just got a whole lot less tourist friendly today.
Three nearly simultaneous explosions rocked the Egyptian resort city of Dahab on Monday, killing at least 22 people and wounding more than 150 in a terror attack at the height of the tourist season.
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Seaside resorts in the Sinai are not the place to be during "high holidays". The Coptic Christian Easter (April 23rd) would be one of those. Also, Shem al-Nessim (April 24th) which marks the first day of spring.
Tomorrow is Sinai Liberation Day, a national holiday.
All of these events make it an extra-long weekend for those in the region. A very popular time to be at the sea and to let your guard down, as most of us do, while we're on vacation.
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Hello Garin,
Thank you for all the information about Egypt...one destination I've been interested in for quite a while and our Brit friends are "rock hounds" but I had to decline going there next year (as per our original plans) ...just don't feel the "safety factor is there"...so we're off to Greece.
What a shame this part of the world (any part of the world when you think about it) is being targeted by hostile forces.
This year we'll be visiting our "safe haven" ..Cuba.
Cheers.
:cool:
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Unfortunately terrorists are putting people of going to the Red Sea area , tourism is a major source of income to Egypt so they can hit the economy, we would not hesitate to go back, it will have to wait though as I have just got a decent price on the PCV for next April