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
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
