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Egypt (30 October - 7 November 2010)

A couple weeks ago Kristina and I were in a city cut in two by the Europe/Asia border (Istanbul, Turkey), and now we're off a country cut in two by the same thing (and just like in Istanbul, we're visiting both continents). Egypt of course needs little introduction; it's a developing nation in the north-east corner of Africa, the bulk of its landscape is desert (Sahara and Libyan), and it's full of old shit like pyramids and mummies and whatnot. It's fucking hot (the mercury regularly hits 40 in summer, or if you're American and use the completely nonsensical Fahrenheit scale then think 100s), it rarely rains (south of Cairo, rainfall averages only around 2 to 5mm per year and at intervals of several years), it's cut in two by the Nile River from north to south, and it sits across from Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea. A lot of tourists do Egypt by way of package tours, often basing themselves in coastal resorts on the Red Sea and seeing other parts of the country through daily or overnight excursions - really not my thing and I think that while such set ups are nice and easy and most everything is handled for you, it really inhibits you from seeing the 'real' Egypt. I dare say a lot of folk opt for the easy option because independent travel around Egypt is no picnic. Among other things, the chaos of Cairo and the scam artists of pretty much everywhere else, combined with the never-ending and persistent hounding of "Taxi, taxi!", "Come look in my shop!", "Special discount price for you my friend!" and all the rest of it, the place can really do your fucking head in if you're not in the mood for it. Anyway, I'll talk plenty more about that later.

So, the plan for this trip was for Kristina and I to fly into Sharm el-Sheik on the Red Sea and stay there for a couple nights, ferry across the Red Sea to the coastal town of Hurghada for a nght, bus through the desert inland to Luxor on the Nile for a few nights, train up to Cairo for a couple nights, and fly out from there. But, as they do in such places, plans change.

Yup, London - another day in paradise. It seems most every trip I do starts with a photo of how shit the weather is here hahaha! Short video here shot from the back of our taxi after landing again.		The Hakbala Hakbala Times ;) I forgot to mention the main language of Egypt is Arabic, although English is widely spoken in tourist areas. The currency of Egypt is the Pound, with US$1 being worth close to E£6, €1 worth about E£8, and £1 worth about E£9. In short, foreign currency goes a long way in Egypt, and in fact most everywhere will gladly accept US Dollars, Euros, and British Pounds though it is definitely advisable to have small Egyptian denominations handy for tipping and the like. The monetary notes themselves look and feel as though they've been through the washing machine at least twice and might disintegrate in your hands hehe.

Too bad if we have to take down a number plate.		Your guess is as good as mine ;)
Sharm el-Sheikh (or just Sharm) sits on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula within the Asian continent along the northern coast of the Red Sea, and has a population of around 35,000. Left is the view from our room in our resort in Naama Bay, a few kilometres north along the coast from central Sharm. Outside of the metropolitan area though is nothing but desert, lots and lots of desert.
The main drag through Naama Bay running between the airport further north and Sharm to the south.		This pretty much sums it up - I think we saw cloud once (photos below in fact), and I think the daily temperature failed to reach 30 only once too.

Red Sea beaches and resorts aside, the area has a bowling centre...		...a Fun Town (fun is subjective)...		...and it's a good place to purchase your steroid requirements.

The whole region relies heavily on the tourist dollar. Only a few decades ago, Sharm was nothing more than a podunk little town. In the early 80s, foreign investors started pouring millions into building projects in the region having realised its potential given its dramatic landscape, year-round dry and temperate climate, long stretches of natural beaches, and proximity to the European tourism markets. The total number of resorts increased from three in 1982, to 91 in 2000, and guest nights also increased in that period from 16,000 to over five million. In short, the place has exploded in a very short period of time and provided those planes keep bringing in those tourists the development will continue as is evident everywhere. Something Kristina quickly noticed was that there appeared to be no local women anywhere in Sharm, and once I became conscious of that I noticed she was right - there simply weren't any Egyptian chicks anywhere! I think most all the locals we spoke to (restaurant owners and the like) said they and their families lived umpteen kilometres away in some other town or city. I therefore think the lack of women in Sharm is because the typical Egyptian woman's role is homemaker, and since Sharm is really nothing more than a tourist hub with very little in the way of local housing, there are very few women here.

Our resort is apparently six years old but really looks as though it was slapped together in minimal time with minimal emphasis on quality. Cracks are appearing everywhere and a lot of the building work is just plain shoddy. Clearly there was a lot of pressure from investors for a quick return on their buck.				The pool rules confused me somewhat. Appropriate swimming clothing must be worn between 8am and 7pm - so you can swim nude thereafter? Full body clothing is only allowed between 9pm and 10:30pm - huh?! That's Islam for ya.

After a rousing breakfast of whatever the hell this was from the local supermarket up the street, we waited on the roadside to be collected for our first excursion - snorkelling in the Red Sea!		The main road is pretty hectic (and spot the guy trying to cross the road in the middle of it all), though as it turns out we hadn't seen anything yet! There are marked lanes but they're completely ignored, and cars flying along three-abreast were common. Cars cutting each other up and pulling out in front of each other was a common sight also, as was blatant speeding (our taxi driver from the airport was doing 120km/h in a 60 hahaha), and at night practically no one drives with their headlights on - some have their park lights on but many including mopeds have nothing on at all, it's fucking bizarre and fucking dangerous! The blue and white vans on the right run constantly between central Sharm, Naama Bay, and beyond, picking up and dropping off people on the road side like a taxi and bus combined, and they cost just E£1 per person (about €0.13 - brilliant!).

We got collected and taken to some place to organise ourselves for the snorkelling (i.e. equipment hire, bottled water since the tap water isn't really drinkable, etc). This was our first observation of how nothing works too well in this country. Everyone stood around with no idea what was happening because nobody told us what was happening - we were all sort of kicked out of the vans and left to figure it out on our own before being ushered back into the vans to be taken to the boats. Organised chaos basically, also known as Egyptian efficiency. It's a wonder the Pyramids got built at all.		Hmm, nice shorts big fella.		Hahaha! Pink, missing buttons, sleeveless and ripped - good choice of shirt for the occasion, kudos to that man (he's clearly on the roids).

After an hour or so of utter confusion and disorganisation, I mean Egyptian efficiency, we were taken to the boats and we were off!
Check out the colour of that water - the Red Sea sure is blue!		And it's surrounded by absolute nothingness.

Nothingness still appears to be home for some keen folk though.				Hehe a cell phone tower, in the desert :)

After a 45-minute ride we arrived in Ras Mohammed National Park covering a 345-square-kilometre area of the Red Sea about 12kms from Sharm, famed for its snorkelling and diving. We got kitted up, and got in!

Oh yeah, who wants some?!		More than 220 species of coral are found in the Ras Mohammad area, and a shit load of fish!

And those fish aren't bothered by us in the slightest; in fact many of them come right up to you for a closer look hehe.		My camera is awesome by the way! (And yes it is waterproof before anyone asks the obvious).

There were some locals on board who had come to Sharm for a weekend break. I'm pretty sure the Qur'an doesn't approve of homosexuality hehe.

Kristina, admiring the view, as was I ;)		According to this website, there is a line in the Qur'an that reads, "When a man mounts another man, the throne of God shakes" hahaha! I think it was certainly shaking today. Later on one of them randomly broke out into song (and was actually really good) - video here.

After another 30 minutes on the boat we stopped at another spot in Ras Mohammed.		Into the blue. Bloody hell I'm white!

You'll never guess what we had for dinner that night ;)

Back on the boat we were served up a massive feed, and stopped at a random beach for an hour before returning to Sharm.				Looking straight down from the boat. No Photoshop'ing here - that's exactly how it looked, depth of about five metres and completely transparent.

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