Hurghada

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After the first 9 days doing the Nile Rover part of the trip, Deanna and I split off from the others (we were doing River and Reef), who were carrying on back to Cairo and then Sinai (they were doing Nile and Sinai). We had another day in Luxor, and then joined up with a new group to go to Hurghada. The new group were great fun - we ended up going out to the King's Head tavern for dinner and drinks, and getting horse carriages back We were instantly popular with them, as we pushed the numbers over 12, so instead of the mini-bus, we got an enormous coach with only 14 of us to spread out in luxury!!!

       The drive was really interesting, we passed some gorgeous scenery, including mountain ranges, and then had our first glimpse of the coast. I'm not sure why, but I hadn't expected the coast to be so beautiful - really stunning aquamarine water, and reefs everywhere. We arrived and we were met by Hisham, who was to be looking after us all there. He took us for a tour of the town, pointing out the best internet cafes, and ATMs, and of course, pubs (highly recommend Papas II, and Papas on the beach is really really great!) and then to the diving centre to get gear for the next day's snorkeling expedition. For the rest of the afternoon, most of us went to the beach at the Sand Resort. 

That night was the first of many big nights in Hurghada, at Papas II and then Papas on the Beach. I became very popular at breakfast the next day, when it was discovered that I had a couple of large packets of Berocca! The next day we went snorkeling in some incredible water - and I got to swim with dolphins, which was really amazing (for me - don't think the dolphin was that blown away by the experience!!!). 

A number of us then decided to move to the Sand Resort, as the rooms were only 80 Egyptian pounds a night, and it was right on the beach and a really lovely resort. It was also a fascinating cultural melting pot - on the balcony next to mine was a Saudi sheikh and his wife wearing the chador, while on the balcony next to them were two ENORMOUS germans, tanned to an odd purple/black colour, wearing nothing but fluoro pink g-strings!!! Very weird.....

I ended up staying an extra day, rather than head back to Cairo, and had a very relaxing time, just snorkeling, swimming, tanning and the occasional bout of drinking til dawn......

It was really depressing to have to leave, and if I hadn't had to go on to the UK, I probably would have changed my ticket and stayed on for at least another week. In the end, had to head back to Cairo, where I splurged by staying on the Executive floor of the Sheraton Heliopolis for the last night. There was something absolutely decadent about turning up looking a dirty scruffy backpacker, and seeing their attitude change when they see the booking.....I can be so petty!!