Our bus was departing Luxor at 9.35am, so we had our last breakfast at our restaurant and waited for our taxi, which Colin had organised with Hussein for an 8.30am pick up. We googled the distance only to discover that to get there by taxi would take 45 minutes. That was cutting it a bit fine, and when the taxi arrived late, we were both a bit concerned. Hassan assured us though, that there was a new bridge and it would only take 20 minutes to get to the bus station.
The taxi arrived and we set off, slowly. The car was very new and our driver nursed it over every bump, so it took 10 minutes to just get onto the paved road. As the roads have speed bumps every 100 metres or so, the drive didn’t pick up much speed. It was 9.00am by the time we got onto the highway.
Our speed picked up and we started to breathe easy…until we checked google maps. We were still 45 minutes away. Our driver assured us that we were going a different way because of the new bridge. Okay – trust the system.
Soon we turned off the highway and onto some rough and ready roads. Rubble and patches of unpaved road slowed us down again. We could see the bridge and road construction, which looked like it was still very much a work in progress, but our driver turned onto an on-ramp and we were crossing the bridge, after an animated exchange with one of the road workers. The road and bridge were clearly not finished, but there were quite a few donkeys hauling harvested sugar cane, and a few scooters. Not many cars, and the reason became clear. Our driver needed to take one of the off ramps which was on the other side of the bridge, which had big cement barricades dividing the two sides of the road. One of the barriers had been removed, so our driver carefully manoeuvred the car through the narrow gap and headed towards the off ramp.
Time was getting tight and as we turned to take the off ramp, we were met with more barriers, and one of the road crew shaking his head. Another exchange with waving arms and we were retracing our drive and manoeuvring through the cement barrier gap again. We continued driving along the road until we were able to get off the new work and onto semi-paved roads again. Google maps said we were back on track and with ongoing assurances that we had time from our driver, we weaved our way through traffic, donkeys, cars, trucks and pedestrians.
We pulled up behind our bus with five minutes to spare. We had more grey hair, but we were loaded up and ready to go. Thankfully, we were not late as the bus left on time.
The drive through the streets of Luxor was interesting. Away from the tourist areas, the streets are busy and interesting. We drove along a waterway for about an hour, passing through smaller towns and agricultural fields, viewing the lives of everyday Egyptians, away from the walking ATM set that flavours the attitudes and behaviours of the locals near the tourist sites. After about an hour, we turned away from the Nile Valley, and the verdant fields gave way to stark, barren desert country.
Drier and barer than even Morocco, the low, dry landscape stretched as far as the eye could see. There were no villages; there is nothing to sustain them. We stopped for 20 minutes at a roadside stop, and enjoyed super clean facilities as well as super expensive snacks, drinks and souvenirs. Fifteen dollars for two drinks is steep in any country!
After a short stop to let people off in Safaga, we had internet reception again and I let our pre-arranged taxi know we were running about 45 minutes late. Thankfully, Abanoud, our driver waited, fended off the other taxi drivers and found our apartment with relative ease. He was lovely, so we got his number for our transfer to the airport. It’s so much easier than haggling with the taxi drivers.
The drive through Hurghada was so different to our experience of Egypt to date. This is a resort town (surprised to hear it has a million people), and the main street is lined with resorts, restaurants and souvenir shops. The tourists are walking around in skimpy dresses, so I guess the rules are much more relaxed here.
Our apartment was just like the photos, shabby chic I guess. We have a great view from the balcony and for the price, we have a big apartment with a full kitchen and a pretty good bed. The water pressure is terrible…but that’s Egypt. Our host gave us a pile of recommendations, so we set off to find the Caribbean Bar as he said it’s a good spot to ‘hang out’, and it’s close.
Entry was via the Bella Vista resort so we sat down where the bar and pool area was, thinking this was the right place. After some confusion, we got beer and wine and did some people watching. There are a LOT of Germans here, so it is maybe a popular location for German travel agents to send their clients. The drinks were rather expensive, so we stopped at one and made our way towards the beach, where we had noticed another area. Yup – it was the Caribbean Bar. It was much nicer and prices were too, so we settled in and decided to have dinner there, watching boat tours return and disgorge their passengers.
We spent our first full day in Hurghada wandering the streets after hitting World of Sweet for breakfast waffles and crepes. Delicious, but we were almost put into a sugar coma. The service was excellent though, and we did order a feast of carbs, cream and chocolate, so our gluggy-ness was totally self-inflicted.
As we wandered, we got the usual invitations to take a taxi, or enter a shop, but the hassle was a lot less than in Luxor, so we managed to enjoy our walk in relative peace. There are more tourists walking on the street, so we felt like a smaller target (note: just sitting here on our balcony watching the parasailing and water vessels on the glorious blues of the Red Sea. Note 2: why is it called the Red Sea?).
The glitz and polish for the tourist set is contained to the resorts. Once you enter a resort, Egypt fades away and you could be anywhere. We are quickly discovering that there is a heavy German influence – German restaurants, German language, German tourists. It feels like this might be the German equivalent of Bali for Australia.
With supplies for our apartment, we eventually made our way back home, finding a suitable place for dinner. Beers are half the price at Angel’s compared to the Caribbean Club, and the menu options looked good. Feisty competition makes for great service, which we got at the Caribbean Club, and it was the same at Angel’s. I braved a steak and was surprised at how good it was – tasty with a good pepper sauce. Colin went for a burger (!!!) and said it was one of the best. Food in Egypt has certainly been good, and good value.
We did the tourist thing and booked onto a day trip to go snorkelling. I opted to go with the five star ratings of Royal Cruises through Getyourguide – it was not the cheapest option, but the reviews were all positive, so for an extra $20 or so ($75 each), I went with it. It was great value for an all inclusive package – pick up and drop off, lunch and snacks on board as well as supply of snorkel equipment.
Our pick up was on time and, as the last pick up, we drove directly to the marina with our fellow passengers. We looked to be the last lot to arrive and we were welcomed aboard with a request to take off our shoes – safety first as we were advised that the top deck is a dry zone and no shoes allowed to help prevent slips. Good sign.
The vessel was lovely, a real cruiser. Some wear and tear, but for a boat that probably gets a lot of use, it was clean and well maintained. We set sail at 7.30 and cruised out of the marina, not knowing that that would be as fast as we would be going for the whole day. The sea was calm and so I was hopeful that I wouldn’t embarrass myself by barfing over the side. Our cruise director, Sebastian, ran through the safety brief and we got to chatting with the Lithuanian couple who were sitting across from us. Based on the conversations we could hear, we were surrounded by Germans, with a spattering of French, Danish and a couple from London. Sebastian spoke English, Arabic and, yep, German.
Our first stop was Orange Bay on Giftun Island, and as we cruised to our first stop, we paused alongside about six other vessels. There was a small pod of dolphins in the water. I had read that there are dolphins in the Red Sea, but I didn’t think we would be lucky enough to spot them. After hassling them for a while, we set off again and eventually arrived at the island. It was only 9am and other than a few speedboats, we had the island to ourselves. Sebastian said that the day resort can cater for 2,500 people. It’s a good set up – lots of bars and food kiosks, with lines of bean bags for lounging. The day was rather overcast, and the breeze had a brisk chill, so not many people went swimming. The water was very shallow and as it was still early, the idea of sipping a drink in the water didn’t really work (not that it stopped a few of the Germans from using the bar).
Our stop was just for an hour, and as we were reboarding our boat, there was a stream of cruisers making their way to the shallows to disgorge their passengers. Like car parks for the major tourist sites in Egypt, Giftun Island has a similar ‘parking’ problem!
Back on board, we cruised to our first snorkel site while we were all briefed on safety. I almost took up the offer of a ten euro refresher dive which was on offer, but thought snorkelling would be just as good, and a lot less hassle.
Our skipper manoeuvred into the boat park and we were soon jumping into the water. The equipment, especially the mask, was good and the staff managed to get everyone decked out and into the water smoothly. The day package also includes a free massage on board, and they also had a guy taking photos and video if you wanted to purchase the footage as a memento.
The reef system at the site was not bad – lots of good coral (lots of rubble as well) and plenty of different fish species, so it was a good, scenic snorkel. It has been a long time since we’ve been snorkelling, and we weren’t sure how we would go, but the water was so calm and clear, it wasn’t hard work. I even did my first ever snorkel duck dive – the photographer was videoing me, and asked me to dive, so I did. It was easier than I thought it would be, and not scary at all!
We were in the water for maybe 40 minutes, and it was nice that the sun came out to brighten and warm things up.
Back on board, we cruised a little way to the next site, and once we were moored, lunch was served. It was a good spread – hot and cold dishes, chicken, beef, shrimp, fish, salads, pasta, rice, as well as vegetable soup for starters. Add to that the snacks, juices, tea and coffee they had been serving all morning, tummies were full. So when Sebastian said we were already at the dive site and would be getting in the water again soon, we were a bit surprised.
Snorkelling again with our snorkel master, we were treated to better corals, with lots of clams at this site. Sebastian had mentioned that we might see turtles as they are usually in the area, but we didn’t get that lucky. The snorkelling was a bit more crowded this time as there were quite a few boats in the area, but the guides are good at keeping people off the top of the reefs to help protect the coral. The water over the reefs is only about four or five feet deep, so inexperienced snorkellers would make a mess of the coral quickly, especially as most of it is branching coral.
Colin dropped his mask while getting back aboard, but one of the staff retrieved it – it was a big dive and he was gasping when he resurfaced. At a guess he had to go down 20 meters.
The sun had disappeared by this time, so sitting in damp clothes on deck was a bit chilly, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the water sport activities included in the day – banana boat and water sofa – but by the time we got to the spot, I was almost dry and decided to stay that way. It was fun watching the people who let themselves be dragged around.
Once we returned to the marina, we were quickly directed to our transport for our transfers home. We didn’t buy the video footage (at 35 euros, we thought it was a bit steep), and they do a tipping system where you pay one tip and it gets shared with the staff. Makes it much less awkward. All in all, it was a fabulous day, extremely well organised and safety standards were very good. Hurghada is proving to be a slick, well-oiled machine.
We were pretty knackered after a day of sun, sea and snorkelling, so we popped back to Angel’s for dinner – easy and we knew what we were getting. Bed was a welcome end to the day.
The rest of our time in Hurghada was very relaxing, going for a wander and catching up on the day-to-day stuff. It has been interesting to see the number of western women walking hand-in-hand with young Egyptian men. The toy boy industry is also alive and well in Hurghada, it would appear! We treated ourselves to a special dinner at Charley’s Hot Stone Steakhouse. Wow! Yummy, and for $70, a bargain for drinks, flaming steak, veges and salad.
With our time in Egypt coming to an end, we are both a bit sad to be leaving, but also excited to be going to Jordan. Egypt has surprised us with how much we’ve enjoyed the country – we knew the archaeological sites would be impressive, but the country itself has charmed us, and we have put it on our list of destinations to escape bitter winter cold if it gets too much for us. There are direct flights into Hurghada from some European cities, so it might be something we do in a year or two. Hopefully the political situation remains relatively stable, both in Egypt and in the region.
We flew back to Cairo for an overnight stop before boarding our flight to Aqaba (via Amman). We were shocked at the amount of security at the airport. When we first arrived at the domestic terminal, we were not allowed to enter the airport proper as check-in had not opened. We were directed to sit and wait in a small waiting area. That was fine. We were delighted to spend the time chatting with a Romanian couple who are living and working in the UK. We swapped traveller’s stories as is the way with meeting other travellers and it was a lovely way to while away the time until we could enter the airport. We got some great tips on Romania and, if they are typical of the Romanian people, we are going to enjoy the country very much.
Eventually, we were told to go into the terminal, moving through security, which included a physical ‘frisk’ by one of the security staff. Then we checked in and had to proceed through another security screen, and another frisk down. Thankfully they allocate women for checking female passengers. As we went through security, we had our passports checked, and we then had to record all our details in a notebook. Not particularly happy about it has our very personal information displayed for all to see. If security is this intense for a domestic flight, what is it going to be like in Cairo for an international flight?
The flight was full but landed in time in Cairo. We collected our luggage (yay!) and tried to find the shuttle bus to the Novotel but after wandering aimlessly and getting asked endlessly if we wanted a taxi, we gave in and found a driver to take us to the hotel. Getting out of Cairo airport is total madness and like our first time arriving at the airport, our driver had to find another exit after the one he tried first seemed to be stalled for some reason. All we could see were flashing blue lights and cars not moving through the exit.
Our driver reversed out of the line…and kept reversing. There were two other cars driving backwards as well. We reversed for about five minutes until we came to a street where we could drive forwards with the flow of traffic – maybe it’s okay to reverse against oncoming traffic, but illegal to drive forward into it? Who knows…it’s Egypt.
It felt strange walking into the Novotel as we haven’t stayed in a hotel for months. Our room and the hotel are nice; it’s a small room, but perfect for our needs. We headed back to the foyer to have dinner, as our food options were limited. The buffet was expensive by Egyptian standards at 570 Egyptian pounds each, but the food was good, and the staff were excellent.
Thank you Egypt – you are exceptional.