IN-HURGADA-DA-VIDA
or
We all Lived
in a YELLOW Submarine
Taum is hoping you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. He is the turkey (on the run at Hadyak market) we did not enjoy last weekend - we will be joining staff at the school to do that today. Due to a combined Oct. 6 Egyptian holiday and our Thanksgiving we had a 4 day weekend so --
We spent the Thanksgiving/6th of October weekend in Hurgada, originally a small fishing village/port on the Red Sea, which has been transformed into a major international tourist destination for rich Egyptians, Russians, Germans and those of other nationalities who reside in Egypt.
The first thing we noticed upon arrival was that most of the signage was bilingual, Arabic and Russian. Of the more than 248,000 residents in the Hurgada-el Gouna area, 30,000 are Russian, who have invested heavily in the area. This region is a seemingly endless string of hotels and resorts of all sizes and qualities, stretching more than 40km along the coast. El Gouna, the newest area, was built strictly for the tourism trade, complete with golf course(s) and upscale accommodations.
Because tourism is very low, since the Jan 25 Revolution, through booking.com we were able to secure a very nice room at the 5star Marriott Beach Resort for $61/night. This included full use of their private beach, pools, spa and health club amenities.
The American/Egyptian breakfast buffet was an extra $10 apiece.
Instead of using their dinner buffet, which appeared quite decent, for $25 each, we found an amazing restaurant in town called El Mina Fish Market, which wowed us for slightly more money well spent. Along with the mandatory dinner-size stack of pita, tahini, baba ganough and salad, we were presented with a huge platter of calamari, shrimp, soft-shell crab and fish fillets buried in lovingly cooked veggies. To top the whole thing off, we were given the choice of fries or rice.
With tips and taxi to and from the Marriott, we spent a total of $70.
I guess the biggest thing, and main reason we chose Hurgada, was to check another biggie off the 'bucket list'. We went for a one-hour adventure, 25m below the surface in, yes, a YELLOW submarine.
We got to see many variety of fish, reefs and a shipwreck that appeared to be more than a hundred years old, with a huge winged-horse rearing up from the front of the boat.
Though it is not-at-all claustrophobic inside, because of the seating at all the port-holes it was a bit uncomfortable for Blaine's knee. The adventure far out-weighed the knee woes.
The longer we are on this planet, the more blessed we feel, having been able to hike on glaciers; helicopter over Hawaiian volcanoes and waterfalls; balloon over the Valley of the Kings and Queens; safari in Kenya; test drive the Red October (or a reasonable enough facsimile); raise two wonderful daughters; and still afford to do much travelling that so many could only ever dream of. AND we are nowhere near finished this adventure...ench Allah, as they say here.
Among the other touristy things we did in Hurgada was taking boat rides out to snorkel in the reefs, trek around a small local island (Paradise) and walking around the older sections of town, where all the shopkeepers practically abducted us in an attempt to make a sale of spices, souvenirs and clothing etc. There was even the feel of the obviousness of Jarvis St in Toronto, with the Russian hookers plying their trade. This seemed to anger many of the locals, who complained of their public drinking and flaunting themselves in a general lack of respect for the Muslim culture.
Because this is a resort area, the Muslims are tolerant of the relatively (?) skimpy clothing of the tourists, but there are limits, like in most any other society, to acceptable behaviour.
Blaine, thinly disguising this writing, to look like Mary-lyn was the author.
