Hurghada: Not yet Sharm el-Sheikh, but no longer studied
For the ancient travelers, Egypt began with elegant antique Alexandria, for modern tourists, it begins with Hurghada, a resort town on the shores of the Red Sea, in absentia known in Russia with almost all.
In Hurghad, we are located in a four-star hotel "Gift Village". Giftun is an island in the Red Sea, right in front of Hurghada, in honor of which the hotel is named, and "Village", or "village", – These are separate bungalow houses around the central hotel building. I always preferred exactly this placement, although here houses were tightly than in European "Village", – The tradition of Egyptians live in close neighborhood with each other. As for the high level of service promised by the guidebooks, all advances really justified. Water from the crane has always flowed, despite the fact that it was covered here, and not mined from the well. "Buffet" The restaurant was tightly forced by all sorts of dishes, ranging from a tuna fried in tomato sauce and giant shrimp to local bananas, melons and watermelons. The hotel services offered a lot of entertainment, and the staff was Eastern Polite and Friend.
Hotel beach, naturally, sandy. The beach line as such is not here – every hotel holy hanging off her own piece of shore, extinguishing it from both sides by stone walls. By the way, there are hotels in Hurghada, coral reefs are close to the beaches, for example "Aladdin", But they are all at a considerable distance from the city center and local entertainment. But who likes what is said.
The resort is essentially a narrow strip of hotels and shops stretching along the sea by 20 km. Move between hotels is best on minibuses that are in prosperity here.
Minibuses stop in the slightest swag. However, the driver should necessarily inform: "Bass?" – And get confirmation. Otherwise, it can easily translate itself to the status of a taxi driver, no one will not plan anyone, and for passengers a trip will be more expensive several times (any trip to "Bas" It is a pound, and in a taxi – at least 5).
Long walking past hotels on foot tiring for hearing – all passing taxi drivers are desperately signal, provoking peaceful tourists for a trip. In addition, except for souvenir shops, there is nothing interesting. In Hurghad, there are two curious areas of Sakkal and Dahar, or, as they call him here, "Down Town".
Sakkal – this is, in fact, the whole Hurghada is 15-20 years ago: a few blocks of old buildings, between which kids run. Nevertheless, we found there a whole range of attractions: first, it is truly bottomless antique shops, in which you can find everything from ancient dagger to Mummy Pharaoh. Secondly, this is a fishing kitchen restaurant "El Joker" With unusual dishes in taste, moreover, cheap (15-25 pounds for each). Third, the cute heart of each Russian tourist shop duty-free trade "Pyramid" with solid wine-vodka.
"Down Town" – This is the center of local business life, as well as the focus of all major stores. There makes sense to go for purchases, which, undoubtedly, it is possible to include the famous Egyptian aromatic oils (3-5 pounds per mg), coffee, including cardamomon (25-30 pounds per kg), and, of course, jewelry and Skin. Everywhere should be bargained. Bring down the price twice is quite easy, but if it is very persistent, then it will work in 4, and even 6 times.
In any hotel Hurghada, you can order excursions. Very popular travel to Cairo to the pyramids (500 km), in the ancient capital of Egypt Luxor (270 km).
In the vicinity of the very resort of tourists, they carry on safari to the Arabian desert. It is impossible to refuse, which we did not meet in general. In the role of the promised jeep, a comfortable, medium-sized bus with a strengthened chassis. Desert impressed. Especially at sunset, when sand becomes red, and the progls of the mountains in the West begin to discard long shadows. In these mountains there was a real Bedouin village. Her residents have long ceased to wader and two or three times a week are taking tourists – they ride them on camels, feed dinner and sell non-good souvenirs. We saw I "Mysterious exotic dances", True, Bedouins did not dance, but only sang and beat the drums, but tourists were danced.
The most wonderful in Hurghada is, of course, the Red Sea, coral reefs and scuba diving. Many come here only for this. Russian diving schools work in the city. Their advertising is almost every hotel. Study immersion without a license accompanied by an instructor costs $ 55, it’s along with a shuttle, boat and lunch. The four-day Padi course – a professional diving instructors association with a license by obtaining a license costs $ 290.
But you can visit coral reefs without scuba, armed only with a mask and a tube. Inhabitants of the depths will stay out of sight, but also in shallow water there is something to see. Such a trip can be turned into a real holiday – rent a yacht or catamaran, go away from the shore and spend the whole day on the reef. We did – the sailing catamaran with the crew cost $ 150 (this is 3 people), including lunch and the road from the hotel and back.
For the next year, we will most likely bring together in Egypt. If we become millionaires, then in Sharm el-Sheikh, if we want to privacy and comfort – in El Guhu, if it pulls against ancientifications, we will buy a cruise on the Nile, and if you remain the same as now, let’s go again in Hurghada – noisy and stupid but now already familiar and loved.
