July 21 - Egypt: Na'ama Bay - the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt
We woke up, had breakfast, and caught our compliments-of-American-Express ride to the airport at 8:15. Our flight to Sharm El Sheikh left at 9:10 and - while crowded - it was an easy 50 minute flight to the Sinai Peninsula. Sharm El Sheikh is on the southernmost tip of the peninsula, and we are staying in a place called Na'ama Bay which is 6km from Sharm.
We currently have reservations at two hotels: the Gazala Beach from 21-23, and at the Falcon from 24-27. This means that we have no place to stay on the 23rd, but hope that this will clear itself up for us while we're there. This is an Egyptian holiday weekend so we picked a poor time to be here! At any rate, the Gazala had a shuttle from the airport which we boarded and rode through the town.
Na'ama Bay
15 years ago, Na'ama Bay was pretty much empty. In 1999 when Lonely Planet published its last Egypt book, it said "Na'ama Bay is a resort that has grown from virtually nothing since the 1980s". Now, today, it has blossomed into a huge resort town that has yet to finish growing. Most of the places we could see aren't even listed in the book and there's plenty of more construction along the cliffs.
The Gazala Hotel is very nice, even though we're in one of the "cheap" rooms which means we don't get a view and are in one of the rooms WAY far from the beach. But the complex is long and narrow, with a large pool in the middle and many little bungalows nestled into trees. Of course we don't have a bungalow - just a room - but we're quite happy with it. The resort also has one of those life-size chess boards where you use your whole body to move the pieces. OK. Way too hot for that!
We strolled into town to check out the sights. I imagine that this is what the French Riviera looks like, although I have no basis for that assumption. The boardwalk stretches the beach in front of all the big resorts, and ends up in the shopping district/bazaar which is a sprawling area closed off from car traffic. The shops are a combination of "beachy" and Egyptian, which makes sense because everyone who is vacationing here is European or something of the sort. We checked out the supermarket, and stopped by Camel Dive Club where we had faxed reservations to dive. (www.cameldive.com). Everything was cool, so we had lunch and left to go back to the Gazala.
The Red Sea
View from the beach outside our hotel
We picked up some beach towels from the cabana boy and snagged some lounge chairs in the shade. Then we hit the water. The Red Sea is gorgeous - turquoise blue and warm! As soon as we stepped foot into the water we could see coral and beautiful fish. The water is very, very, VERY salty which Jon enjoyed because he could easily float on it. So we played in the water for a while until our fingers started to shrivel up, and then we went to nap on the lounge chairs. I pulled mine into the sun, but was back in the shade within a half hour because the sun was so strong.
Jon relaxing on the beach
After a few hours of laying around, reading and napping, we headed back in to shower. We walked into town and had dinner at a place called Peking Chinese because we were in the mood for Chinese food. Then we went to McDonald's to get a sundae for each of us. McDonald's, by the way, has a special meal called the "McFalafel" for 3.99 Egyptian Pounds (about $1.00). How funny is that? A McFalafel! Jon thinks we should try it but I think I'll steer clear of it.
So by 9:00, the bazaar was hopping with people and families who were out shopping, people-watching, and sitting on Egyptian cushions smoking hookas. We walked around for a while and found a long sarong for me, which I will need for India. Then we went to the supermarket to stock up on water and some other items before we went back to the hotel. We were asleep by 11:30 - early morning tomorrow for diving!