We arose before the sun had risen in Cairo and dragged ourselves down to breakfast where our faithful tour leader, Ahmed, was waiting for us. He encouraged our lethargic bodies to get into the van, got us on the bus headed for Sharm El Sheik, and waved goodbye. We won’t see him again until the last day of our tour.
We were on the bus for six hours, driving through the beautiful Sinai desert landscape bordered by the sapphire Gulf of Suez. To pass the time, we watched the driver’s selection of a bad movie that starred and Arabian pop idol who supposedly worked for an ad agency and then was discovered and hit it big. Then we watched possibly the worst American movie I have ever seen. It’s called "American Tigers” and it stars a handful of former Ultimate Fighting Champions. The whole movie is just ridiculous. Hell’s Angels and ex- soldiers on death row are given big guns and sent, under the command of your typical hard nosed, foul-mouthed, veteran Sergeant Major, to fight a renegade ex-officer who’s trying to start a militant revolution. Yeah, so the six hours passed pretty slowly. We were really glad to get off the bus.
We were met by our tour organizer for this leg and he took us the most impressive hotel yet. With something like 6 on-site restaurants, two pools, a private beach, a spa, a dive center, and the best movie channel offerings ever, the Ghazala hotel is number one for the trip in my book. But we’ll see how the breakfast buffet compares.
We checked in, put away our stuff, our guide oriented us a little around the hotel because it’s so big you really need one to find your way around. Then we went upstairs, changed and hit the beach. The water is crystal clear and it seems like there is no point where you cannot see the bottom. There are lots of jellyfish but they don’t sting. Ben got an hour long massage while I just laid out on the comfortable beach chairs a little longer, then retreated inside when the sun went down. We met back up in the room before dinner where I discovered that my CDs had been left on the bus. We called our tour guy to see if there was anything he could do, but to no avail. They were swiped and I’m out 25 of my favorite CDs. It’s like there’s a hole in my heart.
There’s too much left to do and see to let it get me down though. Many of them can be replaced. We had a fantastic dinner at the Eastern restaurant at the hotel and then we walked along the lively boardwalk enjoying the perfect weather. The only weird thing was that everyone kept assuming we were married. And then when we quickly told them the real situation, they jokingly asked Ben how many camels he would want in exchange for me. Verrrry funny. Sharm El Sheik only exists because it has great diving and great beaches. It’s a total resort town and therefore is more expensive than some other places, but we’re still enjoying getting pampered.
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