After negotiating check-in at Manchester Airport and removing enough bits from my suitcase so that I wouldn’t be charged excess, I put the bits in a duty free bag and waltzed onto the plane with everything I wanted to take except a cake tin.
Arrived in Sharm, grabbed myself a visa and hopped into a taxi to Naama Bay.
The hotel, Bay View, is fairly decent, although they shoved me into a single room to begin with. Having none of that I was soon switched to a double. Shower, dinner (pretty decent, particularly the sea bass), a couple of drinks at the bar and bed.
Up at 7:30, or so I thought, shower, dress and off to breakfast. Oh dear, hadn’t changed the time on my phone, so missed brekkie.
Walked out of the hotel and was straight into a conversation with one of the locals who introduced himself as Omar.
Once in his shop he admitted his name was Ahmed and I sat there for about an hour chatting with him, drinking tea and practising my arabic. He sent his little mate out to get some ciggies and socks for me (forgot to pack any). He then arranged a taxi for me for the next day as I told him I wanted to go to Dahab.
Had a wander around Naama Bay, very much set up for tourists although quite nice. Beer in the Tavern Bar and noticed that the match was on at 5pm. Lunch at the hotel then headed back to the Tavern to watch a dismal game where Liverpool totally failed to stuff Man City. 0-0.
Back to the hotel for dinner, then sat on lappy in the bar chatting to friends and consuming red wine. Started chatting to a group of English outside and arranged for Sandy and Michael to come to Dahab with me in the morning.
Up early and into breakfast – just lots of juice, coffee and fruit salad, then realised I’d told the taxi driver “tamania” – 8o’clock instead of “tessa” – 9 o’clock. Sat in the courtyard and waited for the taxi to arrive, then off we went to Dahab, a coastal town 100km away from Sharm.
The desert mountains are stunning and the odd camel added a pleasant distraction to the hour-long journey.
We arrived in Dahab where it was very windy and the sea was too choppy for snorkelling, so we explored the length and breadth of it in about an hour, then had some drinks and headed back to Old Sharm, Old Market to be precise.
The taxi driver, Ashraf was good company and has invited me to stay at his house in Sharm when I come back.
Wandered around there for 45 mins, tried to get onto the beach but it was private, so got a taxi back to the hotel.
I went over to see Ahmed, but he was asleep in his shop when I arrived so I popped into the Tavern for one, then back to the hotel where I had another at the pool bar.
Back over to Ahmed’s after a shower and a lovely dinner of lamb tagen with rice, a dish made with peas, potatoes and a tasty sauce, a gorgeous soup with barley in it, and flatbread for plates :D All eaten in the company of Ahmed and his mates. Wonderful!
He then took me over to the port to get my ticket for the ferry. the official was just going home to El Hadaba so we followed him in the taxi and he sorted it out at his house.
He’s going back to his family home, a farming community outside Cairo, in about 20 days and has invited me up for a few days – sounds great to me!
Back to the hotel and I’m not sat in reception waiting to meet Ahmed at 23:30 to go to a Bedouin coffee bar for a chillout.
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