Saturday, February 23, 2013

Sharm El Sheikh - Egypt

Julia, a friend from work, and I traveled to Egypt for a very relaxing mid term break.  We were both craving some sunshine after a long grey winter so the beach resort town of Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt seemed the perfect place to go.  And it was.  Blue skies every day and high temperatures.
It was a lazy holiday with 3 days spent by the resort pool reading and swimming and 2 days at the beach reading and snorkeling.  The snorkeling blew my mind - the fish were amazing colours and there were so many of them.
 
We also spent a night wandering the markets and experiencing the night life of Naama Bay.  This is the main town area of Sharm El Sheikh. At the markets there are many fake handbags, wallets, shoes, you name it. Except they aren't called fake, you have to call them copies.  I bought a handbag and wallet and had fun bartering over the price.  Two workers from the resort escorted us around (Ramy & Sam) and helped to barter with shop keepers over prices.  After shopping we had a beer (as they are Christian and not Muslim) and shisha with Ramy & Sam.  I was so bad at smoking the shisha that they kept laughing at me.  I gave up after two puffs.
We were on an all inclusive package, so all our food and drinks were 'free', although I have a strong suspicion the alcohol didn't in fact contain any percentage of alcohol. I have returned to London with a tan that nobody will see -  it is snowing and I am wearing many layers!