Living the High Life on the Red Sea

Sharm el Sheikh

June 12-19th, 2008

(Amber)

We woke up early in Cairo and got on a bus to the Red Sea coastal town of Sharm el Sheikh, a highly developed tourist-oriented part of the coast that sits on some of the world's best coral reefs.

We ride was longer than we expected though relatively uneventful. The scenery was dramatic. Outside of Cairo, it quickly became uninhabited sandy desert. When we crossed under the Suez Canal, the landscape became dramatic desert moutain scapes that are other-worldly and gorgeous. As we got closer, the view from the right of the bus was of sapphire blue waters and to the left of the bus was dramatic mountains stretching to the sky. It was really, really beautiful. The only odd thing on the bus was the number of road blocks. We went through at least 7, in a 6 hour bus ride, where they checked our passports. We're not sure what they were looking for. They seemed to spot check, and since we were the only foreigners on the bus, we got checked every time.

We arrived, jumped in a cab, and headed toward our splurge....a 5 star resort hotel on the coast. We called it our belated anniversary present to each other, got a great rate on it, and spent the whole of one week exploring some of the top reefs on the planet. Not bad for a week's work.

(Matt)

Sharm el Sheikh is a town on the southeastern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, with the Gulf of Suez on the west and the Gulf of Aqaba on the east. Sharm el Sheikh looks across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, the coast of which we saw from the dive boat on our second trip to Tiran Island. The Sinai's eastern land border is with the Palestinian territories and Israel. In other words, Sharm el Sheikh, diving paradise, lies smack in the center of some the Middle East's most intense areas. But to look at the topless sunbathers, technically committing a crime in Egypt, the high platform heels, and the g-strings worn uniformly along the Egyptian coast, you'd never know it.

Sharm el Sheikh is really not Egypt, though it plainly lies within its territorial boundaries. Sharm el Sheikh is no more Egypt than Disneyland is California. It is another world, one almost exclusively comprised of fancy 5-star resorts and diving outfitters. For the most part, the only Egyptians you will see are in businesses catering to the throngs of tourists on expensive vacations from Europe and other western countries, though there is a small contingent of Egyptian tourists in Sharm el Sheikh. But it is really all about the foreigners here.

Understandably, Sharm el Sheikh tends to be associated with the three bombs set off by Islamic extremists in 2005 that killed 63 people and injured about 100 more. That attack hurt tourism here for a time, and I was a little unsure about heading here initially because I remembered the bombings. The security, however, has been tightened around Sharm el Sheikh, and tourism is back on the rise again. In fact, it appears to be booming. Why? Because this is some of the best scuba diving (and snorkeling) in the world, period, and the underwater ecosystems of the Red Sea draw divers to it like Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem draw Muslims.

Me personally, I am hooked on the Red Sea. Can't get enough. It is not a matter of if we will be back here. It is only a question of how many more dives I can get in before I check out. Seriously. I think all those who have come here feel the same, and no terrorist threats will prevent Sharm el Sheikh from continuing to be a huge tourist destination for divers and snorkelers from around the globe.

We arrived by bus from Cairo, after at least six different security checkpoints along the route. It took about 7 hours. The bus must have passed beneath the Suez Canal in a tunnel because we went through the Suez Canal Security Check and then went underground for a while. We did not see the Canal itself.

After we arrived in Sharm el Sheikh, we got a cab that took us for two rides, one to the Savoy Hotel and one on the price. One notable aspect of Egyptian cab drivers is that after you agree with them on a price, they continue to renegotiate all the way to your destination and even after. Somehow, you end up paying a lot more than the originally negotiated price, and they do it in a way that makes you feel like protesting would make you a jerk. After nearly 6 months of travel, you'd think that we would be impossible to scam, but it has happened with virtually every cab ride in Egypt and at two restaurants at the Khan....that's right, the waiter convinced us to pay more than the price that is on the menu. I think we are so tired of advocating for ourselves all the time and fighting with everyone that we are actually easier to scam after 6 months of travel. You can't die on every hill, and after a while you don't want to die on any hill at all.

(Amber)

We like them...and just hand over an extra few Egyptian Pounds like they've done us a favor. It's odd. I can't think of any other cabbies that have had that effect on us.

(Matt)

Upon arriving at the Savoy we realized how the other side has been living all this time, and they live large....very large. If I had to sum up the last 7 days at the Savoy, it would be "We lived very large on the Red Sea." We got a room that was "cheap" for a 5-star hotel on the Red Sea, and we got a buffet breakfast included in the price, but it was not cheap compared to Hampi, India, where our room was about $5/night. Once they have you here at the Savoy, however, you really start to spend some money. Ultimately, with our meals and diving, we spent three times the amount that we spent on the room. But it was worth every penny.

The Savoy was luxurious. Our room was huge and looked into a lush garden setting. It was a short walk to one of three pools, five restaurants, and the Red Sea itself. The beach area for the Savoy is White Knight Beach, a really beautiful dive location in itself and part of Ras Mohammed National Park, a stunning undersea sanctuary. What this has meant is that every day that we have been here, including the days that we went diving, we snorkeled in probably the most gorgeous setting in the world, about a 5-minute walk from our room.

On our first full day at the hotel, we snorkeled and immediately were so stunned by what we saw that we ran up to the room and got our camera set up for underwater photography and started snapping pictures of fish and coral. This began what was to continue as a crazed picture-taking expedition during the whole week. After spending a lot of time culling the crop of underwater pictures, I think we ended up with some good ones that show why the Red Sea is so great.

Another good thing about the Savoy is that we were able to continue eating meat without fear of illness. The food, while expensive, is good here.

(Amber)

Staples have been plums, chicken sandwiches, penne arrabiata, great seafood, and Asian beef skewers.

(Matt)

Most importantly, the Savoy has a dive shop on the premises, Sheikh Coast Divers, and so we were outfitted and picked up for our dives about 5-minutes from our room.

The scene at the Savoy has taught us more about Russian culture than Egyptian, as most of the tourists here are from Russia....or I guess they could be from the Ukraine, which is closer as a crow flies. Every sign is written in English and Cyrillic. The women's dress, or lack thereof, is rather provocative, even by western standards. It has been pretty hilarious really. It's almost like clothing hurts these women. So they try to avoid wearing it at all, even to breakfast...not that they eat very much. They are also emaciated in addition to naked. We have not seen another American at the Savoy, but there are some Italians here.

(Amber)

You'd think there was a tanned boobies contest next week.....the competition would be tough. I don't think I could even take a bronze medal...or honorary mention.

(Matt)

One night, we decided to head into Na'ama Bay on the Savoy's free shuttle to see it and try to get cheaper food. This is the place where the 2005 bombings took place, and I immediately understood why. There were huge crowds of foreigners walking up and down streets that were lit up "Las Vegas-style".

It was shocking really. There was a Hard Rock Cafe, a KFC, a TGIFriday's, a McDonalds, a Pizza Hut, and lots of trinket shops in the strip malls that lined the streets. Like I said, Sharm el Sheikh is not Egypt...it's just in Egypt. We found an email place slightly cheaper than the Savoy's and uploaded snorkeling pictures for a couple of hours in Na'ama Bay. After we got done, at least 200 more foreigners had descended upon Na'ama Bay. We only had 15 minutes to catch our free shuttle back to the Savoy. So we ran into McDonald's and ate, shameful as it is, and then ran to catch our shuttle. It wasn't there yet, so we decided to walk down the street. Amber turned on the video feature of our camera and began filming me give a comical report on American fast food in Egypt while standing in front of KFC. I was just being silly, but animated, and while motioning to the restaurant, smacked a British guy right in the mouth, really hard....I mean REALLY hard. Luckily he was really nice about it and played it off. But I know it hurt him because my knuckles were soar over it.

(Amber)

Our goal is to be open to all scenes..........so as much as we've always tried to avoid this scene, we just let it wash over us and really had fun.

(Matt)

In all, the 7 days of living the high life at the Savoy was nice, but I am ready to get back to traveling. We have had a good break in Egypt, and the Red Sea was out of this world! Read the dive blog for sure.

(Amber)

The hotel is gorgeous, clean, and perfectly put together. It sits right on the Red Sea with the most amazing view of Tiran Island and sapphire blue waters. You step into the ocean right outside of our room, and you're transported into another world....an underwater Heaven. It has been an awesome week. Stay tuned for the dive blog. Unbelievable.

For photos, click here: http://share.shutterfly.com /action/welcome?sid=8AatmbZk0Zt FHzY