My favourite place to visit (Egypt)

Member Name: wastingtime

Product:	Egypt
Date:	15/11/08 (307 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great diverse country with lots to offer

Disadvantages: The food can really put you off

I have been to Egypt twice now, and I think it is the one place on this planet that everyone should go to before they leave this mortal coil. Ive enjoyed virtually everything about this Country, and once I have explored a little more of the world, it is a place I wouldn't hesitate to go back to.

Both times I have been I have stayed in area of Egypt called Sharm El Sheikh, this is an area on the South Peninsula of Egypt mainly made up of Hotels and shops, it is an area very much created for the Westerner.

Laguna Vista Garden Hotel
http://www.expedia.co.uk/pub/agent.dll?qscr=dspv& amp;itty=new&from=m& shtl=1&htid=1659041&crti=&affc id=expe.uk.001.000.14824 45.16917248&eapid=0-3 (please note there are breaks in this URL so it could be posted)

This is the Hotel I stayed in the first time, a wonderful five star all inclusive hotel which is a ten minute coach ride from the airport. I actually went here some years back with my Mother, we were looking for some Winter sun over the Christmas period, and you can be sure no matter what time of year you go to Egypt you are going to get it.

The Hotel on arrival was fantastic on the eye, you walked into this large area and it simply took my breath away, it was a massive ball room (for want of a better description) with a magnificent chandelier as the centre piece. There were chairs and sofa's around the place and a bar area was also available.

The resort stretched from the road down to the Red Sea, as most of them tend to do, and down the middle was some fantastic pool areas with hotel rooms on either side. There had been some mix up and my Mother and I had ended up sharing a bungalow. These to be fair were fantastic, instead of having a traditional hotel room we effectively had our own small house. On closer inspection we found that it actually had a bedroom downstairs and a second small floor upstairs that also had a bed - this was fantastic and because of it there was no need to request a room change.

The lovely thing about the bungalow (I realise that I have just said it was two floors, but it was a shack type building, and from looking at it, you would never realise it had a second floor) was that it came with its own small patio area. Because we were obviously on the ground floor, at the back of the building you could open the door where there would be speakers playing non offensive music (I remember from this holiday that a Tracey Chapman CD was on all the way through on repeat, good job I like her). This would look out over the pools and further down you would have been able to look out over the Red Sea, truly beautiful.

On further inspection of the resort that we would be staying it soon became apparent that if you didn't want to leave the complex, you wouldn't have to, inside were shops, bars, a mini museum and all the general places to pick up your stuff that you could want. This resort also had all the extras you could need, at every time during the day their was somewhere you could get a drink or something to eat, it had a gym, and there was an 'animation' team that would do general entertainment in the evening.


Royal Albatros Maderna
http://www.hotels4u.com/Royal-Albatros- Moderna-Resort/Egypt/Red-Sea-(Sharm-el-S heikh)/Sharm-El-Sheikh/ho tel/5486.aspx (please note there are breaks in this URL so it could be posted)

This was the resort I went to this summer, Larachristina kindly offered to take me away, and as we wanted to go somewhere nice, I really wanted her to see the luxury that the Egyptian hotels have to offer.

After some deliberating over which hotel we settled on this one, and it turned out to be a fantastic choice, everything we could of hoped for. This holiday was not a sightseeing trip, in fact we didn't leave the complex once apart form a mix up with baggage, my fault I am afraid.

The resort was effectively split up into two, nearest the road behind the first set of hotel rooms were two smaller pools, one heated which was sheltered from any wind, and therefore in the summer just far too hot to cope with, as in the day time is was about 40 odd degrees. And the second was a good size pool, equally as large of most resorts I have been to in the Canaries. We camped by this one for the most part, the reason was simple, we were there to relax and the other pool was regarded as the activity pool, this meant that throughout the day the staff of the hotel would be running games and obviously the kids would be running amok, not for us thank you.

Once again the hotel had everything you could ever want, and we bought our presents and duty free from here, especially as a pack of fags was about 1/10th of the cost. Throughout the day once again there was somewhere you could get a drink, both alcoholic and non, or you could get yourself a snack even outside of the buffet times.


Sightseeing
My biggest mistake the first time I went to Egypt was to underestimate just how vast this Country is, I went on two trips while I was there, one of them was flying and one we undertook on a coach, mistake, my tip would be to anyone that visits Egypt, if you do go on any excursions then fly, save yourself the trouble of spending countless hours in a coach.


Cairo
What a fantastic experience this was, and truly I think everyone should experience what this City has to offer. You will be surrounded by the rich/poor divide, where you will see people trawling the dusty roads with their donkeys or trying to farm scorched earth, but then you will see the luxuries that it has to offer.

We took the coach to Cairo, this took almost a day in itself, once there we stopped in at another hotel, and I will never forget the morning I woke up. I rose, went to the curtains and pulled them open, what I saw was the Pyramids and I had never appreciated how large or close to the City they are. When you see the images of the pyramids the picture is taken with the photographers back to Cairo, and beyond the Pyramids in just desert, this gives the illusion that the Pyramids are in the middle of nowhere, nothing could be further from the truth, you could easily take a 10 minute walk from the City to them.

You can actually crawl through one of the Pyramids, and to be honest, this came as quite a nice break from all the locals trying to sell you things next to them, do not let them take your picture, never hold something for them, or you will then be locked into a battle of having to pay for it. The Pyramids are the only ancient Wonder of the World that still exists, and to see them is to baffle at how they could possibly have been built so many thousands of years ago.

The Sphinx

Another delight to behold, you will no doubt have seen the pictures, but when you enter the area that this great wonder occupies, and you climb on to the ancient stone and really behold it you can only marvel.

At certain times of the year they have light shows that surround the Pyramids and The Sphinx and I think it would be a fantastic thing to attend, some things of great beauty combined with modern day art would look truly amazing. As I said previously, when I have traveled more of the rest of the world I will no doubt return to Egypt as there is still much I would like to see.

Cairo Museum
I cannot begin to explain how large this Museum is, and the full range of things they have for you to see on your visit, there is no chance you could get round it all in detail in one day, the Museum boast that they have over 120,000 objects on display. I must admit after a couple of long hot and sweaty days in Cairo my heart really wasn't in this, but some of the displays they have of tombs are stunning, the detail and wealth that went into creating some of these ancient artifacts are truly outstanding.


Luxor
Luxor was my second trip, I had heard wonderful things from a relative about this area, basically what you can expect are the tombs that were created for their Kings, some go down hundreds of metres, in long passageways that open up at strange intervals with hieroglyphics plastered all over the walls. These tombs have obviously had everything of value removed which you will now find on display at the Cairo museum, but when you are down there you really get a mental image of the time and effort that went into creating these great tributes for their Kings.


General
Okay, some general information I found about the Country, and some tips and advice along the way.

The Locals
The people of Egypt are ridiculously friendly, they understand how much their economy survives on tourism, and whereas some of the men (you won't see local women at the hotels) can come across quite sleazy I believe that is just because they are trying to be friendly and are in desperate need for tips. A bar job in a hotel there is deemed a fantastic job.

If you do go to the bazaars though, and you are traveling with women, then make sure you stay in numbers and don't leave them alone, this might sound a little bit over the top but they can be intimidating places for anyone. Women, if you are blonde then you can expect a little more attention, I was offered for my Mother who is more grey than blonde three sisters and a camel in exchange. An offer I sorely tempted to take.

I have seen it from both sides of the coin though, having previously visited Tunisia, where I found the people rude and angry at the wealth that our Tourism brings it is the complete opposite of what you can expect from Egypt.

Security
It is no secret that Egypt fell victim to some terrorism attacks a number of years ago, because of this you will see security everywhere you go. At the hotels each one has a metal detector and armed guards at the front gate and at reception. If you go on trips on a coach then your coach will be escorted by local armed forces who will stay with the vehicle whenever it is parked.

This might seem scary to some, but I found it very re-assuring, it has all the marks of a Country that cares and does not want it's tourism affected badly again.

Food
Okay, this is possibly my biggest grip with Egypt, twice I have been, and twice I have fallen victim to food poisoning. The essential thing you need to take with you if you go is a bottle of Pepto Bismol. In fact the second time I went it was in danger of ruining my whole experience. On the plane home I couldn't stomach any food, I had to go to the toilet repeatedly and my temperature was a mess. I felt freezing and had covers over me, but I was burning up. I then had to drive from the airport back home - about thrity miles - when I arrived home I weighed myself, by the time I weighed myself ten hours later I had lost the best part of two stone.

Barmen
My big tip is, if you book a holiday to Egypt and you are staying at an all inclusive then do some research on all the reviews on the hotel website, Larachristina did and the result was on the first day there we ended up tipping three of four different members of bar-staff. The result of this was that we never had to go to bar again throughout the holiday. Whenever one of us had finished a drink with a minute or two another would be in front of you, in the evening when I could actually hit the beer my favourite barman would sometimes had three of four lined up for me to save him repeated journeys. Top guy.

Price
You can certainly shop around on everything, we paid about £500 each for our five star all inclusive holidays for a week, I have paid £350 to go to Tenerife in a 4* all inclusive for the same amout of time, no comparison really. All of the shops and bazaars will barter with you, I brought back a lovely glass sheesh pipe which cost me about £4.50, and even though I have never used it I still think it looks good in my flat.


So there you, my first travel review on a Country that I think everyone should visit, to the travel guru's on here, if there is anything I have missed out terribly then do please free to mention it to me, I'm always happy to take advice.

Summary: The one place everyone should visit