Rest in rebellious Egypt
Flying to Egypt in winter is a pleasure. We flew out of Kyiv early in the morning, when it was still dark and a strong wind was blowing on the runway and it was drizzling with rain or sleet. Take-off - 4 hours in the air - landing... And . . here it is... SUMMER !! ! business Arabs meet, but in broken Russian they try to offer their services in filling out entry cards for 17 dollars. There are no cards on the tables. I went up to them without money and asked for a blank card - they were very upset : ))) I bought a stamp in a bank for 15 dollars, pasted it myself, filled out the card and for passport control... Well, everything is as always : )
But, however, as always - it's hot sun, gorgeous sea, favorite beach. But there is some tension in the air. Nothing around has changed, only somehow the conversations of casual acquaintances are not the same as always, there is no carelessness in them, or something. The broadcasts of local channels are only about events in Tahrir Square. To be honest, it's impressive. This is not Maidan, this is really a sea of people!! ! Every call from home
informed me that on all channels in Ukraine they showed the "freshest" news, crushed by hysterics. The husband is very worried, the daughter generally starts with an ultimatum - so that I don’t go anywhere in the city. Friends send SMS on the topic: “Have you already bought yourself a machine gun? Or was it issued at the hotel? ” I explain as best I can that there are no problems in Sharm.
Everything is absolutely calm, as in a normal vacation.
I understand that it is not me who needs support, but my relatives who remained in Ukraine. I explain to them that the mass media, solely for the sake of rating, whip up passions around events that do not relate to each other by definition.
But my husband called me almost every day and in the mode: "Scary news" reported on the events in the resorts of Egypt, that they burned down a supermarket, brought in troops, etc. etc. Of course, the burnt-out supermarket, the journalists could not provide either in the photo or in any reportage.
Every day I walked to the Oldmarket and the only burnt thing I saw was a place near the pedestal, where yesterday there was a monument to Mubarak. At night, they toppled the monument, set fire to something there, and during the day - everything was already as always. Only there is no monument. Funny guys, honestly : )
Of course, I didn’t go to Cairo, but I went to Israel. A lot of impressions and still grateful to fate that I did it!
My position in Egypt can be compared to this:
Have you seen the movie "Radio Day"? The plot is as follows: somewhere beyond the Urals, a ship broke down, on which several circus animals were transported, and after hearing such "news" the radio inflated a PR campaign to save the rarest animals, etc. etc. So, when my husband called me from home, I felt exactly like that, excuse me, an animal that has so many troubles that “mom, don’t worry !!! ”, but he knows about it, only from the news. And to tell the truth, he doesn’t know at all, because they simply don’t exist.
The summary of the trip is:
I had a great rest, sunbathed, went to Israel.
I flew out - the plane was full, there were also many guests in the hotel and every day new, untanned guests appeared.
A day later, when I arrived, a huge number of Egyptians, whole families, settled in the hotel. These were Cairoans who fled from mass looting and rampant banditry in Cairo.
Three days later, all Italians and animators with Italian citizenship were evacuated. But the French, British, Germans - remained as if nothing had happened.
A couple of days before my flight home (around February 2-3), the Russians were informed that they would all be evacuated in a few days. Trust me, a lot of people are upset.
Ukrainians were not evacuated. They flew out as the vouchers ended, they only limited the time for the sale of vouchers until February 10th.
The conclusions can be drawn as follows: it is not worth going to Cairo during a riot, precisely because there are a lot of unemployed people who have now decided to develop a stormy political activity, the flag is in their hands, like goritsa.
But on excursions such as a boat trip, go to Israel, ride a yacht or boat, go fishing, go on a jeep safari... all this is easy.
Because the resort towns are inhabited mainly by people who depend on tourists, and when there are tourists, you can’t lure them to rallies and strikes with any gingerbread.
The only way this situation affected me was that I was afraid to buy an excursion to Israel from local agencies for 80 bucks, and bought it from my operator for 180 (! ). I just decided that if something happens, then at least they will know in which direction I was leaving. But life has shown that 100 bucks went to the wind.
I mean flying back, two young tourists are sitting next to me, and they begin to share their impressions with me: what was scary for them in Egypt, but they went only because the operator did not give money for the tour. I ask, what are you afraid of? I, too, like you, rested there. They answer: so they have a revolution! I say: what side are you to her? what was bothering you? But I must say that they were in one of the most expensive hotels in Sharm, and so, he answers: having plucked up courage, I somehow leave the hotel, and they go there? Who? - I ask. Well, these, local ones, in such long dresses and with turbans on their heads !! ! And what do I say? Who would you like to see there? True Aryans? You came to Egypt, they have such national clothes. I understand that at the Ritz, the staff walks around in European clothes, but this is their territory. The tourist thought a little about this answer, then added another - so he looked at me angrily. Those. there were those who, even there on the spot, managed to see the situation only through the eyes of the mass media.
I returned to Ukraine during the day, it was snowing, and I couldn’t believe that only yesterday I was still swimming in the sea with a mask and snorkel and around me was an indescribably beautiful world of fish, coral colors and shapes. As a souvenir, I brought an Arabic newspaper for January 30. There will be a memory. : )
