I've been wanting to visit Egypt for a long time.
Part 1. Hotel check-in.
This story is likely to be of interest to those tourists who are just looking at tours to Egypt. Although, perhaps, he, the story, will have a wider audience. We would like to share our first impressions, disappointments and delights with the readers of Turpravda.
We have been thinking about Egypt for a long time. A country with such an ancient culture and civilization interested us, first of all, from a historical and cognitive point of view. Our dream was not just to lie on the beach, but to see the pyramids and the National Museum in Cairo. But the situation in Egypt outside the resorts was unstable for a long time.
And finally, in the fall of 2015, the puzzle came together. Hurghada was chosen as the base. It was already about +1 in Kyiv, but it's still warm and sunny there!
We were looking for a tour for reasons of economy, we wanted more days and paid less money. But still, the obligatory conditions when choosing a hotel should have been present: the first line, a normal beach and a tourist promenade. It gets dark early in Egypt, at 5 pm, and in the evening it would be nice to walk along the promenade outside the hotel and go shopping.
Samaka 3* Hotel turned out to be the most inexpensive offer, and although the reviews about it were terrible, we decided that it met all the other criteria, and we would somehow survive the living conditions. And they did not rest in such!
Let's start. Excellent plane "Anex tour" branded, 3 hours and we are on the spot. I wanted to photograph the sunset over Hurghada from the window of the plane,
Sunset over Hurghada
but the camera took a picture, grunted and the lens stopped moving out. So I apologize in advance for the photos, they are all taken from a tablet.
Hurghada met with stifling heat, it was already dark, but it was felt that the sea was somewhere nearby.
The representatives who met us had such “Egyptian tricks” in store: they issued migration cards to arriving tourists, stuck a visa in their passport, but demanded $ 27 for this, while the visa cost 25. Met 100 tourists - made $ 200 out of the blue , good business! But we read the reviews of tourists the day before and knew these tricks, we ourselves found bank windows that were right there at the entrance to the hall, bought visas there for $ 25, at the same time exchanged dollars for pounds at a good rate.
There were no problems with filling out the cards either. After passport control, all newcomers were loaded onto buses and taken to hotels. Ours was the first and most of the tourists landed there.
When checking in at the reception, we decided not to give money, but to see what room they would offer us. There are two types of accommodation in this hotel: housing and bungalows. According to the reviews, it seemed that the bungalows were better, but they were given only to those who “oiled”. Our room was in the building. The buildings are two-story, we are on the second floor. Everything is very modest, but the room is spacious. We decided to stay.
Hotel room
A worker who brought a suitcase and was obviously waiting for a reward was given a £.5 tip. And then they heard impudent indignation: "It's not enough, come on a dollar! " We say: "No. " He: "Rubles come on! " What rudeness! In general, they kicked him out of the room, but spoiled the mood. Further impressions only worsened, well, exponentially. Went to dinner, and there is nothing to eat! Generally! Some kind of couscous, boiled broccoli, a suspicious-looking mixture of cabbage, sausage and mayonnaise, no meat, no fish, no dessert, tea in plastic cups, and you need to carry it from the bar to the restaurant through the hall, around and up the stairs. Very comfortably! I realized that this is the dream of any girl, it has almost come true - I will lose weight! Definitely. And, if this continues, then very quickly! But the husband grew gloomy before his eyes.
Yes! The evening was a success! You need to freshen up and bainki. The morning is wiser than the evening. Tried to take a shower and the hose was leaking. Washing is a problem, but I didn’t want to look for craftsmen from the staff in the middle of the night. Somehow they put themselves in order.
Maybe we can get some sleep? All the same flight and all that. But it was not there! As soon as we lay down, mosquitoes appeared in some incredible numbers! Small, nimble! It's impossible to beat. Our fumigator does not work on them!
Sticky heat in the room. They turned on the air conditioner, it works, but it roars like a plane taking off. Sleep is impossible. Horror! Where have we arrived? Were all hotel reviews true this time?
Can you imagine this "good" morning! But, getting up at 6 in the morning, or rather, without falling asleep until 6 in the morning, we went to the sea. And the sea is good! Warm, no waves, the sun is gentle!
Laguna
We are people hardened by difficulties, it is difficult to frighten us. I offer my husband a strategic plan to save our vacation: I will kill all the mosquitoes and find where they leak to us, and he will fix the shower. No sooner said than done. I found an open window, closed it, and caulked the gap. My husband, using a penknife and magic words, repaired our shower. Even before breakfast, the owner of the hotel arrived, gave all the workers a hat and the breakfast was already quite decent, as for 3 *, however, for the rest of the 12 days we no longer complained about food. He also fired the insolent suitcase porter. Probably, one of the tourists did complain about his "work".
And life began to improve. We also made friends with the air conditioner: they turned it on for several hours before going to bed and we had enough coolness until morning.
Difficulties have been resolved - now we are resting. This hotel was once German, there were even signs in German, it was built back in the 70s, when the resort was just developing, and therefore its territory is very decent, green,
Green area of the hotel
and he's on the first line. It has its own artificial lagoon, where you can safely swim without coral slippers, sea urchins do not swim there, a net is stretched at the exit from the lagoon into the sea.
The lagoon has warm water, no waves, and the beach is big and never 100% full. Although the sunbeds are not new, there are enough for everyone, beach towels are excellent, they are issued on cards and can be changed at least every day. There is also enough space under the awnings for everyone.
Hotel beach
The hotel was occupied by 70% Russians, 20% Ukrainians and 10% local Egyptians. That is, the spoken language in the hotel is Russian. Their all inclusive includes three meals a day and a poolside bar in the morning, an afternoon beach bar, and the administration building in the evening. There is animation: water aerobics, dancing, volleyball, evening performances and trips for extra money to nightclubs to discos along with animators on a hotel minibus. In general, who came for what: someone sour until blue in the face, someone danced until the morning in discos, and the bulk sunbathed, swam, went on excursions and trained their bodies a little.
We also went to look at the vaunted bungalows of our friends. One-story houses with 2 entrances, with a small terrace.
Bungalow
But the room is smaller than ours in the building,
and the air conditioner hangs right over your head and blows into it, dear, accordingly.
In our case, the air conditioner was located in such a way that it blew the room from the front door to the window on the opposite side, but the room went a little indentation to the side and did not blow directly on the heads. So, if it hadn’t been buzzing yet, and it would have been possible to regulate the temperature on it, then it would be possible to sleep with it turned on at least all night and not be afraid to catch a cold.
The animators came and invited me to water aerobics in the pool. So there is no time to be lazy, you need to knead the body. The pool is very good and large, it is cleaned every day, it does not smell of bleach.
Water aerobics in the hotel pool
Animator - Nubian Jamaica, black as a boot, is a professional in his field. He also did water aerobics, did yoga, and staged dances, and in the evening he fiddled with the children and showed a fakir show. Muscovite Max only helped him and worked as a translator, since Jamaica practically did not speak Russian.
On the very first morning of your stay at the hotel, meeting with the guide. An intelligent and unobtrusive guide from the "Anex Tour" told in detail about the excursions, did not force anything to take, did not persuade anyone. But the guide warned us that the group of tourists who would go from the Anex Tour would be registered with the police, they would be given a guard with a machine gun, in a word, they would ensure a safe trip.
People, of course, bought excursions cheaper right on the beach from the local Ahmed, but we decided that we would not save on safety. The road is still long, and the times are turbulent.
We bought an excursion to Luxor and a one-day excursion to Cairo with a visit to the Cairo Museum and the pyramids from Anex Tour.
We also took a sightseeing tour of Hurghada, which included lunch at a seafood restaurant.
To be continued in the next part. . .
