Rest through the eyes of an optimist.
It's winter outside, but it's a holiday in our hearts - we're going to rest.
For some reason, all trips to Egypt with my wife are fun and eventful. A significant role in this is played by the mood for relaxation and knowledge of local realities.
On this trip (fifth in a row) we decided to take a better class hotel. Before that, we flew on a budget to Egyptian troikas. Beloved asked to find a hotel in the center (on Sheraton Road) and with a good beach. After a long election, we settled on the Minamark Hotel. And then a friend from a travel agency called and offered this hotel for 580 USD. (double, week, HB meals) with Tez Tour.
On the previous trip, I “deceived” my beloved - I told her that I had ordered a double room at a recreation center in the Carpathians, gave a link to a real base, showed what “our” room looks like... My wife was preparing for a winter vacation for two weeks - she ordered from her grandmother knit a warm scarf and hat, packed warm clothes, etc. I also wanted to rent skis, but I convinced her that it’s better to rent on the spot ; -). In general, everything was ready for a trip to the snow-capped mountains... Our "train" departed at 08.10. I set the alarm for 3 nights, and when it rang I told my beloved that plans were changing and we were flying to Hurghada!! ! Anyuta could not understand what she was talking about for a long time, but when she understood... Who said that a girl needs a couple of days to collect things?!?! ? Promising to kill me later, she feverishly threw warm clothes out of her suitcase, replacing them with summer ones. Sun creams, sunglasses, flip flops and other equipment was packed in forty minutes! And I didn't forget anything! In the morning, the most difficult thing was to explain to our mothers why we are calling from the Khor Pelas hotel, and not the Zakarpattya camp site 8-))). Since then, the wife checks all vacation vouchers personally!
Departure was 06.02. 2010 at 08.10. The adventure began on the way to the airport - halfway through I found that the main camera was left hanging on the door handle. We were driven to the airport by my boss, accustomed to my distraction, he just shook his head sadly and turned the car back. We left with a margin (as I felt) and therefore calmly returned. But in retaliation, the boss gave my wife a long lecture in a sad voice about my absent-mindedness and how it harms my work. I had to be sadly silent and nod my head ruefully 8-). Finally, we were dropped off near the airport and we (it was -15 C outside) in summer clothes went to check-in. On the way, my wife was indignant that it was inconvenient to walk in snowdrifts in sandals ; -). Yes, this problem is somehow ill-conceived by designers...
We flew normally, but upon arrival in Hurghada, the door jammed in the plane, and everyone was let out through the rear exit at the tail of the plane. Heat (+23), Arabs in sweaters - winter, however! We bought visas without any problems, but there was a huge queue at passport control. There is nothing to do - we stand. Several Arabs walk past us with signs, I look closely - the inscription in Russian: "Control without a queue. " Service, damn it... I ask how much the service costs - they answer that it is $ 20. However! - as Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobyaninov said, a very tempting offer, given that until all the tourists who are traveling with you to the hotel pass control, the bus will not leave. We hear that the same Arab offers the service to others for $30. Hmm, it looks like we look poorer than others. . . Abydno ; -)) Finally we pass the control, we run after the suitcases. They have long been dumped from the conveyor in one heap. Barbarians! We find our own and wander to the bus. Another hour of waiting in the bus and finally we go to the hotel. We are accommodated without financial incentives at the reception. The room is on the first floor, the balcony is purely symbolic, everything is clean and tidy. We change clothes and go for a walk.
There are clearly more people on the streets than in February last year, when the crisis was at its height. We thought to go to a supermarket near McDonald's, but it turned out to be closed for repairs. It's a pity... We go to Pizza Hut for lunch.
We saw a travel agency near the hotel, we find out how much Giftun (Coral Islands) costs. A young guy looks at us appraisingly and gives us a price - 18 USD. Oops, did the tour really go up in price? I am bargaining, the Egyptian shakes his head sadly and announces the last price - 35 USD. for two. No thanks, let's go see the prices again. We take two steps - another door with a sign "Excursions". And then how much - they report that for 15 c. u. Oh-oh-oh, that suits us just fine. We order for tomorrow, as usual pick up from the hotel at 08.30. I pick up the receipt, go out and then I remember that tomorrow we have a meeting with the guide Teztour at 11.00. Come on, we won’t learn anything new from him, you can skip this event.
We return to the hotel, inspect it, walk around the territory. Well, it's time for dinner.
About food in Minamarca.
If you put together all the breakfasts and dinners, you can come to the following conclusion - everything is very good! A lot of salads, places in the restaurant and beyond are enough for everyone, the waiters are great. There was enough meat for everyone (even for me F8-)). Of the minuses - there are a lot of sweets, but many cakes are made according to the same recipe and differ only in appearance.
The next day, having had breakfast and stingy fruits, we stand near the hotel. By the appointed time, an Egyptian comes up to us and takes us to the pier to our boat. My wife has her own set for swimming, but I take myself a mask, snorkel and fins. The Arab, who gave out the equipment, delicately asked why do I need fins at all with my 46th foot size? Joker... We are waiting for other tourists, finally, everyone has gathered and set sail.
Anyutix immediately took up an important task - tanning. It was simply consensual to interfere with this sacred rite. I actively took up the introduction of vitamins into my body weakened in winter - tangerines, oranges and bananas went with a bang! There were fifty-fifty people on the boat (in the sense of Russian speakers and "the rest of the world"). Sunny, beautiful sea and light breeze - what else do you need for a great mood?! ? One and a half hours flashed like a moment and we are already at the point - the corals are very close.
The weather seems to be warm, but the wind significantly reduces the desire to swim. We try not to pay attention to it, put on fins-masks and dive. Beauty is indescribable (as always)! I swim, take pictures of fish and corals. Not far from me, a hefty uncle is trying to catch fish with his hands. Of course, nothing comes out, but it looks funny. Why does he need these fish? It can be seen that the fish have their own God - the "fisherman" was too carried away by the chase, and he was thrown by a wave at the corals. And nefig!! ! I hear selected non-literary expressions - our man! Annoyed, he swims past on his boat, I look after him - it’s not bad that he got burned and scratched... Time runs unnoticed, an Arab swims past from my boat and shows on his wrist, they say, the finish time. Okay, let's go back. We climb, dry ourselves, wash ourselves with mineral water. Another forty minutes and we are on Paradise Island. Previously, the boats just crashed into the sandy shore and everyone went down the stairs, now we park a little way from the shore and a boat comes to us to transport people. Yes, it takes longer, but it's safer...
We spend an hour and a half on the beach. There is nothing to do there, except for swimming and sunbathing, and we have an active rest. “Sellers” of various junk (necklaces, bracelets made of pebbles, scarabs) are constantly walking around. Usually they don't have anything original and interesting, but this time Anyuta liked the bracelet. Five minutes of hard bargaining and the price drops from £.50 to £.5. We take, we pay. There are many Arab families on the island, everyone swims and relaxes. Women in their clothes are trying to swim away from the shore, but not everyone can do it ; -). One girl decided to put a mask on her muffled face. After each dive, she had to pour out the water from the mask and re-tighten it... It was very pitiful for the pregnant Egyptian (somewhere in the seventh month) who had a swim and went "for a walk" along the shore with her husband. In clothes soaked through, in the wind, she was simply cowardly from the cold, and her husband walked sedately beside him in only swimming trunks. As they would say in Europe, this is gender discrimination.
We were taken from the island, counted on heads and taken back. On the way, it was interesting to watch the metamorphosis of the sea - from emerald, as dusk fell, it turned into a dark and heavy mass overboard.
Upon arrival at the hotel, we had a quick dinner and hurried to the El Gunna bus station. We buy tickets to Cairo (departure that night for 75 pounds) and back the next night. We go to the hotel to sleep.
We had a bus at 3.00 at night, at 2.40 we were already at the bus station ready and equipped. We go to the parking lot, we stand on the sidelines. A little later, we notice another couple of "pale-faced" travelers. We approach, get acquainted - there are Odessans. We got to talking, it turned out that they were also going on the same flight to Cairo. The bus drove up, our tickets were checked, we were given rations (guava nectar, salty croissant and sweet bun) and we hit the road.
I was very worried about the fact that the bus would again be equipped with a refrigerator on wheels (last time the air in the cabin was about 12-14 degrees). Unfortunately, my fears were justified - if at the time of departure it was quite comfortable in the cabin, then after about twenty minutes of driving it didn’t hit a tooth on a tooth. After another twenty or thirty minutes, delegations of freezing Egyptians began to walk to the bus driver asking him to take pity and stop this torture. Odessite Sasha translated these heated arguments for us. The driver was adamant and the bus with freshly frozen passengers continued on its way. Finally, Sasha himself approached the driver and asked for good reason to turn off the air conditioner. And, lo and behold, the driver had mercy and warm air went through the cabin. Having suffered a defeat, our guide decided to recoup on another front, and included a mournful melodrama on DVD. After the ice age, this trifle has not spoiled anyone's mood. But the driver's revenge failed - the driver winked slyly and gave the message "System error". Since the driver did not have the opportunity to drive and deal with the DVD at the same time, a peaceful silence fell on the bus.
Upon arrival in Cairo, we said goodbye to Sasha and Lena (they were going to the national museum) and went to the zoo. Having reached the zoo by taxi (10 pounds), we decided to refresh ourselves first. We went to the Pizza Hut near the main entrance, already sat down at the tables, took the menu, but then the waiter came up and shook his head ruefully, uttered a long tirade, from which I caught the phrase “ileven oklok”. I look at the clock - half past nine, and they open at eleven. Ay-ya-yay, it's a pity how... We leave, next to the pizzeria "KFC". And also from eleven. Oh well, let's go to the zoo.
Zoo walk report here
After the zoo, rather hungry, we still went to Pizza Hut. Anyuta ordered pizza, and I (being very hungry) ordered lasagna. Plus buttered toast. They brought a big pizza, we started to feast on it, everything was fine until they brought lasagna. She was just huge. Then I remember that they asked me something about the size, and (due to poor knowledge of English) I ordered at random... In general, this lasagna could feed two or three hungry healthy men. And after the pizza, there was very little space left... In short, we took the pizza with us, and picked out the meat from the lasagna 8-).
We go outside, catch a taxi. Again, we came across a penny Zhiguli, driving a grandfather of about 70 years old. Okay, let's get it. . .
We arrived at the Khan el Khalili market, we are going to travel through the back streets. On the square in front of the mosque, a shoe shiner clung to us, saying let's clean it. He already pointed to the shoes (I have sports sandals, my wife has white sneakers), and simply sent them - he does not lag behind. The policeman helped - he came up and yelled at the cleaner. Thanks, good fae! We bought a liter of fresh orange juice - near the market there is one point where an elderly Arab has been crushing oranges for fifteen years. After a little haggling, we agree on twenty pounds. The taste is extraordinary!
We walk around the market for three hours, then we just go forward, observing the life of the city. All buses run with open doors, Arabs jump and jump on the go. There are many places where they sell roasted nuts and seeds. The smell of roasting pleasantly tickles the nostrils. We buy ourselves and try peanuts. My wife likes it, but for my taste overcooked and salty. We bought a baked sweet potato (they are baked in oven carts right on the street) - two pounds. It tastes like baked pumpkin. Came across a second hand. Only women rummage in it, a hefty Arab stands over a bunch of things and advertises the goods in a hysterical voice. He saw us and started shouting: “Know the photo, know the photo! ”. Oh, come on, I didn’t really want to... A little further is a shoe store. The prices are reasonable, but my forty-sixth size is not available Maximum forty-fifth... There are shoes for Anyuta, but the quality is the most obscene and we refuse to buy.
We come across the sign "Metro". Great, we buy tickets and go to the National Egyptian Museum - there is the final stop of our bus. We are already quite tired and do not want to walk. There are still six (!!! ) hours before the bus leaves. Hmm, they didn’t calculate... Eight in the evening, dark and cool. We think where to kill time. Near the hotel "Ramses Hilton" we went to the shopping center, wandered through the shops and boutiques. Nothing interesting.
There is a cinema on the sixth floor. A sign caught my eye - "AVATAR 3D". Looking at each other with my wife - why not? Who else can boast of having watched this movie in 3D in Arabic?? ? I go to the cash register and ask about the time of the sessions. The astonished look of the guy in the window - "Yu spik arabish ??? ". I say no, I will teach from the film ; -) How much is the ticket? Yeah, thirty pounds is fine. I already want to pay, but I decide to clarify the duration of the session (I'm afraid not to catch the bus). The cashier says that . . 75 minutes!! ! Wai?? ? It looks like Arab censorship cut him badly... We confer with my wife, we decide not to go, we will look for something else to pass the time.
I get the idea to look for an Internet cafe. Hang out there for a couple of hours - and the legs will rest and we'll see the news. I estimate how much it can cost - in Hurghada this pleasure costs from 5 to 10 pounds an hour, which means that in Cairo a maximum of 15. This is a theory, we are looking for its confirmation in practice. The only place on the square where the Internet turned out to be was Ramses Hilton. I looked at this chic and pompous building and figured that it was at least twenty. We go into the middle, the porter passes us to the guards, who lead us to the Business Center. All in white shirts, extremely polite. Yeah, that's thirty pounds for an hour minimum... A girl in a business suit listens to us and takes out a price list on the Internet. Reading, speechless - 15 minutes - 30 pounds, half an hour - 50 pounds, an hour - 90 !! ! That is, two hours (for two) of the Internet will cost us 65 USD. I swallow nervously, bow out. And again we stand on the street...
We go to the Nile, picturesque feluccas are temptingly swaying on the pier. Seeing us, the Arabs begin to lure us with invocative calls. Having read stories (that you agree on one amount, but in the center of the river they call a large one and, until you agree, they don’t take you to the shore), we agree only on a group trip. But the time is late, there is no one (and it is getting colder and colder) and is not expected. Let's go for a walk along the embankment.
Nearby we see a horse-drawn cart and a bored Arab in it. Let's go, let's take a look. I already want to just sit somewhere, and after a short haggling, we agree on the amount of ninety pounds per hour. The coachman, with a heavy sigh, climbs onto the box, and we set off. At a brisk trot we moved along the embankment. Cars rushed past us literally in centimeters, one, passing especially close, our coachman hit the roof with a whip ; -). Having crossed the bridge, we slowly moved to another. We liked the night Cairo, it was exciting and interesting. Forty minutes later we were already approaching the place where we started. I defiantly looked at my watch and made a thoughtful face. The Arab understood the hint, and we made another small circle. After paying off the driver and giving five "for hay" to the horse, we went to the bus.
Our bus arrived on time, we show tickets and take seats in the first row, right behind the driver. On leaving Cairo, we make a stop, give out rations, check tickets again. The driver seals with cardboard the place of the side window, which he refused to rise. The fact that at the same time he will not be able to look into the left side mirror did not bother him at all...
As soon as we left Cairo, I shamelessly fell asleep, leaving my wife to watch in horror the driving master class of the reckless Egyptian driver. Later Anyuta described to me with indescribable emotions overtaking on closed turns, entering a ninety-degree turn at a speed of one hundred kilometers and other delights of Formula 1. Fortunately for her, after a couple of hours the road became one-way and, waking me up, she lay down on my shoulder with a clear conscience.
Upon arrival at the hotel, we have breakfast and sleep.
The next three days we devoted to the beach and shopping. The beach at the Minamark hotel is very small in width, but well-groomed. The pier was very helpful, from which we jumped and swam with pleasure. There were large floor chess on the territory, a couple of hours a day we played games with my wife. Later, two hotel managers pulled themselves up, whom I smashed to smithereens (I'm not that good at playing, they just played even worse 8-)). On Thursday, someone "mentally" played chess - they were scattered on the ground and there was no black horse. Where did he go, I have no idea! The figure is 80 cm high and weighs 6-7 kg. I just physically couldn’t fall into some gap or roll into a bush 8-((. Theft of the century! By our departure, the figure was never found...
On the same day, we came from the beach, I collapsed to rest on the bed, and my beloved went to the bath. A minute later, a terrible scream was heard from the bathroom! Anyuta flies out of the bathroom with wild eyes and nervously shouts: "THIS IS THERE!!! ". I go in cautiously, the hand of my wife and my wife sticks out from behind me and points to a huge cockroach on the sink. The length of the monster is about 10 cm, the view is awesome! I decide to engage in a mortal battle with the occupier, I take my slippers of the 46th size into service. The cockroach, seeing my advantage in armament, decides to desert from the battlefield, retreating to the drain. Behind him comes the militant cry of his wife: "Don't let him get away! " I go on an active offensive, shorten the distance in two jumps, and deliver a smashing blow with a slipper on the enemy! Confident in my victory, I examine the defeated monster, as suddenly the cockroach comes to life and, quickly moving its whole paws, still tries to hide. The control strike overtakes him almost at the target... The wife looks at the corpse with horror and forces me to conduct a thorough inspection of the bathroom for the presence of accomplices of the scout. She herself heads to the waiting room. When I have almost finished inspecting the bathroom, I hear a cry: “Another one! ”. Ugh, I was bypassed from the rear! In the room, my wife shows me under the table, where I notice another monster of the same size. I sneak up with a slipper from behind, but the cockroach guesses my intentions and hides behind the TV. Naive! The TV is removed and we are left alone. The cockroach looks at me suspiciously and... takes off! Using the effect of surprise, he almost reaches the balcony, but his wife knocks him to the floor with an accurate blow of the newspaper. A smashing blow overtakes him at the moment of regrouping forces and preparing for a second takeoff. At that moment, I felt like the character Sigourney Weaver (Ripley) from the movie Aliens. You never know where the bloodthirsty monster is waiting for you!! ! A cursory scan of the area revealed no danger, and we proceeded to a thorough inspection of the room. Either the rest of the tribesmen of the killed cockroaches hid well, or they were no longer in the room. Victory…
This story had a specific continuation in the evening. My wife has such a feature - if she is angry with someone, this person starts to have big problems in any area. At first I noticed this with irony, but since there were no exceptions, it even began to frighten me. That evening, Anyuta was very angry at the hotel staff, who allowed the appearance of cockroaches in the room, the last two days of insects were poisoned. Five minutes after we arrived at the restaurant for dinner, the waiter carrying glasses of beer slipped and doused two Muscovites at the next table from head to toe. Light panic, a sea of apologies from the Arabs, the assistant manager came running, drove the waiter away and began to deliver drinks himself. His hour struck in a couple of minutes - the sound of breaking glasses was heard from behind, and, turning around, we saw that he had knocked over a tray of cola and fanta on other visitors at the next table. German curses sounded behind us for a long time. Anyuta (who tried to convince me that the first case was just a coincidence) looked at it all in fear, quickly finished her sweets, and we retired for a walk...
A couple of days before, they ordered me a leather jacket in a shop near the hotel. The standard sizes do not fit me (height 190 cm, arm span 201 cm, weight 75 kg. ) And I have to bring a model with an extended sleeve from the factory in Cairo. The order arrives, but the sleeve is not elongated, but ordinary (it seems that they either mixed up or did not understand). The seller persuades me to buy a standard jacket, but I don’t need a leather T-shirt...
On Friday we again decided to go to the coral islands (Giftun). On Thursday evening we bought it, on Friday morning we are standing near the hotel, waiting for the bass. A minivan drives up, an Arab leans out, asks - Excursion? I answer - yes, and give the receipt. The Egyptian examines it briefly and puts it in his pocket. We sit down on the seat, I greet the people already sitting inside: “Hello! ”. The answer to me was a drawn-out: "Hellouuu. " Clearly, foreigners (more than once I caught myself thinking that Arabs and Russian speakers are positioned as “local” in my place, and all the rest are “come in large numbers” ; -)). We drive for twenty minutes and arrive at some base. We all go out, in the room two Arabs begin to distribute to everyone... wetsuits and cylinders with oxygen Zh8-0. Oh why is that?? ? I go up to a representative-looking Arab and say that we are actually going to the coral islands! In Russian, he does not understand AT ALL, looks at us with bewilderment, calls somewhere and gives me a mobile. I explain the problem to the invisible interlocutor and give back the phone. The Arab listens to the interpreter, jumps up, and starts running around the room, looking for the one who brought us. When he finds him, he angrily says something to him. The driver pulls out a stack of receipts and finds ours among them. Silent scene. We were brought to the diving center by mistake… I went up to the Arab and unobtrusively pointed at my watch, saying that time was running out. He forcedly smiles and says: "Ten minets! ". Fifteen minutes later we were picked up by a taxi and taken to a waiting boat. Well thank you anyway. . .
We sit on the boat, and I understand that this is a “purely Arabic version” - there are only Arabs on the boat! Mostly youth. Everyone is staring at us, they obviously did not expect to see "pale faces" on the boat. We sail. We settled down on the bow of the boat, the youth too. Gradually we begin to communicate, in a mixture of Arabic-English words. The youth turns out to be students of the Cairo National University, who were rewarded for their good studies with a three-day trip to Hurghada. I would be so encouraged... With them was a strict woman - a teacher. The students were very friendly and sociable. We sailed to the corals, and then the CIRCUS began! Most of the students did not know how to swim at all. In life jackets, they held on to the handrails of the boat with a death grip, afraid to swim even a meter away. Since there were only two handrails, these two bright orange garlands resembled caterpillars. Gradually, a pair of "waterfowl" students tore their hands off the handrails, and the "caterpillars" floated along the waves 8-). Later, on the boat, I asked why they couldn't swim? The answer was simple and logical - you can’t swim in the Nile, and pools are expensive...
Time flew by unnoticed, and now we are relaxing in the hotel.
The day before departure, we go shopping at Metro and Abu A Shara supermarkets. Must buys for friends - spicy ketchups (from 3 to 14 pounds a bottle), Arabic sweets (halva (from 4 to 9 pounds), dates stuffed with almonds - 2 pounds, guava nectars at 2.70 for 250 ml. ), sauces (for olive shrimp) and spices. A separate column of purchases is fruits. All godchildren, grandmothers and mothers are entitled to one melon and a bag of strawberries! There are no problems with melons, but strawberries... There are a lot of strawberries, but they are packed in transparent bags (the bottom is plastic, the top is a thin packaging film). And EACH bag contains a couple of obviously moldy strawberries. We sort through all the packages and get upset - there is no normal one. I go for the manager, explaining that we are ready to take ten packages, provided that they are sorted out and the rotten one is replaced with a normal one. He calmly listens to us, calls the boy and tells him to sort out. He tries to cheat (turns the strawberries with the rotten side in the middle), but Anyuta abruptly stops this, and arranges a detailed inspection of each repackaged package. Finally we have ten bags of beautiful and clean strawberries. We pick up and pay. The manager at the checkout gives us a pack of chewing gum, I give him a lighter in return. Peace, friendship, chewing gum. . .
In the morning on the day of departure, we gather, rent a room and go to the airport. Control, dutik, waiting room. Registration, landing, takeoff. Before landing, I had to be nervous - it was snowing and we landed almost blindly, the earth surfaced literally at the last moment. We landed, applause, we leave. We packed the strawberries in a slender row in a long hookah bag, all the passengers looked at it. When we got off the plane, a man followed us and asked us to sell a couple of packages of strawberries at any price (he says the children asked, but he forgot). I sympathize, but we have everything on the account, there is no extra...
When leaving the airport, we disperse taxi drivers, get into the car with the boss and drive home.
The fairy tale is over, gray working days are coming...
