Первый раз в Египте. First time in Egypt.

We went to Egypt for the first time. We prepared for a very long time, choosing a hotel for a very long time. The requirements were as follows: the hotel is not noisy, the presence of corals is mandatory, normal rooms. Well, in general, we are not particularly picky)) At first we wanted to go to Marsa Alam - I read reviews that the super sea, pristine corals, etc. , but they scared the wind and the distance from Hurghada 200-300 km. , As it turned out, it was not a problem. In short, I stopped at this hotel (only because of the corals, because it was practically impossible to find hotels with corals near Hurghada). Initially, everything was scary, and suddenly you don’t like it))). We flew from Minsk from TezTour. There were no problems with the tour operator. Met at the airport, escorted to the bus, escorted to the reception. In this hotel, we were the only ones from TezTour)). From Hurghada Airport 38km. Quite close. On this road during the rest we visited 6 times - all excursions were from Hurghada)). At the reception, as taught in the reviews, they put $ 20 in the passport. - we were asked to take a walk for an hour, because. check-in was at 14.00, and we arrived at 12.00. Let's go for a walk. The first impression is not very good. I understood immediately what it means there is no sea. There was just a low tide and there was no water at all 100 meters from the shore. We were upset. But then I realized how lucky we were - the next day I realized when we went to the nearby hotel Azur for a walk. I will write about this a little later. Came an hour later to the reception. We were given cards, things were loaded into a tarantayka and taken to our room. I note that 20 dollars. did their job. The rooms are probably all the same there (judging by the photo), but the view is of course gorgeous. Villa number 2, number 2221.2nd floor (it's good that it's not the first or third). the first one is bad - that you won’t open the balcony at night, and the third one - to go high. The view is directly to the sea. We traveled as a family with a child -2 beds together for 1.4 and a separate third bed. The room is normal, clean, everything worked. 1dol. per day - changed the bed daily, water 3 liters daily, coffee, tea, sugar in any quantity. Description of the hotel - 800 meters beach, 5 swimming pools (1 pool 2 meters deep, 2nd - with a bar, 3rd - children's slides, 4th - just for kids, 5th - sea water). The usual Egyptian food - I lost 4 kg)) - I just couldn’t eat what they cooked with their spices, but then I realized that I could make something out of their food... Sweeten yogurts with honey, and make pilaf from rice, adding everything little by little. The food was not particularly important for us, although everything was included.
Why on the 2nd day I changed my mind about the beach)). We went to neighboring hotels for shopping - the neighboring hotel Azur and then Stella - there are many shops in Stella, the prices are the same as in Hurghada. I looked at their beaches. Laguna - yes. , Splashing like in a pool. Nothing interesting. And there are a lot of people, sunbeds are all occupied. We also had a lot of space in the pool, we generally could swim alone, and the sunbeds on the beaches were 80% free. In principle, this is of course a big plus. Walk from us to the coral reef - 100-150 meters, 60 meters on the water... When we went on the excursion "Paradise Island" - I realized that the money for the excursion was thrown away in vain. We had a lot of fish in the hotel, more than on excursions. Stingrays sailed with us, well, we saw a couple of sea snakes)))...
On excursions. Were: Paradise Island - 50 dollars. Per person, 101 nights of Scheherazade - free of charge for Paradise Island, White Sun of the Desert - 50 USD, Luxor - 85 USD. , shopping centers of Hurghada - free of charge. All excursions, as I wrote earlier, their Hurghada. Those. at first they took us in turn in hotels, then they brought us to Hurghada, and all the excursions had already begun there, a little inconvenient, because. it took almost an hour to gather vacationers.

Paradise Island - they picked it up at the hotel, brought it, put it on a yacht, gave out fins and goggles . . While we were sailing to the island, we stopped on corrals - as I already wrote, nothing remarkable, it’s better in our hotel. We also saw a couple of fish there - nothing at all, I think the tourists dispersed, because about 15 such yachts in the open sea like ours stopped near the reef)))) We swam like sprats in canned food))... Potmo landed on the island, fed and left to sunbathe - 2 hours. Well, back. Basically, it's just a walk. . .
The white sun of the desert was, of course, superb. And everything depended, as I understand it, on the guide. The guide was Alena from Arkhangelsk)). They brought us 10 km. from Hurghada to the desert, we were given quad bikes, then we rode on a buggy. After that, they put me in jeeps and drove for another 30 km. in the desert to the Bedouins. A very interesting and unforgettable trip. True, their village was clean (see TEZTUR helps), the camels are all well-groomed and clean - they took us for a ride (everything is included in the price of the trip), gave us tea, then they baked a cake for us, showed us the terrarium, fed the goats and staus and returned back to the base. In the evening they fed us, gave us a hookah and danced a belly dance and a dance with skirts. Very extensive program - 50 dollars. They worked out with a vengeance. One minus - they offer everywhere and on Paradise Island and the White Sun of the Desert and I know on other excursions to buy from them for 25-30 dollars. a disc where you will be filmed and 2 more discs (one with the music of Egypt, the second with the history of Egypt) - for memory. But having bought the discs and brought them home, they looked... Wasted money. It was filmed horribly - they saw themselves a couple of times))....they are filmed by complete non-professionals, the disk with the muse is bullshit, and the disk that was supposed to be with Egypt is generally empty. In short - such a small deception))).
Luxor - I put this excursion in first place. Of course, having been in Egypt, you need to see at least something). To Cairo - 650 km. - far, to Luxor - 250 - normal. We went by bus, practically the road was not felt, we quickly arrived. We stopped once for a bite = - very clingy Egyptians tried to sell arofatki and all sorts of lobuda. In principle, if arafatka costs 4 dollars in Hurghada, then you could buy from them for 1 dollar. It was a pity for the poor Bedouin children. They had so much joy in their eyes when they were given a lollipop or a dry ration from the hotel... I will go to Egypt next time - I will definitely take sweets and soft little toys with me - it seems to me that they will have a lot of joy. It's a pity of course)). . Approximately 40-50 km. before Luxor we entered the city of Qena and drove along the tributary of the Nile. So we looked at the life of the Egyptians, it had to be seen. Incomparable with the resort of Hurghada. In Luxor, they showed the Karnak temple - 1 hour of time - sooooo little, then we went to the tombs of the Valley of the Kings - you can only see 3 tombs a day, and the tomb of Tutankhamun for a fee of 20 dollars, then they took the Hapshetsug store (if you wrote correctly)))... there is also an hour. Naturally, our Russian-speaking guide did not forget to sell us something between trips - to sell tea, stop at a familiar store selling figurines, etc. All this is naive when they say that they are cheaper. You can buy everything at your hotel... The minus of this tour was a Russian-speaking guide (sometimes I just didn’t understand what he was saying), it’s better to get a Russian guide. And mine is very little time. I will be in Egypt, I will go to Luxor again...
For shopping… It was best to take a taxi from the hotel. 30 dollars and he took us to Hurghada on the street of shops, waited there for 3 hours and brought back. It is very convenient and safe when, after all, a taxi from the hotel..... You need to discount the price of goods twice at once...... At first I thought they were mocking me and they wanted to deceive me, but apparently they have such an approach to sales))

Well, everything seems to be... I really liked it. But next time I will go to Marsa Alam. And I recommend this hotel to everyone who needs a break from the noise, running around, with family and children, pesioners in the end. Quiet, comfortable, peaceful….