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Instead of doing a highly boring day-by-day account I thought it would be much easier for you, my dear readers (as well as for me!) if I just did a quick dash through the highlights of what was without doubt the best holiday I've yet been on.
The flight to Egypt was fascinating; at least, the last hour or so of it was. We started our descent just as we were coming in over the Nile delta, and then flew over a distinct dividing line between the green irrigated areas and the sandy gold of the desert. Then over the southern end of the Suez Canal which I got very excited about, and then over the simply spectacular mountains and dry riverbeds of the Sinai Peninsula.
( Sharm el Sheikh )
( Cairo )
( Tiran Island snorkelling )
( Jordan and Petra )
After another couple of quiet days (involving snorkelling off the hotel's beach, reading, sleeping, drinking cold beer and eating good food) we did a trip snorkelling in the national park called Ras Mohamed. They didn't deliver me a Napoleon fish as I'd hoped they might, but it was gorgeous nonetheless and we had another great day.
( Cat! )
Our last official outing was last Saturday night on a trip that Thomas Cook call Arabian Nights, because they took us out into the desert and then we were fed and entertained by Bedouins. We also got to ride camels! The dinner was lovely- traditional Bedouin and Egyptian food and local beer, and then there were burning signs, dancers and a whirling dervish who was very impressive. Then we had a slightly futile star-gazing attempt (there was a full moon and quite a lot of cloud).
Sunday we mostly mourned that it was our last day, snorkelled one last time, and went out for a lovely meal in the evening and got mildly drunk!
As I said at the beginning, it was easily the best holiday of my life and I'd love to go back, to Egypt and to Sharm. One thing I've learned, though, is that not one person in the entire world looks good in a thong bikini, although lots of people are under the sadly deluded impression that they do.
The flight to Egypt was fascinating; at least, the last hour or so of it was. We started our descent just as we were coming in over the Nile delta, and then flew over a distinct dividing line between the green irrigated areas and the sandy gold of the desert. Then over the southern end of the Suez Canal which I got very excited about, and then over the simply spectacular mountains and dry riverbeds of the Sinai Peninsula.
( Sharm el Sheikh )
( Cairo )
( Tiran Island snorkelling )
( Jordan and Petra )
After another couple of quiet days (involving snorkelling off the hotel's beach, reading, sleeping, drinking cold beer and eating good food) we did a trip snorkelling in the national park called Ras Mohamed. They didn't deliver me a Napoleon fish as I'd hoped they might, but it was gorgeous nonetheless and we had another great day.
( Cat! )
Our last official outing was last Saturday night on a trip that Thomas Cook call Arabian Nights, because they took us out into the desert and then we were fed and entertained by Bedouins. We also got to ride camels! The dinner was lovely- traditional Bedouin and Egyptian food and local beer, and then there were burning signs, dancers and a whirling dervish who was very impressive. Then we had a slightly futile star-gazing attempt (there was a full moon and quite a lot of cloud).
Sunday we mostly mourned that it was our last day, snorkelled one last time, and went out for a lovely meal in the evening and got mildly drunk!
As I said at the beginning, it was easily the best holiday of my life and I'd love to go back, to Egypt and to Sharm. One thing I've learned, though, is that not one person in the entire world looks good in a thong bikini, although lots of people are under the sadly deluded impression that they do.
