Sharm el Sheik. An alternative to the usual village. Egypt travel review

This journey began a little 'for the event, organized at the last minute to the last breath and assigned the "last resort", that is the final goal remained available in travel agencies on the day before the date set for l' hypothetical departure. After a week spent in the intensive telephone, by drawing imaginary lines over the Atlantic, and looking at the weather around the world, ranging from Miami to Cuba, the Antilles all'Honduras, Mexico in Zanzibar and scenarios assuming dream with endless beaches and white , here we decide to leave for the most inflated, commercial and less attractive to all destinations, Sharm el Sheikh, the only place where I had always sworn I would never have set foot.
What is more, with all-inclusive package price to the popular national, staying overnight in village and much of braccialettino recognition wrist style prison, and a charter flight just sad gift bag for all three.
But this week I discovered that you can make it original and memorable even a trip to Sharm in the village, if you have the right company, the ideas just a touch of spirit of initiative and desire to do.
And despite the departure in a week of festivities and bridges we paid only € 400, air, food, lodging and miscellaneous. Would say that is not bad .....
Journey made in the company of my dear friends Hans and Buso.

 

The real journey begins at night, a Saturday morning, the classic time when they usually return in the evening passed with local friends. It makes a cool dog and my poor fellow travelers to pass me. We embrace it in the narrow Buso perhaps more to the outside temperature and for the fact that we are not.
We arrive at Malpensa sleepy, but in perfect time and, having got the practices of boarding trying to spy on possible traveling companions in the queue, and looking with envy banks departure of more exotic destinations, we unpack already beginning to take its all rhythms. We have to get on an airplane charter (dall'esotico name "Blue Panorama."
The flight is quiet, the service on board than expected, the staff very inexperienced, but polite. Practically, the time off to take-off where you see a breathtaking view with all the Alpine snow and illuminated by the light of dawn, the rest of the trip, all above a bank of clouds. Only when we reach the coast of the sky opens. E 'bellissimo meet an entire continent .... I had the feeling that Africa accepted me with a warm embrace. Below us the desert, the valley of the Nile, then the sea and finally the reef off the coast of Sharm with the splendid play of color on the water. The holiday is really about to start.
As soon as you open the door to understand the plane had arrived in paradise indeed, beautiful or not beautiful the place, what matters is the temperature outside, what matters is that we are already in a singlet December ...
At the airport we see our first trip to cheat, in fact we find that the visa is cheaper than what we bought at Malpensa tactically ... bè, it does not matter, soon learn to deal, in fact become the terror of Egypt, that the plagues of Moses!
We come now accepted as the most perfect script trip organized by the staff of Settemari and begin to make friends first.
We arrive finally at the Aloha Club, a new hotel and pretty much done all the houses in a large garden by the sea.
The day is long before us, or rather short, as dark at 4 and then throw us in water directly. My first attempt to discover the reef is a complete failure. The mask gently stolen secretly in my brother broke down. The current increases and abandon the historic undertaking to dedicate the first tan.
The first evening we go to Old Sharm. The old town with its old market is not anything special. E 'a melting pot of shops for tourists, full of all sorts of paccotaglie, where all are trying to drag us into promising gifts and I swear that I do not want to sell, but you just watch their merchandise! After dinner, exhausted, you go to Naama Bay, the Las Vegas Egyptian. Naama is a fake lot where there are only local and international clubs, fast food chains and notes .... Just as well that the Egyptians hate Americans ... so why build these places symbol? Just to give pleasure to the tourists? Bò ...
Total disappointment, I expected something more distinctive.

Obviously, since we do enterprising youngsters can to not make a life and even from village to stay as far away as possible. The first trip we do a RAM ON SID, which actually is not called so, but the real name I have never understood.
We try to get in a beach that Andrea knows already, claiming to be guests of Aida. SGAM in full because of the yellow wrist braccialettino, we bounced like a script.
Try another beach (fee) nearby, that of El Fanar. The name is from an old lighthouse, which comes out on the promontory. The sea is flat, the climate perfect, the temperature very pleasant. Begins my second attempt to draft. The three divers, with suit bought by the "Take 3 pay 2" at the Decathlon, jump into the water. I still have some difficulty adjusting because of mask-pack of his brother and lack of basic browsing the salty water and floats like the Red Sea, or the fins!
Without even essermene noticed a few meters away from me there is a paradise, one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, the overhang of the barrier in the Red Sea down at any moment, creating a sort of chasm, with turquoise sea and deep rich rainbow of fish of all types and a myriad of corals. I had seen some years ago, the Australian Great Barrier that was completely different, poorer, and I expect its a similar scenario. I was excited, I swear.
In the afternoon we have the engines in the desert by camel even (or rather dromedaries) and tea in the desert with Bedouins. The engine is expected quod cones. It 'was so beautiful, although too short! How many jumps have done ...
In the evening, over the motor, not yet satisfied, we go back to old Sharm and do a very memorable evening ... the Egyptian hairdresser / beautician. Buso that starts you cut the hair too well by purchasing several items. Then the hairdresser begins to make him a stranger to us treatment of hair removal, with a spool of white thread. It 'almost impossible to describe, say that the type is the bobbin threads in the mouth and pulling the wire holding it between 2 fingers and making a motion with the turkey head, very musical and rhythmic, begins to detach the peletti an unnecessary one. This is too fascinating and in fact, one by one, we end with all submit to the treatment of beauty.

The day number 2 is the trip to Dahb. We start with Ibrahim, a taxi driver knew the night before, we've rented for the day to one very ridiculous. The taxi is like all others, 8 seats, 3 rows of chairs. The trip was quiet and pleasant.
To reach the famous beach of Dahb where the Blue Hole, a pit with the reef, we have to take a jeep from the center of Dahb. The road is indeed beautiful disaster. There is also a point where you do not have to protrude because the risks of being cut by rocks. We placed on the beach, I'm bad, the sea does not inspire me and then let go 2 Baldi young to discover the hole. This place is very strange, isolated, appears to be a place for children of grunge and alternative flowers, a style of "The Beach".
At a certain time we go to discover the surroundings and the adventure begins. With a infradito to toe, so beautiful as scomodo, style bladder insured, are dragged up and down the rocks, despite the wind kind Bora on top and slippery rocks along the route. It is really worth because we end on a beautiful beach, untouched and wild, where a Bedouin is praying by the sea in the direction of Mecca. Dahb return to town in the afternoon and we do a shopping tour. Do we rub the tea vendor, who pela ... but just another cheat is lurking! We decide to treat it like a king and eat fish in a restaurant by the sea from the very Egyptian name "Al Capone" and to offer dinner to Ibrahim. Eat industrial quantities of excellent fish, squid, shrimp, grilled vegetables, bread sauce etc with Arabic., Convinced that spend very little given the average Egyptian. When the bill comes out to a total of 1124 local money will take a heart attack. We un po 'a deal, but in the end we pay the same as we paid in Italy.

The 4th day the group is divided. Hans is involved with his immense joy in a whole day dedicated to volleyball, I am correct, the beach volleyball! There is the long-awaited challenge between nearby villages and the Club's Aloha needs peak. I and the Buso there friezes and we Gamilla Beach, beyond the airport, where a more cool hotel in Sharm, the Coral Bay Resort. To get there we put a life, not only because the place is located about 35km from where we are, but mainly because the system viabilistico this tourist town is truly shocking; There are no traffic lights, and this may be a genius, there are only a couple of round that the taxi drivers take contromano, when not reach anyone to first, but above all there are the U - TURN. Basically if you want to run in a parallel you have to do all the way and turn back to take the next street, a little 'how to train the Andes going to zig zag to climb because it has enough space. So you make so many unnecessary Km to then actually 100 meters ...
Gamilla Beach is a charm, the sea is perfect, it seems to stay in the Caribbean. We are facing the island of Tiran, where there is a huge coral bank loans with a wreck, the classic picture postcard landscape. Spend a day at the beach doing the usual diving. Begins a desperate struggle to find a taxi because we have to go back to watch the match of the century and we are already late. Unfortunately we are in an area where taxis are mirages.

The 5th day is a gitarella at Ras Mohamed. We try to hire a car for the company, but without success. In fact, outside of the hotels rent a car is not expected. Basically if you want a car and you trust, an Egyptian firm, ask if you lend him and his pay. We have also done, but we noticed that they may not have trusted us, because they wanted to give us an escort. At the end folded on Ibrahim. Ras Mohamed is a beautiful natural park not far from Sharm. There are several beaches and natural beauty to be admired. The first beach is a bit 'too much in the wind for my liking, I keep the energy for the second beach, Main Beach.
To get there from a salt lake very beautiful. The landscape reminds me vaguely of the Camargue and the mouth of the Rhone, although in reality we are on the Sinai peninsula from the side that turns toward the classical Egypt. I would not regret spending the day on a horse here, but I have to satisfy the taxi.
Once the water gitarella going to reconnoiter the area around the park, finally force Ibrahim, to let us see the mangroves, although the park is already closed and the guards pissed because we have not yet come out ....

The last evening the boys of animation we are organizing the "desert party" or an evening in a sort of disco in the middle of the desert. Basically we are in a place close to the rocks used for a bar and console, decorated with many Christmas Lucina, the same that we had noticed the return of the engine, but that we had not realized that they were. Very impressive drive in the desert, even if the music is really so much shit! Well, unforgettable evening in any case, perhaps because the last and perhaps the knowledge that the day we have to go home.

Here come the day of departure, the hottest days of course, 32 degrees, not a wisp of wind, the sea and perfect transparency. The desire to leave so it is practically zero.
After one last go at the airport bathroom.
We are lucky to see from the plane window the Pyramids.