A sense of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

The official currency of Sharm El Sheikh, in Egypt is the Egyptian pound.

If you get any opportunities during your travels in Sharm El Sheikh, to sleep in the desert under the most magnificent star light sky, do so, as it is a unique experience.

Our general experience of the people from Sharm El Sheikh, in Egypt was that they do not understand the concept of personal space. Within the hotel itself the staff, all Egyptian, were courteous and friendly, however, outside of the hotel it was the direct opposite. The taxi drivers drove like formula One drivers, despite protestations for them to slow down. The shops and the restaurants were unkempt and not very inviting. The street sellers were pushy and intimidating. There was extremely strict security screening while entering or leaving the hotel. Once in the hotel itself, it could not be faulted for service and the general excellent of the guest experience.

 

Recommendations for Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

There is a language barrier, if you speak only English. So it lends itself to undertaking a trip using guided tours only.

We took the opportunity while in Sharm El Sheikh to fly to Luxor on the Nile. (see Luxor, Egypt text below)

While travelling in Egypt, you have to be more conscious of personal safety than you would be normally.

If diving or snorkelling in Naama Bay, be sure to wear a wet suit, despite the heat, as it is the only way to stop yourself being cut on the jagged coral that lies only 2 to 3 feet below the surface of the water. There were no signposted easy way to access the coral reef safely, with the result that we saw numerous tourists who had been badly scrapped by the coral while trying to both enter and leave the water.

 

Our must see recommendation for a trip to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt:-

(1) The Marriott hotel in Sharm El Sheikh was excellent. 

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We spent a full day taking in the historical Egyptian sites of Luxor in Egypt. These included the Valleys of both the Kings and Queens, and also Karnak Temple.​

 

Luxor, Egypt

We visited Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in January 2008 for a 14 day period. We took the opportunity while in Sharm El Sheikh to fly to Luxor on the Nile. We had an excellent Egyptologist as a guide for the extremely long one day trip, but it was definitely worth it.

 

In considering a trip to Luxor we decided to go on an organised tour with an Egyptologist as our tour guide for the entire day.

The trip comprised of catching an internal flight from Sharm El Sheikh airport directly to Luxor airport. We were in the valley of the Kings before 08.30am that morning.

After a jam packed day in Luxor we flew directly back to Sharm El Sheikh Airport at 2200 that same evening.

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A sense of Luxor, Egypt

The official currency of Egypt is the Egyptian pound.

If you get any opportunities during your travels in Sharm El Sheikh, to fly to Luxor on the Nile, do so, as it is a unique experience.

 

Our general experience of the people from Luxor, in Egypt was that they do not understand the concept of personal space. Within the hotel during the lunch break at mid day, the staff all Egyptian, were courteous and friendly, however, outside of the hotel it was the direct opposite. They have not yet grasped the idea of a queue, their natural inclination is, instead, to push and shove,. On the internal flight to Luxor that morning, despite having a tickets and seats allocated, we had to barge our way onto the plane when the gate opened along with all of the rest of the passengers. The reason for this was that the flight was overbooked and four passengers were going to left behind. Luckily, because of our out of character crowd mentally kicking in early, we were not among the four left behind at Sharm El Sheikh airport.

Where there were shops and the restaurants, in the main they were unkempt and not very inviting. The street sellers were pushy and intimidating. There was extremely strict security screening while entering or leaving all of the tourist sites. During our trip to the tombs in both the valley of the Kings and Queens, photography is expressly forbidden, within the tombs themselves, unless you are willing to pay separately for photography permission. There are armed guards spread around all tourist venues.

Luxor itself is a small town situated on the Nile river. Of a total Egyptian population of 100m only 0.5m live in Luxor. The average width of the arable land is a mile either side of the river edge, after that it is all desert. It is hard to credit that such a powerful civilisation on the world stage historically, along with now being one of Africa’s most developed countries could feel so under-developed in its general municipal and infrastructural offerings. 

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Recommendations for Luxor, Egypt

There is a language barrier, if you speak only English. So it lends itself to undertaking trips using guided tours only.

While travelling in Egypt, you have to be more conscious of personal safety than you would be normally.

The authorities in Luxor, in an attempt to keep street traders and beggars away from the valley of the Kings and Queens sites, have turned off water, sewage and electricity supply to their accommodation close to the site in the hope that this would discourage the local poorer traders and beggars. However, this has failed and they now still live close to the venue but devoid of utility services. 

Despite all that we have said above, based on its historical and architectural heritage alone, Luxor is a must see. It is often referred to as the biggest open air museum in the world. 

While in Luxor we visited a papyrus factory and were given a demonstration of papyrus paper manufacture and paper scribing.

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Our must see recommendation for a trip to Luxor, Egypt:-

1. Our visit to Valley of the Kings outside Luxor.

2. Our second choice would be our visit to Valley of the Queens outside Luxor.

3. Our third choice would be our visit to Karnak Temple in Luxor.

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Cost per person/week 750 Euro, inclusive of flights.

 

“You should travel away from home, to really appreciate the value of what you have at home, on your return.”

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“Happiness is found in the journey and rarely in the destination, alone.”