Category: Road Trips

Travel by car

DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Dahab to Cairo to Alexandria

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: TRANSITIONING TO ALEXANDRIA

So it’s morning in Dahab and I was on my balcony enjoying the glorious weather and view.  Down in the pool the younger set was catching a few more splashes.  It was idyllic, but I was still glad that we’d soon be heading to territories the US State Department was happier for me to be visiting.

The Back of the Bus & Beyond

When the time came to head back, I was once again sent to the back of the bus, but I was over my pout.  Soon we were going through multiple security checks at the Sharm el Sheikh airport and somewhere along the way I lost my prescription sunglasses.  For then on, Bill had to share his shades with me.

The flight was not anywhere as entertaining as the carnival-like ride to Sharm had been.  At the Cairo airport our car and driver was waiting to take us to Alexandria, so we said our good-byes at the airport.  Maggie, Shady and their kids would be flying on to the US before we returned to Cairo, but the bride and groom would be flying back to the US with us.

On to Alex

By the time we made it out of Cairo, evening was setting in.  We needed a potty break and something to eat, so our driver stopped at a Burger King.  The burgers were fine.  The water in the restrooms was turned off and toilet paper was scarce.  That made things quite challenging, but soon we were back on the road.  As soon as we left the gas station we entered the desert and there was nothing to see.  Falling asleep had not been in my plans, but that’s what I did.

It seemed as if we’d just left the Burger King a few minutes before when we came to a stop.  I opened my eyes to chaos – a traffic jam, Egyptian style.  We were on the outskirts of Alex and were hemmed in on every side.  In Egypt, lanes are only a suggestion, so at first glance it seemed we’d be there all night.  Our driver showed no signs of distress.  He edged towards the truck ahead of us and it seemed to me as if he was going to drive under it, but instead we started changing lanes and were soon exiting the highway.

This sounds as if it should have been good news, but suddenly I felt as if I was in the chase scene of a Steven Segal movie.  The landscape around us was all industrial.  The exit turned out to be one of those spaghetti bowls where several roads come together.  We went around and around, over and under, around and around, and then we doubled back a time or two.  Suddenly we came to a road block of stacked hay bales, but like the lanes, our driver treated it as a suggestion rather than a detour.

I confess, I was a little nervous.  After he drove up over the edge of the barricade he did some more around and around, over and under, and some doubling back.  I really liked and trusted him, but we were in a third world country and the US State Department would not have approved the route.

Eventually, we were back on what looked like a normal highway and shortly after that we were in Alex.  Museum Girl was thrilled.  Come back next week for our visit to Alexandria.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, International, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Welcome to Dahab Paradise Resort

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: A SECOND LOOK AT DAHAB

Okay, this is where I confess that there is actually nothing wrong with the Dahab Paradise Resort.  The real problem was my attitude.  I still say we had no business heading off into a desert the US State Department warned us to avoid, but if we were going to be there anyway, this was a nice place to go.

The Bare Necessities

The Dahab Paradise is a lovely resort, but not in the traditional American five-star sense.  You’re not going to find stationary in your desk drawer or a terry robe in the closet (what closet?).  However, you will find very nice people in a very attractive facility.  The open air lobby looks out on the gorgeous pool.  Beyond the pool is the Red Sea.  Your room will be clean.  Our balcony was a small piece of heaven.  The furnishings are very appropriate for a hotel in the Sinai Desert.  They had a definite Bedouin charm.  In other words, if you’re going to Dahab, stay here.

There’s a very nice open air restaurant not far from the pool.  We had a fine dinner there and the breakfast was spectacular – especially if you are Egyptian or like Egyptian foods.  Personally I love pita, feta and olives for breakfast.  They will even fix up whatever eggs you want, but I’m not very eggy.

Now the bathroom facilities are minimal.  Don’t drink the water and only one of you will be able to be in there at a time.  I couldn’t face the shower and hubby wasn’t crazy about it, but it was functional.

Hanging by the Pool

The Dahab Paradise pool is out of this world.  It looks beautiful and our family had a great time in it.  There are plenty of chaise lounges and umbrellas for those of us who prefer to stay out of the water.  It’s so gorgeous that it’s a little surreal to think, “Here I am in the Sinai Desert and right over there, about 30 miles away is Saudi Arabia.”  The only real problem is the radical Islamist who cause so much trouble are probably even closer.

Once I was over my pout I was thrilled to discover my coloring cards and colored pencils had done their trick.  My grandnephew climbed up into my lap after his dip in the pool and I thought my heart was going to burst.  Even my grandniece, who is a little more stand-offish behaved as though I was on her team.  Of course, we’d be heading back to Cairo the next day and then parting ways until our next chance to get together.

Drinks in the Conversation Pit

After everyone was out of the pool we went back to our rooms to get freshened up, but soon we were back outside for the sunset.  The hotel has a great sunken conversation pit on the grounds with a wonderful firepit.  My nephew Shady moved to the head of the class with a bottle of bourbon.  All these guys are scotch drinkers and I’m not.  So, time after time the rest of the crew would be sharing a nice buzz and I’d be sober as a judge.  This time Shady showed up with a bottle of bourbon and gifted it to me.  Thank you Shady!

Awhile later they let us know dinner was served and we enjoyed a delicious moonlit meal.  That’s one of the picture postcards from the trip seared into my mind, but no one thought to take a picture.  The time in the conversation pit and around the dinner table under the stars were moments words don’t do justice and even a thousand words would not have been able to aptly describe it.   

Next up we’re headed back to Cairo after a quiet morning at Dahab Paradise.  Come back next week to read about that.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL

My Ugly American Moment

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: WHERE ARE MY RUBY SLIPPERS WHEN I NEED THEM?

So, I’m in Dahab and I’m not happy about it.  I usually try to make the best of any situation, but for once, I just wasn’t.  I was being an ugly American.

Welcome to Dahab Paradise

All the way from Sharm I had tried to convince myself that Dahab Paradise wasn’t going to be as bad as I thought and the initial impression made me feel a little better. Then we went to the room. It had a big balcony and a lot of charm, but it was tiny and didn’t exactly have the basic comforts of home. Let’s not talk about the bath. It was clean, but that’s all it had to recommend it. I was trying to decide which emotion was strongest – frustration, anger or fear.

In the few moments it took to make an inspection of the minuscule space, Bill fell on the bed and went to sleep.  He claims he was merely exhausted, but I think his emotional radar warned him trouble was brewing.  Interrupting one of his naps is a really bad choice, so I tried going to the balcony.  Gale force winds drove me back inside.

There was no place to sit inside the room, except the bed and Bill was taking his half in the middle. I thought of going out, but I couldn’t decide what I would do. The wind made sitting by the pool a non-starter and there hadn’t been any sign of a bar in the small lobby. Besides, I had no idea where Bill had put the key.  While I was quite angry with him, I didn’t want any of the Bedouins or radical Islamist the State Department had warned me about to come in and steal him away. 

So, I sat on a small corner of the bed and tried to entertain myself. I caught up in my travel journal, read a book and worked some crossword puzzles. This was some kind of nap he was taking.

Part of my problem was that I was getting very hungry, but since I didn’t have my head screwed on right, I didn’t recognize it as a rapidly declining sugar level complicated by dehydration.  I just sat there getting angrier and angrier. By the time Bill woke up I was in a full pout and he didn’t even do me the courtesy of acknowledging it.

Re-joining the Human Race

The wind had died down a little bit and a trip to the balcony revealed everyone was at the pool. I followed Bill down to join them and finally someone noticed I was pouting. I think it was the groom. After some gentle ribbing about my demeanor, I realized I needed to straighten up.  I wasn’t happy to be there, but I’m not the kind who wants to ruin it for everyone else.

I also realized I was hungry, so Bill ordered some food.  After a few bites, the world seemed to be a tiny bit better.  Since I am writing this blog, it’s obvious that we were not attacked by Bedouins, radical Islamist or even your run of the mill thieves while we visited Dahab, but that was part of the problem.

Bill is the luckiest person alive. He lives on the edge of the envelope with aplomb. He’s never suffers any of the minor irritations in life that I do.  I should just trust his luck and count it as my own, but that’s hard to do on a consistent basis.

I have no luck.  You can be sure if there is any small print involved, it will bite me in the worst way.  If there’s traffic, I’ll be late.  I’m the one that loses my glasses, has wrecks and gets speeding tickets.  I show up for things on the wrong day at the wrong time.  I was sure if I headed off into the desert in spite of the State Departments warning I would become a casualty, but I forgot I was with Bill.

I’m thankful Bill’s luck protects me in all kinds of situations, but I have to admit I also resent it from time to time.  On the trip to Dahab, I thought it would serve Bill right if we were held captive in the desert for ransom.  Intellectually, I realized this would be a really bad thing, but I wasn’t doing reasonable very well that day.  Thankfully I’m usually better at it.  Come back next week when I’m over my pout and find out about the good things at Dahab Paradise.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

Off to Dahab

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: A RELUCTANT TRAVELER

One day as we were planning the trip to Egypt, Bill tried to sell me on Dahab.  There’s a certain tone Bill gets when he’s trying to convince me of something he knows I won’t like.  That’s the tone he used when he showed me gorgeous pictures of a resort in the town of Dahab.  I could tell right away that something was fishy.

A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.  There was a time when Dahab would have been a mystery.  The proffered photo of an elegant resort would have been all I had to go on, but now we have the internet.  I could find the same lovely picture of the Dahab Paradise Resort as Bill was showing me, but I could also find a map, which proved that Dahab was way out in the desert.  The only thing Dahab was famous for was a Bedouin Festival that died after two years of trying.  There was nothing else to recommend going there.

To make matters worse, the US State Department was aggressive in their insistence that Americans had no business whatsoever in Egypt, especially in a beach resort like Sharm el Sheihk and most especially anywhere in the desert beyond Sharm.  Fly to and from Sharm and do not go into the desert, their website warned in several different ways.  In other words, Dahab was not some place they would recommend for my touring pleasure.

From the get-go, I suggested that if everyone else wanted to go to Dahab, then they certainly should, but I could stay safely tucked away in the Sharm Marriott, with or without Bill.  That just wasn’t going to fly.  Even though I kept singing the same song up until the very moment we turned in the key to our room in Sharm, Bill wasn’t budging. By then, the awful Good Friday bombing had happened and the US State department was even more serious about their warnings, but my pleas were falling on deaf ears.

Climb Aboard & Leave the Driving to Us

Things didn’t get better.  I was told to ride in the last few seats of the bus, just in case we were stopped.  Not only was the US State Department worried about my well-being, so was Egypt.  If Americans were headed into the desert, a police presence was required, but it had been decided, that since everyone else was an Egyptian, either past or present, (or in the case of my grand niece and nephew looked like they were Egyptian), we could get by without the escort.  So I sat in the back of the bus and was told to keep my hat and my shades on.  I complied, but I was furious with Bill.

The hour long trip into the desert was without incident, but as we pulled into town I felt like I was in a movie.  You know the kind I mean.  Someone has disappeared and some idiot goes to the last place they were seen, a godforsaken wide place in the road that you shouldn’t approach without a full squadron of Navy Seals.  No one can be seen anywhere in the streets, but you know your hero or heroine is about three frames from a gun fight or a kidnapping.  Yep, that’s Dahab.

Thankfully we rolled through the center of town without stopping, passed through a residential area and finally arrived at the resort.  For the most part, the pictures on the website had been very accurate.  It seemed like a really nice spot – it just wasn’t a spot I wanted to be anywhere near.

Things didn’t magically get better.  For the next hour or so I was beyond miserable.  I couldn’t even put a finger on all the reasons I was unhappy, but I was most definitely not thrilled to be there.  Come back next week and I will make a full confession.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, International, Performing Arts, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Midnight at the Oasis

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: CLIMB ON YOUR QUAD AND DRIVE

Imagine a sheik has invited you to his desert oasis for a banquet.  What would you expect?  What would you wear?  Well, let’s pretend my nephew Ayman is the sheik and I’ll tell you about our night under the stars.

Transportation

For this adventure we had a van, that took us to a place that rented quads to tourists.  Some of the girls wanted their own vehicle but I was content to climb up behind my hubby.  Off we went into the horizon.  In every direction it seemed there were miles and miles of sand, but straight ahead was a mountain and we headed towards it.

As we departed the rental facility, the mountain appeared no further away than the length of a football field, but as we took out across the sand, it seemed to back away from us.  At the same time, it got bigger and bigger and bigger.  The ride was a lot of fun, even if it was a little tame.  We had to line up and follow the leader.  Bill tried to jazz it up a little bit, but was admonished to get back in line and behave.  It was kind of like one of those trail rides where your horse plods along in a rut he’s trodded along for decades. You were imagining galloping along with the wind in your hair and all you got was dirt between your teeth.  On the quad you got wind in the hair alright, but you also got sand in every imaginable crevice.  Still it was fun.

The Oasis

Our destination was no oasis.  I didn’t even see a palm tree – merely a collection of tables in a nook below the mountain.  We were among the first guests to arrive.  We settled around what seemed like an advantageous table and let the evening unfold.  Service was, to say the least, slow.

While I wouldn’t say we were in a hurry, you really don’t want to leave these guys without any entertainment for very long – otherwise they will make it up.  Soon plastic cups and adult beverages came out of the bags some of the ladies had brought along.  As groups wandered in and began to fill the tables around us, our guys started providing some of that entertainment they are famous for coming up with.  Yes, that’s my husband waving the checkered scarf.

Just as night fell, the servers began to pass out platters of food.  It was, in fact, so dark that we had to guess at what we were eating.  While it was not the best food we had in Egypt, it was OK and no one got sick.  Then the entertainment began in earnest.  If you’ve been following this trip on my blog, you won’t be surprised to know there were belly dancers and sword dancers and belly dancers and fire dancers and belly dancers and native music and belly dancers and whirling dervishes.

The best part was the whirlers.  I’d seen quite a few of them by this time and pretty quickly you get down the shared repertoire.  However, these guys didn’t just whirl around on the stage and then go their merry way.  Oh no.  There was a rock ledge right behind the benches we were sitting on and suddenly we had a whirler doing his stuff right next to us.  Yes, it was pretty cool.

When the whirlers were done, the sword dancers came out and shortly thereafter it was time to drive back to the bus.  After our second quad trip, I felt grimy in places I didn’t even know were places.  We crawled onto the bus for the trip back to the hotel, but we couldn’t get into bed until we’d done something about the grime.  Sweet dreams until next week, when we’ll go yachting.

 

 

Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL

The Best Day in Sharm

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: IT DOESN’T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS

Have you ever been worn out from having fun?  That’s how I felt on my third morning in Sharm.  I don’t consider myself a beach person.  I can’t just climb aboard a chaise lounge and soak in the sun.  It’s great for about 20 minutes and then I’m ready to move on.  I’d had visions of sitting on the beach dying of boredom, but so far there hadn’t been a chance for that to happen.  It wouldn’t happen on this day either.

All Aboard 

Pick up time was 9 AM Egyptian time.  We were going boating, but I had no idea exactly what that might mean.  To my delight, we boarded a yacht.  To my further delight it was a private yacht, so our family had the whole boat to ourselves.  I couldn’t imagine how much it must cost, but on this trip that was all between my nephew Ayman and my husband Bill.  I was just enjoying it all.

The scenery was gorgeous, which was a real treat, but the time with family was even more precious.  I see my husband’s relatives in fits and starts.  We spend a few days together and then go our separate ways.  The kids have to get used to me all over again every time and then about the time they think they like me, the visit is over.  By the time I see them again, they’ve forgotten who I am.  While the situation is not as pronounced with the adults, there is so much to catch up on that we never get very far past superficial conversations about current events in their lives.  This trip gave us enough time to get past all that and have really wonderful conversations about their lives.

Our boat skimmed smoothly through the sea.  I thought we were going to an island and had packed accordingly, but instead our destination was a popular diving/snorkeling site.   I had anticipated putting on my swimsuit and  strolling along the shore of the island – perhaps going even deeper in the water, but there was no way I was going to hop into the water when I couldn’t touch the bottom.  You see, I’m not a great swimmer.  There was a time I passed all the swimming and life-saving tests, but after a summer of teaching at the local pool, I quit spending so much time in the water. Bill’s family all love the water and they don’t understand, but they finally learned I’m not abstaining to get their attention and I’m very happy to observe them having fun.

In the water they went, like the near fishes they are and a good time was had by all.  Their time in the water seemed very short.  There was kicking and screaming, diving and splashing, and then they were done.

We motored away from the swimming spot and soon it was time for lunch and what a lunch – one of the best meals of the whole trip.  The trip back to dock was quieter than the first leg of the trip, but what a sweet time it was.  All of us gravitated to the bow section and sat together on cushions.  No one said much, but there wasn’t much that needed to be said.

Then suddenly everyone was up.  A school of dolphins had adopted us into their family.  It wasn’t just a short sighting, they traveled with us a long time.  Even the crew remarked on the amount of time the dolphins chose to race through the sea beside us.  Then the dock came into sight and we began to gather our things.  We disembarked and went back to the hotel.  But this was Egypt, so even though all of us were worn out from a day on the sea, plans were already being made for the evenings activities.  I’ll leave you with some photos of the return trip, but come back next week and enjoy the next events on our busy visit to Sharm.

Accommodations, Architecture, ART, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL

I’ll Take a Pool With My Suite

Jane Sadek
Ready for Water Sports

TRAVEL THERE: HONEYMOON LUXURY

Day Two in Sharm el Sheik was pool day, but we didn’t just wander out to the pool at the Marriott.  It was a nice pool with a waterfall and a swim-up bar, but something even better was waiting for us.  The honeymooners had invited us to their suite at The Baron Resort and it had its own pool.  The suite, not the resort.

Meet in the Lobby

Eleven thirty was the call time for Day Two.  I was up plenty early and hit the gym for an hour on their stationary bike.  Bill joined me for the usual breakfast buffet, which took a little longer than I realized it would.  For once I was not ready at the appointed time and Mr. Bill showed signs of anxiety.  I sent him to the lobby and told him to make sure no one left without me.  HA!  I’ve been spending time around these guys for a long time.  There was no way they were going to be ready to leave at the appointed time.  I mean really!  Did you read about the wedding reception?  I was in the lobby within five minutes of Bill’s frustrated departure from our room – just in time for an hour of waiting for our transportation to show up.  It was a good hour though.  I inspected the boat someone bought for my tiny grand-nephew at the mall the evening before.  I had some lovely time to visit with my older grand-nephews who caught me up with their high-school/college-focused lives.  I also had a great conversation with my niece Maggie.  So, I didn’t sweat the wait.

The Baron Hotel

When our vehicle arrived, we piled in and headed back in the direction of the airport.  Taking a turn, we went down a long drive with desert on both sides and eventually entered an area under development.  I say that loosely.  It looked as if someone had started a luxury condo/townhouse complex at some point and then changed their mind.  As we drove along seeing building after building after building of abandoned construction I thought of the abandoned corniche (boardwalk) and wished better for Egypt and Sharm el Sheik.  We passed so many empty buildings in the almost derelict construction sites that I became concerned we weren’t headed in the right direction, but finally The Baron was in sight.

As soon as we drove up we knew it had been worth the drive.  We followed our newlywed groom up the elevator and through the halls to what seemed like the back of beyond.  He opened the double doors on an amazing suite and then stood back to get our reaction.  There wasn’t one for awhile, because we were stunned!  And so let the fun begin!

It was a marvelous day made a little extra special by the taste of luxury – but the day wasn’t over!  Ayman had scheduled a Bedouin Dinner for our evening activity.  Come back next week and we’ll head out into the desert.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, International, Performing Arts, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Broadway on the Red Sea

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: WHAT’S NEXT SHARM?

I’m in Sharm el Sheik, a resort town on the Red Sea, and it’s past my bedtime.  I’m stuffed into the back seat of my niece’s car trying to stifle my yawns.  My husband is in our nephew’s car at some other location.  Our niece and nephew are on the phone discussing what we should do next.  It’s all in Arabic, so even though the whole conversation is on speaker phone, I have no idea what is going on.  Some resolution is made and we zoom across town to our next destination.  It might be late at night during the week, but you wouldn’t know it from the festival atmosphere.  Why all these people prefer to wander around inland,when there is a perfectly good Boardwalk on the Red Sea, just a few blocks away, I will never know.  That was my big question over the next few days as we scurried around trying to entertain ourselves.  Why were all these venues spread out all over town, when it had been so perfect to have everything right there at the beach?

Going to the Mall

Our destination was a mall, but is wasn’t like anything we have in Dallas.  Here in Dallas we are serious about shopping.  There they also shop.

My niece found parking, a constant challenge, as she continued her phone conversations, probably with her sons, who were wandering the city on public transportation.  We piled out of the car and reunited with our spouses.  All of us stomped through a virtually empty shopping center and I wondered where we would end up.  Don’t get me wrong, the place was beautiful with all kinds of lovely stores, but most everything was closed and it looked like a ghost town.

After what seemed like a long trek, across esplanades, around grand staircases and through narrow hallways, we arrived to the middle of everything, a large open-air patio, full of patrons smoking sheesha and enjoying a lively stage show.

My nephew Ayman started working the room and magic started happening – something I saw a lot of over the next few days.  Though it seemed our big group would have to break up into smaller bunches to enjoy the show, it was only an illusion, because we had Ayman.  Like the Red Sea parting, a large space opened in the center of the crowd and chairs began to appear out of nowhere.  In just moments our entire group was seated in the center of the action.

Drinks, food and hookahs were ordered and we sat back to enjoy the show.  The only problems were a few mosquitoes and the fact that I was about to fall asleep, but those were minor irritations.  The stage props suggested the show had a Broadway theme, but don’t let that fool you.  It was all the usual Arab entertainments, belly dancers, whirling dervishes, belly dancers, a magician, belly dancers, swords, belly dancers – well you get the picture.  I’ve included some photos below.

When the show was over we gathered up our belongings and headed back to the hotel.  This day, which had seeped over into the next, was over.  Within a few hours, we’d be climbing into another vehicle for our next entertainment.  Enjoy the images below and come back next week for more Sharm.

Whirling Dervishes
Another Belly Dancer
Swords and Fire
Belly Dancer
Another Whirling Drvish

 

Accommodations, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, International, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Charming Sharm

Jane Sadek
Off to the Desert

TRAVEL THERE: ADVENTURE PACKED DAYS

In Sharm el Sheik I took off my Museum Girl hat and embraced the Egyptian way to vacation.  As far as I’ve been able to discern, there’s not a single museum in the area.  It’s completely given over to entertainment venues and various sports rentals, from scuba gear to dune-buggies.  I can’t give you any real travel hints, because my nephew Ayman planned and booked everything.  I’d just show up in the lobby at whatever time I was told to be there and climb into whatever vehicle had been provided for our transportation.  

A Tiny Drip of Disappointment

View at the Sharm Marriot

The moment I arrived in Sharm I was ready to hit the Boardwalk and Corniche.  Some of my fondest memories of my previous visit were created there.  Each night we’d stroll along a thriving beach scene.  On one side was the beach and on the other was a line-up of amazing entertainment provided by various hotels.  At one venue you’d see a magician, next would be a belly dancer, then a singer, then a cultural variety show, then a comedian, then haunting music by a band of natives, then – well you get the picture.  And food – oh my goodness!  Each restaurant was bustling and at each one the cuisine tasted better than the one before.  I so wanted to re-live those nights of romance and excitement.

When we arrived at our hotel, the one we’d stayed at previously for old times sake, Bill was ready for a nap.  I unpacked our bags and set up the room for our stay.  Then I visited our balcony and enjoyed the view.  We were right by the pool and beyond the pool was the Red Sea.  Along with his nap, Bill was expecting a call from the family to give us the scoop on the evening’s entertainment.

Trying to make the best of a sad situation and really bad hair!

Finally, Bill woke up and initiated the call himself, because I was about to explode.  We’d be joining the rest of the crowd a little later, but first we’d have dinner on the Boardwalk.  The Arab Spring might have improved Egypt’s political situation, releasing them from the tyrannical Mubarek, but it also destroyed Sharm El Sheik.  What had once been a thriving international hot spot was transformed into a ghost town of empty restaurants with an occasional entertainer playing to an empty room. It broke my heart.  The lesser of the pathetic evils seemed to be an Italian joint, but it was bad service and bad food to go with my bad hair!

Let the Fun Begin

Heart-broken we returned to the hotel and went to the hotel portico at the assigned time.  My niece Mirette and her husband Ayman appeared in two different cars and whisked us away to enjoy the night – ladies in one car, guys in another.  Her intentions were good and she took us to a glamorous beach-side restaurant which proved there was some life in Sharm, even if the Corniche had died a brutal death.  Unfortunately, the wait was hours long and there was really no place to wait, so we climbed back in to the car to execute Plan B.

I can’t go on without telling you one very funny thing.  Public transportation and Uber are the way my grand-nephews negotiate the town of Sharm.  When we arrived with Mirette, there were her sons waiting for us.  When we moved on to Plan B, the boys wanted a lift.  They’d gotten themselves to restaurant, but the nearest public transportation was several blocks away and they didn’t want to wait for Uber.  So, since the car was full, Mirette opens up the trunk and they climbed in.

  I had a moment of jealously for this simpler way of life.  I used to live like that.  Cramming a vanload of people into a car, riding in the back of a pick-up truck, sneaking people into the drive-in in the trunk.  That was back in the days when you could legally drive with a cold one in your beverage holder.  That evening we giggled all the way to the bus stop, enjoying the simple pleasure of riding along with passengers in the trunk. Nowadays, America is so safe and politically correct that a simple moment’s pleasure has to be weighed against jail time.

The night was far from over.  Just about the time this Museum Girl is ready for bed, my nieces and nephews are just starting to enjoy the evening.  So come back next week and see where we headed after this.

DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Awkward at the Airport

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: WISHING FOR AN X-RAY MACHINE

You can complain all you want to about airport security in America, but I don’t plan to pay you any attention.  That’s because I’ve been through Egyptian security several times now and of all my experiences, this midday experience at the Cairo Airport takes the cake.

Unloading the Car

Bill and I are do-it-yourself-ers by nature, but you have to get over that if you want to board a plane in Cairo.  When you pull up to the terminal you get your going-through-security buddy and he’s not optional.  Our new buddy loaded our stuff onto his cart and led us through the terminal.  A lot of what happened in transit is a bit of a fog, because Bill handled all of it in Arabic.  Yes, I know I should learn the language, but I’m still learning English!

Unable to understand what was being said and done, I just shuffled along behind Bill and hoped I was getting it right.  Here in America you go through security and you are done.  It’s a pain, but it is one pain.  In Cairo, you go through security, you go through security again and before its all over there’s no telling exactly how many more times you will be put through the fun of taking off your shoes, emptying your pockets, having your luggage x-rayed and yourself patted down.  They vary the pattern so it won’t be predictable.

Going through the Process

The first pass went pretty well.  You weren’t allowed to offload your checked luggage at the airline counter before entering security, so it was somewhat of a hassle.  You and all your stuff had to go through the process together.  I can see the value of that from a security standpoint, so while I would have loved to get rid of the big stuff, that didn’t happen until later and I didn’t mind.  I guess that’s one of the reasons you get you going-through-security buddy.

The American in me felt some relief after that first pass.  I assumed we were through, but suddenly we had to go through the whole rigmarole again.  I was a little surprised, but only a little, because I’d already been in Egypt for days and going through some kind of security was an activity we did over and over and over.  At the hotels, they went over you with a fine tooth comb at the gate, then again at the front door and then a various areas through out the property.  You went through security to enter an attraction and for good measure you’d have to go through it again inside.  You went through security to enter churches, museums and if you didn’t actually go through a security gate, you knew you were being watched.

The surprise came after I stepped through the metal detector.  I was used to being patted down afterwards. I was not used to being fondled.  Yep, you read that right.  Just like in the US, women pat down women and men pat down men, but I got a fondler.  I stepped out of the metal detector and a hajib’ed woman signaled for me to assume the Vetruvian Man position.  I did.  She reached out and grabbed my boobs.  I’m not kidding.  It wasn’t a pat down.  It was like she was testing them to see if they were real.  I was so shocked, I was speechless.  I didn’t know if the treatment proved she had been poorly trained or whether she was doing exactly what she was supposed to do!

I wanted to swat her hands away and give her a piece of my mind, but I wanted to be through with the process and on my way to Sharm, too.  I also didn’t want Bill defending my honor.  On a previous trip to Egypt a man in a crowd had pinched my buttocks and I’d spontaneously complained about it.  Bill took off after a guy and I died a million deaths in the few seconds before I could get him to come back.  I didn’t want to draw any attention to us, so I just carried on through the rest of multiple security measures – but no one else grabbed anything I thought they shouldn’t, so I assume the treatment was specific to that one lady.

The flight to Sharm was a hoot.  Come back next week and I’ll share the experience.