People say: “the best city that has not yet been built, the best song that has not yet been sung, the best year that has not yet been lived! ”
This is how my 2010 started!
The journey was swift, like an impromptu performance. A friend called and said: "We're flying! ". There was practically no time to think and get ready: a call to work, a few things in a bag, galloping to the only working bank during the Christmas holidays, a cursory reading of information on the Internet about the country, the hotel and a few reviews I liked (so as not to lower the dose of adrenaline before the sudden travel).
To tell the truth, I didn’t really want to fly to a warm country, because in Crimea we are no worse, and I don’t like to spend time passively on the beach, and there were simply no funds for any “activities”, but the very idea of u200bu200btraveling disturbed my mind.
So: our company turned out to be of four ladies of Balzac age, who cannot sit still and really want to, in our dank winter, similar to a protracted November, a fabulous adventure.
From Yalta to Simferopol, we were safely driven, with a colorful unshaven tolib and an unusual name for our ears, the driver Abdul. Hearing his name, we involuntarily looked at each other and thought: “It seems that it has already begun, ” but Abdul turned out to be a very peaceful and attentive person, thereby arousing our universal sympathy.
In the waiting room of Simferopol, under the cheerful chirping of sparrows that accidentally flew in and looked at us curiously, we took a memorable photo by the Christmas tree before our trip.
Soon our Sevastopol-Kyiv train arrived and the red-cheeked, healthy conductor showed us the compartment in which we were preparing to spend a certain segment of the life of travelers. Everyone was in high spirits and on this occasion we found a "piano in the bushes" - a road preparation of the "question-answer" game and a bottle of good champagne. To the sound of wheels and cheerful laughter, we have already begun our journey.
Kyiv met with snow and frost, which is why we hurriedly jumped into the car waiting at the station and went to the airport. The anecdote came to mind again: (“Sho, Mowgli is frozen? ”.
Upon arrival at the airport, our driver tried for a long time to open the trunk, where our things were. It flashed through my head: “well, what is there to think about, you need to jump” and we began to jump together, pressing with our palms and breathing on the icy trunk. From the outside, our shamanic actions were more like a group of resuscitators rescuing a drowned man. To everyone's joy, Sesame has opened! With a sense of accomplishment of the mission, we headed to the airport hall. There, by inertia, we cut several circles in the same place like “we ourselves are not local, good people, tell me where the ticket office is” Of course, people in Ukraine are kind and sent us to the right address - right in front of our noses! Hooray! The tickets are in our hands. We successfully passed the control, throwing water on the instructions of the "Sharp Eye" - the customs officer, into the trash cans. It turns out that "LOW" here to stir up the atmosphere of a civilized European airport with its drink! Having hung out around the hall, we began to observe the softly falling snow outside the window and our thoughts were carried away to a warm country. A premonition of joy and adventure tickled pleasantly in the pit of my stomach. With a delay of half an hour (after all, snow is not only a fabulous sight, but also an element in some way that makes it difficult to fly) the landing was announced.
Those waiting, like a herd of sheep, rushed to take seats on the plane because there were no such seats on our tickets. Economy class, after all!
Crowding in the cabin, and despite the remarks of the flight attendants, everyone frantically began to take their seats. Charming stewards said something, but few people listened to them. Finally, the murmur subsided, we fastened our seat belts and the plane began its usual run. Someone nervously swallowed saliva, someone began to cross himself, someone closed his eyes, thus showing that there was no excitement - he was just dozing. The plane took off and applause was heard in the cabin! Having gained the desired height, we were announced that we can safely move around the cabin. Who immediately ran to the "WC", who began to get their "brakes" in view of the fact that someone had said "they will not feed on the plane"
During the journey, we were pretty hungry and began to happily gobble up what we had to eat. Someone looked at us with envy, but we were not going to share, and were proud of ourselves that we were so smart and foresaw everything.
Imagine our surprise when the stewards announced that they would bring us drinks and sandwiches in a few minutes. We even experienced some awkwardness: “Ugh, you are a village! ” we scolded ourselves, somehow it turned out uncomfortable, but oh well, we drove through.
A couple of hours later, the pilot announced that we were flying over Cairo and we could observe the pyramids on the right side of the board. No matter how hard we tried, we didn’t see any pyramids, because were on the left side, and our necks did not grow to giraffes. After a little staring at the neighboring heads, we calmed down on this. Looking from above, through the porthole at the endless sands, the anecdote again climbed into my head: “They didn’t fuck up the beach for themselves! ”
After 3.5 hours of flight, landing was announced.
We put the outer warm clothes in pre-prepared packages, and happily waited for the moment when the chassis touched the Egyptian land. Final act: long applause, we landed safely!
The crew thanks us for using the services of the airline
"wizzair" and hopes that we will be inseparable from her, like a sweet couple of "Twix", which is served on board the aircraft.
We, in turn, thank the flight attendants for a pleasant flight. Well, we are not a “village”, we know what to answer from the Crimea, after all, even from a provincial town, as residents of megacities like to say, but Yalta, known even in Africa!
Hurghada
(strange, but the locals emphasize the second syllable)
14.30
We go down the ladder, inhaling foreign sandy air.
Well, meet us Egypt, we are visiting you for the first time!
We look around, study the area . .
Somehow gloomy, not very warm and sunny, as if nature wanted to say:
"What the hell are you good gentlemen? "
And that's not true, but here are the signs waving representatives of the "Annex tour" Hurrah! We are met!
Have you ever been in a hangar? Yes, yes, that's exactly what I want to say: the Hurghada airport building resembles a hangar. Panic seizes me; “Why did I come here far away to see this barn? After all, the theater begins with a hanger, I can imagine what kind of theater will open next!
In the "hangar" fuss and stampede began in order to put a visa in the passport and pay $ 15. I had money in one bill of $100. For employees of the HurghAdin customs, it turned out to be a practically insoluble task to pass the change correctly on the first attempt. It was also surprising that they fought (this is not a typo) for $16! It is clear that one dollar “will not make a big weather”, but from each dollar, a good profit is obtained! There were a lot of people who were indignant, but there was no one to prove it to, since the customs fellows were simply frostbitten and did not want to listen to anything, pretending that they did not understand what was being said. They knew that sooner or later we would give up our positions.
Having found our luggage, we went to the bus, which should take us to the hotel. A cold wind blew in the face, continuing the unpleasant picture. I wanted to quickly get on the bus and quickly arrive at the hotel. But it was not there!
The brisk, robust "heir of the gods" brazenly extorted from $5 to $1, depending on the size of the luggage, otherwise refusing to put the luggage. I had a small bag, I took it into the bus, but the driver waved his hands menacingly and kicked me out along with the bag. Impressions were "through the roof"! Well, fellow Egyptians, well, not at all in a divine way.
I think you understand my condition.
Having given the money and simply slumping from impotence on the seat, my mood rolled to that very gradation on the scale, which is called “below the plinth”.
Our guide, a young fair-haired lady, unsuccessfully tried to joke, saying that tomorrow we will receive all the necessary information at 9.30 from another hotel guide Karina, asking stupid questions like: “Well, how did you like Hurghada? ” Observing from the window a dull view of lonely houses, along the perimeter of a sandy field stretched with barbed wire, flying packages, piles of garbage, it seemed that we were in a dump, or a zone.
“Oh, how we liked your Hurghada, there are simply no words!
Each of my cells screamed: “I want to go home! What kind of adventure? Enough already! Home! "
But the “submarine” had already plowed through the Egyptian desert and all that remained was to accept and accept everything as it is.
The road to the hotel took no more than 20 minutes. Getting off the bus and trying to understand what the second line is, the place where we will be located, the guide hurried us to enter the hotel lobby and leave things on the right near the reception. Well-trained Arabs were spinning everywhere smiling friendly, but this friendliness was simply unbelievable, everything was seen as a crafty game in which we could be fooled. On the right side, stretched along the line, there were peddlers of luggage waiting for their tips. The guide gave us forms to fill in the information. While we were filling them out, peeping at each other what to write where, a young “Arabian horse” flew up to us and put a green plastic bracelet on each hand, which meant that “all inclusive” was “all is included”. After a long wait at the reception desk, we finally got our coveted room key, and as soon as we received it, peddlers immediately flew to us, looked, took our luggage and, with the courtesy of an annoying fly, indicated where we needed to go. It turns out that the second line is nothing but a building across the road, more distant from the sea. Crossing the road and exploring the area, local natives honked at us, smiling affably and shouting something.
The entrance to the territory of our building began with shops of local goods, from where the sellers came out and affably waved their hands at us, speaking greetings in all languages. One got the impression that this was how the conquerors of the new earth were greeted.
Finally we got to the room, the clock was about 16.30. To our surprise, the room had one large bed, as if waiting for a couple in love for hot nights. My friend and I (not having a "pink" inclination) looked at each other: "well, not a bad continuation of our adventure. "
Tell me, have you ever been to a 5 star European hotel? If not, then everything is in order, and if so, then don’t be confused by the view of the rooms, which is almost a C-grade: simple furniture, two self-woven runners on the floor, drips in the shower, sloppy seams are visible on the tiles, but snow-white towels, shower hair dryer, toilet paper, liquid soap for hands and body and, fortunately, clean linens and even a telephone, and a safe.
I wanted to quickly relieve myself of the stress of overflights, and we naturally took up hygiene. After the shower, it became much easier, we got up and went to the lobby of the main building to meet our ladies, with whom our unpretentious journey began. As you remember, our route ran to the main building across the road, passing through which we heard a lot of compliments from drivers of slowing down taxis, scurrying attendants and security, which is located at the entrance to the hotel.
All this irritated me greatly, since this phenomenon is rare in our country and treating myself objectively, I understood that we are still charming, but not so much that we would be showered with compliments like that, like podium stars.
Not finding our fighting girlfriends, we went deep into our territory and began to study it closely, and it wouldn’t hurt to take a few pictures. Tall palm trees, neat lawns, flowering shrubs appeared to our eyes, however, this will not surprise us Crimeans, because we are spoiled by natural beauties, but here among the sands it looked like an oasis. The territory turned out to be very large, practically, a kind of closed state: we saw several pools with clear water, near each of which there was a bar with an abundance of drinks. Then an equipped sandy area began, with straw “mushrooms”, neatly standing sunbeds and wicker screens, apparently to fence off their party (at least we understood that).
Finally, we saw the Red Sea, however, it reminded us of our Black Sea, especially in such gloomy weather and somehow looked like ours. I told my friend that “the impression is like… She continued my thought… “like in paradise? ”, but she didn't guess. My impression was different: as if we didn’t leave anywhere, but simply wandered into one of our sanatoriums, however, the palm trees are a little more exotic, but otherwise... it seems nothing special.
Dinner time was approaching, and we headed to the restaurant, and besides, we were already pretty hungry. At the entrance we were met by a friendly administrator, waiters scurried around the hall, near the long tables with dishes, like soldiers, however, there were cooks in snow-white uniforms, trying to anticipate our whim. Yes, I must have missed a very important point: the attendants are only men! In general, I got the impression that only the male population breeds here.
Our eyes ran from the abundance of food.
Not only were we hungry, we really wanted to try everything. Taking a plate, we began to collect quite a bit, but soon found in our plate a semblance of a pyramid of Cheops. In the process of tasting food, we understood what was right for us and what could be safely ignored. From the pyramid of Cheops, the ruins of Unas remained, because. to clean, according to our Russian habit, the plate was not strong enough. Full, almost satisfied with our lives, we set off to solve the problem of sharing our "marriage bed". Somewhere we heard that if you give from $10 to $30 to the porter, then you can solve the "housing problem" very quickly. We did just that. I resolutely went to the receptionist, handing over $10 unnoticed by others, because. we did not count on a large amount, and you never know what else you have to pay for. The receptionist willingly took the money and, as Zadornov says, “the smart guy has earned it, ” he handed me the key in just a few seconds. I happily rushed off to explore our new accommodation and found to my horror that it was a two-room suite with a shared door. Now, if we were immediately given one with our girlfriends (which we asked for when we settled), then such a neighborhood would simply make us fabulously happy. Here the situation is “AH”, because it was these sounds that were heard outside the door. I told my friend about this incident, to which she was already very indifferent after the accepted “bubbling” and she said that we were staying here. Arriving again at the reception, I asked for another number, realizing that no one would return the money to us, to which the receptionist said that we all have such “club” rooms, but there are no others, there is one, but something is wrong with it, Yes, and it is located on the first floor and can be ready later. Then, I did not understand what it meant on the 1st floor! It turns out that in view of all sorts of crawling inhabitants, except for tourists, it is preferable to be located higher, supposedly they do not reach there, do not crawl.
In the hall, near the Anekstura table, I saw a bored hotel guide Karina, with whom we were promised a meeting for tomorrow. Well, I thought, “That’s where I got it! Let's get to know each other for one! Actually, I'm not an evil aunt and without big claims. I want to note that working in the tourism business, I have a clear idea of the current situation and how to get out of it so that “the wolves are fed and the sheep are safe. ”
Karina reluctantly looked up from her boring occupation and followed me to the reception desk, where this story was to be resolved. Having outlined the whole situation and asked the question, “Why don’t you warn tourists about such accommodation, ” Karina answered indifferently that she had no direct relation to the accommodation.
-Like this? I did not cease to be indignant, and who in this case is related? After all, all these issues are discussed with the client “on the shore”. It seems that Karina was offended and began to "run into me. " I thought: of course, the best way to defend is to attack. Without becoming more poisonous to my life, I apologized for my perseverance and went to my room, with one desire, to fall asleep as soon as possible and forget about this nightmare.
To the greatest joy, the morning foreshadowed a sunny hot day. After breakfast we went to the beach. Important! Upon check-in, cards are issued, in exchange for which you receive a beach towel once a day, if you lose it, you will have to pay $ 50!
In the window of the beach house, a friendly Arab greeted us, asked "how are you doing? " it seems to be written on our foreheads that we are Russians and without waiting for an answer, he gave us towels. After a short sunbathing, we went to meet our hotel guide.
Karina, for starters, told us that we can use the services of another Sunrise hotel, on the territory where animators work, because these two hotels have the same owner. Then the hotel guide carefully warned that you can not get out into the city on your own, in order to avoid unpleasant situations and use transport only at the hotel. Then she gave a list of excursions for us to read, warning that it was not safe to buy excursions in the city and on the beach. Something in this story raised doubts in us and we dared to check whether it was so? All the same, there are four of us, let's fight back!
We decided to make an independent trip to Hurghada. Returning past the reception, yesterday's receptionist "Kakleva" (we called him that, in view of the fact that during the settlement, he said the name of one of us and we really liked it, because it was perceived by ear "How cool, that is, great! ”) said that we can move to the same promised room. I just couldn’t believe my ears and thought: life is getting better and what a nice porter he is, whom I was ready to kill yesterday!
Having agreed with the driver of one of the taxis that stopped on the road about a price of $ 4, we went to Hurghada
It seems that the driver cheated a little, or maybe we didn’t explain it to him that way, because we didn’t really know where we were going. In short, he brought us to old Hurghada. There were no tourists on the streets, similar to a single bazaar, except for us, and we naturally blew up the sleepy life of the “old” Hurghada people. Still would! Imagine four young ladies in their own juice and without protection. Sellers ran out of each shop and offered something to us, either grabbing our hands, or taking out their goods, or stuffing themselves into escorts. We felt a little uneasy: the streets are narrow, there were no Europeans anywhere except us, but curiosity prompted us to “throw” through several shops. We bought some small things, tried to find a tour agency, but to no avail, and decided that we needed to get out to a more civilized place. Taxi for $ 2 took us to the new Hurghada. Oh, life was in full swing here! And most importantly, we met a lot of our own. That's so miracle. We asked ourselves more than once the question: how will they know that we are Russians. What do we have written on our foreheads? To which the locals answered us “you are very beautiful! ” It was hard to believe in this, but on the streets of Hurghada, ours were easily recognized, indeed, against the background of foreign citizens and aborigines, we Slavs have something special.
Our goal was to find a travel agency. It turned out that they are located in the area of McDonald's. To do this, you had to cross the road. The movement was like an anthill. It's interesting, but there are no traffic signs here, there are no traffic lights either, there are no zebra footpaths familiar to our eyes either! The crossings here are marked with metal bumps on the road, and if you have time to put your foot on the roadway until it is crossed, the flow of cars immediately stops. Well, what if, being very careful, you can stand for days without getting from point "A" to point "B".
My son would really like this. He would certainly have noticed that this is not chaos, but a non-linear order!
We easily found several agencies, compared prices and settled on what seemed more attractive to us in terms of prices and the friendliness of the Reda agency employee. The agency is called Royal Dream Tours. Remembering the frightening stories of our guide, we demanded a license for the provision of excursion services and Reda kindly provided it to us. Taught by a little experience (that in this country you need to bargain), warmed up by excitement, we began to negotiate a price, to which Reda said with a smile: "Ukrainian mafia. " Satisfied with ourselves, having received tickets at the price we wanted, we went on to travel around the city. The mood was great.
In the hotel with the beautiful name "Festival Le Jardin & Riviera Festival", in addition to a plentiful dinner, we had an evening show program with the participation of our animators. In the club hall there were many parents with children, couples in love, young ladies like us, elderly people... in a word, the contingent was the most diverse in age and nationality. Exactly at 21.30 peppy call signs of club music sounded, a young entertainer came out with gloss and sparkle in his eyes and began his greeting in several languages. An amazing positive energy emanated from him. As if, with all his being, he said: “Charge yourself, do not be shy, I am an energizer battery. ” The people actively responded, clapped their hands and to the exclamation of the entertainer "All inclusive! ", the avalanche of applause did not cease. Then the performance began, at first glance, not intricate, but very professional, followed by an interactive game with the audience, and then the final dance part.
A group of animators, including three of our (pale-faced) girls, lined up together and started a club dance. The children willingly joined the action and competently repeated rhythmically after the animators, trying to imitate them in everything. We had fun and good, as if we were at a fiesta!
It makes no sense to describe in detail every day of our stay, but here are some highlights, I think it will be interesting to reflect here.
Animators were engaged in tourists regardless of age, nationality, leg length, hair color and eye color all the time! The morning began with gymnastics, then smoothly turned into "belly dance", aqua aerobics, bOchu, volleyball, training on simulators: "all inclusive" "all is included"! . Bars and cafes "all inclusive" "all is included" worked on the territory of the hotel from 10.00 to 24.00! .
Smiling and helpful staff simply bathed us with their attention and care
The next day, we learned from two of our girlfriends that they went on an excursion "Paradise Islands", from the above travel agency. A bus came to our hotel for them at the appointed hour and delivered them back in the same way. We excitedly shared our impressions of the trip and rejoiced at what we saw, and the fact that we had not made a mistake in choosing an agency.
My friend and I spent the whole day on the territory of the hotel, where we did exercises, studied belly dance, did aqua aerobics, arranged a photo session for ourselves, in a word: there was a sea of impressions and we had no time to be bored. We finished the evening just as actively in the club hall. Now I understood for sure that we were in a heavenly place and we need to enjoy every moment!
A day later, we had an excursion to Luxor planned, but since an unforeseen circumstance happened, we had to either abandon the trip or change to another one, and in this regard, we again had to go to Hurghada. The agency did not have any questions and everything was done according to our desire, we are the "Ukrainian mafia"!
The trip to El Gunna was fabulous. At first we sailed on a ship, then on a boat we walked along the canals, admiringly surveying the oases, which 20 years ago were a deserted place. Having stopped on the coral islands with enthusiasm and a thirst for adventure, we checked for ourselves what snorkeling is (German: Schnorchel - breathing tube) - a type of swimming under the surface of the water with a mask and breathing tube, and usually with fins.
We admired corals and exotic fish, then went fishing, dancing on the deck to the accompaniment of "live" music by local musicians.
It seemed that we were in a fabulous dream and did not want to wake up!
Upon returning to the “base”, the mudflow began, which happens in Egypt once every five years! A little later, from the news, we learned about the affected tourists, among whom we ourselves could have been, but by a lucky chance we did not become them.
The paths in the hotel turned into Venetian canals, and the gondoliers were already at the ready, as if by magic, they had grown out of nowhere, however, instead of gondolas, they were armed with devices to expel the evil elemental spirit. By noon, almost everything was in order.
We had a farewell dinner not in the common room, but in a Chinese restaurant, by the way, it was also included in our program and you didn’t need to pay anything. From the reviews, we heard that it's boring, the pictures before our eyes do not change. As you can guess, we had fun. We again came up with entertainment for ourselves, the waiters helpfully responded to our small requests, and the chef of the restaurant Samy, as a bonus for our fun, treated us to pancakes with ice cream. (from the chef).
I think that the saying "if you want to be happy - be happy" includes something like the following: "what you feel depends on you" - if you want to be (feel) happy - find a way (reason) to rejoice!
I do not accidentally describe the details, they are for those who go to Egypt for the first time. Now you have a detailed idea about the locals, service, hotel. If I knew all this in advance, then I would look through my fingers at many little things and would not waste time on worries!
I did not want to return home and the first impression of the airport was now different, it seemed much better and friendlier. Instead of the emotions that overwhelmed me upon arrival, there were now others: they were overwhelmed with gratitude and a feeling with which I want to return. Well, and finally, the final major chord of our trip was the airport announcer, who was broadcasting in broken Russian that the landing on the Moscow flight was ending and he warned the passenger who did not appear that there were 5 minutes, 2 minutes before boarding "Landing flies earlier" . Here we just burst with laughter.
Goodbye Egypt, goodbye Hurghada, we really liked you, we hope you like us too!
So, the saying: “meet by clothes, see off by mind” refers to this case. Precisely, everything is organized according to the mind at the Festival Les Jardins & Riviera Festival hotel, but the human factor must always be taken into account. We are all human, we are all human!
Words are forgotten, faces are erased from the memory, a lot is forgotten, but impressions remain! My impression, as well as the impression of my friends, remained fabulous!
Let no trifles spoil your holiday!
Happy travels and unforgettable impressions!! !
This is how my 2010 started!
The journey was swift, like an impromptu performance. A friend called and said: "We're flying! ". There was practically no time to think and get ready: a call to work, a few things in a bag, galloping to the only working bank during the Christmas holidays, a cursory reading of information on the Internet about the country, the hotel and a few reviews I liked (so as not to lower the dose of adrenaline before the sudden travel).
To tell the truth, I didn’t really want to fly to a warm country, because in Crimea we are no worse, and I don’t like to spend time passively on the beach, and there were simply no funds for any “activities”, but the very idea of u200bu200btraveling disturbed my mind.
So: our company turned out to be of four ladies of Balzac age, who cannot sit still and really want to, in our dank winter, similar to a protracted November, a fabulous adventure.
From Yalta to Simferopol, we were safely driven, with a colorful unshaven tolib and an unusual name for our ears, the driver Abdul. Hearing his name, we involuntarily looked at each other and thought: “It seems that it has already begun, ” but Abdul turned out to be a very peaceful and attentive person, thereby arousing our universal sympathy.
In the waiting room of Simferopol, under the cheerful chirping of sparrows that accidentally flew in and looked at us curiously, we took a memorable photo by the Christmas tree before our trip.
Soon our Sevastopol-Kyiv train arrived and the red-cheeked, healthy conductor showed us the compartment in which we were preparing to spend a certain segment of the life of travelers. Everyone was in high spirits and on this occasion we found a "piano in the bushes" - a road preparation of the "question-answer" game and a bottle of good champagne. To the sound of wheels and cheerful laughter, we have already begun our journey.
Kyiv met with snow and frost, which is why we hurriedly jumped into the car waiting at the station and went to the airport. The anecdote came to mind again: (“Sho, Mowgli is frozen? ”.
Upon arrival at the airport, our driver tried for a long time to open the trunk, where our things were. It flashed through my head: “well, what is there to think about, you need to jump” and we began to jump together, pressing with our palms and breathing on the icy trunk. From the outside, our shamanic actions were more like a group of resuscitators rescuing a drowned man. To everyone's joy, Sesame has opened! With a sense of accomplishment of the mission, we headed to the airport hall. There, by inertia, we cut several circles in the same place like “we ourselves are not local, good people, tell me where the ticket office is” Of course, people in Ukraine are kind and sent us to the right address - right in front of our noses! Hooray! The tickets are in our hands. We successfully passed the control, throwing water on the instructions of the "Sharp Eye" - the customs officer, into the trash cans. It turns out that "LOW" here to stir up the atmosphere of a civilized European airport with its drink! Having hung out around the hall, we began to observe the softly falling snow outside the window and our thoughts were carried away to a warm country. A premonition of joy and adventure tickled pleasantly in the pit of my stomach. With a delay of half an hour (after all, snow is not only a fabulous sight, but also an element in some way that makes it difficult to fly) the landing was announced.
Those waiting, like a herd of sheep, rushed to take seats on the plane because there were no such seats on our tickets. Economy class, after all!
Crowding in the cabin, and despite the remarks of the flight attendants, everyone frantically began to take their seats. Charming stewards said something, but few people listened to them. Finally, the murmur subsided, we fastened our seat belts and the plane began its usual run. Someone nervously swallowed saliva, someone began to cross himself, someone closed his eyes, thus showing that there was no excitement - he was just dozing. The plane took off and applause was heard in the cabin! Having gained the desired height, we were announced that we can safely move around the cabin. Who immediately ran to the "WC", who began to get their "brakes" in view of the fact that someone had said "they will not feed on the plane"
During the journey, we were pretty hungry and began to happily gobble up what we had to eat. Someone looked at us with envy, but we were not going to share, and were proud of ourselves that we were so smart and foresaw everything.
Imagine our surprise when the stewards announced that they would bring us drinks and sandwiches in a few minutes. We even experienced some awkwardness: “Ugh, you are a village! ” we scolded ourselves, somehow it turned out uncomfortable, but oh well, we drove through.
A couple of hours later, the pilot announced that we were flying over Cairo and we could observe the pyramids on the right side of the board. No matter how hard we tried, we didn’t see any pyramids, because were on the left side, and our necks did not grow to giraffes. After a little staring at the neighboring heads, we calmed down on this. Looking from above, through the porthole at the endless sands, the anecdote again climbed into my head: “They didn’t fuck up the beach for themselves! ”
After 3.5 hours of flight, landing was announced.
We put the outer warm clothes in pre-prepared packages, and happily waited for the moment when the chassis touched the Egyptian land. Final act: long applause, we landed safely!
The crew thanks us for using the services of the airline
"wizzair" and hopes that we will be inseparable from her, like a sweet couple of "Twix", which is served on board the aircraft.
We, in turn, thank the flight attendants for a pleasant flight. Well, we are not a “village”, we know what to answer from the Crimea, after all, even from a provincial town, as residents of megacities like to say, but Yalta, known even in Africa!
Hurghada
(strange, but the locals emphasize the second syllable)
14.30
We go down the ladder, inhaling foreign sandy air.
Well, meet us Egypt, we are visiting you for the first time!
We look around, study the area . .
Somehow gloomy, not very warm and sunny, as if nature wanted to say:
"What the hell are you good gentlemen? "
And that's not true, but here are the signs waving representatives of the "Annex tour" Hurrah! We are met!
Have you ever been in a hangar? Yes, yes, that's exactly what I want to say: the Hurghada airport building resembles a hangar. Panic seizes me; “Why did I come here far away to see this barn? After all, the theater begins with a hanger, I can imagine what kind of theater will open next!
In the "hangar" fuss and stampede began in order to put a visa in the passport and pay $ 15. I had money in one bill of $100. For employees of the HurghAdin customs, it turned out to be a practically insoluble task to pass the change correctly on the first attempt. It was also surprising that they fought (this is not a typo) for $16! It is clear that one dollar “will not make a big weather”, but from each dollar, a good profit is obtained! There were a lot of people who were indignant, but there was no one to prove it to, since the customs fellows were simply frostbitten and did not want to listen to anything, pretending that they did not understand what was being said. They knew that sooner or later we would give up our positions.
Having found our luggage, we went to the bus, which should take us to the hotel. A cold wind blew in the face, continuing the unpleasant picture. I wanted to quickly get on the bus and quickly arrive at the hotel. But it was not there!
The brisk, robust "heir of the gods" brazenly extorted from $5 to $1, depending on the size of the luggage, otherwise refusing to put the luggage. I had a small bag, I took it into the bus, but the driver waved his hands menacingly and kicked me out along with the bag. Impressions were "through the roof"! Well, fellow Egyptians, well, not at all in a divine way.
I think you understand my condition.
Having given the money and simply slumping from impotence on the seat, my mood rolled to that very gradation on the scale, which is called “below the plinth”.
Our guide, a young fair-haired lady, unsuccessfully tried to joke, saying that tomorrow we will receive all the necessary information at 9.30 from another hotel guide Karina, asking stupid questions like: “Well, how did you like Hurghada? ” Observing from the window a dull view of lonely houses, along the perimeter of a sandy field stretched with barbed wire, flying packages, piles of garbage, it seemed that we were in a dump, or a zone.
“Oh, how we liked your Hurghada, there are simply no words!
Each of my cells screamed: “I want to go home! What kind of adventure? Enough already! Home! "
But the “submarine” had already plowed through the Egyptian desert and all that remained was to accept and accept everything as it is.
The road to the hotel took no more than 20 minutes. Getting off the bus and trying to understand what the second line is, the place where we will be located, the guide hurried us to enter the hotel lobby and leave things on the right near the reception. Well-trained Arabs were spinning everywhere smiling friendly, but this friendliness was simply unbelievable, everything was seen as a crafty game in which we could be fooled. On the right side, stretched along the line, there were peddlers of luggage waiting for their tips. The guide gave us forms to fill in the information. While we were filling them out, peeping at each other what to write where, a young “Arabian horse” flew up to us and put a green plastic bracelet on each hand, which meant that “all inclusive” was “all is included”. After a long wait at the reception desk, we finally got our coveted room key, and as soon as we received it, peddlers immediately flew to us, looked, took our luggage and, with the courtesy of an annoying fly, indicated where we needed to go. It turns out that the second line is nothing but a building across the road, more distant from the sea. Crossing the road and exploring the area, local natives honked at us, smiling affably and shouting something.
The entrance to the territory of our building began with shops of local goods, from where the sellers came out and affably waved their hands at us, speaking greetings in all languages. One got the impression that this was how the conquerors of the new earth were greeted.
Finally we got to the room, the clock was about 16.30. To our surprise, the room had one large bed, as if waiting for a couple in love for hot nights. My friend and I (not having a "pink" inclination) looked at each other: "well, not a bad continuation of our adventure. "
Tell me, have you ever been to a 5 star European hotel? If not, then everything is in order, and if so, then don’t be confused by the view of the rooms, which is almost a C-grade: simple furniture, two self-woven runners on the floor, drips in the shower, sloppy seams are visible on the tiles, but snow-white towels, shower hair dryer, toilet paper, liquid soap for hands and body and, fortunately, clean linens and even a telephone, and a safe.
I wanted to quickly relieve myself of the stress of overflights, and we naturally took up hygiene. After the shower, it became much easier, we got up and went to the lobby of the main building to meet our ladies, with whom our unpretentious journey began. As you remember, our route ran to the main building across the road, passing through which we heard a lot of compliments from drivers of slowing down taxis, scurrying attendants and security, which is located at the entrance to the hotel.
All this irritated me greatly, since this phenomenon is rare in our country and treating myself objectively, I understood that we are still charming, but not so much that we would be showered with compliments like that, like podium stars.
Not finding our fighting girlfriends, we went deep into our territory and began to study it closely, and it wouldn’t hurt to take a few pictures. Tall palm trees, neat lawns, flowering shrubs appeared to our eyes, however, this will not surprise us Crimeans, because we are spoiled by natural beauties, but here among the sands it looked like an oasis. The territory turned out to be very large, practically, a kind of closed state: we saw several pools with clear water, near each of which there was a bar with an abundance of drinks. Then an equipped sandy area began, with straw “mushrooms”, neatly standing sunbeds and wicker screens, apparently to fence off their party (at least we understood that).
Finally, we saw the Red Sea, however, it reminded us of our Black Sea, especially in such gloomy weather and somehow looked like ours. I told my friend that “the impression is like… She continued my thought… “like in paradise? ”, but she didn't guess. My impression was different: as if we didn’t leave anywhere, but simply wandered into one of our sanatoriums, however, the palm trees are a little more exotic, but otherwise... it seems nothing special.
Dinner time was approaching, and we headed to the restaurant, and besides, we were already pretty hungry. At the entrance we were met by a friendly administrator, waiters scurried around the hall, near the long tables with dishes, like soldiers, however, there were cooks in snow-white uniforms, trying to anticipate our whim. Yes, I must have missed a very important point: the attendants are only men! In general, I got the impression that only the male population breeds here.
Our eyes ran from the abundance of food.
Not only were we hungry, we really wanted to try everything. Taking a plate, we began to collect quite a bit, but soon found in our plate a semblance of a pyramid of Cheops. In the process of tasting food, we understood what was right for us and what could be safely ignored. From the pyramid of Cheops, the ruins of Unas remained, because. to clean, according to our Russian habit, the plate was not strong enough. Full, almost satisfied with our lives, we set off to solve the problem of sharing our "marriage bed". Somewhere we heard that if you give from $10 to $30 to the porter, then you can solve the "housing problem" very quickly. We did just that. I resolutely went to the receptionist, handing over $10 unnoticed by others, because. we did not count on a large amount, and you never know what else you have to pay for. The receptionist willingly took the money and, as Zadornov says, “the smart guy has earned it, ” he handed me the key in just a few seconds. I happily rushed off to explore our new accommodation and found to my horror that it was a two-room suite with a shared door. Now, if we were immediately given one with our girlfriends (which we asked for when we settled), then such a neighborhood would simply make us fabulously happy. Here the situation is “AH”, because it was these sounds that were heard outside the door. I told my friend about this incident, to which she was already very indifferent after the accepted “bubbling” and she said that we were staying here. Arriving again at the reception, I asked for another number, realizing that no one would return the money to us, to which the receptionist said that we all have such “club” rooms, but there are no others, there is one, but something is wrong with it, Yes, and it is located on the first floor and can be ready later. Then, I did not understand what it meant on the 1st floor! It turns out that in view of all sorts of crawling inhabitants, except for tourists, it is preferable to be located higher, supposedly they do not reach there, do not crawl.
In the hall, near the Anekstura table, I saw a bored hotel guide Karina, with whom we were promised a meeting for tomorrow. Well, I thought, “That’s where I got it! Let's get to know each other for one! Actually, I'm not an evil aunt and without big claims. I want to note that working in the tourism business, I have a clear idea of the current situation and how to get out of it so that “the wolves are fed and the sheep are safe. ”
Karina reluctantly looked up from her boring occupation and followed me to the reception desk, where this story was to be resolved. Having outlined the whole situation and asked the question, “Why don’t you warn tourists about such accommodation, ” Karina answered indifferently that she had no direct relation to the accommodation.
-Like this? I did not cease to be indignant, and who in this case is related? After all, all these issues are discussed with the client “on the shore”. It seems that Karina was offended and began to "run into me. " I thought: of course, the best way to defend is to attack. Without becoming more poisonous to my life, I apologized for my perseverance and went to my room, with one desire, to fall asleep as soon as possible and forget about this nightmare.
To the greatest joy, the morning foreshadowed a sunny hot day. After breakfast we went to the beach. Important! Upon check-in, cards are issued, in exchange for which you receive a beach towel once a day, if you lose it, you will have to pay $ 50!
In the window of the beach house, a friendly Arab greeted us, asked "how are you doing? " it seems to be written on our foreheads that we are Russians and without waiting for an answer, he gave us towels. After a short sunbathing, we went to meet our hotel guide.
Karina, for starters, told us that we can use the services of another Sunrise hotel, on the territory where animators work, because these two hotels have the same owner. Then the hotel guide carefully warned that you can not get out into the city on your own, in order to avoid unpleasant situations and use transport only at the hotel. Then she gave a list of excursions for us to read, warning that it was not safe to buy excursions in the city and on the beach. Something in this story raised doubts in us and we dared to check whether it was so? All the same, there are four of us, let's fight back!
We decided to make an independent trip to Hurghada. Returning past the reception, yesterday's receptionist "Kakleva" (we called him that, in view of the fact that during the settlement, he said the name of one of us and we really liked it, because it was perceived by ear "How cool, that is, great! ”) said that we can move to the same promised room. I just couldn’t believe my ears and thought: life is getting better and what a nice porter he is, whom I was ready to kill yesterday!
Having agreed with the driver of one of the taxis that stopped on the road about a price of $ 4, we went to Hurghada
It seems that the driver cheated a little, or maybe we didn’t explain it to him that way, because we didn’t really know where we were going. In short, he brought us to old Hurghada. There were no tourists on the streets, similar to a single bazaar, except for us, and we naturally blew up the sleepy life of the “old” Hurghada people. Still would! Imagine four young ladies in their own juice and without protection. Sellers ran out of each shop and offered something to us, either grabbing our hands, or taking out their goods, or stuffing themselves into escorts. We felt a little uneasy: the streets are narrow, there were no Europeans anywhere except us, but curiosity prompted us to “throw” through several shops. We bought some small things, tried to find a tour agency, but to no avail, and decided that we needed to get out to a more civilized place. Taxi for $ 2 took us to the new Hurghada. Oh, life was in full swing here! And most importantly, we met a lot of our own. That's so miracle. We asked ourselves more than once the question: how will they know that we are Russians. What do we have written on our foreheads? To which the locals answered us “you are very beautiful! ” It was hard to believe in this, but on the streets of Hurghada, ours were easily recognized, indeed, against the background of foreign citizens and aborigines, we Slavs have something special.
Our goal was to find a travel agency. It turned out that they are located in the area of McDonald's. To do this, you had to cross the road. The movement was like an anthill. It's interesting, but there are no traffic signs here, there are no traffic lights either, there are no zebra footpaths familiar to our eyes either! The crossings here are marked with metal bumps on the road, and if you have time to put your foot on the roadway until it is crossed, the flow of cars immediately stops. Well, what if, being very careful, you can stand for days without getting from point "A" to point "B".
My son would really like this. He would certainly have noticed that this is not chaos, but a non-linear order!
We easily found several agencies, compared prices and settled on what seemed more attractive to us in terms of prices and the friendliness of the Reda agency employee. The agency is called Royal Dream Tours. Remembering the frightening stories of our guide, we demanded a license for the provision of excursion services and Reda kindly provided it to us. Taught by a little experience (that in this country you need to bargain), warmed up by excitement, we began to negotiate a price, to which Reda said with a smile: "Ukrainian mafia. " Satisfied with ourselves, having received tickets at the price we wanted, we went on to travel around the city. The mood was great.
In the hotel with the beautiful name "Festival Le Jardin & Riviera Festival", in addition to a plentiful dinner, we had an evening show program with the participation of our animators. In the club hall there were many parents with children, couples in love, young ladies like us, elderly people... in a word, the contingent was the most diverse in age and nationality. Exactly at 21.30 peppy call signs of club music sounded, a young entertainer came out with gloss and sparkle in his eyes and began his greeting in several languages. An amazing positive energy emanated from him. As if, with all his being, he said: “Charge yourself, do not be shy, I am an energizer battery. ” The people actively responded, clapped their hands and to the exclamation of the entertainer "All inclusive! ", the avalanche of applause did not cease. Then the performance began, at first glance, not intricate, but very professional, followed by an interactive game with the audience, and then the final dance part.
A group of animators, including three of our (pale-faced) girls, lined up together and started a club dance. The children willingly joined the action and competently repeated rhythmically after the animators, trying to imitate them in everything. We had fun and good, as if we were at a fiesta!
It makes no sense to describe in detail every day of our stay, but here are some highlights, I think it will be interesting to reflect here.
Animators were engaged in tourists regardless of age, nationality, leg length, hair color and eye color all the time! The morning began with gymnastics, then smoothly turned into "belly dance", aqua aerobics, bOchu, volleyball, training on simulators: "all inclusive" "all is included"! . Bars and cafes "all inclusive" "all is included" worked on the territory of the hotel from 10.00 to 24.00! .
Smiling and helpful staff simply bathed us with their attention and care
The next day, we learned from two of our girlfriends that they went on an excursion "Paradise Islands", from the above travel agency. A bus came to our hotel for them at the appointed hour and delivered them back in the same way. We excitedly shared our impressions of the trip and rejoiced at what we saw, and the fact that we had not made a mistake in choosing an agency.
My friend and I spent the whole day on the territory of the hotel, where we did exercises, studied belly dance, did aqua aerobics, arranged a photo session for ourselves, in a word: there was a sea of impressions and we had no time to be bored. We finished the evening just as actively in the club hall. Now I understood for sure that we were in a heavenly place and we need to enjoy every moment!
A day later, we had an excursion to Luxor planned, but since an unforeseen circumstance happened, we had to either abandon the trip or change to another one, and in this regard, we again had to go to Hurghada. The agency did not have any questions and everything was done according to our desire, we are the "Ukrainian mafia"!
The trip to El Gunna was fabulous. At first we sailed on a ship, then on a boat we walked along the canals, admiringly surveying the oases, which 20 years ago were a deserted place. Having stopped on the coral islands with enthusiasm and a thirst for adventure, we checked for ourselves what snorkeling is (German: Schnorchel - breathing tube) - a type of swimming under the surface of the water with a mask and breathing tube, and usually with fins.
We admired corals and exotic fish, then went fishing, dancing on the deck to the accompaniment of "live" music by local musicians.
It seemed that we were in a fabulous dream and did not want to wake up!
Upon returning to the “base”, the mudflow began, which happens in Egypt once every five years! A little later, from the news, we learned about the affected tourists, among whom we ourselves could have been, but by a lucky chance we did not become them.
The paths in the hotel turned into Venetian canals, and the gondoliers were already at the ready, as if by magic, they had grown out of nowhere, however, instead of gondolas, they were armed with devices to expel the evil elemental spirit. By noon, almost everything was in order.
We had a farewell dinner not in the common room, but in a Chinese restaurant, by the way, it was also included in our program and you didn’t need to pay anything. From the reviews, we heard that it's boring, the pictures before our eyes do not change. As you can guess, we had fun. We again came up with entertainment for ourselves, the waiters helpfully responded to our small requests, and the chef of the restaurant Samy, as a bonus for our fun, treated us to pancakes with ice cream. (from the chef).
I think that the saying "if you want to be happy - be happy" includes something like the following: "what you feel depends on you" - if you want to be (feel) happy - find a way (reason) to rejoice!
I do not accidentally describe the details, they are for those who go to Egypt for the first time. Now you have a detailed idea about the locals, service, hotel. If I knew all this in advance, then I would look through my fingers at many little things and would not waste time on worries!
I did not want to return home and the first impression of the airport was now different, it seemed much better and friendlier. Instead of the emotions that overwhelmed me upon arrival, there were now others: they were overwhelmed with gratitude and a feeling with which I want to return. Well, and finally, the final major chord of our trip was the airport announcer, who was broadcasting in broken Russian that the landing on the Moscow flight was ending and he warned the passenger who did not appear that there were 5 minutes, 2 minutes before boarding "Landing flies earlier" . Here we just burst with laughter.
Goodbye Egypt, goodbye Hurghada, we really liked you, we hope you like us too!
So, the saying: “meet by clothes, see off by mind” refers to this case. Precisely, everything is organized according to the mind at the Festival Les Jardins & Riviera Festival hotel, but the human factor must always be taken into account. We are all human, we are all human!
Words are forgotten, faces are erased from the memory, a lot is forgotten, but impressions remain! My impression, as well as the impression of my friends, remained fabulous!
Let no trifles spoil your holiday!
Happy travels and unforgettable impressions!! !
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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