Your rating of this hotel:
8.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
7.0
Service:
9.0
Cleanliness:
9.0
Food:
10.0
Amenities:
9.0
An interesting thing: I catch a cold just before a trip outside Ukraine for the second time in a row. If this continues, then in order not to get sick, I will have to stop even dreaming about trips. However, the problem with a runny nose disappears after the second swim in the sea, so it’s probably still worth the trip. Even in such banal places as Hurghada - perhaps the cheapest vacation spot from the warm ones. And that I went in the winter, the contrast turned out to be just right. From Ukrainian -15 Celsius to get to +16-25 Egyptian - isn't it a good choice? Well, about everything in order. Good advice to travelers is highlighted in italic font.
MY TOUR(EGYP-)AGENTS
I bought a voucher in one of the companies that are part of the "Agency Last minute" network. To purchase everything, you need to appear there 3 times. The first time - to make an advance payment (500 UAH) and thereby confirm your desire to buy a ticket.
The company makes hotel reservations, negotiates with insurers and the airline. Then we take the main part of the money and conclude an agreement. For the third time - we get tickets for an airplane, insurance and another description of the tour, which never helped anyone, however, did not interfere. : )
But here the question arises - why pay more and spend more time? Booking a hotel room directly via the Internet is the first step. We order tickets for a charter and come with money for them - the second step. We visit the insurance company - the third step. We actually drive around the city twice instead of three. We pay the main amount on the spot in dollars (well, or in euros, if there is such a desire) - without the need to convert at the rate of the NBU, which is not clear why it is participating in this whole undertaking. : ))) Plus, we divide the profit lost by the tour operator between the sellers of fresh fruits at the place of rest.
Eh ..."would I be as smart then as my Sarah later"!
; ) Although they warned that smoke detectors were installed, and hacking them is highly discouraged. They were afraid of being handed over to the airport security service with possible deportation. It would be a fun vacation, yeah. For some reason, it became cold both after leaving the airport in Hurghada and in Kyiv. Well, in Kyiv it is clear - winter, but what is there?
Struck by the opacity of the border. Literally, what do you think? ; ) The air seemed somehow cloudy. Probably mixed with dust.
As for visas and passport control, this is a wonderful procedure. We take such a special card and fill it out carefully in English (after all, you didn’t check in your ballpoint pen in your luggage, right? ). Don't forget the flight number on the back. We approach a number of kiosks with the word "bank" and choose any one according to any, even the most socially unacceptable and terribly discriminatory criterion, for example, by the skin color of the employee sitting there.
They don't care how you choose. Give them 15 bucks. I think they will not refuse 15 euros either, so this is your problem if you chose this currency. : ) You can say something cheerful in Ukrainian, while smiling sweetly. "Give me your #@$#% visa, please! ". They definitely don't know Ukrainian. Just make sure that the sentence contains the word "visa" and there is no Russian curse. They know Russian, and starting with these same expressions. In any case, we get two stamps that must be slobbered and stuck anywhere in the passport, where only you consider it convenient. The main thing is that it should be a page for visas. Here. Now we stomp with all this to the officer in the booth.
Having thrown out into the street, the people wrapped themselves in their jackets and built dissatisfied faces - they say that you slipped us such a weather. But there was clearly no one to send, so everyone dutifully moved to the bus at the command of the guide.
We sat on the bus for an hour, probably waiting for it to fill up. Then we arrived in 10 minutes! Everyone was, to put it mildly, bewildered.
STAR RESIDENCE
It's okay that only two letters glow in the neon sign with the name Marlin Inn. But in the lobby at the reception four stars are proudly attached! I really don't mind. On the contrary, at first I thought why I need such a luxury, because by and large I don’t need super comfortable chairs in the lobby, where I won’t sit anyway, two bars where I won’t order fabulously expensive drinks by local standards. It is enough for me that there is delicious food, that there is a lot of it, and that there is something to drink. : ) Well, to have a rest at night. But then I decided that this is the way it should be. After all, otherwise there will be no hot water in the room at any time of the day and a real bath, they will not clean well, towels and mattresses will not be issued on the beach, and the same food will not be so varied and tasty.
And I must say that all of the above was available!! ! And there are many other good things out there.
A word of caution to those who like to tip. Knowledgeable people argue that tipping is making things worse for yourself. The service does not improve from this, but they can easily add a few extra dollars to your account. After all, you yourself showed that you don’t count money, right? ; -) Therefore, upon arrival, we do not give our handbag to anyone, but boldly stomp to our room - you just received the key. The crown will not fall from you. After all, you dragged her (purse, if you forgot) through airports with your own hands, didn’t you? Again, this does not apply to those who are trying to spend as much money as possible on vacation. ; -)
My room on the ground floor (in a two-story house, standing, like many similar ones, closer to the beach than the main building) consisted of a corridor, a bathroom and a room of 16 meters. Quite comfortable.
Instead of a balcony - a window and a door sliding apart - the second exit, that means. Thick curtains protect from prying eyes from the street. There are a couple of paintings on the walls. There are two beds (comfortable! ), two soft armchairs, two plastic chairs, a table, a bedside table, a table with a mirror, a non-working minibar (an old, old refrigerator), a GoldStar TV - simply cannot be new, by definition, but with a remote. There was an air conditioner, though this one was without a remote, you have to stomp to the control panel on the wall. Two large recessed (recessed, not built-in) cabinets recessed into the wall. You can even push a camel there, I think, they are so big. I was very pleased, although not big, but still a bath, shampoo and shower gel in dispensers on the wall. I was very surprised that the faucet with a shower was made not over the drain, but in the middle of the bath, which is not very convenient, of course. But above the sink - a huge mirror!
Of the free at the hotel there is table tennis (with slightly curved, but whole tables and dead rackets. That is, it was fun to play; ), beach volleyball and the beach itself. When we come to the beach, we change the special card that is issued when logging in : ) to the hotel, for a large beach towel, we stomp to the trestle bed we like. They will bring a mattress behind us, so that it would be more convenient for bones, meat or cellulite (who has what) to lie, that means. We lay a towel on top and burn. ; ))) To make it more comfortable to burn, they will unobtrusively offer drinks or a snack. Strawberries, for example, or something fried with ketchup.
And free sea! Even in this winter, the coldest in the last 20 years (yes, I know how to choose the time for a vacation! : ) the water temperature was about 20 degrees - quite tolerable.
The attractiveness of bathing is complemented by the following things: clear water without debris; the complete absence of surf (the wind mostly blew from the shore), and hence the sand in suspension in the water; the complete absence of jellyfish, rotten plants and other abominations that can be stumbled upon in other seas; funny fish very close to the shore, for which you can drive. ; -) Slightly spoil the impression of anchored boats 100-200m from the shore. If you swim close to them, it starts to stink of fuel oil. And instead of the horizon - a coral island (the locals said that it was 3 km away, but something is hard to believe. It seems that it is further. ), which you can get to for money. : ) And no, I did not see a single sea urchin in the sea, so it was completely safe to enter the water.
In addition to renting a boat, you can swim on a catamaran or kayak.
I swam in a double kayak - this, of course, is not rafting, but it was quite entertaining to wade through the waves and wind. Pleasure costs 40 pounds per hour (UAH 32). We even landed on the shore, which belongs to a hotel under construction, to collect all sorts of petrified corals and shells on the beach untouched by children. By the way, there are pebbles, but they are very rarely flat. Looks like there is no surf on this side of the sea in life. By the way, the security guards were already going to drive us from that beach, but we ourselves managed to hit the road. ; -)
From the entertainment inside the hotel there is also billiards. In the same cafe, local clips are constantly shown on the big screen, which, combined with hookah smoke, creates an indescribable atmosphere.
Animation in the understanding of the Egyptians is fundamentally different from Turkish animation. In Turkey, these are some stupid games for children of younger kindergarten age. Here is one (!
) the jovial Arab in the unchanging 'ANIMATION TEAM FOLLOW ME' T-shirt has made it his life's goal to entertain the audience with his own powers. Of course, most of the participants in his ventures are children, but adults often participate too! On the beach, every hour he calls on everyone to join him to do exercises, then play volleyball, then throw some balls for accuracy, or something else. For example, there was such a fun game: each participant inflates a balloon and ties it to his left leg. The goal of the game is to step on your neighbor's ball and prevent other players from doing the same with your ball. The winner is the one who has not burst the ball on his leg. It is especially cool to watch the elephant-dump aunts who decided to remember their adolescence. ; )))
The same Arab holds competitions in the evening. The announcement about the type of competition has been hanging since the morning. There were tournaments in billiards, table tennis, arm wrestling, darts. The winner receives a cocktail.
But the main thing, of course, is participation. Naturally, there are many comical situations along the way. For example, one kid played in n. tennis against a senior and before the game he refused a good racket, choosing just a wooden, uncoated one. As some later joked, such a monster cannot even be given a cooler racket in his hands - he will tear anyone dry! All in all, he won...
And sometimes folklore groups danced right in the hotel lobby. It was also something to see, well done.
NOT RICE ALONE...
Whoever said that the main thing in life is love, he obviously did not say this on an empty stomach. Without a good breakfast (lunch, afternoon snack, dinner... ) you won't go far! So, I do not advise people without willpower or who decide to lose weight "from Monday, as soon as I go on vacation" to go on vacation to Egypt - you can finally lose faith in yourself.
In return, you can get a couple of jelly-like kilograms on the most prominent parts of the body without much tension. ; ) People who inadvertently choose All Inclusive can especially suffer - their stomachs and other participants in the food movement will obviously not get a rest.
Even a food lover like me, HB was enough - it's breakfast + dinner and soft drinks only for breakfast. Although it is not allowed to bring food and drinks into the hotel, I twice brought market strawberries and water in a bottle from the supermarket without hiding at all. True, then he used an opaque bag so as not to embarrass the hotel employees. Vodicka, I’ll say right away, it sucks. I think even in the literal sense of the word. It seems that bottled mineral water is also desalinated sea water. : (
Well, the food at the hotel is just excellent. The class was achieved both due to the quality of cooking, and due to a fairly wide selection of dishes.
For breakfast - milk porridge, small funny pancakes with gravy and cinnamon sugar dressing (optional), a non-standard omelet (you won’t immediately understand that this is an omelette), hot stuffed vegetarian tomatoes, a mix of french fries and sausages - the cubists got to the culinary art, - all this is constantly heated over the burners. Then there are various salads, salads and more salads, such and such, seductively decorated, they themselves ask for a plate, even if there is no room there anymore. And next to them, gravies are different, different. Most of all, I liked, however, fresh tomatoes sliced \u200b\u200bin just circles (and they are not hothouse there! ) And cucumbers, no less fresh and fragrant. All sorts of cheeses, sausages and yoghurts (sour, by the way) are laid out even further. You can also make yourself oatmeal with milk. Milk is poured from small metal jugs. There are always two types of juice (freshly squeezed!!!
), sliced grapefruits and oranges, bread, bread, rolls and buns - in bulk on a large table with a cutting board and a knife of considerable size. Well, and absolutely separately - sweets. In the morning they are more suitable for tea or coffee, which everyone organizes for himself at his own table - that's why there are jug-type teapots with boiling water and tea / coffee to choose from in bags. Breakfast continues from 7 to 10 am. You can go a couple of times, if suddenly from the first visit it was not possible to reach the state of a satisfied python.
I have no idea what they fed the unfortunate tourists during lunch, because I never got hungry in order to crawl out to the restaurant, but dinner ...it's just some kind of feast every time. There are four kinds of meat. The fish is awesome. All this goes with potatoes, pasta, rice (where would we be without it! ). The choice of salads is doubled against breakfast.
Real bananas (and not fodder, which importers stuff us with) and delicious, often with a green leaf, tangerines. There are so many types of cakes, jelly, pastries that I have not even tried everything. Well, it's hard...During the day, you may want something strange. For example, strawberries. It's in February! But hunting is worse than bondage: we get into a minibus and go to the old part of the city, otherwise they don’t sell all sorts of fruits under the hotel, but it happens.
HOW MUCH IS THE FISH
I don't know how much the fish is there. But at least a third of the quoted price can be dropped. The rules are simple. 1) We do not bargain in supermarkets (any outlet equipped with a cash register) - this is pointless. 2) The closer the store is to expensive hotels, the more pointless it is to go there. 3) Accordingly, prices closer to the center are already a little better, but the sellers are more persistent. 4) From tea and gifts to the purchase WE REFUSE. After the purchase, no one will offer you any more. : ) 4) We trade with all our might. If the seller stubbornly does not drop the price, we go to another one.
You can even announce that we are going to the store opposite. Sometimes it helps. 5) It is best to start bargaining with 0.5 of the offered price. Usually stop at 2/3.6) There is another trick. Suppose they offer you something specific to buy. For example, a stone cat. You say that you already bought this miracle yesterday in another store for ...(you name the amount exactly two times less than the one that you were told in that other store). You should look pleased, as if you deceived that seller by buying at such a low price. There is a good chance that you will be offered an even lower price. Here you have to doubt, scratch your head, mumble something like "well, maybe for a friend, " but it's still expensive for him ...well, you understand. 7) Go shopping with a beautiful girl. For the fact that you take a picture of the seller in an embrace with her with your soap dish (by the way, it is not necessary to go there with a film ; ))), you can get a souvenir for a dollar as a gift.
) By the way, a pretty decent connection, no modems for 33600, as in Turkey, but a normal dedicated line. This price can only be found in a cafe opposite the Marlinn Inn. In all the rest, where I asked - 20 pounds! However, I didn’t go in the city center and I don’t know the prices. By the way, any movement in Hurghada on a minibus costs a pound. Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. : ) Locals generally go for 50 piastres, but those are locals. If you didn’t agree with the carrier or the opener (there is such a position there - a thin kid sits at the door and opens it, he is also the cashier there. If there are no more places, he manages to nestle between the seat and the door) did not agree - let them go in peace. In half a minute there will be another machine. You can’t walk along the sidewalk along the road, so that all the minibuses in a row don’t honk and stop at you. I even preferred to move on the left side always.
And it’s cheap to travel there because gasoline is terribly cheap: a liter of the best (I don’t know what markings are there - they don’t write in English, you bastards) costs 80 piastres!
What else? It is better not to buy fake papyri (from banana leaves) at all. But if you have already decided to please your colleagues with them, then remember that one sheet of approximately A3 format costs $ 2, or even less. A real papyrus of the same size (dark, with clearly visible fibers, with an original design applied by hand, not offset), will cost 20 bucks. A soap dish for shooting underwater - 18 bucks (which is reusable, with flash and withstands steam meters of water).
They say gold is cheap there. Here I am not an adviser to you - see for yourself. By the way, there was a time, long ago, back in the time of the pharaohs, when gold in Egypt was cheaper than silver. True true!
A bottle of ordinary water (mineral is written - do not believe it!
), like clean, costs a pound and a half in the supermarket. Half a liter of local beer in a cafe - 8 pounds. Well, that's how it is in our cafe. A disc with local hits (such as, for example, "Assalam-Alaikum"), will cost twenty pounds. Ask in the shops where the music is playing. ; ) What can you do, piracy is not yet developed, hyh ...; )
A one-day (I would even say one-day) bus tour to Cairo with a visit to the Cairo Museum and the pyramids) "on the street" costs $ 25 (Smart Tour). The hotel guide, I think, is twice as expensive. Conclusion - never rush to buy anything! : )
BUT! And further! Never give money to employees of establishments where these toilets are located, standing at the entrance to the toilet with a thick wad of money. It's all show-off and razvodnyak - toilets are free. You can smile sweetly and say something offensive to my mother. ; ) Moreover, often there are not even napkins inside, only toilet paper is in a roll on the washbasin.
I'm already talking about hand dryers.
SUNNY CITY
When Tsoi sang about a city under the sky of a star called the Sun, which is 2000 years old, he clearly did not mean Hurghada. : ) Hurghada (and Sharm El Sheikh) was built as soon as they learned how to profitably desalinate sea water. The first buildings appeared there no earlier than 30 years ago. So the city is practically the same age as me, unless of course the life of a person is correctly compared with the life of the city. In fact, he is still, of course, a baby. Hotels have been built along the coastline, and more are being built. The length of the city from north to south, along the coast (it is curved), I think, will stretch for 20 kilometers, 30 at most. In the desert, if we count the airport, the city goes no further than 5 km.
It is very important to choose the right hotel, so that there is no construction in the neighborhood. Although, this is not BAM, there are no drummers there, in all construction, if there is any mover, then it is only a dozen people who carry building materials in their hands.
It seems that technology is not attracted there at all. And really - why, if the work of a hard worker is estimated at 30 bucks a month. But it's still better to have another hotel next door with a number of shops than a depressing, abandoned-looking construction site behind a not-so-tidy fence. From this point of view, Marlinn Inn is the right hotel. : ) By the way, it is located somewhere in the middle of the part of the coastline captured by the city, exactly opposite the airport (no need to worry - for some reason the planes were almost inaudible).
IMAGES
So, let's start with the Hotel section.
The front looks like this. I think it's not very cool to live in rooms that have balconies overlooking the street. The hotel consists of this building and several others "in the yard". You can walk between them, though not for long, because it's boring. This is not a boulevard. But there you can stumble upon turtles eating cabbage and languishing from the heat.
In any case, you can’t walk far, because the beach suddenly begins. The beach is beautiful, with playgrounds, music and (where would it be without them) palm trees. By the way, this is a rare photo - "I'm under a palm tree. " And here is another rare photo - "I am in the shade of a flowering plant. " I'm standing under the house, which almost hangs over the volleyball court. I think sometimes a ball flies on the balconies there. And here is just a unique beach photo: the girls decided to demonstrate their attractiveness in an original way. And this is the view from our beach to the neighboring, empty one, which belongs to an unfinished hotel. The sea, as it can be seen from the shore, is crowded with boats and islands, so it is problematic to get lost in sight. The crooked coast further exacerbates the claustrophobic mood.
Now let's take a walk around Hurghada.
There is nothing special to look at, but it's not disgusting either : ). This is the street here.
There are no numbers, if you need to get somewhere, you just call the hotel or other landmark, a mosque or a disco there. I didn’t see any signs with the name anywhere, but it seems like the street is called Beach Avenue. I don’t remember where I know this from, so I could be wrong with a high probability. In random places around the city, such police patrols are placed. During my aimless wanderings along the coastline, I saw what cacti! They grow not just like that, but at the entrance to the hotel. I think they would have grown like that if they had not been watered. ; -) Near the shore, you can also unexpectedly stumble upon a ladder leading to the clouds. Closer to the city center, quite often there is such an urban still life from the seller of colored hats, incense in flasks, the colored hats themselves, posters and other trifles.
Next - Cairo and Giza.
On the way there, shortly after sunrise, during a stop, I caught the desert in my lens.
Turns out she still is. It is a pity that we did not manage to wander around Cairo. The picture from the bus window is the only thing I managed to capture in the city. Then we were taken to the museum. Here is the sphinx at the entrance to the Cairo National Museum. And this is - a little to the side - the fence of the museum, and then - a residential building. I wouldn't want to live there...
Now - banality. The same pyramid, or rather not all of it, but only the top. Here is part of a failed attempt to take a panoramic shot of one pyramid. This colorful rider is actually a money extortionist from tourists. If someone comes up to you and tries to foist some crappy souvenir from the breadth of the soul - do not believe it, but immediately send it to three letters. They know them. The smallest pyramid, where they still allow tourists for ten (or twenty? ) pounds without these same tourists, has not been removed. Probably no one. Although, if you work in Photoshop...There are remains of some walls around the pyramids.
I think they were erected in order to prevent the sands from encroaching on the shrines. As far as I remember, the trick failed, and the pyramids were still heavily covered. Here is view 1 and view 2 of the pyramids from under such a wall. And these little ones are for respected members of the pharaonic family, yeah, here's another, from a different point of view. Let's move on to another object. ; -) The Sphinx in the back and a panorama of Cairo. Desert starting right at the pyramids. Sphinx on the background of the pyramid. Sphinx with two pyramids in the background. God, what a translation of the film ...In the finale - the Sphinx, the pyramid and chairs. Phew. Hot.
MY TOUR(EGYP-)AGENTS
I bought a voucher in one of the companies that are part of the "Agency Last minute" network. To purchase everything, you need to appear there 3 times. The first time - to make an advance payment (500 UAH) and thereby confirm your desire to buy a ticket.
The company makes hotel reservations, negotiates with insurers and the airline. Then we take the main part of the money and conclude an agreement. For the third time - we get tickets for an airplane, insurance and another description of the tour, which never helped anyone, however, did not interfere. : )
But here the question arises - why pay more and spend more time? Booking a hotel room directly via the Internet is the first step. We order tickets for a charter and come with money for them - the second step. We visit the insurance company - the third step. We actually drive around the city twice instead of three. We pay the main amount on the spot in dollars (well, or in euros, if there is such a desire) - without the need to convert at the rate of the NBU, which is not clear why it is participating in this whole undertaking. : ))) Plus, we divide the profit lost by the tour operator between the sellers of fresh fruits at the place of rest.
Eh ..."would I be as smart then as my Sarah later"!
; ) Although they warned that smoke detectors were installed, and hacking them is highly discouraged. They were afraid of being handed over to the airport security service with possible deportation. It would be a fun vacation, yeah. For some reason, it became cold both after leaving the airport in Hurghada and in Kyiv. Well, in Kyiv it is clear - winter, but what is there?
Struck by the opacity of the border. Literally, what do you think? ; ) The air seemed somehow cloudy. Probably mixed with dust.
As for visas and passport control, this is a wonderful procedure. We take such a special card and fill it out carefully in English (after all, you didn’t check in your ballpoint pen in your luggage, right? ). Don't forget the flight number on the back. We approach a number of kiosks with the word "bank" and choose any one according to any, even the most socially unacceptable and terribly discriminatory criterion, for example, by the skin color of the employee sitting there.
They don't care how you choose. Give them 15 bucks. I think they will not refuse 15 euros either, so this is your problem if you chose this currency. : ) You can say something cheerful in Ukrainian, while smiling sweetly. "Give me your #@$#% visa, please! ". They definitely don't know Ukrainian. Just make sure that the sentence contains the word "visa" and there is no Russian curse. They know Russian, and starting with these same expressions. In any case, we get two stamps that must be slobbered and stuck anywhere in the passport, where only you consider it convenient. The main thing is that it should be a page for visas. Here. Now we stomp with all this to the officer in the booth.
Having thrown out into the street, the people wrapped themselves in their jackets and built dissatisfied faces - they say that you slipped us such a weather. But there was clearly no one to send, so everyone dutifully moved to the bus at the command of the guide.
We sat on the bus for an hour, probably waiting for it to fill up. Then we arrived in 10 minutes! Everyone was, to put it mildly, bewildered.
STAR RESIDENCE
It's okay that only two letters glow in the neon sign with the name Marlin Inn. But in the lobby at the reception four stars are proudly attached! I really don't mind. On the contrary, at first I thought why I need such a luxury, because by and large I don’t need super comfortable chairs in the lobby, where I won’t sit anyway, two bars where I won’t order fabulously expensive drinks by local standards. It is enough for me that there is delicious food, that there is a lot of it, and that there is something to drink. : ) Well, to have a rest at night. But then I decided that this is the way it should be. After all, otherwise there will be no hot water in the room at any time of the day and a real bath, they will not clean well, towels and mattresses will not be issued on the beach, and the same food will not be so varied and tasty.
And I must say that all of the above was available!! ! And there are many other good things out there.
A word of caution to those who like to tip. Knowledgeable people argue that tipping is making things worse for yourself. The service does not improve from this, but they can easily add a few extra dollars to your account. After all, you yourself showed that you don’t count money, right? ; -) Therefore, upon arrival, we do not give our handbag to anyone, but boldly stomp to our room - you just received the key. The crown will not fall from you. After all, you dragged her (purse, if you forgot) through airports with your own hands, didn’t you? Again, this does not apply to those who are trying to spend as much money as possible on vacation. ; -)
My room on the ground floor (in a two-story house, standing, like many similar ones, closer to the beach than the main building) consisted of a corridor, a bathroom and a room of 16 meters. Quite comfortable.
Instead of a balcony - a window and a door sliding apart - the second exit, that means. Thick curtains protect from prying eyes from the street. There are a couple of paintings on the walls. There are two beds (comfortable! ), two soft armchairs, two plastic chairs, a table, a bedside table, a table with a mirror, a non-working minibar (an old, old refrigerator), a GoldStar TV - simply cannot be new, by definition, but with a remote. There was an air conditioner, though this one was without a remote, you have to stomp to the control panel on the wall. Two large recessed (recessed, not built-in) cabinets recessed into the wall. You can even push a camel there, I think, they are so big. I was very pleased, although not big, but still a bath, shampoo and shower gel in dispensers on the wall. I was very surprised that the faucet with a shower was made not over the drain, but in the middle of the bath, which is not very convenient, of course. But above the sink - a huge mirror!
Of the free at the hotel there is table tennis (with slightly curved, but whole tables and dead rackets. That is, it was fun to play; ), beach volleyball and the beach itself. When we come to the beach, we change the special card that is issued when logging in : ) to the hotel, for a large beach towel, we stomp to the trestle bed we like. They will bring a mattress behind us, so that it would be more convenient for bones, meat or cellulite (who has what) to lie, that means. We lay a towel on top and burn. ; ))) To make it more comfortable to burn, they will unobtrusively offer drinks or a snack. Strawberries, for example, or something fried with ketchup.
And free sea! Even in this winter, the coldest in the last 20 years (yes, I know how to choose the time for a vacation! : ) the water temperature was about 20 degrees - quite tolerable.
The attractiveness of bathing is complemented by the following things: clear water without debris; the complete absence of surf (the wind mostly blew from the shore), and hence the sand in suspension in the water; the complete absence of jellyfish, rotten plants and other abominations that can be stumbled upon in other seas; funny fish very close to the shore, for which you can drive. ; -) Slightly spoil the impression of anchored boats 100-200m from the shore. If you swim close to them, it starts to stink of fuel oil. And instead of the horizon - a coral island (the locals said that it was 3 km away, but something is hard to believe. It seems that it is further. ), which you can get to for money. : ) And no, I did not see a single sea urchin in the sea, so it was completely safe to enter the water.
In addition to renting a boat, you can swim on a catamaran or kayak.
I swam in a double kayak - this, of course, is not rafting, but it was quite entertaining to wade through the waves and wind. Pleasure costs 40 pounds per hour (UAH 32). We even landed on the shore, which belongs to a hotel under construction, to collect all sorts of petrified corals and shells on the beach untouched by children. By the way, there are pebbles, but they are very rarely flat. Looks like there is no surf on this side of the sea in life. By the way, the security guards were already going to drive us from that beach, but we ourselves managed to hit the road. ; -)
From the entertainment inside the hotel there is also billiards. In the same cafe, local clips are constantly shown on the big screen, which, combined with hookah smoke, creates an indescribable atmosphere.
Animation in the understanding of the Egyptians is fundamentally different from Turkish animation. In Turkey, these are some stupid games for children of younger kindergarten age. Here is one (!
) the jovial Arab in the unchanging 'ANIMATION TEAM FOLLOW ME' T-shirt has made it his life's goal to entertain the audience with his own powers. Of course, most of the participants in his ventures are children, but adults often participate too! On the beach, every hour he calls on everyone to join him to do exercises, then play volleyball, then throw some balls for accuracy, or something else. For example, there was such a fun game: each participant inflates a balloon and ties it to his left leg. The goal of the game is to step on your neighbor's ball and prevent other players from doing the same with your ball. The winner is the one who has not burst the ball on his leg. It is especially cool to watch the elephant-dump aunts who decided to remember their adolescence. ; )))
The same Arab holds competitions in the evening. The announcement about the type of competition has been hanging since the morning. There were tournaments in billiards, table tennis, arm wrestling, darts. The winner receives a cocktail.
But the main thing, of course, is participation. Naturally, there are many comical situations along the way. For example, one kid played in n. tennis against a senior and before the game he refused a good racket, choosing just a wooden, uncoated one. As some later joked, such a monster cannot even be given a cooler racket in his hands - he will tear anyone dry! All in all, he won...
And sometimes folklore groups danced right in the hotel lobby. It was also something to see, well done.
NOT RICE ALONE...
Whoever said that the main thing in life is love, he obviously did not say this on an empty stomach. Without a good breakfast (lunch, afternoon snack, dinner... ) you won't go far! So, I do not advise people without willpower or who decide to lose weight "from Monday, as soon as I go on vacation" to go on vacation to Egypt - you can finally lose faith in yourself.
In return, you can get a couple of jelly-like kilograms on the most prominent parts of the body without much tension. ; ) People who inadvertently choose All Inclusive can especially suffer - their stomachs and other participants in the food movement will obviously not get a rest.
Even a food lover like me, HB was enough - it's breakfast + dinner and soft drinks only for breakfast. Although it is not allowed to bring food and drinks into the hotel, I twice brought market strawberries and water in a bottle from the supermarket without hiding at all. True, then he used an opaque bag so as not to embarrass the hotel employees. Vodicka, I’ll say right away, it sucks. I think even in the literal sense of the word. It seems that bottled mineral water is also desalinated sea water. : (
Well, the food at the hotel is just excellent. The class was achieved both due to the quality of cooking, and due to a fairly wide selection of dishes.
For breakfast - milk porridge, small funny pancakes with gravy and cinnamon sugar dressing (optional), a non-standard omelet (you won’t immediately understand that this is an omelette), hot stuffed vegetarian tomatoes, a mix of french fries and sausages - the cubists got to the culinary art, - all this is constantly heated over the burners. Then there are various salads, salads and more salads, such and such, seductively decorated, they themselves ask for a plate, even if there is no room there anymore. And next to them, gravies are different, different. Most of all, I liked, however, fresh tomatoes sliced \u200b\u200bin just circles (and they are not hothouse there! ) And cucumbers, no less fresh and fragrant. All sorts of cheeses, sausages and yoghurts (sour, by the way) are laid out even further. You can also make yourself oatmeal with milk. Milk is poured from small metal jugs. There are always two types of juice (freshly squeezed!!!
), sliced grapefruits and oranges, bread, bread, rolls and buns - in bulk on a large table with a cutting board and a knife of considerable size. Well, and absolutely separately - sweets. In the morning they are more suitable for tea or coffee, which everyone organizes for himself at his own table - that's why there are jug-type teapots with boiling water and tea / coffee to choose from in bags. Breakfast continues from 7 to 10 am. You can go a couple of times, if suddenly from the first visit it was not possible to reach the state of a satisfied python.
I have no idea what they fed the unfortunate tourists during lunch, because I never got hungry in order to crawl out to the restaurant, but dinner ...it's just some kind of feast every time. There are four kinds of meat. The fish is awesome. All this goes with potatoes, pasta, rice (where would we be without it! ). The choice of salads is doubled against breakfast.
Real bananas (and not fodder, which importers stuff us with) and delicious, often with a green leaf, tangerines. There are so many types of cakes, jelly, pastries that I have not even tried everything. Well, it's hard...During the day, you may want something strange. For example, strawberries. It's in February! But hunting is worse than bondage: we get into a minibus and go to the old part of the city, otherwise they don’t sell all sorts of fruits under the hotel, but it happens.
HOW MUCH IS THE FISH
I don't know how much the fish is there. But at least a third of the quoted price can be dropped. The rules are simple. 1) We do not bargain in supermarkets (any outlet equipped with a cash register) - this is pointless. 2) The closer the store is to expensive hotels, the more pointless it is to go there. 3) Accordingly, prices closer to the center are already a little better, but the sellers are more persistent. 4) From tea and gifts to the purchase WE REFUSE. After the purchase, no one will offer you any more. : ) 4) We trade with all our might. If the seller stubbornly does not drop the price, we go to another one.
You can even announce that we are going to the store opposite. Sometimes it helps. 5) It is best to start bargaining with 0.5 of the offered price. Usually stop at 2/3.6) There is another trick. Suppose they offer you something specific to buy. For example, a stone cat. You say that you already bought this miracle yesterday in another store for ...(you name the amount exactly two times less than the one that you were told in that other store). You should look pleased, as if you deceived that seller by buying at such a low price. There is a good chance that you will be offered an even lower price. Here you have to doubt, scratch your head, mumble something like "well, maybe for a friend, " but it's still expensive for him ...well, you understand. 7) Go shopping with a beautiful girl. For the fact that you take a picture of the seller in an embrace with her with your soap dish (by the way, it is not necessary to go there with a film ; ))), you can get a souvenir for a dollar as a gift.
) By the way, a pretty decent connection, no modems for 33600, as in Turkey, but a normal dedicated line. This price can only be found in a cafe opposite the Marlinn Inn. In all the rest, where I asked - 20 pounds! However, I didn’t go in the city center and I don’t know the prices. By the way, any movement in Hurghada on a minibus costs a pound. Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. : ) Locals generally go for 50 piastres, but those are locals. If you didn’t agree with the carrier or the opener (there is such a position there - a thin kid sits at the door and opens it, he is also the cashier there. If there are no more places, he manages to nestle between the seat and the door) did not agree - let them go in peace. In half a minute there will be another machine. You can’t walk along the sidewalk along the road, so that all the minibuses in a row don’t honk and stop at you. I even preferred to move on the left side always.
And it’s cheap to travel there because gasoline is terribly cheap: a liter of the best (I don’t know what markings are there - they don’t write in English, you bastards) costs 80 piastres!
What else? It is better not to buy fake papyri (from banana leaves) at all. But if you have already decided to please your colleagues with them, then remember that one sheet of approximately A3 format costs $ 2, or even less. A real papyrus of the same size (dark, with clearly visible fibers, with an original design applied by hand, not offset), will cost 20 bucks. A soap dish for shooting underwater - 18 bucks (which is reusable, with flash and withstands steam meters of water).
They say gold is cheap there. Here I am not an adviser to you - see for yourself. By the way, there was a time, long ago, back in the time of the pharaohs, when gold in Egypt was cheaper than silver. True true!
A bottle of ordinary water (mineral is written - do not believe it!
), like clean, costs a pound and a half in the supermarket. Half a liter of local beer in a cafe - 8 pounds. Well, that's how it is in our cafe. A disc with local hits (such as, for example, "Assalam-Alaikum"), will cost twenty pounds. Ask in the shops where the music is playing. ; ) What can you do, piracy is not yet developed, hyh ...; )
A one-day (I would even say one-day) bus tour to Cairo with a visit to the Cairo Museum and the pyramids) "on the street" costs $ 25 (Smart Tour). The hotel guide, I think, is twice as expensive. Conclusion - never rush to buy anything! : )
BUT! And further! Never give money to employees of establishments where these toilets are located, standing at the entrance to the toilet with a thick wad of money. It's all show-off and razvodnyak - toilets are free. You can smile sweetly and say something offensive to my mother. ; ) Moreover, often there are not even napkins inside, only toilet paper is in a roll on the washbasin.
I'm already talking about hand dryers.
SUNNY CITY
When Tsoi sang about a city under the sky of a star called the Sun, which is 2000 years old, he clearly did not mean Hurghada. : ) Hurghada (and Sharm El Sheikh) was built as soon as they learned how to profitably desalinate sea water. The first buildings appeared there no earlier than 30 years ago. So the city is practically the same age as me, unless of course the life of a person is correctly compared with the life of the city. In fact, he is still, of course, a baby. Hotels have been built along the coastline, and more are being built. The length of the city from north to south, along the coast (it is curved), I think, will stretch for 20 kilometers, 30 at most. In the desert, if we count the airport, the city goes no further than 5 km.
It is very important to choose the right hotel, so that there is no construction in the neighborhood. Although, this is not BAM, there are no drummers there, in all construction, if there is any mover, then it is only a dozen people who carry building materials in their hands.
It seems that technology is not attracted there at all. And really - why, if the work of a hard worker is estimated at 30 bucks a month. But it's still better to have another hotel next door with a number of shops than a depressing, abandoned-looking construction site behind a not-so-tidy fence. From this point of view, Marlinn Inn is the right hotel. : ) By the way, it is located somewhere in the middle of the part of the coastline captured by the city, exactly opposite the airport (no need to worry - for some reason the planes were almost inaudible).
IMAGES
So, let's start with the Hotel section.
The front looks like this. I think it's not very cool to live in rooms that have balconies overlooking the street. The hotel consists of this building and several others "in the yard". You can walk between them, though not for long, because it's boring. This is not a boulevard. But there you can stumble upon turtles eating cabbage and languishing from the heat.
In any case, you can’t walk far, because the beach suddenly begins. The beach is beautiful, with playgrounds, music and (where would it be without them) palm trees. By the way, this is a rare photo - "I'm under a palm tree. " And here is another rare photo - "I am in the shade of a flowering plant. " I'm standing under the house, which almost hangs over the volleyball court. I think sometimes a ball flies on the balconies there. And here is just a unique beach photo: the girls decided to demonstrate their attractiveness in an original way. And this is the view from our beach to the neighboring, empty one, which belongs to an unfinished hotel. The sea, as it can be seen from the shore, is crowded with boats and islands, so it is problematic to get lost in sight. The crooked coast further exacerbates the claustrophobic mood.
Now let's take a walk around Hurghada.
There is nothing special to look at, but it's not disgusting either : ). This is the street here.
There are no numbers, if you need to get somewhere, you just call the hotel or other landmark, a mosque or a disco there. I didn’t see any signs with the name anywhere, but it seems like the street is called Beach Avenue. I don’t remember where I know this from, so I could be wrong with a high probability. In random places around the city, such police patrols are placed. During my aimless wanderings along the coastline, I saw what cacti! They grow not just like that, but at the entrance to the hotel. I think they would have grown like that if they had not been watered. ; -) Near the shore, you can also unexpectedly stumble upon a ladder leading to the clouds. Closer to the city center, quite often there is such an urban still life from the seller of colored hats, incense in flasks, the colored hats themselves, posters and other trifles.
Next - Cairo and Giza.
On the way there, shortly after sunrise, during a stop, I caught the desert in my lens.
Turns out she still is. It is a pity that we did not manage to wander around Cairo. The picture from the bus window is the only thing I managed to capture in the city. Then we were taken to the museum. Here is the sphinx at the entrance to the Cairo National Museum. And this is - a little to the side - the fence of the museum, and then - a residential building. I wouldn't want to live there...
Now - banality. The same pyramid, or rather not all of it, but only the top. Here is part of a failed attempt to take a panoramic shot of one pyramid. This colorful rider is actually a money extortionist from tourists. If someone comes up to you and tries to foist some crappy souvenir from the breadth of the soul - do not believe it, but immediately send it to three letters. They know them. The smallest pyramid, where they still allow tourists for ten (or twenty? ) pounds without these same tourists, has not been removed. Probably no one. Although, if you work in Photoshop...There are remains of some walls around the pyramids.
I think they were erected in order to prevent the sands from encroaching on the shrines. As far as I remember, the trick failed, and the pyramids were still heavily covered. Here is view 1 and view 2 of the pyramids from under such a wall. And these little ones are for respected members of the pharaonic family, yeah, here's another, from a different point of view. Let's move on to another object. ; -) The Sphinx in the back and a panorama of Cairo. Desert starting right at the pyramids. Sphinx on the background of the pyramid. Sphinx with two pyramids in the background. God, what a translation of the film ...In the finale - the Sphinx, the pyramid and chairs. Phew. Hot.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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