Your rating of this hotel:
6.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
7.0
Service:
4.0
Cleanliness:
6.0
Food:
7.0
Amenities:
4.0
July 2.2015. Thursday
Takeoff
Four in the morning. After some fuss and a sleepless night, the east is a little gray, and we are already on the plane, slowly and imposingly taxiing to the runway. The engines roar monotonously, bringing only a faint rumble to our cabin, sometimes the body of the aircraft trembles at the junctions of concrete slabs, echoing in the slight trembling of the seats. We, all about two hundred passengers, are firmly pulled into our seats by our safety belts, and from this strong pull it seems quite safe. But it's still here on earth. In the air, at a ten-kilometer altitude, this protection will seem scanty and unreliable. And the thought will only be about a parachute, which, unfortunately, is not there ...
But while we are on the ground, we are slowly and confidently taxiing to the start.
And in the porthole - below us is concrete, and a little higher, on the horizon, the already gray haze is diluted by the barely noticeable blueness of the dawn, which should soon turn into pink, and then into the purple color of the morning Dawn. But it will be later, after our life will step over the dangerous few seconds of takeoff ...
And here is a short stop. Powerful engines roared, the plane shook with its huge body, and an invisible force squeezed me into a chair. After some speed limit, my body suddenly began to be pressed by an unknown force not only into the back of the chair, but also into its seat. This plane abruptly, from a place rushed forward. I have experienced this feeling of soaring more than once, but I still can’t comprehend it to the end.
I felt, experienced many times before, when moving from a standstill behind the wheel of a motorcycle, and then a car, the inexplicable joy of accelerated movement, as if this acceleration took me to another world, an unknown world of joy and euphoria, completely different compared to the world of everyday life. There was a desire to accelerate this movement to the limit, despite the fact that the end of my material existence may be at this limit. These were the feelings of the Soul, in contradiction to the realities of danger for the mortal body. I also felt that I was breaking away from this world and joining some unknown world outside of our Universe ...
But it lasted only a moment by the standards of our world. Consciousness did not allow me to enjoy the delights of another world for too long and squeezes itself into the feelings of the soul.
The senses of the body also awakened along with consciousness and tried to instill in my consciousness a panic fear of a possible danger, the likelihood of which increased with every second. Pictures of the tragic end of the moment of take-off emerge in my memory: the loss of stability of the aircraft, its roll on its side, with wings falling off, the tail section and hitting the ground, on fire and with clouds of black smoke ...After all, few of the passengers manage to survive ...
And life in this world is the main thing. And no matter what, the main thing is life. Because without it physical existence in this world ceases. And I thought: how we are still attached to our physical shell, sometimes to the detriment of our spiritual content. There is a constant struggle going on. And almost always the physical form prevails and the spiritual essence is oppressed. I feel this most acutely, as I am engaged in creativity.
I have made repeated and hopeless attempts to completely immerse myself in the creative process, in the spiritual world and share what I have seen with others, attract supporters and like-minded people to me ...
Meanwhile, from the thoughts that had gone so far into the subconscious and into the Spiritual world, I was torn away by the reality of the events of the takeoff. As a result, consciousness completely came into its own, and I began to live the realities of the present. Mechanically, he squeezed the armrests with his hands and tensed all over. I began to look out the window - there into the open saving space, taking my eyes off the shaded cabin of the aircraft, which now seemed to me like a slammed mousetrap, from which it is impossible to get out and which is preparing an unpleasant surprise for your life ...And I was in such a tense state, until he felt safe after the wheels of the aircraft were off the ground and climbed to a sufficient height. And this height seemed to me saving.
Remaining in such tension, I could not even take part in the applause of the aircraft commander and co-pilot at the moment the wheels left the ground, which showed the highest class. And I even thought that the plane passed through a thundercloud and large hailstones hammered on the hull - such an impression was left by the applause along with the echo inside this cigar-shaped shell of the aircraft.
And yet, my feelings are on the rise: this is the effect of a closed microspace. If you look into the cabin of the aircraft, my rational mind continued to “nitpick” every little thing and look for an explanation for it. And it was a little reassuring: everything is going according to plan, and it happens in accordance with the laws of physics; no failure, which can cause panic fear and the desire to take some action to save one's own life.
And if you look out the window, then everything falls into place: the mysterious force that presses me into the seat of the chair is the result of the plane taking off from the ground and climbing. In addition, stuffy ears from pressure drop confirm this.
Against the background of a sharp climb, I feel another discomfort when the plane rolled to the right and the ground was almost under the right window, but soon the roll leveled off. It was the turning of the plane into its own air corridor, along which the dispatchers would fly it, passing it to each other, from country to country, until we reached the destination airport.
The takeoff period is over. The plane gained its ten-kilometer altitude. The engines are running smoothly. Slowly, very slowly, the clouds are passing under us, and in the gap between them is the earth.
So slowly that you begin to doubt that you are flying in an airplane at a speed of 920 kilometers per hour, and you are hanging in the air in a balloon and you are driven by the wind ...
But fears still disturb the soul: as if some separatist or other terrorist would point a Buk missile at you ...
These are my feelings when taking off after a seven-year break.
At an altitude of 1.000 meters
My little microcosm, together with the microcosm of two hundred passengers in the cabin, is torn off into an autonomous "float" at an altitude of ten kilometers above the ground. I automatically imagined this distance on the surface of the earth and conditionally raised this segment above its surface. It turned out not very much.
My feelings are at this height. First of all, a sense of pride in myself that I can afford such a luxury - to soar above the ground. Looking deeper inside myself, I fish out some feelings of increased self-importance.
This is from the fact that I am upstairs, and down there, like ants, people who are not even visible to the naked eye are swarming in their bustle. But I quickly return myself to my rut, realizing that this is just an optical illusion. Although I experienced similar feelings when I worked in the city committee and the city executive committee ...And this analogy somewhat pleased me.
Despite the smooth and reliable rumble of powerful engines, I still had a feeling of danger and anxiety for my life. After all, it's -34°C overboard, and I'm in a T-shirt and shorts, and I'm going to fly down as much as ten thousand meters: I'll freeze! And besides, the pressure drop is such that no swallowing of saliva will save your eardrums and “boiling” of blood from decompression sickness.
There is only one way out - not to think about the negative, eat a skinny sandwich handed out by flight attendants, silently scold the greedy Kolomoisky, the owner of the airline, for the scarcity of lunch and the lack of strong drinks (as it was seven years ago) and fall asleep for two hours before landing at Sharm- El Sheikh.
But sleep, even after a sleepless night, failed. The “fasten seat belts” warning lights flashed, and the pilot's voice warned that we were entering a turbulence zone and would be in it for as long as 20 (! ) minutes. Again, the shaking of the entire body of the aircraft, the suspicious trembling of the wings, which is clearly visible through the window, and the obsessive thought about the possible mechanical unreliability of the aircraft structure: will it withstand such overloads, will it not fall to the ground like debris? (Looking ahead, already after landing, you think: am I crazy that I allowed myself to think about this?
But right then and there, I justified myself by the fact that the psychology of a person is such that he expects the worst option in order to be ready for it and have time to take appropriate measures to prevent disaster, save at a critical moment for life). But after a few minutes of constant and not gaining strength shaking, you understand that everything is in order with the safety margin of the aircraft and you even allow yourself to plunge into a light nap.
In the plane, weak interior lighting was left and the blinds of the windows were open - all with the same psychological foresight: to take the passengers' eyes off the closed space and translate them into a living picture under the wing of the plane. This calms and prevents possible panic. Everything goes according to plan. The gaze is riveted to the earth, which at such a great distance seems to be part of a huge globe.
And if you look into the cabin of the plane and back to the Earth, it seems that the plane is stationary, and the Earth is slowly moving under its belly in the opposite direction, as if someone is dragging it on a conveyor. Moreover, there is a visual reference to the real cabin of the aircraft and to two hundred passengers, the same as me.
After the promised twenty minutes, the turbulence zone was successfully passed. The usual conditional “silence” sets in again with a smooth hum of engines and cirrus clouds quietly floating under the belly of the plane, and a little lower, and cumulus clouds. And between them is the dark blue expanse of the Mediterranean Sea, and a little later - the surface of the Earth with mountains and rivers, dark stripes of roads and squares of residential towns and cities. And you allow yourself to capture all this beauty on a movie camera and photograph it, so that later, upon arrival in Kyiv, you can nostalgically recall your impressions at an altitude of 1.000 meters above the Earth.
Sharm El Sheikh Air Gate
Pilot command: Fasten your seat belts! We're going to land. " And again, several minutes of alarm, until the moment when the landing gear of the aircraft touches the ground. But the smoothness of the movement of the aircraft before landing and the tempering of the psyche by various turbulences and suspicious trembling of the entire body of the aircraft, as well as the anticipation of all the delights of a holiday on the Red Sea, smooth out any minor troubles. And therefore, it seemed, by our good will, the plane landed safely, the commander of the plane and the entire crew, including the charming flight attendants (only now you begin to notice their special charm, although I want to note that they are not at all old yet), received a stormy and joyful applause . Some immediately began to jump up and arm themselves with their hand luggage, to which the charming flight attendants immediately reacted: they made everyone sit down in their seats ...
Ten minutes later we are on the airport bus. And after a few minutes, we grab our suitcases from the conveyor, go through customs inspection, passport control, paying (if anyone needs it) “visa” twenty-five dollars, put down a visa stamp and leave the airport building, where dozens of buses are waiting for us on the site, to take everyone to their hotels.
Early morning. As for Egypt, a slight coolness. I involuntarily recall the same Sharm El-Sheikh airport seven years ago, when our plane landed at noon and the first impression of Egypt was the heat of the desert, which smelled in my face and enveloped my whole body when we entered the same site.
Around, as well as seven years ago, where only the eye reached - a solid desert. Only sometimes, as a symbol of the fact that there is life in the desert, dry trunks of palm trees stick out of the sand with a hat, in the form of a rare umbrella, fan leaves.
Longing and nostalgia creeps into my soul for that native violent Nature, which I exchanged, and even for a large sum of money. But there was hope for the only thing: for an irrigated oasis and landscaping of the hotel territory and for the delights of a natural gift that you will not see anywhere in the world, as soon as on the Red Sea.
Shara and the Poverty of Egypt
Today I remembered that, among other things, I am also an aphorist. And I remembered, because earlier, during a previous trip to Egypt, while swimming in the Red Sea, I had another aphorism: “Egypt is such an extremely poor country that even the fish in the sea are so hungry that they are ready to bite off the finger of the hand that feeds it. ”
On this occasion, there is a topic for an essay on the topic: “Why are vouchers to Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia several times cheaper than similar ones to Europe or America? » And the explanation is very simple.
First of all, cheap labor, willing to serve you in hotels; cheap foodstuffs, as producers - agricultural workers, agree to work for meager wages, and so on. And therefore here, as nowhere else in mass order, the "All inclusive" food system is possible at the lowest prices.
Egypt hotels
Hotels in Egypt category 4 * are much inferior to hotels in Turkey of the same level. I say so, as I have previously been to the “fours” of the Turkish resorts of Bodrum and Alanya. They compensate for such a contrast with a natural gift - the Red Sea. And therefore, many, for the sake of the charm of the Red Sea and its inhabitants, turn a blind eye to the significant difference in the comfort of the hotel and its infrastructure and strive for Egypt. Yes, apparently, the Turks are trying to compensate for the lack of such a unique sea as the Red Sea with their increased comfort and service.
But, I would say, after having visited the luxury hotels of Sharm El Sheikh, which will be discussed below, comfort and service are quite achievable in Egypt, but the Red Sea can only be here!
But still, the difference between 3 * and 4 * hotels in Egypt can be very significant. And you especially feel this striking contrast when you find yourself in a hotel of a lower category for one month, which happened to me today. Moreover, the hotel staff is much, to put it mildly, “simpler”. And even trying to make money on the difference in comfort, repair and arrangement of the rooms themselves of the same category.
Brief description of the hotel with comments
Le Mirage New Tower Hotel 4 * is located in the El Mahmeya area, in Tower Bay, 5 km from Naama Bay, 7 km from the resort center of Sharm El Sheikh, 20 km from the airport. To the left of the hotel are Club Reef Hotel, Sharm Club Hotel and Labranda Hotels & Resorts, to the right is Tower Bay Resort & Spa. The total area of the territory is 3.0 hectares.
And the grandiose villas-mansions, on a rock to the right of the beach, at a price of many millions of dollars, all the more, contrast against the backdrop of such a wretched beach of the Le Mirage New Tower hotel. And it’s a long way to walk from the hotel to the beach - about 15 minutes, besides, it’s also through the highway that runs along the coast of the Red Sea. It is especially difficult to climb stairs. The only entertainment is to count them - more than a hundred. Does not save from the heat and some shade from the plants on the arch. The free bus that runs 4 times a day does not save the day.
Rooms
The hotel has 175 rooms. The rooms include: bathroom, bathrobes and slippers (charge), hairdryer, individual air conditioning, satellite TV (Russian channels), telephone, mini bar (according to the hotel concept), tea and coffee making facilities (charge), safe (free) , balcony or terrace. Room cleaning and linen change - daily.
Room categories: Standard Rooms-area: 42 sq. m.
, Sea View Rooms - similar to Standard Rooms, + sea view, Family Rooms - area: 65 sq. m. , Executive Suites-area: 65 sq. m. , Junior Suite-area: 63 sq. m. , two rooms, bathroom.
I have no particular complaints about the state of repair of the rooms. Perhaps because I was in the hotel a year after the renovation. The rooms are large, clean, have a comfortable stay, especially in the midday hours of the summer heat. Only now there were problems with air conditioning and plumbing: although the air conditioner worked well, it flooded the floor of the corridor with condensate, and there was a constant blockage in the washbasin. But it is not the fact of the breakdown itself that is interesting, but the reaction of the clerk at the reception: several times, until late at night, I approach him and talk about the problem, and he smiles very disarmingly sweetly, like a Japanese, and promises everything: “We will do it!
In all likelihood, “word of mouth” spread the news among the hotel staff that I had tipped the porter $4 yesterday when I checked in! And now I will give everyone four dollars every day. And so it was. The porter carried a suitcase fifty meters along the building, brought it into the room and did not leave, it was rumpled ...But I don’t have small dollars, only $ 20. I show him. He gestures and a pack of one-dollar bills shows that there is change. I give him a twenty, he hides them and starts counting me a dollar, but somehow slowly and reluctantly. After ten, he stops completely and looks at me ...I insist on continuing the process ...And suddenly, on the sixteenth bill, the count stops and the one-dollar bills run out ...The trick is worthy of a professional illusionist: after all, I definitely saw a pack of bills in his hands, at least fifty pieces ! But there is no going back, and I won’t take my twenty anymore - I understand that.
And, given the inertia of thinking and prices in hryvnia, to which I automatically equated the dollar, I waved my hand: “Okay. ” And he disappeared. But I, realizing this, was upset only for a couple of days. But after my new friend Olga from Pechersk, also, being without small dollars, gave the porter $10 and he promised to immediately bring the change ...he has been waiting for them for a week, I calmed down ...
By the way, a couple of days later, one evening, this same Olya from Pechersk was robbed of several hundred dollars from her purse in her room (they were not in the safe). But after a major scandal with the hotel administration, they threw it behind the TV, seizing the "honestly earned" $ 10.
Nutrition
Meals - only on the "All inclusive" system
Restaurants
Main restaurant - buffet: breakfast, lunch and dinner (07:00-10:00.12:00-15:00.19:00-22:00). Seafood restaurant Ala Carte: dinner for an additional fee. Snacks at the pool bar and beach bar from 11:00-12:00 and from 16:30-17:30.
Non-alcoholic, hot and cold drinks, local alcoholic drinks (vodka, wine, brandy, Ozu, beer, whiskey, rum and gin) - in the restaurant and bars.
The main restaurant is in a separate building, very chic - this is compared to other 4 * hotels in Sharm El Sheikh where I have been. (In Hurghada, 4 * hotels can be even cooler - see below). Even pulls on 5 *. Only the range of dishes is not very. And the quality is within the norm. But there is a problem with beer in the bar of the restaurant: it was enough for only half an hour after the opening of the restaurant.
bars
Beach bar from 09:00 until sunset. Pool bar from 08:00 until the last guest. Bar in the lobby from 10:00 to 23:00.
In bars with beer - the same problem as in a restaurant. Restriction with vacation and ends quickly.
But on the other hand, local spirits in plastic (very similar to glass) bottles - without restriction ...By the way, on the eve of my arrival at this hotel, one of the elderly vacationers died. About the reason - I'm not a doctor, I will not say. But I guess ...The heat in the sun in July is under fifty and above ...
The pool bar is really open until the last visitor. One night we sat in this bar until the morning, and it worked until we ordered something. Only one thing is hidden in advertising: after 24:00 - for a fee!
Of all this, I liked the animation the most - nevertheless, against the background of general boredom (outside the hotel - sand and desert), at least some entertainment. The rest I haven't "tried".
July 4.215. Saturday
Unity with the Red Sea
Six in the morning. And I'm already on the sea. The rising sun pours velvet warmth. The sea surf is trying to tell something with its noise. And tells.
Only Man is limited, apparently because of his sins, and cannot understand him. Again and again I try to penetrate the logic of sea speech, but deeper than acoustic noise, the Sea does not let me in yet. I specifically wrote "yet", hoping that someday I will succeed. I believe that suddenly, like an explosion, the barrier between me and the Sea will be destroyed, and I will hear the real voice of the Sea, I will comprehend it to the full transcendent depth. And I'm moving towards it.
Even in the Crimea, in Alushta, I tried to imagine myself in unity with the Sea, as one whole. And this is partly what I started to get. Now, for political reasons, I have been deprived of the Black Sea, and I cannot freely, like a couple of years ago, go for a week, or even for the whole summer, to the Crimea. Now, for a large amount, I am trying to buy the opportunity to join the Sea far from the Motherland, in Egypt or Turkey. And nostalgia for the native places of the Crimea burns my soul. But there's nothing I can do.
Suddenly, in just a month or two, everything is so dear and close in the Crimea, where every stone, which was an integral part of me, became alien and inaccessible. And I had an association of Alushta with the bride - so I became related to her for ten years. Imagine that you have a bride and you are in love with her so much that you cannot imagine life without her. It has become your integral part: tear it away from you, and for a long time, if not all your life, a spiritual wound will bleed. That is what happened to me. And today I am with a wife that is strange to me, yet unknown to me - with the Red Sea.
I was already familiar with the Red Sea seven years ago, when the Crimea was still mine. And now in Sharm El Sheikh I'm trying to find a replacement for the Black Sea. But I still can't find it completely. Monogamous, I guess. It would seem that everything is the same. And the sound of the surf, but only without the pebble roll under the influx of the sea wave, but only the gentle rustling of sandy beaches.
But the color of the Sea is different: transparent turquoise near the shore, and bright blue in the distance. And the water of the Red Sea is the same, only more salty and with a barely noticeable sour taste. And the inhabitants of these two seas are different. And the Red Sea is red because the number and blooms of fish can surprise and delight everyone, even the most callous cracker. It is useless to describe in words the beauty of the flora and fauna of the Red Sea: it is better to see this beauty at least once in your life.
July 5.215. Sunday
Nature and sea
The only thing that still pleases and impresses is Nature. But you already understand that the fish in the Red Sea are not as attractive as on the first day of your stay in Egypt. Even, sometimes, when swimming, you forget to look at them - so they have become familiar and ordinary. Yes, and the southern exotic of an oasis in the desert is becoming a common everyday life.
But the Sea never ceases to amaze. It is 90% the same: both Black and Red.
Its essence is the same, only differs in individual features. Many books of poetry and prose, paintings and musical works have been written about the Sea. This is understandable: such a miracle cannot fail to evoke a resonance of the feelings of the Soul.
The sea is changing every moment, it is constantly moving, because it is alive. It changes every second, minute or hour - it all depends on how sensitively a person perceives these changes. For some, it changes every second, for others, the Sea will remain unchanged for decades. Everything depends on the sensitivity of the Soul. And only by perceiving the sea alive, it is possible to understand and appreciate it at least to some extent.
I try to perceive the Sea not only with five senses: by sight through the images that are created on the surface and in depth, as far as my gaze reaches, with my ears - through his voice of the surf, tactilely - I perceive with my naked body through the breeze, which always brings it from the sea in the early morning breathing, and with the sense of smell - widely inflating my nostrils and catching on the fly every smell that the breeze brings to me ...And I try to remember all this, put it not in a quick, quickly forgotten memory, but deep into the subconscious, so that everything I know about the Sea remains in me for the rest of my life. And even more - passed on to my descendants. Because I know, words, and any other physical means of our material world, whether it be an artist's brush or a composer's musical writing, it is impossible to describe such beauty. Because Nature tries to show us its beauty through the sensitivity of our Soul, through its feelings.
There, in the distance, the wind on the fly picks up its particles above the surface of the Sea, which decided only to briefly break away from their mother - the sea element and play a little over the surface of the sea surface. But, waiting for this moment, the sea breeze carries them away and carries them to me so that I can appreciate its agility with dignity, and, most importantly, the real smell of the Sea from the virgin sea distance. And I, widening my nostrils, catch them, filtering them along with the air of the breeze and filling them with the entire volume of my five-liter chest. And then it’s a matter of technique: the associations caused by these smells, however, in a very simplified form, fall on paper in a continuous stream of words and sentences. How does this happen? Even for me it remains a secret and an unsolved mystery. But I am sure that soon I will open it.
So what do I feel?
I just wanted to describe everything from nature, the wind abruptly died down and after a short complete calm, it immediately blew in the opposite direction - from land to the Sea. And all the charm and usefulness of the smells of the Sea disappeared in an instant. And how can you write about what you no longer feel? The problem remained unresolved. The question of describing smells from nature remained open.
Ten in the morning. By our standards, it's still morning. And here the day is in full swing. If you are not in a room, in a hotel lobby or in an air-conditioned restaurant, you feel that you are in a brazier and an invisible roaster keeps adding and adding heat. And therefore you are in a hurry to slip through this section of the Earth's surface open to the sun and drop in - where, it does not matter, the main thing is to hide from the scorching sun and from the unbearable closeness of the air. If you are on the beach, you jump out from under the umbrella and quickly into the water.
I repeatedly tried to see a table of operational temperature of air, water, sea waves in points, which are usually posted on every beach in Crimea with mandatory monitoring, almost every hour. But my communication with the Arab - the caretaker at the entrance to the beach, did not give a result; the impression is that even the term "Celsius" he hears for the first time. Maybe he didn't go to school at all? And he only knows the terms "dollar" and "chocolate", in the sense of a tip. And they live! This is amazing!
And with regard to information about temperature, everything, as I understand it, is much simpler. Why in the middle of summer to frighten vacationers with an air temperature of fifty degrees? After all, they will scatter instantly, taking with them unspent dollars ...And how can a local Arab survive after that?
And the heat and stuffiness does not depend on whether we know its size in Celsius. It's hot to even think - the brains in the "bowler" seem to be exposed to the oven. It's hard to breathe, like in a bath.
Only the bath here is not half an hour and not an hour, but all the time, as far as the ticket is bought. Horror! . . It makes you want to put your head in the freezer and breathe in it at least a little of our good European winter and frost.
The wind during the day already blows not from the Sea, bringing cool and healing phytoncides, but from the desert - naked and deserted like death, a multi-kilometer surface. That pleasant morning breeze turned into an evil Windbreaker, which raised a thick layer of air overheated to the limit from the surface of the desert and sandy expanses and drove it at me. The only salvation is for those at whose feet is the splashing Sea. The world is divided into two halves: on the one hand, an ever-burning brazier, on the other, the saving coolness of the sea. And you, of course, choose the Sea. After a few seconds, the Sea engulfs your body, enveloping it with its cool grace. The overheated body enters the norm of its natural state.
July 6.215.
And then, at the Sharm El-Sheikh airport, I remembered a rather interesting story a week ago, which began at the Boryspil airport, and ended here, and which I was a witness to. And that's why I can't tell you about it.
In early July, for the first time after a seven-year break, I found myself at the airport again before my flight to Sharm El Sheikh. And since the old fear before and during takeoff and landing, as well as due to air pockets and the rattle of the entire body of the aircraft, still remained in my memory, I sat in the check-in hall of the Boryspil airport and slowly sipped cognac and ate something stored from home. Naturally, my gaze wandered around the entire terminal hall, trying to fish out at least one more or less interesting picture. But, alas, the vanity and purposeful running around ate up every chance even for the appearance of something original and interesting.
Moreover, next to the cafe table, a very elderly grandfather, about eighty years old, in a light gray suit, lay with his chest, his head tilted to one side on the table. He slept, as at first glance it seemed, calmly and childishly serene, but only sometimes his nervous shudder betrayed his true anxiety. But what was there to worry about if his relatives were fussing around him - a wiry big man with such a square, fleshy face that there was no doubt about the physical strength of his muscles. And nearby fluttered his magnificent in body, especially in the hips, wife, with enviable not only hips, but also a bust and everything else.
If we evaluate all this in units of weight, then there would be at least ten pounds ...But I did not know that in eight days all this would line up in the original logical chain, and therefore, automatically fixing all this and a little, envying this healthy man (since I am also a supporter of magnificent female forms and, moreover, at that time I was an active bachelor), immediately turned my gaze further and deeper into the airport halls in search of more interesting subjects. And this was already my need: constant journaling and daily essay entries on any topic that caught my eye (like the Chukchi: what I see, I write about it), subconsciously pushed me to pry out suitable information from the world around me. And everything that I saw that day, up to takeoff, flight and landing at the airport of Sharm El Sheikh, I set out in my Diary (see above) ...
Nevertheless, the picture of this trinity continued exactly eight days later at the Sharm El Sheikh airport, when I returned back to Kyiv, I saw them, although I never expected to meet them in my life.
First of all, I saw a light gray suit, somehow baggy sitting on a rather dry old man. Apparently, this suit was for him at the time of about twenty or thirty years ago, when his whole body was filled with strong muscles, moderately fat and incredible life force, which allowed him to live to an advanced age and will still allow him to live years, commercials, up to hundred, maybe more. But it all flashed through my mind in an instant, as fast as lightning. And the most important thing that attracted my attention for a long time was a black bandage on a light background of a jacket that supported a broken (! ) arm.
And it was this broken arm that built a rather interesting logical chain, starting from the airport hall in Boryspil, when I first saw this old man in the company of unusual fellow travelers, and to this day. Yes, and the facial expressions of these personalities prompted such a conclusion. If earlier, their faces were deeply concerned about something, as if in Kyiv, outside the Boryspil airport, their oppressive circumstances remained. And, leaving Ukraine, they ran away from these problems for a while. Here, at the Sharm El-Sheikh airport, some joy appeared on their faces and a very real confidence that Kyiv's problems could be resolved.
What has changed in these eight days? Absolutely nothing ...except for grandfather's broken arm.
And then, like lightning, I flashed one, albeit heuristic, but rather bold and original thought, which put a broken arm in the main character in this story.
I remembered about the insurance of thirty thousand US dollars (and even more for the elderly), which all tourists sign when traveling abroad. In addition, no one prohibits any additional insurance in an unlimited amount, even for a million dollars.
And everything fell into place. A broken arm tied up seemingly incompatible facts...
And my rich creative imagination presented a vivid picture of how this wiry big man with a cruel, like a criminal, fleshy and despotic muzzle of his face, with unusual ease and just like a dry branch in the forest, breaks the lean hand of his relative (or maybe not a relative, but just an accomplice in this difficult business), and his wife (or maybe not a spouse, but also just a colleague in this business) firmly presses the pillow to his grandfather’s face so that his neighbors would not hear his cry through the decibels of loudly turned on music ...But when this, fearing not to strangle him at all. After all, murder is already a serious crime and you cannot file it as an accident with a broken arm ...
The second question that arose in my head was: “How long will the money received from insurance be enough, and when else to wait at any airport for this trinity in the same, or in a slightly different composition, but with the unconditional participation of a desperate grandfather and a strong healthy man - obligatory actors of this highly profitable performance-business. In addition, this "gold mine" cannot but attract the attention of other greedy "businessmen" with a swindling mindset .. .
Takeoff
Four in the morning. After some fuss and a sleepless night, the east is a little gray, and we are already on the plane, slowly and imposingly taxiing to the runway. The engines roar monotonously, bringing only a faint rumble to our cabin, sometimes the body of the aircraft trembles at the junctions of concrete slabs, echoing in the slight trembling of the seats. We, all about two hundred passengers, are firmly pulled into our seats by our safety belts, and from this strong pull it seems quite safe. But it's still here on earth. In the air, at a ten-kilometer altitude, this protection will seem scanty and unreliable. And the thought will only be about a parachute, which, unfortunately, is not there ...
But while we are on the ground, we are slowly and confidently taxiing to the start.
And in the porthole - below us is concrete, and a little higher, on the horizon, the already gray haze is diluted by the barely noticeable blueness of the dawn, which should soon turn into pink, and then into the purple color of the morning Dawn. But it will be later, after our life will step over the dangerous few seconds of takeoff ...
And here is a short stop. Powerful engines roared, the plane shook with its huge body, and an invisible force squeezed me into a chair. After some speed limit, my body suddenly began to be pressed by an unknown force not only into the back of the chair, but also into its seat. This plane abruptly, from a place rushed forward. I have experienced this feeling of soaring more than once, but I still can’t comprehend it to the end.
I felt, experienced many times before, when moving from a standstill behind the wheel of a motorcycle, and then a car, the inexplicable joy of accelerated movement, as if this acceleration took me to another world, an unknown world of joy and euphoria, completely different compared to the world of everyday life. There was a desire to accelerate this movement to the limit, despite the fact that the end of my material existence may be at this limit. These were the feelings of the Soul, in contradiction to the realities of danger for the mortal body. I also felt that I was breaking away from this world and joining some unknown world outside of our Universe ...
But it lasted only a moment by the standards of our world. Consciousness did not allow me to enjoy the delights of another world for too long and squeezes itself into the feelings of the soul.
The senses of the body also awakened along with consciousness and tried to instill in my consciousness a panic fear of a possible danger, the likelihood of which increased with every second. Pictures of the tragic end of the moment of take-off emerge in my memory: the loss of stability of the aircraft, its roll on its side, with wings falling off, the tail section and hitting the ground, on fire and with clouds of black smoke ...After all, few of the passengers manage to survive ...
And life in this world is the main thing. And no matter what, the main thing is life. Because without it physical existence in this world ceases. And I thought: how we are still attached to our physical shell, sometimes to the detriment of our spiritual content. There is a constant struggle going on. And almost always the physical form prevails and the spiritual essence is oppressed. I feel this most acutely, as I am engaged in creativity.
I have made repeated and hopeless attempts to completely immerse myself in the creative process, in the spiritual world and share what I have seen with others, attract supporters and like-minded people to me ...
Meanwhile, from the thoughts that had gone so far into the subconscious and into the Spiritual world, I was torn away by the reality of the events of the takeoff. As a result, consciousness completely came into its own, and I began to live the realities of the present. Mechanically, he squeezed the armrests with his hands and tensed all over. I began to look out the window - there into the open saving space, taking my eyes off the shaded cabin of the aircraft, which now seemed to me like a slammed mousetrap, from which it is impossible to get out and which is preparing an unpleasant surprise for your life ...And I was in such a tense state, until he felt safe after the wheels of the aircraft were off the ground and climbed to a sufficient height. And this height seemed to me saving.
Remaining in such tension, I could not even take part in the applause of the aircraft commander and co-pilot at the moment the wheels left the ground, which showed the highest class. And I even thought that the plane passed through a thundercloud and large hailstones hammered on the hull - such an impression was left by the applause along with the echo inside this cigar-shaped shell of the aircraft.
And yet, my feelings are on the rise: this is the effect of a closed microspace. If you look into the cabin of the aircraft, my rational mind continued to “nitpick” every little thing and look for an explanation for it. And it was a little reassuring: everything is going according to plan, and it happens in accordance with the laws of physics; no failure, which can cause panic fear and the desire to take some action to save one's own life.
And if you look out the window, then everything falls into place: the mysterious force that presses me into the seat of the chair is the result of the plane taking off from the ground and climbing. In addition, stuffy ears from pressure drop confirm this.
Against the background of a sharp climb, I feel another discomfort when the plane rolled to the right and the ground was almost under the right window, but soon the roll leveled off. It was the turning of the plane into its own air corridor, along which the dispatchers would fly it, passing it to each other, from country to country, until we reached the destination airport.
The takeoff period is over. The plane gained its ten-kilometer altitude. The engines are running smoothly. Slowly, very slowly, the clouds are passing under us, and in the gap between them is the earth.
So slowly that you begin to doubt that you are flying in an airplane at a speed of 920 kilometers per hour, and you are hanging in the air in a balloon and you are driven by the wind ...
But fears still disturb the soul: as if some separatist or other terrorist would point a Buk missile at you ...
These are my feelings when taking off after a seven-year break.
At an altitude of 1.000 meters
My little microcosm, together with the microcosm of two hundred passengers in the cabin, is torn off into an autonomous "float" at an altitude of ten kilometers above the ground. I automatically imagined this distance on the surface of the earth and conditionally raised this segment above its surface. It turned out not very much.
My feelings are at this height. First of all, a sense of pride in myself that I can afford such a luxury - to soar above the ground. Looking deeper inside myself, I fish out some feelings of increased self-importance.
This is from the fact that I am upstairs, and down there, like ants, people who are not even visible to the naked eye are swarming in their bustle. But I quickly return myself to my rut, realizing that this is just an optical illusion. Although I experienced similar feelings when I worked in the city committee and the city executive committee ...And this analogy somewhat pleased me.
Despite the smooth and reliable rumble of powerful engines, I still had a feeling of danger and anxiety for my life. After all, it's -34°C overboard, and I'm in a T-shirt and shorts, and I'm going to fly down as much as ten thousand meters: I'll freeze! And besides, the pressure drop is such that no swallowing of saliva will save your eardrums and “boiling” of blood from decompression sickness.
There is only one way out - not to think about the negative, eat a skinny sandwich handed out by flight attendants, silently scold the greedy Kolomoisky, the owner of the airline, for the scarcity of lunch and the lack of strong drinks (as it was seven years ago) and fall asleep for two hours before landing at Sharm- El Sheikh.
But sleep, even after a sleepless night, failed. The “fasten seat belts” warning lights flashed, and the pilot's voice warned that we were entering a turbulence zone and would be in it for as long as 20 (! ) minutes. Again, the shaking of the entire body of the aircraft, the suspicious trembling of the wings, which is clearly visible through the window, and the obsessive thought about the possible mechanical unreliability of the aircraft structure: will it withstand such overloads, will it not fall to the ground like debris? (Looking ahead, already after landing, you think: am I crazy that I allowed myself to think about this?
But right then and there, I justified myself by the fact that the psychology of a person is such that he expects the worst option in order to be ready for it and have time to take appropriate measures to prevent disaster, save at a critical moment for life). But after a few minutes of constant and not gaining strength shaking, you understand that everything is in order with the safety margin of the aircraft and you even allow yourself to plunge into a light nap.
In the plane, weak interior lighting was left and the blinds of the windows were open - all with the same psychological foresight: to take the passengers' eyes off the closed space and translate them into a living picture under the wing of the plane. This calms and prevents possible panic. Everything goes according to plan. The gaze is riveted to the earth, which at such a great distance seems to be part of a huge globe.
And if you look into the cabin of the plane and back to the Earth, it seems that the plane is stationary, and the Earth is slowly moving under its belly in the opposite direction, as if someone is dragging it on a conveyor. Moreover, there is a visual reference to the real cabin of the aircraft and to two hundred passengers, the same as me.
After the promised twenty minutes, the turbulence zone was successfully passed. The usual conditional “silence” sets in again with a smooth hum of engines and cirrus clouds quietly floating under the belly of the plane, and a little lower, and cumulus clouds. And between them is the dark blue expanse of the Mediterranean Sea, and a little later - the surface of the Earth with mountains and rivers, dark stripes of roads and squares of residential towns and cities. And you allow yourself to capture all this beauty on a movie camera and photograph it, so that later, upon arrival in Kyiv, you can nostalgically recall your impressions at an altitude of 1.000 meters above the Earth.
Sharm El Sheikh Air Gate
Pilot command: Fasten your seat belts! We're going to land. " And again, several minutes of alarm, until the moment when the landing gear of the aircraft touches the ground. But the smoothness of the movement of the aircraft before landing and the tempering of the psyche by various turbulences and suspicious trembling of the entire body of the aircraft, as well as the anticipation of all the delights of a holiday on the Red Sea, smooth out any minor troubles. And therefore, it seemed, by our good will, the plane landed safely, the commander of the plane and the entire crew, including the charming flight attendants (only now you begin to notice their special charm, although I want to note that they are not at all old yet), received a stormy and joyful applause . Some immediately began to jump up and arm themselves with their hand luggage, to which the charming flight attendants immediately reacted: they made everyone sit down in their seats ...
Ten minutes later we are on the airport bus. And after a few minutes, we grab our suitcases from the conveyor, go through customs inspection, passport control, paying (if anyone needs it) “visa” twenty-five dollars, put down a visa stamp and leave the airport building, where dozens of buses are waiting for us on the site, to take everyone to their hotels.
Early morning. As for Egypt, a slight coolness. I involuntarily recall the same Sharm El-Sheikh airport seven years ago, when our plane landed at noon and the first impression of Egypt was the heat of the desert, which smelled in my face and enveloped my whole body when we entered the same site.
Around, as well as seven years ago, where only the eye reached - a solid desert. Only sometimes, as a symbol of the fact that there is life in the desert, dry trunks of palm trees stick out of the sand with a hat, in the form of a rare umbrella, fan leaves.
Longing and nostalgia creeps into my soul for that native violent Nature, which I exchanged, and even for a large sum of money. But there was hope for the only thing: for an irrigated oasis and landscaping of the hotel territory and for the delights of a natural gift that you will not see anywhere in the world, as soon as on the Red Sea.
Shara and the Poverty of Egypt
Today I remembered that, among other things, I am also an aphorist. And I remembered, because earlier, during a previous trip to Egypt, while swimming in the Red Sea, I had another aphorism: “Egypt is such an extremely poor country that even the fish in the sea are so hungry that they are ready to bite off the finger of the hand that feeds it. ”
On this occasion, there is a topic for an essay on the topic: “Why are vouchers to Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia several times cheaper than similar ones to Europe or America? » And the explanation is very simple.
First of all, cheap labor, willing to serve you in hotels; cheap foodstuffs, as producers - agricultural workers, agree to work for meager wages, and so on. And therefore here, as nowhere else in mass order, the "All inclusive" food system is possible at the lowest prices.
Egypt hotels
Hotels in Egypt category 4 * are much inferior to hotels in Turkey of the same level. I say so, as I have previously been to the “fours” of the Turkish resorts of Bodrum and Alanya. They compensate for such a contrast with a natural gift - the Red Sea. And therefore, many, for the sake of the charm of the Red Sea and its inhabitants, turn a blind eye to the significant difference in the comfort of the hotel and its infrastructure and strive for Egypt. Yes, apparently, the Turks are trying to compensate for the lack of such a unique sea as the Red Sea with their increased comfort and service.
But, I would say, after having visited the luxury hotels of Sharm El Sheikh, which will be discussed below, comfort and service are quite achievable in Egypt, but the Red Sea can only be here!
But still, the difference between 3 * and 4 * hotels in Egypt can be very significant. And you especially feel this striking contrast when you find yourself in a hotel of a lower category for one month, which happened to me today. Moreover, the hotel staff is much, to put it mildly, “simpler”. And even trying to make money on the difference in comfort, repair and arrangement of the rooms themselves of the same category.
Brief description of the hotel with comments
Le Mirage New Tower Hotel 4 * is located in the El Mahmeya area, in Tower Bay, 5 km from Naama Bay, 7 km from the resort center of Sharm El Sheikh, 20 km from the airport. To the left of the hotel are Club Reef Hotel, Sharm Club Hotel and Labranda Hotels & Resorts, to the right is Tower Bay Resort & Spa. The total area of the territory is 3.0 hectares.
And the grandiose villas-mansions, on a rock to the right of the beach, at a price of many millions of dollars, all the more, contrast against the backdrop of such a wretched beach of the Le Mirage New Tower hotel. And it’s a long way to walk from the hotel to the beach - about 15 minutes, besides, it’s also through the highway that runs along the coast of the Red Sea. It is especially difficult to climb stairs. The only entertainment is to count them - more than a hundred. Does not save from the heat and some shade from the plants on the arch. The free bus that runs 4 times a day does not save the day.
Rooms
The hotel has 175 rooms. The rooms include: bathroom, bathrobes and slippers (charge), hairdryer, individual air conditioning, satellite TV (Russian channels), telephone, mini bar (according to the hotel concept), tea and coffee making facilities (charge), safe (free) , balcony or terrace. Room cleaning and linen change - daily.
Room categories: Standard Rooms-area: 42 sq. m.
, Sea View Rooms - similar to Standard Rooms, + sea view, Family Rooms - area: 65 sq. m. , Executive Suites-area: 65 sq. m. , Junior Suite-area: 63 sq. m. , two rooms, bathroom.
I have no particular complaints about the state of repair of the rooms. Perhaps because I was in the hotel a year after the renovation. The rooms are large, clean, have a comfortable stay, especially in the midday hours of the summer heat. Only now there were problems with air conditioning and plumbing: although the air conditioner worked well, it flooded the floor of the corridor with condensate, and there was a constant blockage in the washbasin. But it is not the fact of the breakdown itself that is interesting, but the reaction of the clerk at the reception: several times, until late at night, I approach him and talk about the problem, and he smiles very disarmingly sweetly, like a Japanese, and promises everything: “We will do it!
In all likelihood, “word of mouth” spread the news among the hotel staff that I had tipped the porter $4 yesterday when I checked in! And now I will give everyone four dollars every day. And so it was. The porter carried a suitcase fifty meters along the building, brought it into the room and did not leave, it was rumpled ...But I don’t have small dollars, only $ 20. I show him. He gestures and a pack of one-dollar bills shows that there is change. I give him a twenty, he hides them and starts counting me a dollar, but somehow slowly and reluctantly. After ten, he stops completely and looks at me ...I insist on continuing the process ...And suddenly, on the sixteenth bill, the count stops and the one-dollar bills run out ...The trick is worthy of a professional illusionist: after all, I definitely saw a pack of bills in his hands, at least fifty pieces ! But there is no going back, and I won’t take my twenty anymore - I understand that.
And, given the inertia of thinking and prices in hryvnia, to which I automatically equated the dollar, I waved my hand: “Okay. ” And he disappeared. But I, realizing this, was upset only for a couple of days. But after my new friend Olga from Pechersk, also, being without small dollars, gave the porter $10 and he promised to immediately bring the change ...he has been waiting for them for a week, I calmed down ...
By the way, a couple of days later, one evening, this same Olya from Pechersk was robbed of several hundred dollars from her purse in her room (they were not in the safe). But after a major scandal with the hotel administration, they threw it behind the TV, seizing the "honestly earned" $ 10.
Nutrition
Meals - only on the "All inclusive" system
Restaurants
Main restaurant - buffet: breakfast, lunch and dinner (07:00-10:00.12:00-15:00.19:00-22:00). Seafood restaurant Ala Carte: dinner for an additional fee. Snacks at the pool bar and beach bar from 11:00-12:00 and from 16:30-17:30.
Non-alcoholic, hot and cold drinks, local alcoholic drinks (vodka, wine, brandy, Ozu, beer, whiskey, rum and gin) - in the restaurant and bars.
The main restaurant is in a separate building, very chic - this is compared to other 4 * hotels in Sharm El Sheikh where I have been. (In Hurghada, 4 * hotels can be even cooler - see below). Even pulls on 5 *. Only the range of dishes is not very. And the quality is within the norm. But there is a problem with beer in the bar of the restaurant: it was enough for only half an hour after the opening of the restaurant.
bars
Beach bar from 09:00 until sunset. Pool bar from 08:00 until the last guest. Bar in the lobby from 10:00 to 23:00.
In bars with beer - the same problem as in a restaurant. Restriction with vacation and ends quickly.
But on the other hand, local spirits in plastic (very similar to glass) bottles - without restriction ...By the way, on the eve of my arrival at this hotel, one of the elderly vacationers died. About the reason - I'm not a doctor, I will not say. But I guess ...The heat in the sun in July is under fifty and above ...
The pool bar is really open until the last visitor. One night we sat in this bar until the morning, and it worked until we ordered something. Only one thing is hidden in advertising: after 24:00 - for a fee!
Of all this, I liked the animation the most - nevertheless, against the background of general boredom (outside the hotel - sand and desert), at least some entertainment. The rest I haven't "tried".
July 4.215. Saturday
Unity with the Red Sea
Six in the morning. And I'm already on the sea. The rising sun pours velvet warmth. The sea surf is trying to tell something with its noise. And tells.
Only Man is limited, apparently because of his sins, and cannot understand him. Again and again I try to penetrate the logic of sea speech, but deeper than acoustic noise, the Sea does not let me in yet. I specifically wrote "yet", hoping that someday I will succeed. I believe that suddenly, like an explosion, the barrier between me and the Sea will be destroyed, and I will hear the real voice of the Sea, I will comprehend it to the full transcendent depth. And I'm moving towards it.
Even in the Crimea, in Alushta, I tried to imagine myself in unity with the Sea, as one whole. And this is partly what I started to get. Now, for political reasons, I have been deprived of the Black Sea, and I cannot freely, like a couple of years ago, go for a week, or even for the whole summer, to the Crimea. Now, for a large amount, I am trying to buy the opportunity to join the Sea far from the Motherland, in Egypt or Turkey. And nostalgia for the native places of the Crimea burns my soul. But there's nothing I can do.
Suddenly, in just a month or two, everything is so dear and close in the Crimea, where every stone, which was an integral part of me, became alien and inaccessible. And I had an association of Alushta with the bride - so I became related to her for ten years. Imagine that you have a bride and you are in love with her so much that you cannot imagine life without her. It has become your integral part: tear it away from you, and for a long time, if not all your life, a spiritual wound will bleed. That is what happened to me. And today I am with a wife that is strange to me, yet unknown to me - with the Red Sea.
I was already familiar with the Red Sea seven years ago, when the Crimea was still mine. And now in Sharm El Sheikh I'm trying to find a replacement for the Black Sea. But I still can't find it completely. Monogamous, I guess. It would seem that everything is the same. And the sound of the surf, but only without the pebble roll under the influx of the sea wave, but only the gentle rustling of sandy beaches.
But the color of the Sea is different: transparent turquoise near the shore, and bright blue in the distance. And the water of the Red Sea is the same, only more salty and with a barely noticeable sour taste. And the inhabitants of these two seas are different. And the Red Sea is red because the number and blooms of fish can surprise and delight everyone, even the most callous cracker. It is useless to describe in words the beauty of the flora and fauna of the Red Sea: it is better to see this beauty at least once in your life.
July 5.215. Sunday
Nature and sea
The only thing that still pleases and impresses is Nature. But you already understand that the fish in the Red Sea are not as attractive as on the first day of your stay in Egypt. Even, sometimes, when swimming, you forget to look at them - so they have become familiar and ordinary. Yes, and the southern exotic of an oasis in the desert is becoming a common everyday life.
But the Sea never ceases to amaze. It is 90% the same: both Black and Red.
Its essence is the same, only differs in individual features. Many books of poetry and prose, paintings and musical works have been written about the Sea. This is understandable: such a miracle cannot fail to evoke a resonance of the feelings of the Soul.
The sea is changing every moment, it is constantly moving, because it is alive. It changes every second, minute or hour - it all depends on how sensitively a person perceives these changes. For some, it changes every second, for others, the Sea will remain unchanged for decades. Everything depends on the sensitivity of the Soul. And only by perceiving the sea alive, it is possible to understand and appreciate it at least to some extent.
I try to perceive the Sea not only with five senses: by sight through the images that are created on the surface and in depth, as far as my gaze reaches, with my ears - through his voice of the surf, tactilely - I perceive with my naked body through the breeze, which always brings it from the sea in the early morning breathing, and with the sense of smell - widely inflating my nostrils and catching on the fly every smell that the breeze brings to me ...And I try to remember all this, put it not in a quick, quickly forgotten memory, but deep into the subconscious, so that everything I know about the Sea remains in me for the rest of my life. And even more - passed on to my descendants. Because I know, words, and any other physical means of our material world, whether it be an artist's brush or a composer's musical writing, it is impossible to describe such beauty. Because Nature tries to show us its beauty through the sensitivity of our Soul, through its feelings.
There, in the distance, the wind on the fly picks up its particles above the surface of the Sea, which decided only to briefly break away from their mother - the sea element and play a little over the surface of the sea surface. But, waiting for this moment, the sea breeze carries them away and carries them to me so that I can appreciate its agility with dignity, and, most importantly, the real smell of the Sea from the virgin sea distance. And I, widening my nostrils, catch them, filtering them along with the air of the breeze and filling them with the entire volume of my five-liter chest. And then it’s a matter of technique: the associations caused by these smells, however, in a very simplified form, fall on paper in a continuous stream of words and sentences. How does this happen? Even for me it remains a secret and an unsolved mystery. But I am sure that soon I will open it.
So what do I feel?
I just wanted to describe everything from nature, the wind abruptly died down and after a short complete calm, it immediately blew in the opposite direction - from land to the Sea. And all the charm and usefulness of the smells of the Sea disappeared in an instant. And how can you write about what you no longer feel? The problem remained unresolved. The question of describing smells from nature remained open.
Ten in the morning. By our standards, it's still morning. And here the day is in full swing. If you are not in a room, in a hotel lobby or in an air-conditioned restaurant, you feel that you are in a brazier and an invisible roaster keeps adding and adding heat. And therefore you are in a hurry to slip through this section of the Earth's surface open to the sun and drop in - where, it does not matter, the main thing is to hide from the scorching sun and from the unbearable closeness of the air. If you are on the beach, you jump out from under the umbrella and quickly into the water.
I repeatedly tried to see a table of operational temperature of air, water, sea waves in points, which are usually posted on every beach in Crimea with mandatory monitoring, almost every hour. But my communication with the Arab - the caretaker at the entrance to the beach, did not give a result; the impression is that even the term "Celsius" he hears for the first time. Maybe he didn't go to school at all? And he only knows the terms "dollar" and "chocolate", in the sense of a tip. And they live! This is amazing!
And with regard to information about temperature, everything, as I understand it, is much simpler. Why in the middle of summer to frighten vacationers with an air temperature of fifty degrees? After all, they will scatter instantly, taking with them unspent dollars ...And how can a local Arab survive after that?
And the heat and stuffiness does not depend on whether we know its size in Celsius. It's hot to even think - the brains in the "bowler" seem to be exposed to the oven. It's hard to breathe, like in a bath.
Only the bath here is not half an hour and not an hour, but all the time, as far as the ticket is bought. Horror! . . It makes you want to put your head in the freezer and breathe in it at least a little of our good European winter and frost.
The wind during the day already blows not from the Sea, bringing cool and healing phytoncides, but from the desert - naked and deserted like death, a multi-kilometer surface. That pleasant morning breeze turned into an evil Windbreaker, which raised a thick layer of air overheated to the limit from the surface of the desert and sandy expanses and drove it at me. The only salvation is for those at whose feet is the splashing Sea. The world is divided into two halves: on the one hand, an ever-burning brazier, on the other, the saving coolness of the sea. And you, of course, choose the Sea. After a few seconds, the Sea engulfs your body, enveloping it with its cool grace. The overheated body enters the norm of its natural state.
July 6.215.
And then, at the Sharm El-Sheikh airport, I remembered a rather interesting story a week ago, which began at the Boryspil airport, and ended here, and which I was a witness to. And that's why I can't tell you about it.
In early July, for the first time after a seven-year break, I found myself at the airport again before my flight to Sharm El Sheikh. And since the old fear before and during takeoff and landing, as well as due to air pockets and the rattle of the entire body of the aircraft, still remained in my memory, I sat in the check-in hall of the Boryspil airport and slowly sipped cognac and ate something stored from home. Naturally, my gaze wandered around the entire terminal hall, trying to fish out at least one more or less interesting picture. But, alas, the vanity and purposeful running around ate up every chance even for the appearance of something original and interesting.
Moreover, next to the cafe table, a very elderly grandfather, about eighty years old, in a light gray suit, lay with his chest, his head tilted to one side on the table. He slept, as at first glance it seemed, calmly and childishly serene, but only sometimes his nervous shudder betrayed his true anxiety. But what was there to worry about if his relatives were fussing around him - a wiry big man with such a square, fleshy face that there was no doubt about the physical strength of his muscles. And nearby fluttered his magnificent in body, especially in the hips, wife, with enviable not only hips, but also a bust and everything else.
If we evaluate all this in units of weight, then there would be at least ten pounds ...But I did not know that in eight days all this would line up in the original logical chain, and therefore, automatically fixing all this and a little, envying this healthy man (since I am also a supporter of magnificent female forms and, moreover, at that time I was an active bachelor), immediately turned my gaze further and deeper into the airport halls in search of more interesting subjects. And this was already my need: constant journaling and daily essay entries on any topic that caught my eye (like the Chukchi: what I see, I write about it), subconsciously pushed me to pry out suitable information from the world around me. And everything that I saw that day, up to takeoff, flight and landing at the airport of Sharm El Sheikh, I set out in my Diary (see above) ...
Nevertheless, the picture of this trinity continued exactly eight days later at the Sharm El Sheikh airport, when I returned back to Kyiv, I saw them, although I never expected to meet them in my life.
First of all, I saw a light gray suit, somehow baggy sitting on a rather dry old man. Apparently, this suit was for him at the time of about twenty or thirty years ago, when his whole body was filled with strong muscles, moderately fat and incredible life force, which allowed him to live to an advanced age and will still allow him to live years, commercials, up to hundred, maybe more. But it all flashed through my mind in an instant, as fast as lightning. And the most important thing that attracted my attention for a long time was a black bandage on a light background of a jacket that supported a broken (! ) arm.
And it was this broken arm that built a rather interesting logical chain, starting from the airport hall in Boryspil, when I first saw this old man in the company of unusual fellow travelers, and to this day. Yes, and the facial expressions of these personalities prompted such a conclusion. If earlier, their faces were deeply concerned about something, as if in Kyiv, outside the Boryspil airport, their oppressive circumstances remained. And, leaving Ukraine, they ran away from these problems for a while. Here, at the Sharm El-Sheikh airport, some joy appeared on their faces and a very real confidence that Kyiv's problems could be resolved.
What has changed in these eight days? Absolutely nothing ...except for grandfather's broken arm.
And then, like lightning, I flashed one, albeit heuristic, but rather bold and original thought, which put a broken arm in the main character in this story.
I remembered about the insurance of thirty thousand US dollars (and even more for the elderly), which all tourists sign when traveling abroad. In addition, no one prohibits any additional insurance in an unlimited amount, even for a million dollars.
And everything fell into place. A broken arm tied up seemingly incompatible facts...
And my rich creative imagination presented a vivid picture of how this wiry big man with a cruel, like a criminal, fleshy and despotic muzzle of his face, with unusual ease and just like a dry branch in the forest, breaks the lean hand of his relative (or maybe not a relative, but just an accomplice in this difficult business), and his wife (or maybe not a spouse, but also just a colleague in this business) firmly presses the pillow to his grandfather’s face so that his neighbors would not hear his cry through the decibels of loudly turned on music ...But when this, fearing not to strangle him at all. After all, murder is already a serious crime and you cannot file it as an accident with a broken arm ...
The second question that arose in my head was: “How long will the money received from insurance be enough, and when else to wait at any airport for this trinity in the same, or in a slightly different composition, but with the unconditional participation of a desperate grandfather and a strong healthy man - obligatory actors of this highly profitable performance-business. In addition, this "gold mine" cannot but attract the attention of other greedy "businessmen" with a swindling mindset .. .
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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