SHOPPING IN EGYPT. SHOPING EGYPT.
SHOPPING IN SHARM EL SHEIKH. SHOPING SHARM EL SHEIKH.
SHOPPING OLD TOWN and SOHO. SHOPING OLD CITY AND SOHO.
SHOPPING NAAMA BAY. SHOPING NAAMA BAY.
In March 2018, compared to last year (April 2017), the prices became completely illogical, but there are also pluses, for example, they finally sold out all the junk that we saw last year.
Moreover, what is interesting is that now, when we were now, and according to our feelings (both when we walked the streets and when we were taking tourists on excursions) and what we heard from tourists from other hotels and from partisan guides - almost tourists no, namely: out of 150 hotels in Sharm El Sheikh, less than a third (something about 45 hotels) are working, which are 25-30% full.
At the same time, one gets the impression that the sellers raised prices for cheap goods and threw off for expensive ones, while they want to earn money from the sale of 2-3 towels immediately for an apartment - some are very reluctant to bargain, while others, starting to bargain from $25, at the end of the auction, when we left without buying anything, they drop the price to $ 7-8 ...
What is another plus of shopping in March 2018 compared to April 2017 is that they are less rude in stores and even more afraid of the Tourist Police.
With all this, if last year almost all sellers told us about the crisis, then this year, when we reminded them of the crisis and thus motivated them to make bolder price offers, that is, give us discounts, almost everyone told us that there is no crisis and “business is good”.
It's strange somehow...
Anyway!
Let's start with a very funny shopping on excursions, for example, you can be brought to Dahab to the Turquoise center store.
What is the anecdote of this shopping - you will be told that this is a state market and prices here are 4 (four) times lower, for example, than in Naama bay. Laughter and nothing more. To reinforce the officiality of this event, at the entrance you will be given a leaflet describing the oils that are produced at the factory directly in Dahab and therefore without extra charge and of high quality, and another leaflet is an order, only thanks to which you participate in the promotion and only today, for example, a discount on diamonds as much as 5-10%. But if you don’t buy anything, you need to return these magical leaves! The presentation of perfumes/oils is probably funny...In general, you can go and laugh.
Shopping in the Old Town - we did not find anything that is not in Naama bay or would be cheaper or would be of some quality that is not found anywhere else.
Shopping in Soho compares favorably with the previous two - it feels like you are in a very large supermarket, where you can choose goods of decent quality at an affordable price. Prices are about the same as in Naama bay. What is the advantage of Soho is that some sellers do not even notice you until you contact them, which distinguishes Soho, for example, from the same Naama bay, where everyone considers it their duty to meet you in every store with a standard set Questions: What's your name? where are you from? why so evil? buy for a dollar? and then the standard set of dragging into the store: I'm not a stinger, just look, I need your advice, only information, and so on ...What we saw in Soho, which we didn’t see in Naama bay or in the Old City, is Arabic perfume / oil from Arab emirates manufactured by Maa Al Thahab and leather bracelets by the type of Kanz products.
Shopping in Naama bay already has a certain scheme / treasure map for us, which has not changed much since the last trip, for example:
The store, which you should NOT go to under any circumstances EXCEPT for buying women's scarves for $5 and natural white musk for $5, is located on the second Central street opposite (Across the road) from the Hard Rock Cafe, and when these 2 (two) products are in this store run out, then generally FORGET about this "shop". The owner of the store behaves very strangely and does not evoke positive emotions and likes to sell to drunk Belarusians everything that he has stale, while the prices for food in his store are at least 30 percent higher than the rest. As we understood, he allowed two tenants into his store: one sells towels at 2 (two) prices, and the second sells oils in the back of the store.
For example, camel milk at a price of 140 pounds ($8) per 1 kg in the Pharmacy (Farmacia) sells for 600 pounds ($33), that is, a 300% markup or 4 (four) prices. And the owner of this store pesters almost everyone to sell him vodka, and if he is refused, he calls him a miser and goes almost to cry that he was deceived! In general, except for lovers of Dubious pleasures, we DO NOT recommend ANYONE to go to this store!
FOOD - This is a Carrefour supermarket, which is not far from the taxi stand, in general, everyone knows where it is. We took water ($0.5-$1), discounted juices ($0.5), bought date jam ($1.5), 0.5kg feta ($1.5), Roquefort cheese and bought more cigarettes here, and also bought canned tuna meat ($0.7).
ALCOHOL & CIGARETTES - there are two shops on the opposite side of the Shopping Center and a little towards the Sea, namely: Bacchus Market and Market - daily fresh, cigarettes are slightly more expensive than in the Carrefour supermarket, but closer to the Hotel there are beer (28 pounds / $1.
6) and heavier drinks and there is another store, if you exit the Hotel and go to the right, towards McDonald's, then in the first lane towards the Sea, almost immediately on the corner there is a small shop where there are cigarettes and alcohol, for example, their local wine for $9, but everything will be more expensive here, for example, Marlboro Gold cigarettes for 45 pounds ($2.6).
OINTMENTS, OILS, SHAMPOO and so on - only in pharmacies (Farmacia), in the end they chose two: one immediately opposite the Hotel on the right side of the Naama center Shopping Center on the minus first floor and the second from the Hotel to the left towards McDonald's in the passage under the Mall Shamandoura sign . Let me remind you that in Pharmacies (Farmacia) only pounds are accepted. We took Solaire tanning oil, local Egyptian EVA cosmetics for the face - green cap (cucumber) - very good for sunburn (before going to bed after a shower), Vatika shampoo is generally super (65 pounds - $ 3.
71), sandalwood oil (for rheumatism) $5, black seed oil (a great pain reliever) $1-$2, Jonson & Baby shampoos, black seed extract tablets $1, Moroccan argan hair oil, Day&Night pills/prevention $0.5, and the so-called "camel milk" is just some kind of hocus-pocus, fantastic: a cool thing ($8 per 1 kg).
The Hard Rock Cafe store is located on the main street, in the same place as the Hard Rock Cafe Cafe / Bar itself: everything is super, the key chains are just super-super and if there is $ 25, not that extra, but for a good thing , then, you can buy something in this store.
Shop for divers "MaisonDeLaMer" - located on the Beach side, if you exit the Hotel from the Sea side and turn left to the first lane and a few steps down and there will be a store.
There are very good beach towels here, however, they are kind of expensive - $ 25 and there is an antiseptic for cleaning snorkels and masks for swimming, there are also silicone laces for $ 4 sunglasses (very useful in Dahab with the wind there) and there are cool openers for cans of beer at $10.
Shop "Karkoucha" / "House of Cotton" (to the right of McDonald's, if you leave the Hotel from the side of Central Street, then you need to turn right and go almost to the end of the street and go to the other side - you won't pass: a two-story store and a large yellow sign, Opposite it is a building that is sheathed in silver glitter. Compared to last year, they have updated almost all the products in the Karkoucha store, and everything is almost flawless and everything is of very high quality.
Why are we talking about defective products - because, as far as we know, this is a store from the Karkoucha factory, which is located in Cairo and produces products exclusively for export to Europe and neighboring countries, for example, to Jordan, so the product that was not sold or did not accept the customer being taken to this shop in Naama bay. Plus, brand new towels have appeared for $5-$6 (and not like last year with the inscription Sharm El Sheikh'2013), including chic beach towels, but more expensive than bath towels, at about $10-$11. Sufficient selection of children's clothes ($3-$5) and, WARNING, you can find products that look very similar to those made for chain stores, for example, Wrangler, Polo, Nike, Adidas or the same Hard Rock Caf? ($3-$7). There are 2 (two) problems in this store: firstly, there are fixed prices, that is, it is practically useless to bargain, and the second problem is that almost all things, as they say, are “one size”, that is, there are only what is available.
SHOPPING CENTER "Naama center" - located opposite the Hotel, there are good shops with watches (through the main entrance on the left side), sunglasses (1st and 2nd floor), shop only with El Hardy products (for example, a belt for $20), Armani stock store (2nd floor), on the left side on the 1st floor there is a papyrus store (maybe, whoever needs it, the artist himself sells, not the dealer) and if you go through the main entrance and exit through the exit on the left, then at the exit on the right of the Shopping Center building (2nd or 3rd) there will be a good shop with replicas of women's and men's shoes of famous brands ($35-$40), bags and men's belts ($15-$20).
Not far from the Karkoucha store / House of Cotton, right at the crossroads, there is a tray of handicrafts made of stone and the so-called "Egyptian wax". This tray is not visible when you walk along the avenue. Here you can choose a worthy souvenir, for example, figurines-caskets made of stone or just some beautiful dust collector on a shelf. The prices are acceptable.
A father and son trade. It's easier to bargain with your son in the evenings.
FRUIT to the beach and to take with you on the road can be found right there, near the Karkoucha / House of Cotton store, namely: on the minus first floor of the McDonald’s building there is a small supermarket with a fruit shop in front of the entrance. The second place is if you go through the Naama center Shopping Center from the Hotel and cut off to the left, exit the Shopping Center you have a mini bar (cafe) on your left, and across the road (towards the Hard Rock Cafe) there is a dumb man with a small trailer and a flashlight. He has the freshest mangoes (when in season), and now he has delicious dates and melons. Before departure, you can buy fruit, having previously told the seller that you don’t have to eat right now, but you need to take it home with you - they will pick you up greener. We drove and brought almost everything without damage. There is a little trick: how to drink water or juice in a tetra pack - do not throw away the bottle / bag, but use it as a packaging for fruits.
SWEETS - this time we found a shop on the second Central Street, if you go from the Naama center shopping center towards the taxi stand, pass the Hard Rock Cafe (on the right side of the road) and go further on the left side in the direction of travel there will be an intersection - go a little further along the Central the street is another 25 meters and go to the other side, pass on the side of the dance floor and there will be two shops: a watch shop and a sweets shop. IMPORTANT - look at the date of manufacture, otherwise you will not buy Turkish delight, but bricks for a LEGO set, although, it seems, they (in Egypt) have now become even stricter with food quality control, as, in fact, with medicines in Pharmacies (Farmacia).
SPICES / TEA - this time we bought everything in the Old Town: when you get out of the taxi / minibus there will be a mosque in front of you, and on the left hand the first passage (street) and a little further (10 meters) another narrow street (this is the entrance and exit of one and the same street, in the middle of which there is a very good shop with spices and tea). You can also buy spices and tea in Soho, because everything is somehow neater there: everything is stored not in the open air, as they say "in bulk" / "in bulk", but in large closed glass jars.
ORIGINAL HANDMADE SOUVENIRS can be purchased at the ALADIN gallery shop: one is in Naama bay right in front of the Hotel and the second one was seen in Soho - oh, there are things and products and so on, everything is handmade and everything is made in Egypt! Prices bite a little, but there are completely inexpensive souvenirs, for example, a wish ball - from 40 pounds ($ 2.3) or, for example, a shark tooth bracelet for 85 pounds ($ 4.
8) and this is the only store, except, for example, the Carrefour supermarket, where you can pay with a VISA / MASTERCARD card.
EXCHANGE - everything is very simple: there are quite a lot of ATMs in Naama bay (the inscription "ATM"), where you can perform basic operations with your card (like our ATMs) and there is an EXCHANGE menu (on the screen there is one button "EXCHANGE") . For example, there is such an ATM right in front of the Hotel under the sign of the Bank and there is in the Naama center Shopping Center opposite the Hotel (almost immediately at the main entrance on the left). The instruction is very simple - an interactive screen. You are asked several times before the operation whether everything is correct and if so, the ATM makes an exchange and gives a check with your operation and exchange rates. All this is very convenient. We changed at $10, and suddenly they “eat” and do not change, but there were no problems.
And one more thing - remember the BASIC RULE of shopping in Egypt: the price depends on the tan - the blacker the tan, the lower the prices.
PRICES (as of mid-March 2018):
$0.00 - WI-FI at the reception in the Hotel (or $5 - sim Vodafone)
$0.00 - Animation on the Beach
$0.00 – show in the evenings at the Hotel
$0.00 - beer on the Beach in a plastic cup (or $2.00 - beer on the Beach for 1 bottle of 0.5l or $1.6 for a bottle of 0.5l or in a can at Bacchus Market)
$1.00 – Cleaning in the Hotel Room
$0.00 - 0.5 liters of water once (at the bar on the first day when you check into the Hotel)
$0.00 - water from the cooler in the hotel dining room (do not advise ... )
$0.00 - beach towel (on the first day when you check into the Hotel (or $10 - lose a beach towel or lose a card on a towel))
$ 0.3 - jar of jam / jam 7 types: strawberry, dates, raspberries, cherries, apricots, oranges and so on in small jars in glass (in Carrefour supermarket)
$ 1 - the same jam, but a large jar - 340 grams in glass (in Carrefour supermarket)
$0.5 - drinking water 1.5 liters (in the Carrefour supermarket)
$ 0.5 - water 0.6 liters Aquafina (in the Carrefour supermarket)
$0.5 - Orientiy natural juice in a glass of 0.4 liters (to the left of the Hotel is a mini-supermarket Market - daily fresh)
$0.
5 - local natural juice in cans (in shops and supermarkets)
$0.6 - natural juice Lamar limon mint 1 liter (in Carrefour supermarket)
$0.7 - Lamar guava natural juice 1 liter (in Carrefour supermarket)
$0.7 - natural juice Lamar mango juise 1 liter (in Carrefour supermarket)
$ 0.7 - canned tuna meat 150 grams (in the Carrefour supermarket)
$0.8-$1 - natural juice from the UAE and Thailand in a glass (to the left of the Hotel is a mini-supermarket Market - daily fresh)
$1 - (small jar) ointment for joint pain at the Pharmacy (Pharmacia)
$1 - one glass of sugarcane juice (only in the Old City)
$1 - one bag of strawberries
$2 - 1 kg of melon
$4 - 1 kg guava
$4 - 1 kg mango (Now the season)
$1.4 - blue cheese (roquefort) 100g. (at Carrefour supermarket)
$1.5 - feta cheese 0.5kg (in Carrefour supermarket)
$1.7 (25 pounds) - one glass of juice (on the Beach)
$1-2 - tea per 100 grams (this is a good price)
$2 - (large jar) ointment for joint pain at the Pharmacy (Pharmacia)
$2 per pack (Marlboro Gold cigarettes at Carrefour)
$2 - souvenir at the Airport (magnet or small camel)
$2 (£.35) - one glass of juice (at Dahab)
$2 - one glass of juice (in the Old City)
$2 - juice in a restaurant
$2 and more - sweets per box (minimum prices in the Carrefour supermarket and in the Sweets store opposite the Hard Rock Cafe)
$2-$5 - wristbands
$3 and up - figurines made of alabaster (neatly, there are a lot of fakes made of plastic)
$3 - seafood soup at Fares restaurant (in the Old City)
$ 3 - local rum 0.5 liters (for a thrill-seeker)
$3 - women's flip flops (like flip flops)
$3-$5 - children's things (Karkoucha store / House of cotton)
$3-$5 - Bedouin tea per tourniquet
$3.71 (65 pounds) - Solaire tanning oil
$5 - standard taxi price (for all) one way or $1 for 3 (three) on a minibus
$5 - women's leather slippers (like sandals)
$5 - women's scarves (cashmere)
$5 - men's beret / small backpack (fake famous brands)
$6-$8 - like a real good cotton towel (Karkoucha store / Cotton House)
$5-$10 sunglasses
$5-$10 - slippers for corals (like Czech shoes)
$5-$10 - men's flip flops of normal quality (like flip flops)
$5-$10 - men's leather slippers
$5-$10 - box for branded watches, very similar to the original
$5 - $10 - standard swimming mask
$6.85 (120 pounds) - Solaire Keratin Tanning Oil (Carrot)
$7 - trousers / jeans (Karkoucha store / House of cotton)
$7 - sports leggings (Karkoucha store / House of cotton)
$7 – sports blouse (Karkoucha store / House of cotton)
$8 – for 1 kg Camel Milk Face Cream (Farmacia)
$10-$15 - a set (plate) of seafood in a restaurant (do not take crabs alone - there is nothing to eat)
$10 - rent of a mask, fins and wetsuit (from the partisans) or $0.00 - if the boat trip is from the official
$10 - professional photo on the tour
$ 10 - women's bloomers "Aladins" (cotton or silk)
$10 - beach bag or canvas backpack
$10 - jewelry (steel) - a good shop on the left side of the Naama center Shopping Center (outside the street, almost immediately behind the ice cream parlor)
$10-$15 - men's beret / small backpack (leather)
$10-$15 - women's and men's scarves fake brand
$11 - 1 kg fresh shrimp (in the Old City)
$ 14 - long (full-length) women's dress
$ 15 - a normal leather men's belt (like a copy of the brand)
$18 - NOT women's leather backpack
$20-$30 non-standard swim mask (like Star Wars Darth Wader)
$20 - Ed Hardy belt at Naama center
$ 20 - a copy of the Casio G-Shock watch (quartz) (it seems like a good store to the left of the main entrance to the Carrefour supermarket)
$20 (reference point) - silver bracelet (many stores - great choice)
$25 - ORIGINAL t-shirts, swimwear (2nd floor at Naama center Mall) there are two stores: stock (Armani, Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, Philipp Plein) and a type of store with only Ed Hardy products
$ 25 - generally a real good cotton towel for divers (MaisonDeLaMer store)
$ 25 - REAL Egyptian cotton scarf (available in one place - Aladin store)
$25 (landmark) - clock (quartz) (at the Naama center Shopping Center (on the right hand side of the center)
$35 (landmark) - watch (quartz) (seems like a good store to the left of the main entrance to the Carrefour supermarket)
$40 and up - Kanz camel leather women's bags / backpacks (we didn't like everything else) - found one store in the square (left) near the Carrefour supermarket
$50 and more - original sunglasses of famous brands - stock store (2nd floor (on the right hand side of the center) in the Naama center Shopping Center)
$90 and above - watches (sapphire crystal, mechanics - Japanese movement) (there in the Naama center Shopping Center (to the left of the main entrance))
$100 - fine at the airport for 1 cm of coral
And, as we usually write in our reviews, remember one more RULE: a tourist who has not been deceived is not a tourist!
OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF SHOPPING - 4+ (ALmost EVERYTHING HAPPENED WHAT YOU WANTED), here, only few bracelets were bought .. .
SHOPPING IN SHARM EL SHEIKH. SHOPING SHARM EL SHEIKH.
SHOPPING OLD TOWN and SOHO. SHOPING OLD CITY AND SOHO.
SHOPPING NAAMA BAY. SHOPING NAAMA BAY.
In March 2018, compared to last year (April 2017), the prices became completely illogical, but there are also pluses, for example, they finally sold out all the junk that we saw last year.
Moreover, what is interesting is that now, when we were now, and according to our feelings (both when we walked the streets and when we were taking tourists on excursions) and what we heard from tourists from other hotels and from partisan guides - almost tourists no, namely: out of 150 hotels in Sharm El Sheikh, less than a third (something about 45 hotels) are working, which are 25-30% full.
At the same time, one gets the impression that the sellers raised prices for cheap goods and threw off for expensive ones, while they want to earn money from the sale of 2-3 towels immediately for an apartment - some are very reluctant to bargain, while others, starting to bargain from $25, at the end of the auction, when we left without buying anything, they drop the price to $ 7-8 ...
What is another plus of shopping in March 2018 compared to April 2017 is that they are less rude in stores and even more afraid of the Tourist Police.
With all this, if last year almost all sellers told us about the crisis, then this year, when we reminded them of the crisis and thus motivated them to make bolder price offers, that is, give us discounts, almost everyone told us that there is no crisis and “business is good”.
It's strange somehow...
Anyway!
Let's start with a very funny shopping on excursions, for example, you can be brought to Dahab to the Turquoise center store.
What is the anecdote of this shopping - you will be told that this is a state market and prices here are 4 (four) times lower, for example, than in Naama bay. Laughter and nothing more. To reinforce the officiality of this event, at the entrance you will be given a leaflet describing the oils that are produced at the factory directly in Dahab and therefore without extra charge and of high quality, and another leaflet is an order, only thanks to which you participate in the promotion and only today, for example, a discount on diamonds as much as 5-10%. But if you don’t buy anything, you need to return these magical leaves! The presentation of perfumes/oils is probably funny...In general, you can go and laugh.
Shopping in the Old Town - we did not find anything that is not in Naama bay or would be cheaper or would be of some quality that is not found anywhere else.
Shopping in Soho compares favorably with the previous two - it feels like you are in a very large supermarket, where you can choose goods of decent quality at an affordable price. Prices are about the same as in Naama bay. What is the advantage of Soho is that some sellers do not even notice you until you contact them, which distinguishes Soho, for example, from the same Naama bay, where everyone considers it their duty to meet you in every store with a standard set Questions: What's your name? where are you from? why so evil? buy for a dollar? and then the standard set of dragging into the store: I'm not a stinger, just look, I need your advice, only information, and so on ...What we saw in Soho, which we didn’t see in Naama bay or in the Old City, is Arabic perfume / oil from Arab emirates manufactured by Maa Al Thahab and leather bracelets by the type of Kanz products.
Shopping in Naama bay already has a certain scheme / treasure map for us, which has not changed much since the last trip, for example:
The store, which you should NOT go to under any circumstances EXCEPT for buying women's scarves for $5 and natural white musk for $5, is located on the second Central street opposite (Across the road) from the Hard Rock Cafe, and when these 2 (two) products are in this store run out, then generally FORGET about this "shop". The owner of the store behaves very strangely and does not evoke positive emotions and likes to sell to drunk Belarusians everything that he has stale, while the prices for food in his store are at least 30 percent higher than the rest. As we understood, he allowed two tenants into his store: one sells towels at 2 (two) prices, and the second sells oils in the back of the store.
For example, camel milk at a price of 140 pounds ($8) per 1 kg in the Pharmacy (Farmacia) sells for 600 pounds ($33), that is, a 300% markup or 4 (four) prices. And the owner of this store pesters almost everyone to sell him vodka, and if he is refused, he calls him a miser and goes almost to cry that he was deceived! In general, except for lovers of Dubious pleasures, we DO NOT recommend ANYONE to go to this store!
FOOD - This is a Carrefour supermarket, which is not far from the taxi stand, in general, everyone knows where it is. We took water ($0.5-$1), discounted juices ($0.5), bought date jam ($1.5), 0.5kg feta ($1.5), Roquefort cheese and bought more cigarettes here, and also bought canned tuna meat ($0.7).
ALCOHOL & CIGARETTES - there are two shops on the opposite side of the Shopping Center and a little towards the Sea, namely: Bacchus Market and Market - daily fresh, cigarettes are slightly more expensive than in the Carrefour supermarket, but closer to the Hotel there are beer (28 pounds / $1.
6) and heavier drinks and there is another store, if you exit the Hotel and go to the right, towards McDonald's, then in the first lane towards the Sea, almost immediately on the corner there is a small shop where there are cigarettes and alcohol, for example, their local wine for $9, but everything will be more expensive here, for example, Marlboro Gold cigarettes for 45 pounds ($2.6).
OINTMENTS, OILS, SHAMPOO and so on - only in pharmacies (Farmacia), in the end they chose two: one immediately opposite the Hotel on the right side of the Naama center Shopping Center on the minus first floor and the second from the Hotel to the left towards McDonald's in the passage under the Mall Shamandoura sign . Let me remind you that in Pharmacies (Farmacia) only pounds are accepted. We took Solaire tanning oil, local Egyptian EVA cosmetics for the face - green cap (cucumber) - very good for sunburn (before going to bed after a shower), Vatika shampoo is generally super (65 pounds - $ 3.
71), sandalwood oil (for rheumatism) $5, black seed oil (a great pain reliever) $1-$2, Jonson & Baby shampoos, black seed extract tablets $1, Moroccan argan hair oil, Day&Night pills/prevention $0.5, and the so-called "camel milk" is just some kind of hocus-pocus, fantastic: a cool thing ($8 per 1 kg).
The Hard Rock Cafe store is located on the main street, in the same place as the Hard Rock Cafe Cafe / Bar itself: everything is super, the key chains are just super-super and if there is $ 25, not that extra, but for a good thing , then, you can buy something in this store.
Shop for divers "MaisonDeLaMer" - located on the Beach side, if you exit the Hotel from the Sea side and turn left to the first lane and a few steps down and there will be a store.
There are very good beach towels here, however, they are kind of expensive - $ 25 and there is an antiseptic for cleaning snorkels and masks for swimming, there are also silicone laces for $ 4 sunglasses (very useful in Dahab with the wind there) and there are cool openers for cans of beer at $10.
Shop "Karkoucha" / "House of Cotton" (to the right of McDonald's, if you leave the Hotel from the side of Central Street, then you need to turn right and go almost to the end of the street and go to the other side - you won't pass: a two-story store and a large yellow sign, Opposite it is a building that is sheathed in silver glitter. Compared to last year, they have updated almost all the products in the Karkoucha store, and everything is almost flawless and everything is of very high quality.
Why are we talking about defective products - because, as far as we know, this is a store from the Karkoucha factory, which is located in Cairo and produces products exclusively for export to Europe and neighboring countries, for example, to Jordan, so the product that was not sold or did not accept the customer being taken to this shop in Naama bay. Plus, brand new towels have appeared for $5-$6 (and not like last year with the inscription Sharm El Sheikh'2013), including chic beach towels, but more expensive than bath towels, at about $10-$11. Sufficient selection of children's clothes ($3-$5) and, WARNING, you can find products that look very similar to those made for chain stores, for example, Wrangler, Polo, Nike, Adidas or the same Hard Rock Caf? ($3-$7). There are 2 (two) problems in this store: firstly, there are fixed prices, that is, it is practically useless to bargain, and the second problem is that almost all things, as they say, are “one size”, that is, there are only what is available.
SHOPPING CENTER "Naama center" - located opposite the Hotel, there are good shops with watches (through the main entrance on the left side), sunglasses (1st and 2nd floor), shop only with El Hardy products (for example, a belt for $20), Armani stock store (2nd floor), on the left side on the 1st floor there is a papyrus store (maybe, whoever needs it, the artist himself sells, not the dealer) and if you go through the main entrance and exit through the exit on the left, then at the exit on the right of the Shopping Center building (2nd or 3rd) there will be a good shop with replicas of women's and men's shoes of famous brands ($35-$40), bags and men's belts ($15-$20).
Not far from the Karkoucha store / House of Cotton, right at the crossroads, there is a tray of handicrafts made of stone and the so-called "Egyptian wax". This tray is not visible when you walk along the avenue. Here you can choose a worthy souvenir, for example, figurines-caskets made of stone or just some beautiful dust collector on a shelf. The prices are acceptable.
A father and son trade. It's easier to bargain with your son in the evenings.
FRUIT to the beach and to take with you on the road can be found right there, near the Karkoucha / House of Cotton store, namely: on the minus first floor of the McDonald’s building there is a small supermarket with a fruit shop in front of the entrance. The second place is if you go through the Naama center Shopping Center from the Hotel and cut off to the left, exit the Shopping Center you have a mini bar (cafe) on your left, and across the road (towards the Hard Rock Cafe) there is a dumb man with a small trailer and a flashlight. He has the freshest mangoes (when in season), and now he has delicious dates and melons. Before departure, you can buy fruit, having previously told the seller that you don’t have to eat right now, but you need to take it home with you - they will pick you up greener. We drove and brought almost everything without damage. There is a little trick: how to drink water or juice in a tetra pack - do not throw away the bottle / bag, but use it as a packaging for fruits.
SWEETS - this time we found a shop on the second Central Street, if you go from the Naama center shopping center towards the taxi stand, pass the Hard Rock Cafe (on the right side of the road) and go further on the left side in the direction of travel there will be an intersection - go a little further along the Central the street is another 25 meters and go to the other side, pass on the side of the dance floor and there will be two shops: a watch shop and a sweets shop. IMPORTANT - look at the date of manufacture, otherwise you will not buy Turkish delight, but bricks for a LEGO set, although, it seems, they (in Egypt) have now become even stricter with food quality control, as, in fact, with medicines in Pharmacies (Farmacia).
SPICES / TEA - this time we bought everything in the Old Town: when you get out of the taxi / minibus there will be a mosque in front of you, and on the left hand the first passage (street) and a little further (10 meters) another narrow street (this is the entrance and exit of one and the same street, in the middle of which there is a very good shop with spices and tea). You can also buy spices and tea in Soho, because everything is somehow neater there: everything is stored not in the open air, as they say "in bulk" / "in bulk", but in large closed glass jars.
ORIGINAL HANDMADE SOUVENIRS can be purchased at the ALADIN gallery shop: one is in Naama bay right in front of the Hotel and the second one was seen in Soho - oh, there are things and products and so on, everything is handmade and everything is made in Egypt! Prices bite a little, but there are completely inexpensive souvenirs, for example, a wish ball - from 40 pounds ($ 2.3) or, for example, a shark tooth bracelet for 85 pounds ($ 4.
8) and this is the only store, except, for example, the Carrefour supermarket, where you can pay with a VISA / MASTERCARD card.
EXCHANGE - everything is very simple: there are quite a lot of ATMs in Naama bay (the inscription "ATM"), where you can perform basic operations with your card (like our ATMs) and there is an EXCHANGE menu (on the screen there is one button "EXCHANGE") . For example, there is such an ATM right in front of the Hotel under the sign of the Bank and there is in the Naama center Shopping Center opposite the Hotel (almost immediately at the main entrance on the left). The instruction is very simple - an interactive screen. You are asked several times before the operation whether everything is correct and if so, the ATM makes an exchange and gives a check with your operation and exchange rates. All this is very convenient. We changed at $10, and suddenly they “eat” and do not change, but there were no problems.
And one more thing - remember the BASIC RULE of shopping in Egypt: the price depends on the tan - the blacker the tan, the lower the prices.
PRICES (as of mid-March 2018):
$0.00 - WI-FI at the reception in the Hotel (or $5 - sim Vodafone)
$0.00 - Animation on the Beach
$0.00 – show in the evenings at the Hotel
$0.00 - beer on the Beach in a plastic cup (or $2.00 - beer on the Beach for 1 bottle of 0.5l or $1.6 for a bottle of 0.5l or in a can at Bacchus Market)
$1.00 – Cleaning in the Hotel Room
$0.00 - 0.5 liters of water once (at the bar on the first day when you check into the Hotel)
$0.00 - water from the cooler in the hotel dining room (do not advise ... )
$0.00 - beach towel (on the first day when you check into the Hotel (or $10 - lose a beach towel or lose a card on a towel))
$ 0.3 - jar of jam / jam 7 types: strawberry, dates, raspberries, cherries, apricots, oranges and so on in small jars in glass (in Carrefour supermarket)
$ 1 - the same jam, but a large jar - 340 grams in glass (in Carrefour supermarket)
$0.5 - drinking water 1.5 liters (in the Carrefour supermarket)
$ 0.5 - water 0.6 liters Aquafina (in the Carrefour supermarket)
$0.5 - Orientiy natural juice in a glass of 0.4 liters (to the left of the Hotel is a mini-supermarket Market - daily fresh)
$0.
5 - local natural juice in cans (in shops and supermarkets)
$0.6 - natural juice Lamar limon mint 1 liter (in Carrefour supermarket)
$0.7 - Lamar guava natural juice 1 liter (in Carrefour supermarket)
$0.7 - natural juice Lamar mango juise 1 liter (in Carrefour supermarket)
$ 0.7 - canned tuna meat 150 grams (in the Carrefour supermarket)
$0.8-$1 - natural juice from the UAE and Thailand in a glass (to the left of the Hotel is a mini-supermarket Market - daily fresh)
$1 - (small jar) ointment for joint pain at the Pharmacy (Pharmacia)
$1 - one glass of sugarcane juice (only in the Old City)
$1 - one bag of strawberries
$2 - 1 kg of melon
$4 - 1 kg guava
$4 - 1 kg mango (Now the season)
$1.4 - blue cheese (roquefort) 100g. (at Carrefour supermarket)
$1.5 - feta cheese 0.5kg (in Carrefour supermarket)
$1.7 (25 pounds) - one glass of juice (on the Beach)
$1-2 - tea per 100 grams (this is a good price)
$2 - (large jar) ointment for joint pain at the Pharmacy (Pharmacia)
$2 per pack (Marlboro Gold cigarettes at Carrefour)
$2 - souvenir at the Airport (magnet or small camel)
$2 (£.35) - one glass of juice (at Dahab)
$2 - one glass of juice (in the Old City)
$2 - juice in a restaurant
$2 and more - sweets per box (minimum prices in the Carrefour supermarket and in the Sweets store opposite the Hard Rock Cafe)
$2-$5 - wristbands
$3 and up - figurines made of alabaster (neatly, there are a lot of fakes made of plastic)
$3 - seafood soup at Fares restaurant (in the Old City)
$ 3 - local rum 0.5 liters (for a thrill-seeker)
$3 - women's flip flops (like flip flops)
$3-$5 - children's things (Karkoucha store / House of cotton)
$3-$5 - Bedouin tea per tourniquet
$3.71 (65 pounds) - Solaire tanning oil
$5 - standard taxi price (for all) one way or $1 for 3 (three) on a minibus
$5 - women's leather slippers (like sandals)
$5 - women's scarves (cashmere)
$5 - men's beret / small backpack (fake famous brands)
$6-$8 - like a real good cotton towel (Karkoucha store / Cotton House)
$5-$10 sunglasses
$5-$10 - slippers for corals (like Czech shoes)
$5-$10 - men's flip flops of normal quality (like flip flops)
$5-$10 - men's leather slippers
$5-$10 - box for branded watches, very similar to the original
$5 - $10 - standard swimming mask
$6.85 (120 pounds) - Solaire Keratin Tanning Oil (Carrot)
$7 - trousers / jeans (Karkoucha store / House of cotton)
$7 - sports leggings (Karkoucha store / House of cotton)
$7 – sports blouse (Karkoucha store / House of cotton)
$8 – for 1 kg Camel Milk Face Cream (Farmacia)
$10-$15 - a set (plate) of seafood in a restaurant (do not take crabs alone - there is nothing to eat)
$10 - rent of a mask, fins and wetsuit (from the partisans) or $0.00 - if the boat trip is from the official
$10 - professional photo on the tour
$ 10 - women's bloomers "Aladins" (cotton or silk)
$10 - beach bag or canvas backpack
$10 - jewelry (steel) - a good shop on the left side of the Naama center Shopping Center (outside the street, almost immediately behind the ice cream parlor)
$10-$15 - men's beret / small backpack (leather)
$10-$15 - women's and men's scarves fake brand
$11 - 1 kg fresh shrimp (in the Old City)
$ 14 - long (full-length) women's dress
$ 15 - a normal leather men's belt (like a copy of the brand)
$18 - NOT women's leather backpack
$20-$30 non-standard swim mask (like Star Wars Darth Wader)
$20 - Ed Hardy belt at Naama center
$ 20 - a copy of the Casio G-Shock watch (quartz) (it seems like a good store to the left of the main entrance to the Carrefour supermarket)
$20 (reference point) - silver bracelet (many stores - great choice)
$25 - ORIGINAL t-shirts, swimwear (2nd floor at Naama center Mall) there are two stores: stock (Armani, Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, Philipp Plein) and a type of store with only Ed Hardy products
$ 25 - generally a real good cotton towel for divers (MaisonDeLaMer store)
$ 25 - REAL Egyptian cotton scarf (available in one place - Aladin store)
$25 (landmark) - clock (quartz) (at the Naama center Shopping Center (on the right hand side of the center)
$35 (landmark) - watch (quartz) (seems like a good store to the left of the main entrance to the Carrefour supermarket)
$40 and up - Kanz camel leather women's bags / backpacks (we didn't like everything else) - found one store in the square (left) near the Carrefour supermarket
$50 and more - original sunglasses of famous brands - stock store (2nd floor (on the right hand side of the center) in the Naama center Shopping Center)
$90 and above - watches (sapphire crystal, mechanics - Japanese movement) (there in the Naama center Shopping Center (to the left of the main entrance))
$100 - fine at the airport for 1 cm of coral
And, as we usually write in our reviews, remember one more RULE: a tourist who has not been deceived is not a tourist!
OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF SHOPPING - 4+ (ALmost EVERYTHING HAPPENED WHAT YOU WANTED), here, only few bracelets were bought .. .
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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