Egypt 2023

A return trip to Sharm El Sheikh. Our first since 2013. Sharm has changed a lot. Miles of new roads built for the COP 27 summit last year. But behind that, like in Tunisia, lots of evidence of the lack of tourists following the plane bombing in 2015 and COVID just after it reopened to tourists.

We stayed in a lovely hotel, Sol Y Mar, which wasn’t on the beach, but only a short walk away. The weather was fantastic and we spent most mornings by the pool or at the beach. In the afternoons we walked for miles, visiting the sites, including the COP 27 site, the Salam Mosque, the Mustafa mosque, the Heavenly Church and the Sahaba mosque in the old market. I also got to climb my “mountain” for views of the area for miles around. One eventful walk to the old town led to Kathryn stumbling on the uneven road and nearly throwing herself under a truck. We managed to clean up all the cuts and grazes but had to cut short the walk and get the local shared minibus back to the hotel.

The staff at the hotel were great, especially the restaurant manager, Ehmad, who made sure I got steak and chips on my birthday along with cake and a rendition of Happy Birthday from all the staff. We will never forget the homemade “rose” (red and white wine mix), the towel creations by Ahmed or the wonderful fish in the Red Sea.