Right off the bat Sharm El-Sheikh was a rip off!  Egyptians think tourists are in town to solely get ripped off by them and that is what they tried all day long.  Not all taxis were allowed in the gates of the port area.  So someone paid someone off to be allowed in the gate.  As we were headed out across the pier, I noticed a mother, father and daughter in front of us.  I ran up to them and asked them where they were headed.  We told them we were going to Na'ama Bay and we would share a taxi with them.  They thought that was a good idea so as we approached the taxis, we told them we needed a car for five and they tried to put us in two separate taxis.  We had to stand firm and tell them we wanted only one cab.  They said no, so we said we'd walk outside the gate and find one.  Well, they called us back and told us one cab would be $10 USD each.  Now, we knew the beach was only 3 miles away and after several arguments, we settled on $20 USD for the entire cab, knowing all too well we were still getting ripped off.  

Our cab driver tried to change the price to $25 but I shouted him down and told him that we settled at $20.  I felt like I was in kindergarten in this fight but we were already being financially violated, so enough was enough!  Once he dropped us off, there was the sign showing what the fare should have been.  We calculated that we should have been charged $5 USD.  Total tourist rip off but we got to Na'ama Bay in one piece and had our ducks in a row for the return trip.  I was ready for another fist-to-cuffs encounter! 

We headed down to the beach area and found the public beach.  All the beaches are private and the hotels have them all snapped up with the exception of this one public beach.  We paid two dollars each for the use of a chaise lounge, padded cushion, umbrella and a beach towel.  They issued us one ticket and put the number 2 on it.  

The beach wasn't very wide, probably about 25' across the public area and about 10' to the water.  All the hotels had small fences running the length of their property with a small break at the beach, then a roped off floating fence around the water directly in front of their beach.  Each property had a security guard sitting at the end by the beach and there must have been 9 or ten rows of chairs stretching all the way back to the road with the hotels across the street.  Not too scenic and too touristy looking.  The beach had small pebbles on it with rather large rocks just beyond the entrance to the chilly water.  I took a walk down the beach and as the sun rose in the sky, the clear water got a little better looking in color.  This area is one huge snorkeling/diving area with world renowned coral reefs and the 'Blue Hole' not too far from here.  There are over 1,000 species of fish and over 100 different types of coral.  There was a nice breeze blowing and the sound of the waves were very relaxing.  We got the first row view of lounge chairs and anything towards the middle or back would have been miserable.  We contemplated taking a glass bottom boat ride but decided against it. 

There was a Muslim couple sitting next to us and she was covered from neck to ankle in black clothing and went swimming in every bit of it.  Very odd and weird but whatever!  Other than that, most of the people on the beach were foreigners.  Quite a few Russians in town too!  A whole group of Egyptian men came to swim at the public beach and we saw them taking pictures of these European girls laying out on the beach.  Once they noticed, they turned over and shortly after that, they left.  I noticed none of these men had chairs or towels, so something was going on there, or the locals can swim for free but my guess would be the former.  After soaking up some shady breezes and recovering from Petra the day before, we decided to pack up and start doing some roaming and shopping.  When we handed our towels back in, the guy wanted our ticket.  I thought 'How odd.'  What does he need our ticket back for - here are our towels.  When we handed him the only ticket we had, he asked for the other one.  We told him we only got one.  He took it and put it under the counter and I told him that the other guy had written '2' on it.  As we walked away I told Candice that he was going to resell that ticket and pocket the money and the first guy pocketed the money the first time around for the second ticket.  Corrupt society to the hilt!  But I guess if you can't beat them, you join them.

Shopping in Sham El-Sheikh was peppered with long, continuous but polite "No thank you' s."  I'm glad Candice got broken in with all the other port stops because this one would have caused her a mental breakdown.  Everybody was pushy and wanted you to step into their stores to take a 'free' look.  Nothing was priced and believe it or not Pringles cost the equivalent of seven US dollars.  Needless to say we skipped on those and headed to McDonald's for french fries and a Coke.  We met two nice National Guard guys from Kansas in there and invited them to sit at our table.  They were there to keep the peace and their job was four months away from being done.  Total time would be one year away from home.  McDonald's was their refuge too.  The workers knew them well and they said this was their only day off this month.  We don't pay those guys enough for the work they do!

Now Na'ama Bay is a young tourist's party haven.  The streets were wide and every establishment had outdoor bar areas with chairs, carpets and low tables squared off in sections.  Some had palm trees cut in long lengths with carpet draped over them and cushions to sit on the floor.  I would have liked to stuck around and observe the nightlife but it wasn't meant to be.  

We had several shop owners invite us into their stores to sit down on couches and write about their stores in a guest book.  I'm not too sure what the hell was up about that but I'm sure it was some bogus trap.  We declined this nonsense every time.  The opening question they would ask you is 'Where are you from?'  It's best just not to answer at all.  Then they would say in a stern "Excuse ME  PLEASE, can I ask you a question?"  The answer was no every time and then they would sometimes turn a little ugly.  I have no idea why these people would think you, the tourist, are there to benefit them since it's your time and your vacation.  Lord knows I didn't have time to explain to everyone of these people that we were only in town for the day and there was no way I could sign all their books or do business with everyone!  

Now it looks like the Russian tourists rule this joint.  Lots of restaurants and bars with Russian writing and Russian food.  As far as I could tell, these Egyptians didn't care who they were ripping off.  Everyone was an equal opportunity victim!  We stumbled across one store that had prices on their merchandise and that is where we actually bought something.  While inside a worker came up to me and asked me why Candice was so mad.  I just started laughing and told him that she was just really concentrating on the merchandise.  I called over to Candice and told her that he wanted to know why she was so mad.  She started laughing with me and told him that she just doesn't smile.  Someone once said that Chloe on the show '24' always looks like she is constipated and I sometimes joke with Candice that she looks like her.  I told her I should have just told the guy that she was constipated!  Ha, ha. (Candice - Smiling is hard, when I'm always thinking about something.)

After running the gauntlet of store vendors along the main party streets we decided to head over to the area they call Old Sharm.  We saw six crew members from the ship and I asked if they wanted to share a cab back.  They said okay.  As we approached the taxis they asked for two.  Now I didn't think they were going to dicker the price but eventually they asked how much.  Ten dollars per cab.  Not what it should be but better than twenty, so we climbed in.  Candice and I asked to be dropped off at Old Sharm and the crew went back to the ship.  

Nothing was different down at Old Sham either.  More vendors hawking their wares but we did purchase two items after dickering the price.  As we walked past the bar area, some blonde Russian named Sergay asked if we wanted to have a drink with him and his three buddies.  Once again, we had to decline any and all offers.  Well, right next to him was an Egyptian guy who asked us the same thing.  Now why does he think our answer would be any different?  I know this scam.  These people sit there and invite you to drink with them and then stiff you the bill.  Not only do they stiff you the bill but the bill is inflated by about ten times the real cost.  These two characters looked like they had been drinking all day and I'm sure they had a tab they wanted to dump on some poor soul.  Not us, Jack!

Once again this place was a powder keg of bars with shops surrounding the entire area.  What was neat in this party area was the authentic and rustic party atmosphere.  They had tables and chairs up on the flat mountain sides with tiki torches, chairs, tables, and carpets.  I'm sure it would have felt like you were partying primitively but I would be interested in knowing how many drunks fell off the small mountains and died. I would have been more interested in watching the party crowd in Old Sharm vs. Na'ama Bay area.  It looked a little more wild down here.  Now hookah pipes are all the rage over here but there is just something that I find off-puting about them.  

This area also had vendors that operated as the local's grocery stores, if you could call them that, down the street from the party and shopping places.  Fruit and vegetables were for sale in the store fronts along these dirty streets with some of them looking like back alleys.  It was colorful and plenty of dogs were living down in this area.  I snapped a couple of pictures and soaked up the atmosphere knowing we were about ten minutes from walking back to the safe, welcoming Queen Victoria.  

We met one of our fellow world cruisers that we fondly refer to as Caruso (we don't know his name).  He wanted to hire a taxi back to the ship and we told him that we were walking.  He accepted our offer to walk with us and by the time we got back to the ship he told us that he was thankful that he ran into us since he didn't know the way back.  We told him we were through with the taxis!  

The British family that we shared a taxi into Na'ama Bay told us earlier that they had family that came over to Sharm El-Sheikh for week-long vacations all the time.  They stated that they didn't see any reason to visit this place for a week and that nothing attracted them.  I would have to agree with them.  If you are a big diver or snorkeler, this would be the place to come and check out.  Also if you wanted to party with a bunch of Europeans and Russians, this would be your place.  We on the other hand got the Egyptian shakedown and don't need that experience again but I would like to see this place at night.  It would prove to be a great people-watcher place with an added bonus of drunks to boot!  I can imagine that you had better have your camera ready for all the night action!

Sandy

Tid-bits from Candice - I really didn't think this port was bad. Pushy - yeah, but not much worse than anything else. Sandy thinks I've become desensitized to hawkers. Yeah, growth in my bubble. I've learned to not even say "No thank you." I just say "No." The thank you just gets them mocking you. Quite off-putting. Also, another trick is to where sunglasses. That way you can still browse on the sly, while still saying no. One of the best lines came from Sharm el Sheikh; hawker, "Don't be like the Russians. At least say hi." Well I think I know why the Russians don't say anything to them; they were very impolite. I'm very tired of the line "I'll make you a good deal." "How much is ____?" "I'll make you a good deal." "Okay, how much?" This goes on for way too long, only to find out they want to rip you off. The one and only store with labeled products was the only place I actually bought something. Straightforward, this is what we have, this is how much we want, do you accept or not. 

The day at the beach was nice and lazy after hiking in Petra the day before. Except for the dirty old arab men. The was kind of disturbing, but I kept my clothes on and just stayed under the umbrella for a beach-side nap. Totally worth the two dollars. Very glad we didn't get scarred into buying the "Beach Day" tour from Cunard for $70. They went to the exact same beach we did, just a couple of fences over. We got the better deal! 

crj