Eye feasts everywhere

Sharm El Sheik, Egypt


Boy was it bright this morning! I woke up to hear Ed’s quiet snoring. I was good; I stayed in bed long after it was clear I wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep. When Ed did rouse, I asked him to decide whether he was going to the gym. If not, then I wanted to get out early (while it’s cool and you have more time). He made a remark about walking in the afternoon when we got back to the ship but I knew when he said it that it wouldn’t happen. Still, he did get ready while I went to do the internet stuff. When I got back, we eventually left.
The pier here is huge. The weather was clearly warm and the sun is blistering but the breezes are also brisk so it was livable. We had to carry our passport and be ready to show the page with the Egyptian visa along with our cruise card to move around. So we memorized the page ID so we could find it easily among the multitude of pages in our passports.
There were three tours today but none rang a bell with us. Too much money for something that isn’t unique to this place. Glass bottom boats have lost their luster for us.
We walked the several blocks to the gate of the pier (I can’t really think of it as a port despite the size of the pier) where there was a van with several other folks waiting to go. It is Friday and the shops and such close at noon in this Muslim country. It was $3 per person, one way. The van probably should have held no more than nine. Forget that in these countries: I lost count of how many people they crammed in there before they would finally agree to leave. Need I remind you that nothing like this is air conditioned around here. That would cost you a double fee likely for the short trip. Think of those trucks in India and the Middle East where people are hanging off of everything on the vehicle and you wonder how the driver can see the road to navigate! Among the other passengers on this van was a native Egyptian and he reminded everyone, including the driver and his buddy, that we’d all be happy to pay him AFTER we were dropped off. It’s possible they sometimes get ripped off too, but the more likely scenario is that the passengers get dumped very quickly or blackmailed (only this if you’re lucky) into paying lots more.
Alas, we were dropped off at the Old Market. I enjoyed this area but Ed (these are his words) was “uncomfortable” so we walked to another, more modern area. Eventually, we found our way across the roads to the beaches on the other side. It is one long bay with cabanas, thatched umbrellas and such dotted with people of all sizes, shapes, ages, nationalities, and colors of skin. And some of these folks should NOT wear skimpy bathing suits. Most offensive were the men in speedos that wouldn’t fit their 7 y/o grandsons; their butt crack showing above the back and I don’t have to describe the looks of the front. Jeesh.
There were lots of families with little kids running around playing in the sand and the water. One little girl, perhaps 3-4 y/o, was buck naked and dark skinned all over in an even color. I thought it was cute except the thought of pedophiles also entered my mind.
I began to tell Ed that we needed to find a place for lunch. Neither of us had had much fluid and he needs to eat regularly. It’s also self defense on my part. Finally, he agreed to go back to the ship since we couldn’t identify a place to eat that appealed to him. Speaking only for myself, I’m adventurous in these places but I’m careful about food sources. The upscale resorts would have been OK with me but these were not that reliable. So we found an old Egyptian guy who needed to find a younger one to translate so we were sure about the amount we were going to pay. The price started out too high. Eventually it came down to $5 but I think this was a mistake on the driver’s part as Arabic and English were, by this time, flying between 5 of us. We told him we’d pay him $6 for the two of us and that’s what we did. It wasn’t a long drive but we had no idea how far it was. His cab was comparatively new, certainly MUCH more recent than the morning’s van! And when he put his seat belt on, something we rarely see anywhere on this trip, I felt much better. We both put ours on as well and they had all the requisite parts, also a major find on this trip!
Ed is watching the TV as I write and mumbling about the fact that we STILL do not have CNN!
Istanbul perhaps?
We had lunch on the ship and there was conversation with others about Athens and the fact that we likely will not be going there given the unrest there. So someone said they’d heard a rumor (where does all this speculation originate?) that we’d instead go to Istanbul. I’d be delighted if we did. It isn’t easy for the cruise line to make such a thing happen. There’s the issue of pier space, visas, and those are just the beginning. But I’d be tickled pink if that turned out. OR I’d recommend another visit to Ephesus. Hee Hee
Afternoon Movie Matinee: Sunshine Cleaning
A lady at our luncheon table had seen this movie and recommended it so both Ed and I decided to go. I cannot imagine what she saw in this movie except the actors all of whom I liked. I would have left after a few minutes but felt I owed it to Ed to remain. When it was over, Ed volunteered that he almost left too. Now you KNOW it’s a bad movie for Ed to feel like leaving!
I’m knocking out all these books I’ve been reading so I’m on my last 100 pages of the memoir by Madeline Albright, secretary of State under Clinton. I could live with a lot of the fill in the narrative but I’m loving the behind the scenes analysis of the various countries, cultures, politics, strategic interests and such.
I was on the balcony as the ship left the pier. I’m amazed at how smoothly, silently, and swiftly these ships leave ports. The Egyptian policeman who sat under the tent at the bottom of the gangway blasting Arabic music and sitting in a broken down chair, sat in the middle of this huge pier for a long time and then began dragging that bedraggled chair across the pier to some destination I couldn’t identify. There was nothing there but concrete bunkers—all open air—and two huge tanks with god knows what in them.
As the ship was backing into the main area, there were at least 20 smaller vessels who played chicken with it. This amazed me. Some tooted their horns as if to be smiling at this large ship. We are going south for a ways as the sun is shining on the aft starboard side from the west and it’s nearing sunset. We should start going north pretty soon to Aqaba and Petra tomorrow.
Tonite’s Entertainment
Kyle Esplin is a Jerry Lee Lewis type of piano player and boy did I love this show. We saw him 2 yrs ago on the world cruise. He is only 28 at this point and has played for 3 of The Killer’s birthday bashes. He was a real hit with the audience. He’s Scottish and self taught. Wow.