Hurghada, Egypt
Hurghada, Egypt was our last stopover on our tour of Egypt. After many days of non-stop go-go see-see travel we were actually ready for a couple days of beach relaxation. Situated on the Red Sea, this former fishing village exploded over the past ten years and become a very popular beach and diving destination. Most surprising to me was the overwhelming number of Russian tourists there. After talking to a few fellow chatty travelers, there are apparently there are a number of Russian travel agencies that offer ridiculously cheap all-inclusive trips to both Hurghada – were talking $500 USD for an all inclusive week including flight from Moscow. How can this be, well it turns out (or so the story goes) that a few Russian Mafioso types have been “laundering” some of their not-so legitimate business earning through these trans Russian-Egyptian travel arrangements. Long story short the Russians were in Hurghada in TROVES – I would say outnumbering every other tourist ethnicity 5 to 1. Memphis Tours put us up at the Continental Resort Hotel, which was a lovely hotel right on the beach.
Hurghada Resort
Hurghada Coast Line
Other than laying on the beach and reading John Grisham’s latest book for the better part of three days I did manage to squeeze in enough SCUBA diving to get my Advanced Open Water certification. The water was amazing warm and while visibility wasn’t the greatest the day I went out I was able to do my first wreck dive and deep-water dive all in one blow. Swimming fully geared up 40 meters (120 feet) under the sea through the belly of a 50’s era Egyptian navel vessel was a bit scary at first but the excitement of the moment quickly took over as a ran into an entire school of Lion Fish peacocking around in full glory. It was a pretty awesome site. My default diving buddy Yuri, was equally impressed. Not that we could have communicated the fact above water since he didn’t speak a lick of English. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic diving trip and the photos speak for themselves.
Wreck Dive
Wreck Dive 2
Wreck Dive 3
Lion Fish
Deep Water Dive
Scuba Time
Dolphins
Swimming with Dolphins
Attack of the Killer Eels
Category: Blog, Destinations, Egypt, Pat's Blog
Good to see a new blog entry and to know you and Al are still on this planet! The scuba diving experience looks pretty awesome- Am at Leslie’s right now babysitting- Matt and Les are on a Cruise to the Bahamas- Email me when you have time- Love YA! Mama
Hey Pat and Al, what an amazing resort area. When you return to Rockwall, you can help me get my scuba certification in Lake Ray Hubbard….not quite as exotic of a place as Egypt huh?
So glad all is going well for the two of you. Thanks for staying in touch.
Russ