Hurghada

In transit now after spendng 3 days in Hurghada which is about 6 hours south of Cairo by car. The city is definitely a tourist town. Russians were everywhere in very skimpy clothes. There are about 1,000 hotels in Hurghada and 50% of Egypt's tourist flock there. I spent most of my time window shopping and laying on the beach. There isn't a lot of beach not consumed by hotels. We paid to hang out by the sheraton's beach which was quite clean and provided chairs. The water is multi-colored and amazingly clear. Even in deep water you can see to the bottom. The Sheraton brought in sand as the sea coast here is typically rocky. There are scattered coral reefs near the shore; but I only saw one small, bland fish while swimming. From shore, you can see several little islands where people snorkel and dive. I didn't do either while I was there, but hope to in Dahab. Hurghada has a beautiful new Marina and from it you can see the construction of a beautiful, new beach-side mosque. My Let's Go book said the town was very conservative; but I didn't see much of that. In the tourist areas signs are written in English, Russian, and Arabic. Sometimes the signs won't even have Arabic on them. Skimply dressed tourists and unveiled locals were everywhere. I hate it when a city loses it's initial culture to tourism.

I'm waiting to take the night bus tonight to Dahab. I hear Dahab is much more natural...