Sharm-el-Sheikh is at the southern most tip of Sinai peninsula where, in a few square kilometers all natural wonders come togther-sand, sea, corals, mountains. Its also one of the best places for holidaying with exotic locales, quaint resorts and fashion hot spot. The main attractions in and around Sharm are beaches, snorkelling, scuba diving, trip to Ras Mohammed, glass boat trip, early morning trek to Mt Sinai, desert driving and so on...
Day 4-Booking for scuba diving and Mt Sinai trek
While planning the trip, we had put scuba diving and trek to Mt SInai in our must do list(these were the main reasons why we left our then 1 1/2 years old kid at home) ..We have read a lot about red sea and its magnificient under water life with rich flora and fauna.. Its a diver's paradise with crystal clear water and good visibility under water.Trek to Mt SInai and watching the sun rise is also supposed to be an equally splendid experience.
There are lot of diving centres through out Sharm..We enquired in 3 to 4 centres. Camel driving centre offered us diving in Ras Mohammad one of the best places in the world for suba diving. Generally beginners and people without any prior experience like us are not taken to Ras Mohammad.. When Camel offered us that, we readily accepted and paid the advance. We also chose our diving suit and shoes that fitted us. We had to wait one more day for the trip.
Next we had to book for Mt Sinai trip. As our resort has been converted to a disco club, we did not get any help wrt sight seeing trips..But there were so many other resorts having their stalls for various tour packages..Trip to Mt Sinai is generally available only on fridays.. We booked in one of the resort's stall(forgot the name of the resort) We had to wait 3 more days for the trekking trip..
We then had a stroll in the main road of Sharm to experience the night life. It has starbucks, lots of ice cream shops, many restaurants offering variety of cusines and of course night clubs...We just had coffee in starbucks and we felt we are spending a fortune on a cup of coffee.
Day 5-Just snorkelling
We did not have any planned activity for the day..So we just went to the beach to do some snorkelling. Snorkelling equipment was available for rent for the whole day for 20 EGP per equipment. My husband did a quick calculation and felt that buying the equipment would be cost effective(we had already enquired the price) than renting for another 5 days at 40 EGP per day for both of us. So we bought the equipment for around 120 EGP per piece.(of course after bargaining). We did a lot of snorkelling in the beach..It was a very nice experience. I was so happy to spot the same fish which was animated in Finding Nemo as the lost kid. Once we go a bit away from the shore, we could see colorful live corals being habitated by different varities of fish.
Back at the resort, we packed for the next day's suba diving trip.
Day 6-Scuba Diving
Camel driving school's van picked us up at the resort at around 7:30 AM. We met a Russian scuba diver who saw a shark the previuos day he went for scuba diving..The instructor in the van told us that we would not be able to do the diving in deep areas as we do not have any prior experience. We were a bit disappointed. In the next half an hour, the van was full of Russian divers and all of them were experts. They had dived more than once in the red sea. We realised how funny it was that we were disppointed that we would not get to dive in deep sea. We also felt we did a big mistake by choosing ras mohammed as there was no beginner for our comapny.
Once we reached the quay, we boarded our boat. Within few minutes, I felt sea sick and had to take a pill. I was just lying down for the most of the journey cursing myself for choosing ras mohammed. Then came the first deep sea destination for diving. All the russian divers changed to diving suit, tanks and dived into the sea. The guide offered us to go for snorkelling till the time the divers come back. My husband accepted immediately and I backed off at the same pace. I was really scared that my husband was going to snorkel in the deep waters of red sea. I know he has never done anything like this before though he had always wanted to. He is a good swimmer too, but he is not going to swim in a swimming pool or pond...its the RED SEA. I just kept my fingers crossed. The boat was always following him while he circled the sea reefs. Finally he signalled for the rope by raising his hands in the sea. The boat went towards the shore and threw the rope so that he can be guided. He reached the boat safely and was just elated to have seen so many fishes,corals. it was indeed a happy event for him though the memorable one was yet to come.
After few more diving by the Russian experts in deeper areas, we headed back towards the port. I thought may we might not dive today and I was really happy about it..But the boat stopped at some place and my husband was supposed to dive first ofcourse with the guide who would handle all the operations. The guide explained to us some of the sign languages with which we need to communicate when underwater.
My husband dived, and I started worrying. Atleast during snorkelling I could see him, but diving is entirely different. He was below the water for what looked like a very long time to me. He came up safely after fifteen minutes or so and he had loved every minute of it. Then it was my turn. I don't even want to say anything about it except that after going 1 foot under water, my ears started paining like anything(due to pressure difference), I got panicky and I just remebered one sign language that is to tell the guide to bring me to the surface. I felt terrible and ashamed of myself...But I was really happy for my husband that he could do it. We came back to the resort in the evening. For lunch, we had brought some noodles. The too provided lunch on boat for 20 US $ per person.
Cost per person for scuba diving: 100 US $ for one dive
Day 7-Just snorkelling again
We spent our time in the beach snorkelling. I forgot to mention that we did buy an underwater camera in one of the shops in SHarm to take snaps while scuba diving. as if diving was a child's play. We did not even take out the camera there. We used it to take snaps of the fish in the beach while snorkelling. .We developed the photos in a studio in Sharm, half of the photos were good..Back at the room, we got ready for the Mt Sinai trekking for which we were supposed to catch the tourist bus at 10 in the night.
To be continued...
