We just returned from visiting Sharm el-Sheikh for our 3 day weekend. Sharm is known as the “City of Peace” as it has been home to many of the major peace and economic conferences over the past twenty years. It’s location on the Sinai Peninsula along with a beautiful coastline and warm sunny climate has helped Sharm become a favorite for tourists from Europe. We arrived on Friday morning and relaxed by the one of the many pools and walked the beach throughout the day. Saturday we ventured into Sharm to visit Na’ama Bay to do a little sightseeing and shopping. The Old Market has many unique shops where bargaining on the cost of items is the norm. Having lived here now for nearly two years, we have a pretty good idea of what thing should cost. It was not unusual to find items starting out at outrageous prices. For instance, Pat looked at tops that ordinarily sell for 25 to 40 L.E. Shopkeepers would start out their pricing at 300 to 400 L.E. In some instances, they probably get that price from unsuspecting tourist.
We stayed at the Jaz Mirabel Beach, an all inclusive resort directly on the Red Sea. Rooms were spacious, food plentiful and the service was good. In the evening, the moon was almost in an ideal location rising up over the sea almost directly in the center of the resort. The area around Sharm has really grown over the past twenty years. Nearly every major hotel chain has some sort of resort and they just keep building. Like Hurghada and Marsa Matrouh, Sharm gives visitors an entirely different picture of Egypt. It seems much more Western than most of Egypt. Most all of the shops and resorts are staffed by men – it was unusual to see women even on the streets unless they were tourist.
