Holidays to Sharm el Sheikh – A Holiday history with out the pyramids
Way back in the early nineties when the Red Sea came into prominence it was only Taba and Eilat just over the border that was known to the select few diving enthusiasts that had ‘discovered’ what that part of the world had known for a few thousand years before that ‘discovery’, that the Red Sea and the coral reefs nestled therein where pretty astounding; lets face it The Red Sea was parted by Moses himself, mentioned in the Old Testament so it wasn’t exactly a secret now was it, I mean how many people have read the bible? So to be fair let’s say this area was rediscovered by some diving enthusiasts, who fell in love with the gentle lapping waters of the Red Sea framing the golden sands of the desert.
I have a strong belief that some parts of this world have a direct effect on your psyche, an effect that cannot be quantified or fully explained by the written word or the spoken word until it is seen by your very own naked eye, felt in the first breath of air you breathe in your lungs and felt with the warmth of the sun caressing bare arms and if you are lucky maybe a teeny tiny bit of breeze. This is what I felt back in 1992, when I crossed the desert from Eilat through Taba to the then unheard off Sharm El Sheikh with a select few travel agents been introduced to this part of the world. I travelled by coach across the desert, that was so uniformly golden it looked like we were in Gods very own demerera sugar bowl, I half expected a big old spoon with a mighty big hand to scoop up some desert sugar puffs to stir into His imaginary breakfast (my God eats sugar puffs, sorry shreddies lovers!) that’s how I felt, but I have been known to have a fantasy life equal to my three year old, so once again I am digressing and waxing lyrical. That was then, and this is now, and in the last 20 years the little unknown resort with its two hotels standing on the edge of the Sinai desert that I first came upon when I first visited Sharm El Sheikh has undergone a metamorphosis worthy of mention.
At twenty four kilometres long this little desert place in Egypt has become the top holiday destination for us and our European cousins’. It is peppered with a wide selection of five star hotels offering either very luxurious ultra modern five stars like the Four Seasons Resort or smaller and more affordable three to generic tourist five star hotels, most offering all inclusive, but as a rule of thumb All Inclusive Hotels can get a bit repetitive after five days so be warned. Speaking for myself I have never really liked the concept of and “All Inclusive Holiday”, I would much prefer exploring local delicacies and culture and staying in small and friendly family run hotels, but nonetheless given the nature of cheap Sharm El Sheikh holidays and the fact that it’s a purpose built holiday resort, unless you are prepared to go deep into the sandy desert and hunt down some very shy Bedouin locals puzzled by the crazy English man who is trying to go local, All Inclusive holidays are the best option, of course if you are going to stay around Naama Bay, Sharks Bay or Ras Om El Seid Hill, you can get away with little BB’s and eat local but as most hotels stretch over some serious kilometres along the coastline of Sharm El Sheikh then All Inclusive is easier by far! If you are planing on an All Inclusive Holiday in Sharm el sheikh, remember that no two five star hotels where ever created equal, use the price as guidance simply the more it costs the better service you should receive.
You may have touristy five stars, and family orientated fives, and of course the luxurious five star resorts, a travel agent with a few grams of experienvce should be able to point you in the right direction and dont for get Trip Advisor which is really handy for seperating the wheat from the chaf.com is a very good resource of reviews both positive and negative, however, I have known many holidaymakers been undone by the good marks and points given by the people who have looked at Sultan Garden’s for example, but, and this you need to take into consideration, the Sultan Gardens is absolutely perfect if you are going as a family with children in tow, older couples with no kids may find the Sultan Gardens teeming as it will be with lots of families with kids, doing what kids do on holiday may result in the hotel been unsuitable and a tad overwhelming, this means you would not enjoy it as much, so when you are looking at advise websites you really need to actually read between the lines and check out who has posted the review. Apart from where to stay of course, holidays in Sharm El Sheikh are known for diving and what a place to dive it is, if the Garden of Eden was meant to be beneath the sea, then this is where it would be. Once you have a snorkel on and your head submerged beneath the sea you are in a different world, a world brimful of colour, with every coral and every fish imaginable just there in front of you, you get to see the yellows and purples and the turquoise of all the darting little fish, the sway of sea anemones and the brain coral and best of all you are there, sensing and touching all these new and wonderful techni-coloured visual stimuli which bares no comparison to you gazing in brochures and on the internet at all the photos and snapshots.
About the Author
Casper da Silva has been in the Holiday industry for over 15 years. For very Cheap Holidays to Sharm el Sheikh and information on booking travel to the Red Sea Region check out HolidayClick for great holiday deals.
Is A Regional Classic A Universal Classic (Or Rather, Should It Be?)?
I always hear people say things like Game’s album “The Documentary” is a West coast classic, or “E 1999 Eternal” by Bone Thugs is a Midwest classic, or Goodie Mob’s “Soul Food” is a southern classic, etc.
Should regional classics be considered universal classics? The aforementioned albums I listed are just the first examples that came to mind and the discussion on this topic should therefore not be limited, nor focused, on said albums.
54bears – so is “Most Known Unknown” by 3 6 Mafia a classic? Or even their earlier (and more respectable) work? Several “respected” users on this site have stated in the past that 3 6 Mafia is a classic southern group with classic southern albums…
There’s a reason why albums from specific regions have to be regarded as regional classics. Those regions haven’t produced enough albums that are worthy being called universal classics. I would say the east coast is the only region that has enough universal classics that they don’t have to label albums as regional classics. By east coast, I basically just mean New York, not the rest of the east coast.
I don’t think an album should get more praise than it deserves just because it comes from a weak region, so I don’t think albums that are considered regional classics should get bumped up.
