1st full day in Egypt

Today was our first day in Egypt. The previous night we (Maria and I) arrived into Sharm El Sheikh and simply took a bus to our hotel. We were staying at the Sharm Reef Hotel which was very nice and still had afforable rates. Nonetheless our first day I woke up not knowing what to expect out of Sharm El Sheikh or Egypt in general. So I threw open the curtains to the room and was literally temporarily blinded by the bright sun. After some getting around we decided that we would try to go and find some goggles and snorkel so that we could use it for the whole trip.

Starting this adventure we wandered out into the sun and out of the hotel to the road where we figured we could find a taxi to whereever it was we wanted to go. By the time we reached the road we already had sweat in our foreheads.

And was there ever alot of taxi's. We waved one down and asked to go to a place where they sell snorkels. Of course the driver did not speak english. So at this point we had to try describing a snorkel (not too easy). I had to act like I was putting one in my mouth and swimming, haha looking back it was funny. Nonetheless eventually he figured out what we were talking about so he took us a short distance to a snorkel shop (very run down and only rentals). He charged us 60 Egyptian pounds (far too much, but we didnt know better). We didn't want to rent so we just started to walk down the road and look for something better.

Then we spotted a beach across the road so we made our way there. When we arrived we found a little shop that sold snorkels and an assortment of juices.

We decided to purchase two sets of snorkels and goggles with some juices. The man overcharged us for everything and we simply went back to the hotel and relaxed at the pool for a while. We showed the shopkeeper in the hotel our snorkel and he explained to us how they sold us fake tempered glass goggles. So far we felt like everbody was trying to take advantage of us (which they were).

After the pool we got some food which was quite delightful and not too expensive. We got this next to the pool at the hotel. After the food we hung out for a while until nighttime came. Across from the hotel was a shopping mall called Il Mercato. We went from shop to shop and saw what they had to offer. It was a very touristy place so the prices were through the roof. We got a bite to eat and a juice and ended up walking out with only a bracelet purchased. After this we went back to the hotel and hung out for the night. The whole day was filled with confusion of what to do around the town. We spoke with a travel advisor earlier in the day and signed up for some camel riding the next day but other than that we were lost. That was about to change.