Day 35 - Finally, a chance to relax

This wake up call we were happy to receive.  Whilst the visits to the temples and ruins were interesting and enjoyable, we were all templed out and we were all looking forward to the end of the sight seeing and the beginning of the real holidaying. 

We were in the minivan by 7:30 and again awaiting a convoy, this time to Hurghada at 8am.  Unlike the trip to Luxor though, this convoy was enormous.  There were loads of minivans and coaches and they seemed very determined to cross the desert as quickly as possible.  Our van driver (we had a different driver for each town or convoy) for this trip was a maniac, dodging and swerving all over the place, determined to lead the pack to the Red Sea.  I lost count of the number of near misses we had but he and Mahmoud didn’t seem the least bit worried.  As well and making long overtaking moves into oncoming traffic, the drivers here in Egypt also like to drive really close to each other, giving themselves less than a car length of breaking distance when moving at more than 100km/hr. Whenever they were forced to brake suddenly they’d just swerve wildly and bunch up two wide in a single lane.  INSANE.  I switched on the laptop and got to work catching up on this diary, trying my best to ignore the chaos outside.

The drive to Hurghada took about 4 hours, which necessitated a stop just beyond halfway, at a roadside town in the middle of the desert.  The town came alive as the convoy pulled in.  Young children lead camels, goats and donkeys between the coaches, trying to look cute enough to deserve a photograph and the inevitable tip that such a tacit service obliges.  For those poor souls unfortunate enough to be packed tightly into their vans or coaches, the stop was probably a much needed opportunity to grab some fresh air and to stretch their legs.  To us though, it was just an unwelcome delay, we had plenty of room in our van!

We arrived in Hurghada at around midday and after checking in we learnt that the rest of the day was ours.  We had originally been scheduled to ride quad bikes through the desert but the winds which had whipped up the desert in the morning had forced the delay of the activity.  Consequently we had nothing to do but to grab some lunch and then explore the resort, which meant a walk down to the private beach and a few hours lying the in sun and swimming.  Our stay at this resort is half board so we took dinner in the hotel and then afterwards, passed the evening catching up on emails.