It's a strange thing waking up on your first day on holiday. What should I wear? Um, it's December - I think I shall wear light cotton trousers and a sleeveless top. Yet, as I walk past the pool and into the restaurant for breakfast, I feel overdressed and decidedly pale. After breakfast, we stroll down the drive, our breath taken by the majestic sight of the hills of the Sinai rising behind the hotel. Outside our hotel is a dual carriageway: the step from the kerb and back up, each times 2, is some eight inches. The central reservation is rubble. As Waseem explained yesterday, Sharm is a stop-start resort. It was going just fine until September 11th; then it went quiet. It has just got busy again, so the last thing anyone wants is a war in Iraq.
We went to the Welcome meeting at the hotel across the road with Fiona the Libra rep. Fortunately, she didn't infantilise us. We spent some time looking through the list of excursions and deciding which ones to go on. As we were waiting to book with Fiona we fell into a conversation with 3 couples whom we soon dubbed the Portsmouth mob - although they were far too pleasant and civilised to really be a mob. It fascinates me how 3 couples manage to arrange a holiday together. Are they all mutual friends or does, say, one of the women moan and complain, "Darling - you know I only put up with your mate because I love you, but I don't think I can take a whole week. And as for his dreadful girlfriend..."
We strolled to the beach, but to be honest, we were not impressed. There was a flight of steps to the area where people lay on sun loungers - not really a beach at all. It was another climb down to the sea, where some children were snorkelling and some adults were just standing looking down at the sea. We returned to the hotel.
We spent the rest of the day getting into the whole 'all-inclusive' experience - sitting round the pool sipping drinks that just came from the bar, waiting for the next meal. Fine for half a day but I couldn't bear it day after day. We went for a walk along the road and watched the sun set behind the hills. We returned to the bar and got chatting to Joan and Mike from Whitley Bay. Like us, they were staying for two weeks. They were a really good laugh, although they never seemed to do things the straightforward way. They've been married the best part of thirty years and are pretty well travelled. I think they've developed a double act over the years which is based on Joan being clueless - Calamity Jane - but she's actually a very canny woman.
We were having a laugh about the spirits available - the ultimate snide goods. From a distance, the bottles look exactly like the well known brand names but on closer inspection it turns out that it's Gordoon's Cairo gin, Johnnie Wader whisky, Fineland vodka and a Bacardi 'rom' snide.
We stayed up far too late drinking with Maresa.
