Started late - at about lunchtime, I think. It wasn't that eventful a day. We spent most of it in the hotel, although we managed a couple of hours on the public *beach* opposite the hotel. It wasn't until we were settled on our sunloungers that we realised that we were next to Aidan and Fernando. I commented to Jimmy that they must think we're stalking them.
Apart from lying soaking up the sun and nursing our hangovers, we had a stroll down to the beach. I say stroll, but my thighs had inexplicably seized up after the previous day's clifftop climb that descending a four inch kerb was painful. How I descended twenty steps, I'll never know. Jimmy was nearly as bad, having cut his feet on the coral the previous day.
But it was worth it to walk along the small - maybe six foot long - jetty, to get beyond the coral reef and to look at the fish, so clearly visible in the clear waters of the Red Sea. People were snorkelling, just lying on their fronts, their faces submerged.
The atmosphere around the hotel was excellent. I've never really experienced such an atmosphere. Perhaps because we were 'All Inclusive', but I am sure that the New Year Gala dinner engendered the friendly atmosphere. It was just the right level of friendliness. Nobody clung like a limpet. I found that I got on especially well with Maresa (with whom Jimmy got on well) and we both enjoyed the company of her twins, Claude and Isaac. Jimmy got very well with Mike and Joan, whom I also liked a lot. But there were countless other people with whom we had the occasional chat, or a bit of a laugh and a joke, and other people, mainly Norwegians, where, although conversation was stilted, the exchange of friendly glances was warm.
After dinner, I paused to look at the notice board, whilst Jimmy popped back to the hotel room to get some more cigarettes. As I struggled down the steps to the bar, he joined me and said that Fiona the Rep had left a note saying that our Friday Cairo trip had been moved to Thursday. Or, as I believed, a mere 7 hours away. We had a short discussion and decided that it wasn't on, so I phoned Fiona. Actually, we weren't to be picked up until 7.30, and we were to fly to Luxor, and hang around Luxor airport for two hours. So it definitely wasn't on, and Fiona fully understood. Mind you, the Portsmouth mob were preparing for a 2 am departure, going to Cairo for 2 days, due back close to midnight on Friday.
We had a good natter with Maresa in the 'coffee shop' (bar). We were laughing about an Austrian woman who was staying in the hotel. On the night we had arrived, she had made a beeline for Jimmy, and had been obviously put out when it was clear that we were together. One of the staff was giving her a neck massage. She was expressing regret that she was obliged to be in Vienna on the 6th, saying that she would miss her massages from all her Mohammeds.
On New Year's Eve, we were just coming out of the coffee shop en route for the gala dinner when this Austrian woman appeared. She strutted over to the chef manning the BBQ, smoozed him, and made to sit on the BBQ, so Jimmy christened her 'GriddleBum'. Both Jimmy and Maresa were given the dubious honour of a New Year's kiss from our Austrian friend. She then became known as 'Leather Face'. She had been dancing with a charming multi-lingual guy, unknown nationality, called 'The Psychologist'. Later, Maresa was dancing with him, and Leather Face was looking daggers at her. I pointed out, initially to the bemusement and then amusement, of Maresa that LF saw Maresa as a threat. For someone like Leather Face, Sharm El Sheikh is ideal. With the exception of foreigners, and Bedouin taxi-drivers who return to the desert at sunset, most of the people working there are from Cairo and Alexandria, or other cities. All of the Egyptian workers are male, and their families are back home. I imagine for the likes of Leather Face there is no shortage of men eager for a no-strings fling. Quite why she would need to be jealous of two people dancing! We were also laughing at her sunbathing. Not only was she wearing full makeup (Jimmy said he would hate to see her without) but she seriously looked like her facelift was about to collapse.
I commented that I used to read in Cosmo that if you are desperate for a man, it shows, and it is extremely off-putting to men. I had never fully understood what this meant, until I met Leather Face. I suppose I just feel sorry for her, because she didn't seem like a nasty person.
