El Gouna
January 6, 2007
Today we had a very long bus ride but it was worth it! While leaving Cairo I spotted 2 men galloping on camels, making it my first time ever to see a camel! El Gouna is near the Red Sea but we traveled through a lot of desert on the way! Here we stay at the Arena Inn, my roomate and myself have a great view from the third floor of the pool and the water. This area is more of a tourist town, many Europeans are staying here. After getting settled here I decide to lie in the sun for a while and listen to music. When the sun goes down I plan to take a walk and check out the town near by. The town is small but very cool! There are little shops everywhere. Chris, Rachel, Becca, Kyle, and myself continue to explore and check out some possible places to go after dinner. At one place, called "Palma", there are supposed to be belly dancers. Before dinner we all go for a drink in the tent by the pool, it feels so surreal to be here, I feel like I'm dreaming. I tried the smoking the hookah for the first time today as well. A man who owns a booth, where he sells Egyptian souvenirs, invited us to smoke for free! I was hesitant at first but found I really like it! He gave us cherry flavored tobacco and our own little plastic mouth pieces. It was such a great experience. The people here are very nice. Before the night ended most of the group went downtown to the Marina to walk and have a drink, we ended up in a British bar of all places! Afterwards we went to "Palma" to try and catch the belly-dancers but missed them. We all think the owner probably just told us there were belly-dancers to get us in there. We couldn't wait for them because we had to get some sleep, so I guess we'll never know. The Red Sea is where we're headed tomorrow morning, I'm excited to snorkel and lie in the sun some more!
January 7, 2007
MERRY COPTIC CHRISTMAS!
Today was amazing! We took a trip to the Red Sea on a tour boat. At first we drove to an island and some people snorkeled and I tanned on the beach. I found a couple pieces of coral to bring home in the sand. Then we went to the reef and snorkeled, it was a little windy and cold, so I was reluctant at first but I didn't want to miss this opportunity. I'm so glad I went in, I saw so many amazing fish, (clown fish for example), I don't know the names for all of them but the fish as well as the coral reef were beautiful. An experience I will never forget! The guide even took our group to a place where we could touch the coral. After we got back on the boat, myself and a few others jumped off the top of the boat. Scary but fun! After being out in the sun all day I was so tired, we did smoke the hookah again even though I was ready to sleep. I'm ready for bed now because vacation is officially over, the group is getting up tomorrow at 4:15 a.m. so we can take the bus to Luxor. I can't wait!
