Egypt – Value Plus
Article by By Dr. P. J. Shield
If you’re looking for a holiday destination of a lifetime you can’t go wrong with a trip to Egypt. Some of the greatest wonders of the world and at a price that’s hard to believe. The euro is worth approximately 8 Egyptian pounds!
The Marriott Taba Heights Hotel Resort is only 86 euros per night with a full breakfast and a beachfront suite overlooking the Red sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. When we awoke at 6am in the morning we could see the twinkling lights of the Saudi Arabian coast across the gulf. Even though our visit was the early part of January we were able to sunbathe on the beach outside our door! As with any international travel, safety is a major concern but in all fairness I felt safer in Egypt than here at my new home in Las Vegas NV. USA!
Egypt had long been at the top of my bucket list (The list of everything I wish to do before I kick the bucket!) But not in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would have the opportunity to visit Cairo, The Pyramids, The Lost city of Petra in Jordon, and the amazing Monastery at St. Catherin’s in the heart of the Sinai Desert and all in 7 days!
Our trip was a last minute decision whilst visiting London England and finding we had a week to kill, so to speak; I spotted an advertisement for a company called Peltours (www.Peltours.com) who have been providing tours to Egypt since 1920. They arranged both our flight and accommodation at an amazing price, which included half board. They also organized all our trips to Cairo, Jordon and the Sinai Monastery where you can still see and touch the burning bush where Moses is said to have spoken to God, at the foot of the mountain where he received the Stone Tablets! (The highlight of my trip by the way!)
Our 5-hour flight from London was uneventful and we arrived to a hearty welcome provided in part by the Egyptian Tourist Security Police who did everything possible to make our welcome both smooth and comforting. A short coach trip accompanied by our tour company guide brought us to the resort area of Taba Heights and our superb Marriott Taba Heights Resort.
We were registered in no time and soon set out to discover our home for the next 7 days. The gardens were in full bloom and the swimming pool that seemed to go in all directions was already full of British tourists who were obviously pleased to get away from England’s chilly winter. The Resort boasted a full range of services including a great Gym and Spa; A Bank with 24 hour ATM facilities, great gift shops and a wide assortment of restaurants.
Our favorite turned out to be The Grotto, a cave like facility at which the resort offered themed dinners with extensive cabaret for only about 30 euros per head. We picked the Bedouin night and had a wonderful time. We chose day trips, preferring to return to our beautiful suite at The Marriott each evening.
Our first excursion was to Cairo and the Pyramids. This is a rather tiring 5-hour drive from Taba. A private car and driver for the day cost only 123 euros. We left at 5 am and arrived at the Pyramids by 10 am – plenty of time to see all there is to see at this wonder of the world and still spend a few hours at the Cairo Museum – a must on any visit.
For a small fee you can enter the Pyramids and visit the amazing Cheops Solar Barge discovered at the base of the Pyramid of Cheops. It has taken 14 years to reconstruct! Our second excursion was to the country of Jordan, about a 2-hour cruise from our Taba location. If you saw Indiana Jones “Last Crusade” you would immediately recognize the ‘Lost City of Petra’. Little is known about the Nabatean people or their Capital which looks so much like a mysterious stage set in the middle of this multicolored sandstone mountain range and dating back to 1500 BC. It all came to an amazing end when on the 19th of May, 363 AD an Earthquake razed part of the city and brought about the eventual de-population of Petra.
Be warned…what they omit to tell you is that there is an approximate 5 km walk from the entrance to the ‘lost city’! For the trip back we took a horse and cart for what seemed an expensive 25 euros! Nevertheless a visit never to be forgotten! On the trip back from Petra we stopped for a short shopping visit to Aqaba.
Our Bedouin Night at the Marriott’s Grotto was full of surprises. After we had been clothed in the conventional Bedouin robes we were made comfortable on our pile of cushions on the floor in true native style. The cabaret was magnificent with non-stop dance groups and solo artists including a very beautiful ‘belly dancer’. The highlight was the lamb served on a bed of cuscus on our own miniature BBQ at our small round table. The food throughout our 7-day stay was first class wherever we were taken to dine. We had no language difficulties and everyone went truly out of their way to make our stay as pleasant as possible. The local chemist provided almost any drug without prescription and at an unbelievable price! Without question, for your author at least, the final day’s visit to the amazing Monastery of St. Catherine was the highlight of the 7-day trip.
As we drove in our comfortable airconditioned coach across the Sinai Desert to the foot of Mt. Horeb (Where Moses received the stone tablets of Biblical fame) we had the opportunity to meet up with the local Bedouin people who make their home on the desert and sell their wares to the visiting tourists at road side stops along the way. On our return we encountered two of their children at an Oasis and found them to be just delightful. They eagerly accepted the apples and sandwiches we provided from our packed lunch and were thrilled to pose for pictures. We knew not from whenst they came or went as we drove of into the distance.
The Monastery is a walled fortress accessible through a tiny doorway leading to the square where Moses’ burning bush is still continuing to bloom to this day! The Greek Monks, who have inhabited this site since the 9th century, are keepers of the world’s largest collection of religious icons and precious manuscripts.
You can visit Skull House containing the skeletal remains of deceased monks. Thousands of human skulls piled unceremonially behind chicken wire for all to view. The museum displaying the religious icons was dazzling and made the journey more than worth whilst. We stopped at the Hilton Hotel at Nuwibaa for a buffet lunch and viewed the stretch of the Red Sea where Moses is said to have parted the waters, and from where fossilized remains of Chariot wheels and bones have been recovered.
We decided very early on in our visit to purchase all our souvenirs from one of the two gift shops at the hotel. Our bulk purchase earned us a much greater discount than we would have achieved buying the gifts one at a time elsewhere. I returned with a designer set of luggage that I purchased for 150 euros!
