We are staying in the 5-star Movenpick in Taba. It is walking distance to the Israel/Egypt border on the Red Sea.
The hotel is empty due to tourists staying away due to recent terrorist attacks. Seems irrational to me. People are not staying away from Paris, or their cars or their stairs for that matter.
Staff have told me that the hotel is at about 5% capacity. This is usually the quiet time of the year, but this year it is even more so. Part of the problem is that flights to Sharm El Sheikh have been cancelled by many airlines. It happened to us too, but it was a bonus to come here via Israel instead.
It costs $64 per night. This is half board and we get a fantastic buffet for breakfast and dinner. They upgraded us to a nice ground floor room that looks out on the pool and has an extra bed, so there is plenty of room for us all to sleep comfortably.
Compare this to living in UK or Sweden. We would spend $300 per week just on food and cook 80% off it at home. Then utility bills, maintenance and property taxes. I reckon it is cheaper here and we have a load more time in the day. They come and clean our room every day. The only small mundanity we have to do is our own laundry in the bath tub. It would be nice to have on site self service laundry facilities like in the Extended Stay America motel we stayed in Florida.
The snorkelling just off the beach is fantastic. The diving is the cheapest in the world. The day before yesterday, we hired a boat with crew and a dive instructor to take us to 2 dive sites. Lunch was included. The total cost for 2 days on a boat with 2 dives on each day and lunch, and a further 2 dives from the shore.... $180 per person (kids free) ! This is including equipment hire.
There is entertainment on every night. We have only been to one show of glass walking and fire eating, and it felt a bit like being Kim Jong Un because the audience was about 4 people... except that you don't get to shoot the performers if they fail to please!
Yesterday we went to Israel to visit the Egyptian Consulate to extend our visa. The whole day was a great example of governments getting in the way of peaceful people .
The hotel is empty due to tourists staying away due to recent terrorist attacks. Seems irrational to me. People are not staying away from Paris, or their cars or their stairs for that matter.
Staff have told me that the hotel is at about 5% capacity. This is usually the quiet time of the year, but this year it is even more so. Part of the problem is that flights to Sharm El Sheikh have been cancelled by many airlines. It happened to us too, but it was a bonus to come here via Israel instead.
It costs $64 per night. This is half board and we get a fantastic buffet for breakfast and dinner. They upgraded us to a nice ground floor room that looks out on the pool and has an extra bed, so there is plenty of room for us all to sleep comfortably.
Compare this to living in UK or Sweden. We would spend $300 per week just on food and cook 80% off it at home. Then utility bills, maintenance and property taxes. I reckon it is cheaper here and we have a load more time in the day. They come and clean our room every day. The only small mundanity we have to do is our own laundry in the bath tub. It would be nice to have on site self service laundry facilities like in the Extended Stay America motel we stayed in Florida.
The snorkelling just off the beach is fantastic. The diving is the cheapest in the world. The day before yesterday, we hired a boat with crew and a dive instructor to take us to 2 dive sites. Lunch was included. The total cost for 2 days on a boat with 2 dives on each day and lunch, and a further 2 dives from the shore.... $180 per person (kids free) ! This is including equipment hire.
There is entertainment on every night. We have only been to one show of glass walking and fire eating, and it felt a bit like being Kim Jong Un because the audience was about 4 people... except that you don't get to shoot the performers if they fail to please!
Yesterday we went to Israel to visit the Egyptian Consulate to extend our visa. The whole day was a great example of governments getting in the way of peaceful people .
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