October 10 – Hurghada, Egypt

Today was the first time in awhile that a port was what we expected it to be.  We expected a really Third World place and it definitely was just that. Hurghada is the third largest Egyptian city on the Red Sea  with a population of 248,000.  Its primary industry is tourism.

We tendered ashore to a very modern cruise terminal which was completely empty inside.  Shuttle buses took us to the main shopping street.  The buses were escorted by armed policemen.  We were dropped off by a money exchange place which had a picture of Ben Franklin on the sign.  We found that strange to say the least.

Old Ben made it to a sign in Hurghada, Egypt

We walked a block or two past numerous shops selling Egyptian treasures, AKA trash and trinkets. As we walked along a police pickup trailed along the street.  Every shopkeeper urged us to come in and see his wares.  I have never seen so many King Tut statues,  hookah pipes and miniature pyramids and sphinxes.  An engaging fellow named Ali (what else!) wouldn’t let us pass without checking out his shop.  As we walked in he asked me what I thought of my government.  I told him we didn’t talk politics even at home.

 

No doubt every city in Egypt has a Cleopatra Bazaar

On the far right is the Burger King in Hurghada. On the next block was an arrow pointing the way to McDonalds.  You can't get away from them!

Well, Ali managed to get us to buy some of his genuine stone statuettes.  Each time we tried to bargain he would throw in something else.  The piece de resistance was a necklace made of some kind of seeds and coconut shell which he draped around my neck.  That will be left behind someplace because I don’t want to be stopped by the Beagle Brigade when we go home.  Well, the upside is we got some Christmas presents for Katie and Stan.  The downside is we have to carry them home. No charge it, ship it in Ali’s store.

After our encounter with him, we decided it was time to head back to the coolness of the ship.  Again armed guards were everywhere.  As Al said, it looked like an NRA convention.  We lazed away the rest of the afternoon.  We wanted to rest up because we have 3 grueling days ahead – Petra tomorrow and Luxor the next two days.