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A nice view of Na'ma Bay at Sharm el-Sheikh
As our small tour left Luxor for Sharm
el-Sheikh, the airport in Luxor was not nearly
as crowded as the one in Cairo, but still there was a considerable number of
people at the counters. Again, Misr Travel obtained our boarding passes for us,
as we cleared through security, making the flight a little less tedious. Its
really a short flight to Sharm el Sheikh, and we  left at five in the afternoon,
after our early morning balloon ride. To me, that was really great timing,
because my favorite part of visiting Sharm is the nightlife. I love the
animations, the singers and various other shows going on up and down the
boardwalk (promenade).
The Movenpick has two hotels in
Sharm el-Sheikh. The older of the two, where
we stayed, is situated in a nice location about in the middle of the most
prominent part of the promenade. Though thoroughly modern in design, it must be
one of the oldest hotels in Sharm because of its location. The other Movenpick is
the Golf hotel, located some distance away. Its golf course hosted the first
professional tournament in Egypt. Both are excellent hotel complexes that
include not only outstanding accommodations and amenities, but also fairly
complete malls. The Movenpick where we stayed has a
casino, as well as some of the best entertainment in this area of Sharm.
 Though Soha was no longer with us, as we would require no guide in
Sharm, Misr Travel
picked us up and took care of our checking into the hotel. By then
most of us were hungry and we headed to a fish restaurant just a bit north along
the promenade. Actually, while most of the crew had some really good fish, I and
a couple of the other men had some really bad hamburgers. Growing up in West
Texas, I'm not much of a fish person, which I suppose, is my loss. Later we hung
out at Seagulls, the Movenpick
club where they had singers and dancers that
evening and drank a few beers. That was about it for me and most of the others,
but Tigger (Rachel) was just coming into her own at Sharm. Very much a people
person, as is her cousin and our Florida manager, and both considerably younger
than the rest of us, they hung out a while longer, visiting various clubs and
restaurants along the beach. Soon, I doubt that there was an Egyptian along the
promenade who did not know Tigger, and Tigger seemed to know everyone.
 The next day seemed to pass rapidly, even though most of us did nothing
except hang out on the beach and suntan (yes folks, in the dead middle of
December). We shopped a bit, and several members of our party who were still
somewhat sick discovered the modern pharmacies, where one could buy various
medications including antibiotics over-the-counter. There was also codeine laced
cough syrup, so everyone who was still sick doctored themselves up, even though
there was a modern clinic with a doctor in the hotel mall. Tigger (Rachel)
wanted to jet ski, but after visiting with some friends at
South Sinai Divers, we discovered that this activity was no
longer allowed, in respect to the local marine life. There
were many other water activities, and Tigger eventually joined
up with a group to go snorkeling. However, most of us simply walked
about, laid about, did some reading and generally relaxed in this beach
community so different than elsewhere in Egypt.
 That night, I took a somewhat reluctant group to the Hard Rock
Cafe. However, they were a little more ready for some American food than they
had thought, and many of us ordered what turned out to be some fairly good
Tex-Mex. That night, some of the crew visited the hotel casino, which by the way
is only open from 8:00 pm to midnight. Most lost, but Darrell Young, one of our
directors, did a little fleecing of his own. Those who were not gamblers among
us once again caroused the promenade, looking for a little different
entertainment. We went up and down the boardwalk, even taking a few pictures of
each other posed next to a Santa with camels rather than reindeer (there were
actually signs of Christmas throughout Egypt during our stay, including a belly
dancing Santa in a store window in Zamalek).
The beach at the Movenpick in Sharm el-Sheikh
As the group thinned out, Tigger, Allen and I ended up in the
Bedouin Cafe, just down the promenade from the Movenpick. I only stayed for a
few minutes, before I too had to retire. The next morning we were going to St.
Catherine's Monastery, and these day's I'm not much of a late night person
anyway. However, Allen and Tigger stayed on. Tigger had taken very well to the
Shesha pipe, and here, on carpets laid out on the sand, apparently was the
perfect place to partake. I think they hung out until after 1:00 am, getting to
know the locals (actually both of them are salespeople back home, and meeting
new people just seemed to come naturally). Of  course, they did not make it up
the next morning for our visit to St Catherine's which was a pity, because that
turned out to be another Egyptian adventure and one of the highlights of the
tour.
Misr Travel offered us a guide for this trip into the southern
central Sinai, but we declined this time around. Under the name, John Watson, I
have written considerable material about this religious shrine, as it is a
favorite topic of mine, and I expected to guide the group as well as could
anyone, outside of the monks themselves.
Really, the trip to St.
Catherine's Monastery is interesting
and grand, moving through the rough, jagged mountains in this part of the Sinai.
unfortunately some of the roads had been wiped out by flash floods sometime
earlier, so the trip was also a bumpy one. The road twists and turns, coming
only a short distance from Dahab, which we passed by without seeing, and within
about  thirty kilometers of
Nuweiba, which I really wanted to visit as I have
friends there that run the Habiba Hotel. That's a great place to have a bit of
fresh seafood, but unfortunately, most of the group wanted to spend as little
time as possible on the road.
It takes about three hours to reach the Monastery of St.
Catherine from Sharm, and after arrival in the bus area, we immediately set out
for the monastery itself. Its actually several kilometers, so we paid a rather
huge amount for a cab to carry us up the small hill. Several of our members were
not yet fully recovered from their colds, and the twenty pounds we paid for a
two kilometer ride was worth it to them.
The Monastery, one of the most famous in the world and operated
by the Greek Orthodox Church, had been closed for several days due to religious
festivals, and the place now was completely packed with tourists. We had almost
to fight our way in to the Katholikon, the main church, through shoulder to
shoulder tourists. After visiting it, we walked around the path to the
traditional location of Mosses' burning bush. Upstairs, there was also the new
Icon Gallery and Museum, which was an additional charge, but several of our
members decided to visit it too. However, this appeared to be all that could be
seen in the Monastery, and I was somewhat  disappointed. Before, when I had
visited, one could wonder around much more of the facility. Of course, there was
also more to see outside.
However, while some visited he Museum, I went to look for a
specific Monk who is working on the website for the Monastery. He is from
the US, and I knew of his existence earlier official visits to
the monastery when I was working on the Egyptian Ministry of
Tourism Website, but on each occasion, he had been away on
monastery business so I had never met him. I got lucky this
time. Father Justin was indeed in residence, and he even
offered to provide my small group with a private tour of St.
Catherine's Monastery, and of course he knows much more about the
monastery and its contents than I do.
 Several of our members had decided not to
visit the new museum, where some of the most important icons
are located, mainly because they were having trouble with
stairs. However, lead by Father Justin, they all decided to
make the one story climb, and were glad that they did. Even
those who had already gone through the museum went through
again, this time with the Monk acting as a guide.
Frankly, visiting the Monastery of St.
Catherine without touring the museum would be like entering
the National Gallery of Art's foyer but not its galleries. One
could always return home and tell their friends that they
visited the National Gallery of Art, but the experience would
be missing. Here, in this small, well planned museum, are astounding
works of art produced by true masters without rival. Were they
secular in nature, doubtless they would grace the galleries of
the world's most famous museums. Within the first room were
world renowned icons such as Christ Pantocrator, St. Peter the
Apostle, the "Ladder to Heaven" and the
Hagiologion
Calendar. I had seen some of these icons on previous visits,
but only from afar, where they were hung on various walls not
particularly suitable for good viewing. But now in the museum,
they are very well displayed so that details I had never seen
before were visible. And with Father Justin acting as guide,
the icons came to life with meaning. Other rooms within the
museum contained other treasured icons, some of the
monastery's most important ancient manuscripts, and other
artifacts such as ancient crosses and textiles. We spent some
time in the museum, and I must admit that I could have gone
through it again and again. Of course, none of our group was
Greek Orthodox, but that did not seem to diminish the the awe
in which they viewed these religious relics.
 After visiting the Museum, we went up into the
monastery, where surprisingly little of the mayhem of tourism
penetrates, we were able to walk about, and get a good feel
for this part of the monastery that few tourists see. We met
several of the more prominent monks, including the head of
finance for the monastery and the head of the library, both
impressive men, but I think all were taken by Father Justin,
who seemed to radiate peace and tranquility in this sanctuary
of the Sinai. This was all a real treat, and one that those of
our group who visited the monastery will never forget. We were
the last of the tourists through the gate of the monastery,
which had to be reopened for us, and on the way back to Sharm,
the trip seemed somehow shorter as most reflected on a special
moment in time.
 That evening we returned to the hotel in time
for dinner, and I believe most of the group joined up in the
very nice Italian restaurant at the Movenpick. Not only was
the food good but so was the view. It is situated on the
second level of the hotel, not far from Seagulls, their
nightclub. On one side it overlooks the beautifully lit pool,
while the other side has a commanding view straight down one
of Na'ma Bay's main avenues. It has both inside and outside
seating, though this time of year we chose indoor seating, as
the nights can be somewhat chilly.
 The next day we were scheduled to fly back to
Cairo, so most of the group took to their rooms after dinner,
while Allen, Tigger, my wife and I made a visit to Seagulls,
catching the entire show. That was enough for my wife and I,
but not for Allen and young Tigger. They had taken a real
liking to the Bedouin Cafe, and particularly the people who
work there, just up the promenade, and decided on a return
visit, just a quick one of course.
That quick visit turned into an all nighter.
While the rest of us slept, Allen and Tigger got well acquainted
with the natives Egyptians. By now, Tigger (Rachel) was
actually using some conversational Arabic. They all shared a
meal, but as the evening, and early morning wore on,
apparently things became more lively. One of the reasons I now
refer to Rachel as Tigger is that she actually climbed the
ropes that dangled down from a central post in this open air
restaurant, and later, she was invited by the locals to dawn
the outfit of an employee. She helped with the  food preparation,
waited on tables and even acted as barker, bringing in
customers off the promenade. She apparently outlasted her
cousin, Allen, finally watching the sun rise, not wasting a
moment of her time in Sharm
el-Sheikh. All of us therefore
left Sharm the next morning with some special memories, but
doubtless we left some Egyptians behind with some memories of
their own, of fun loving and congenial Americans.
As always, the Misr Travel
bus was prompt that
final morning in Sharm, and we were whisked away, and pampered
at the airport by their representative, who made arrangement
for our boarding passes and our luggage. Even though the US
has many fine beach resorts, the visit to Sharm would latter
be recounted by many among us as their favorite part of the
Tour.
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