Hurghada – My Introduction to Egypt

I am one of those people who swore that in my life I would never fly on an all-inclusive vacation to Egypt. However – it happened. At the urging ((not particularly long)) of Inga, my fantastic colleague from work, in October 2023 I flew together with Ela, Daria and Inga to this African country. We decided that Hurghada, popular among tourists, would be our base and the beginning of our adventure with Egypt. In this post I will share with you my first impressions of this unique trip.

Jestem jedną z tych osób, które zarzekały się, że w życiu nie poleci na wakacje all inclusive do Egiptu. Jednak – stało się. Za namową (nieszczególnie długą) Ingi, mej fantastycznej koleżanki z pracy w październiku 2023 roku poleciałam razem z Elą, Darią i Ingą do tego afrykańskiego kraju. Zdecydowałyśmy, że popularna wśród turystów Hurgada będzie naszą bazą wypadową i początkiem przygody z Egiptem. W tym wpisie podzielę się z wami moimi pierwszymi wrażeniami z tego wyjątkowego wyjazdu.

Preparation & Arrival / Przygotowania i Przyjazd

We flew by charter with the TUI travel agency, so we had the matter of tickets, hotel and transportation to some extent out of the way. The flight lasted 4.5 hours, after landing at our destination the first impressions were already surprising – the wind. I like the wind very much, but there were people with us who were not particularly fans of this atmospheric phenomenon.
Further on, another surprise and the first collision with the Egyptian baksheesh. A transfer bus from the airport to the hotel (paid for as part of the fees from the travel agency) was waiting for us, and the men who packed our luggage into the luggage compartment, which incidentally was located on the roof charged us tips for this service.
We arrived at the hotel at 9:00 Egyptian time and checked in at the front desk. Of course, the baggage handler was tipped, but it didn’t occur to us to tip the gentlemen at the front desk, so we had to wait for a room in the hotel lobby until 2:00 p.m. The hotel was our base for exploring the mysterious to me corners of Egypt.

Leciałyśmy czarterem z biurem podróży TUI, więc sprawę biletów, hotelu i transportu miałyśmy w pewnym stopniu z głowy. Lot trwał 4,5 godziny, po wylądowaniu w miejscu docelowym już pierwsze wrażenia były zaskakujące – wiatr. Ja bardzo lubię wiatr, ale były z nami osoby, które nieszczególnie były fankami tego zjawiska atmosferycznego.
Dalej kolejne zaskoczenie i pierwsze zderzenie z egipskim bakszyszem. Czekał na nas autobusik transferowy z lotniska do hotelu (opłacony w ramach opłat z biura podróży), a panowie, którzy pakowali bagaże do luku bagażowego, który notabene znajdował się na dachu, pobierali napiwki za tę usługę.
Do hotelu dotarłyśmy o 9:00 czasu egipskiego i zameldowałyśmy się w recepcji. Oczywiście bagażowy otrzymał napiwek, ale nie przyszło nam do głowy dawać napiwku panom w recepcji, dlatego musiałyśmy czekać na pokój w hotelowym lobby aż do 14:00. Hotel był naszą bazą wypadową do eksplorowania tajemniczych dla mnie zakątków Egiptu.

Exploration of Hurghada / Eksploracja Hurgady

We started our trip by purchasing internet from local provider Orange. The whole process went very smoothly and without complications. To purchase a SIM card with an internet package, all you need is your passport and 280 Egyptian pounds, and with that you can enjoy 19 GB of internet for a week. For us, this is definitely enough.
Hurghada is mainly chosen by tourists for its beautiful clear sea water, sunny weather and sandy beaches. For me, it was just a bonus. I went there to soak up the culture, to observe human behavior. It was enough to get off the main street and enter the side streets to see the real face of Hurghada. However, as it turned out, it was not as easy as it might seem.
I missed a certain friendliness and openness towards strangers on the part of the locals. Although everyone smiled at you and invited you into their stores, behind this invitation was the usual desire to make money. The sad thing is that in many places in Hurghada, the white tourist is seen as an “ATM.” This mentality makes making contact, understanding the history and culture of local people a more difficult task. This may be due to language barriers, as none of us spoke Arabic, but it is also a matter of the specifics of the place.

To get to know at least a little of the local part of the city, we decided to take a City Tour with a local guide from Red Sea World Travel. For only $15 per person, we had a private 4-person walk around Hurghada, which included:

• Marina
• Fish Market
• The Grand Mosque of El Mina
• Boat and yacht construction, production, and maintenance site
• Old Town El Dahar
• Fruit and vegetable market
• Coptic Church in Hurghada in El Dahar
• Coffee at a local café with shisha smoking
• Dinner at a local place with the most typical Egyptian dish, “Koshari”
• Fresh sugar cane juice

Thanks to this tour, we could feel at least a bit of the atmosphere in the Egyptian city beyond its touristy parts. The streets were full of various things, furniture, TVs, craftsmen offering their services in front of their homes, and children returning from school, playing soccer. It was also noticeable that Egyptian women don’t use strollers; they carry their children in their arms. Crossing the roads was another challenge that seemed insurmountable at first, but we quickly adapted, weaving through the traffic. Our guide was very open and eager to answer all our questions and doubts about life in Egypt. Thanks to him, this walk took on a completely different dimension than if we had gone there on our own.

In addition to the city tour with the guide, we ventured off the main street of Hurghada, Sheraton Street, into the side alleys. That was enough to experience the real Egypt, not the touristy one.

It’s worth going to Sherry Street, where mainly locals gather with their families, eat, shop, and where prices are more local. You can also taste Egyptian fast food there. I tried a liver sandwich that was supposed to be “not spicy,” but after the first bite, I wondered, “What does ‘spicy’ taste like?!!!”

Summary / Podsumowanie

In conclusion, Hurghada is a city of contrasts that still leaves mixed feelings. Despite the difficulties and cultural barrier, the fascination of Egyptian history, the beauty of the landscapes and the adventures experienced here are unforgettable. However, it is worth being aware of the challenges that await tourists (travelers) in order to better prepare for a trip to this exotic destination.
In my next post, I will share my impressions of our diving trip and conversations with a local resident who tried to dissuade us from traveling to Cairo on our own.

Podsumowując, Hurgada to miasto kontrastów, które wciąż pozostawia mieszane uczucia. Mimo trudności i bariery kulturowej, fascynacja egipską historią, pięknem krajobrazów oraz przygody, które tu przeżywamy, są niezapomniane. Jednak warto być świadomym wyzwań, jakie czekają na turystów (podróżników), aby lepiej przygotować się do podróży do tego egzotycznego miejsca.

W następnym wpisie podzielę się wrażeniami z naszej wyprawy nurkowej oraz rozmowami z miejscowym mieszkańcem, który starał się odwieść nas od samodzielnej podróży do Kairu.

For more photos, please visit HERE 🙂

Po więcej zdjęć zapraszam TU 🙂

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