Egypt

What's the first thing you think of when you think about Egypt? My thoughts wander to the great pyramids, the heat and deserts - but also the trouble that is occurring over there.

I travelled to Egypt a few years ago - not to the Ancient areas, like Cairo and Giza - but to the more touristy, relaxing areas, Sharm el Sheikh. My company was my family and friend - sitting six hours on the plane, arriving and being greeted with a gush of hot, dry air. Much better climate than England. Gliding through passport control and into the transfer shuttle, we quickly made it to our hotel, The Rixos. It was a beautiful, elegant five star rated hotel, with extra friendly staff that made sure our bags got to our rooms safely, along with offering us a drink. Interestingly enough, our rooms had been selected for an upgrade to a 'Junior Suite' which was incredible, and extremely spacious with a lovely view of the scenery and gardens.

We stayed there for 10 nights, and in this time we (of course) spent a lot of it by the poolside or by the pool bar. Being an all-inclusive hotel, we were drinking cocktails throughout the day, with yummy meals inbetween. The only problem being by the pool, was the fact that people would come down at around 6am to place their towels on a sun bed, like they own it. So eventually, we had to do this - or there were no beds available! But, one morning, a man simply got out of the pool, dried himself with our towel, and walked off. I was fascinated by the rudeness!

Some days we spent our time at the beach, which I would advise not to walk on the scalding hot sand without any shoes on. I have experience. It was bad. As the hotel was on the Red Sea, a lot of it contains coral reef which is protected, so we couldn't walk into the sea, unless we dove off the end of the pier to go snorkelling. But, the sea had left a large pool of water which was basically a warm bath as the piercing hot July sun had warmed it. Sitting there in this bath, multi-coloured, beautiful fish would swim by you, and of course, many people trying to catch them with their hands.

We did actually go snorkelling on an excursion for a day (which i got very burnt on) the sea was a lovely temperature and it was interesting seeing all the types of fish that swum by you. The sea was pure blue, with white sand. Another excursion was to ride a camel in the desert and to have tea with the Bedwins in their tents. My camel seemed to fart a lot, which was lovely. After the end of the half hour ride, the young children who were leading the camels would then continue to harass you for bits of your jewellery for payment, even though we had already payed them at the beginning. I didn't know whether to feel bad or just to quickly walk off. So i quickly walked away. At the Bedwin tents, they made flat breads and showed us how, getting each of us to attempt it and then made us their tea - which was incredibly sweet. The views were amazing. The atmosphere was amazing.

This holiday was a relaxing, yet amazing experience which I am excited to do again this upcoming September! But, I what I will take with me this time is that, when someone tells you to get out of the pool... you do. (A child had pooed) and also not to eat the burger at the Egyptian airport, as 5 minutes before landing, I had to go throw up. Nice.