Our flight was scheduled for half one, UK time and would arrive in Sharm at around nine pm, their time (only one hour ahead). My hand luggage miraculously fit onto the plane and there were no delays - brilliant! (I say my hand luggage miraculously fit, as it was about the size of a normal suitcase... just with books in it, shh.) After five and a half hours on the flight, we finally made it to Egypt - after indulging in some plane food... mixed boxes of Mediterranean snacks. 38 degrees hit you smack bang in the face when you stepped off the plane onto the shuttle bus. After getting our passports checked, we waited for our luggage - which took about half an hour as they seemed to have forgotten about out plane! Then, moving onto the other shuttle bus to take us to our hotel - The Aurora Oriental Resort.
On arrival, the staff were all extremely friendly, taking our bags, helping us check in and take you to your room. They informed us that they loved the British people... but hated some nationalities! Unpacking our suitcases for the 10 nights ahead - we received a ground floor room with an outside seating area, comfy queen sized bed and a very spacious room! As it was around ten pm and we had only just arrived - we decided to explore some of the grounds.
It was around 500m to the beach, but all of the grounds to get to this area were all gorgeous green gardens. Not what I was expecting when we started walking! It was so quiet and peaceful with benches scattered around, along with bridges (good photo op) to make the place feel special. Coming back inside - we decided to make the most of our all inclusive wristband and order a few cocktails! Now, in Egypt (along with most European countries and probably African too) they don't measure how much alcohol they put into the glass, so most of the time - I was slightly tipsy from one vodka and coke!In the morning, we set out early to put our towels down and get some breakfast - little did we know that our phones had set two hours forward and not one. So going down at 8am when it was actually 7am (no wonder it was so quiet). We found this out when we went to meet our rep at 10am... it was actually 9am at this point - but we figured it out and booked some excursion with our rep, who was in fact lovely and not pushy in the slightest. An glass bottomed boat had been booked along with a desert safari!
Most of the days were spent lying by the pool where we managed to grab the same spot every day because it was so quiet! Crossword, word searches and reading were done by the plenty - along with hundreds of dips into the pool and sunbathing going on. Before lunch, the pool bar opened for drinks and pastries/ice cream if you got peckish in the late morning as lunch wasn't until 1pm. Lunch was either served at the pool bar - hamburgers, hot dogs, salads etc... and then inside where they did a wider selection which was varied everyday - always lovely, along with the waiters.In the evening, we would usually arrive at 'our' sofa at about half five as the sun goes down at around half four. We would sit with our cocktails and watch the world go by! Most nights there was either a violinist or a guitarist that would be situated next to our sofa and they were both extremely skilled in what they do. Going down for dinner, it would be around half eight as we wanted to let the initial 'arrive on time at 7pmers' eat and leave so there wouldn't be a queue for each counter. There was a wide selection every night - outside there were various BBQ'ed meats and fish and inside there were various breads, salads, soups, pastas, curry, side dishes - something that would fit everyone's tastes. One night we did actually venture out to Hard Rock Cafe which was £20 for boys, £14 for girls (sexist I know) but it was for all inclusive drinks and we had an awesome time! Met some lovely people, danced to some good songs and drank with an amazing atmosphere. I regretted it highly in the morning... and most of the day after.
After dinner (continuing the cocktails) the animation team would usually put on a show, so there was a karaoke night (in which we denied to enter many times as we made friends with some of the animation team). Other nights they would be dancing and putting on a show in the amphitheater or there was a cultural night also, different each night which was entertaining.
Our first excursion was the glass bottomed boat... which was incredibly hot! There were so many different fish and coral to see with the sea being so blue! There was a guy on board who would inform us of the various fish names and the certain types of coral. One coral - a fan coral (looks like a fan) could give you third degree burns if you touched it! That's one good defense mechanism. For the way back we were able to sit at the top deck of the boat with a soft drink. The views were amazing and it was so much nicer to be able to sit outside in the shade with the breeze from the boat.
Our second excursion was a desert safari. First of all, we all got a quad bike (made sure we could handle them properly) and then rode to our first destination of the camel ride. We were on the quads for a good half an hour and my thumb hurt from pressing down the accelerator, but it was good fun and went quite quickly over the sand! Of course, mine decided to break down when everyone slowed down for some bumps so then I was stuck at the back. Along the way there were some spectacular views of the mountains in the desert and the sun was going down which made it look even more beautiful. Parking our quads in a line, we made our way over to a Bedouin tent to sit in and wait for our camel ride. Mine was no hassle, but my boyfriends camel really did not want to move and was grunting and making strange noises for the whole 15 minute ride. The camel owners even stopped us all and took our phones to take pictures of us - which of course we tipped for. After, we got back on our quads and rode around to the actual Bedouin tents for the show and food they were putting on for us. Firstly, we stargazed and saw the moon and Saturn in the high-tech telescopes which was quite cool - Saturn look like a polo with the inside still in it! Secondly, we sat in our designated section in the area and watched the show of African dancing, traditional dance and fire show in which I got pulled up onto the stage to dance with them all. The food was lovely afterward, even going up for seconds! Finishing the show, we hopped back onto our quads and rode back to the camp (in the pitch black) so our headlights were on and you had to try not to lose people as you would probably get lost straight away! It was exciting heading back in the dark and everyone was riding much quicker so it was much more exhilarating.
We visited the beach twice - the sand was a bit stony and of course hot if you didn't have your flip flops on! But there were plenty of sunbeds with palm shelters and you got given towels with your towel cards. The sea was like bath water, along with hundreds of fish that swam next to you and one tried to nibble my boyfriends toes! Plus standing on a flat fish... which wasn't a nice feeling. It was crystal clear and you could walk for ages with it just staying mid thigh height. We figured out also that there was a pool bar where you could have lunch, and they did the most amazing Greek salad with the feta just melting in your mouth - top verdict from me!The plane back was sleep time. My huge hand luggage got accepted free of charge to be taken on as normal luggage... which was incredibly handy. So we got a huge slice of pizza and made our way back to the UK - boo, hiss.
I had the most lovely time and I would love to go back again, holiday blues have kicked in already!
