does nobody have any advice/suggestions at all then?!

Kim

Hi Kimmi

The best currency to use is Egyptian Pounds - referred to as LE.

People take a few £100 of sterling and change it up there when needed or draw LE direct from an ATM using their bank card. Although in view of the problems out there at this time it might be worth changing £100 into LE at Thomas Cook/Post Office so that you have a little bit of money to tide you over, incase the ATM's are running low. You will probably not need much cash as you are AI.

Don't leave a lot of money loose in your room, get a safe.

You can book trips through your rep or book with one of the companys in Namma Bay. The later will be cheaper, but as it's your first time you might feel more comfortable booking through a rep.

If you are with First Choice, Thomas Cook etc go to the welcome meeting to get the details on Star Gazing, Quads, Snorkelling trips, you dont need to book at the meeting you can find a rep once you have decided what you want to do or compare their prices to local prices. If you go in the sea don't tread on the coral as it kills it, the fish are beautiful so it's worth the effort to snorkel.

If staying in Sharm you dont need a visa, when they try and get you to buy one at the airport say you are 'Sinai Only' and hopefully they will put a rubber stamp on that says that.

Only drink bottled water & dont have ice in your drinks. Make sure any food from a buffet is good & hot. If either of you get a jippy tummy, ask to see the Hotel Dr. & they will give you something that will clear it up in 24/48 hours or if it's not too severe go to a chemist tell them what's wrong and they will give you something, they all speak English.

Make sure you have travel insurance to cover any med costs as the Dr's can be expensive & you may need to pay upfront and claim back.

Keep hydrated with water, 7 up, coke etc. Use high factor sunscreen & take it with you as its dear there.

Not sure where Namma Heights is? If it's near Namma Bay,this is the main hub of activity with all the shops, bars, restaurants and shisha cafes, you have all the International Restaurants such as Hard Rock Cafe, Pizza Hut, Maccy D's, KFC, Chinese Restaurants plus all the Egyptian one as well.

International Branded drinks are very expensive & so is quality wine, drink local stuff you can normally get it down if you swamp it in coke, lemonade. If you have to have Barcardi, Smirnoff etc buy a bottle on the plane and have a drink on your balcony. Local beer is fine and not dear.

You will get friendly hassle here, especially if you show any interest in goods in shops. Most things aren't priced and you need to haggle. Offer half of the price they are suggesting as your starting point. Don't buy if you think its too dear, there will be another shop selling the same straight after.

Only tip if you receive good service, don't tip if someone just does something that would be common courtesy here, like holding a door open for you. There is a tendancy to feel you should tip for every little thing which isn't really the best way to go.

It's all just common sense stuff really and much the same as going anywhere abroad.

Hope you both have a lovely time.

Doe

thankyou ever so much for the reply

we arent going with a rep/company etc we have booked the flights and hotel separately so will be needing to book any excursions etc from local companies

yes we are saying in sharm, so hopefully wont be made to purchase a visa!

naama heights is in naama bay, very close to space nightclub - i think its meant to be about 15mins walk to the centre of naama bay

have sorted out the travel insurance this morning too!

my other half doesnt touch alcohol and i very rarely drink either - and certainly wont be drinking alone lol - which i am glad about to be honest. his friends said they paid over £11 for a vodka and coke in a bar there!! i wouldnt pay that sort of money even if we did drink!!

thanks for the advice on tipping - its something i have been unsure about!

Kim

Your welcome. Have a great time.

I wouldn't drink either if I was charged £11 for a drink

I think Doe has pretty much covered everything there!

except the Diving....if you fancy a try dive..this is one of the best places to do it but there is alot of dead coral so it may be best to go out on a day boat with the snorkellers and have a go in a secluded area....

kimmi you will love it its so diffrent to spain and turkey compared to those places best way i can describe it you feel like a king/queen . have seen alot of reports about hotels in egypt most of them treat you great and dont worry if you got late flight aswell you still all inc until you leave..and all hotels have got (depends where you going) private beaches aswell .all inc on them aswell

thanks guys, im really looking forward to it now

just wondering - because of it being a muslim country, and i dont want to be disrespectful in any way - what is the status quo on clothing in general (ie would i get more unwanted attention in little shorts and strap top than i would in say greece or spain)??
also im assuming it would be a no-no to sunbathe topless either on the beach or at the hotel??

thanks again

Kim

Hi Kim

what is the status quo on clothing in general (ie would i get more unwanted attention in little shorts and strap top than i would in say greece or spain)??

You best be aware that you are going to get more attention than you may be used to no matter what you wear shorts and strap tops are fine around the hotels & sharm, if doing any excursions away from resort you are best to cover up more.

im assuming it would be a no-no to sunbathe topless either on the beach or at the hotel

Always a bit of a contentious issue, some will say that you shouldn't go topless as it offends others will say it is fine around the hotel, all I will say is that there are many women who do go topless around the hotel pools and it is accepted, just use your own judgment and remember you will get stared at either way.

Go and relax don't worry about it being a Muslim country you will probably not even notice much difference from any other holiday destination.

Graham

hello kimmi as far as sharm is concerned dont worry about covering up as they dont mind at all,all the red sea resorts are catered for tourists no locals are allowed in unless they work or live there so very western approached.
if you want to leave the red sea to visit say cairo you need visa which is why the locals cant get in.
sharm is more like a nice western sunshine destination than egypt.
re topless then i whould say a big no-no but have seen a few doing it on beach/pool but not the norm.

We have been to Egypt 5 times (6th come August) I stand corrected if I am wrong, but I seem to remember that if you go on the boat trip to Ras Mohammad or Tiran Island, then a visa will be required. I know we had to purchase one for the Ras Mohammad excursion on our first trip to Sharm.

Regarding going topless, we have seen a few women going topless, but I beleive it is illegal in egypt which I can undertstand being a Muslim county.

Regards,
Pat

thankyou everyone for the advice, i will bear it all in mind!

16 days to go!!

Kim

kimmi on the muslim country side of it you will find alot of christians among them they have churches aswell and on of the churches in sharm is brill!!!! more money spent on it them than some of ours over here. sharm can be half and half muslim/christain only thing they do ask aslong as both male/female cover up there knees in a holy place and woman have there shoulders covered you fine everything else is exeptable. aslong as there is no topless sunbathing and when you out and about all stores only sell alchohol free lager . only one store in the whole of sharm the duty free shop in narma sells alchohol over the counter.