hello were staying at dreams resort in sharm in december could you tell us what your holiday was like please thank you

well, firstly i have to say that egypt is an amazing place, and sharm was wonderful - the only downside to our holiday was that we got gastroentiritis on the fourth day and were ill on and off for 8 out of our 14 day holiday, so be careful with what you eat!!!
nabq bay is quiet but very relaxing. naama bay is flourescent lights and busy - as you'd expect, but not really our thing. we went twice, once on our second night and had a gorgeous mexican - next door to the buddha bar (£16 for starters, mains, pudding and drinks!) and then once to the hard rock because it was the only place we could think of which would have food that our stomachs could handle!
if you have any specific questions it'd be easier for me to answer as there's so much to say.
we went on 3 trips to cairo (flying), sunseekers (snorkelling in ras mohammed national park) and climbing moses mountain (mt sinai)
feel free to ask us anything - about illness, resort, trips, money etc - im very open!!
xx

how much was the cairo trip and was it worth it.
many thanks
damon

The flight cost us 299 each in dollars - thomas cook only books in dollars for some reason..
We had to meet at our reception at 4.30 am and then went straight through the airport in just over half an hour as it was a domestic flight (well, flight was at 6am). Slightly dodgy plane - petroleum airlines, and the cabin smelled of petrol for a while too! flight comfortable and just under an hour and then we were taken to our coach and greeted by our own egyptologist, magdy. He spoke pretty much the whole way to Giza (where the pyramids are) and really knew his stuff - info was coming out of our ears after that! We stopped at the pyramids for a while - first the largest one then the second largest - which you can pay extra to go inside (altho not recommended for those who have claustrophobia or breathing problems as you have to go through a tiny passage and the room inside is very humid). Then we went to a bedouin bazaar type thing if you wanted souvenirs. It was called the Panorama as it has a great view. The coach then drove down to the Sphinx - just below the pyramids. Lots of hassle from locals trying to give you things 'for free' then charging you.. Got a bit nasty after a while, you really had to tell tem where to go.
We then went back over the Nile to see the Giza Payrus Museum where we had a guide explain how to make papyrus and talked a bit about some paintings. we then had lunch at TGIs - they no longer take ppl to local restaurants for illness reasons. On the bank of the Nile so very good. After this we were driven round to the Eyptian National Musuem - it was amazing, ltho we were all so knackered by this point that it was difficult to concentrate hard - especially as there is no air conditioning inside, but fab all the same. Tutankhamun's exhibition is awesome.
We finished the day with a traditional market which was quite scary as it is a narrow street and the men grab at you and try to get you in to their tiny shops - sometimes i felt quite claustrophobic if we went in.. We were all glad to be on our way back to the airport after this as it is a very long day. Our flight was at 7.30pm so a bit of waiting but hardly any.
The poverty of Cairo and Giza was immense - 60% of egyptians cant afford food each day and the gov't offers no subsidies so begging and selling anything possible is required. Little kids offering you a tissue for money just breaks your heart.
I would recommend it, but it is a very long day - tho we are very glad we spent the extra and didnt go by coach - wouldhave been even longer day and impossible to sleep on those coaches (comfortable as they are).
Hope this helps xx

what's the best way to take currency and how much did you's take for how long?thanks in advance for reply

we took £750 in spends for two weeks (we were all inclusive but it was only from 9am to 11pm) - £150 we changed into egyptian pounds before leaving (exchange rate at manc airport wasnt bad actually) and then the rest we took in sterling (inside one of those bumbags you can wear under your clothes - just to be safe).
pretty much everywhere accepts most currencies, but we stuck to LE (egyptian pounds) mainly as we found you got a better deal. oh and recpetion wouldnt take english money. tipping pound coins to the staff is not favoured as they cant change them easily - many came to us with their pound coins wanting to swap them for notes..
we spent most of our money on trips, as eating out and buying things is really cheap. we could change the money at our sister hotel, but there's loads of places in naama bay if you cant do it at ur resort.

Hi Sun worshiper

Did you feel safe there, especially when venturing outside your hotel? We're holidaying in Naama Bay in October and my husband is already saying that he's worried about going because of terrorism / the war in the Middle East...

Thanks, U2fan

Hi there U2Fan

Just to reasure you a bit, security in Sharm is more visible this year than last and at no time did anyone in our party feel threatend. You will find the Egyptians very friendly and yes some of the shopkeepers can be a bit overbearing in thier attempts to make a sale but at the end of the day they are just trying to make a living. Just be firm and polite and you will have no problems.

Enjoy your holiday

Thanks Altoman!

yes i felt very safe in sharm - when returning to your hotel in any taxi other than the official hotel ones you had to show your room key to the security guard at the end of the drive before you could get in and you had to go through a scanner to get into the reception so it was very safe.
the only time i felt slightly nervous was in an old market in cairo because there are a lot of people hassling youto come into their shops, but no fears about terrorism etc - the airport has very high security as well - having to put your bags through the scanner twice rather than the normal once. we cancelled our trip to jerusalem and petra due to the lebanese conflict, but we were doing that just to be extra safe, im sure it would have been fine (thomas cook wouldnt let people go otherwise)
hope that helps

Thanks Sun worshiper - we were hoping to go to Petra too, but I think that unless the situation gets better in the Middle East, we'll give it a miss.

U2fan