Day 103 - fly to Sharm el Sheikh

Point of departure : Cairo

Point of arrival : Sharm el Sheikh

Accommodation: Novotel Sharm Beach Hotel (www.novotel.com)

Km travelled today: N/A

Countries so far: 9/16

Where to next? Liveaboard on the Red Sea

We said our farewells to Dani and Sim last night, as we had an early start (06h00) to Cairo airport and then to Sharm el Sheikh.

An upgrade to business class, even though for only an hour flight, was a pleasant surprise - thank you Emeco Travel.

The flight path was across the Gulf of Suez and the Sinai Desert. "A thousand square kilometres of nothing" is the description often given to the Sinai peninsula." At first glance the Sinai seems to be a boundless moon landscape, arid and barren in its immense mountains, in its parched "ouadi", in its stony stretches that have never known either man's labours or the presence of animals. "The Sinai, associated over the centuries with the biblical exodus, with the wanderings of the children of Israel and with the delivery of the Ten Commandments by God to Moses. The importance of the Sinai is not only religious but also strategic with the crossing of armies of numerous powers: Egyptians Tutmosis II and Ramsete II, Persian Cambises, Alexander the Great, Romans of Antioch, the Arabs and the Crusades, Napoleon and Lawrence of Arabia and most recently the Israelis and Egyptians.(source: Sharm el Sheikh and Sinai by Bonechi).

Sharm el Sheikh and Naama Bay (where our hotel is situated) is one of Egypt's most popular resorts. It's situated between the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba (the latter forming part of the Rift Valley). The town was developed by the Israelis when they occupied the Sinai in the 1967 Six Day war, mainly for strategic reasons and then later as a tourist resort.Israel's occupation of Sharm el Sheikh lasted until 1982, when it was eventually returned to the Egyptians per the Camp David Agreement. The Sinai area was returned in 1979.Since 1982, Sharm has grown into a major holiday resort with over 150 hotels and numerous diving centres.It's very popular as a package-tour destination, scuba diving and for wealthy Cairenes.

It was too early for our room to be ready at Novotel, so we walked a bit, exploring Sharm el Sheikh, and had a drink next to the pool to pass the time. Had lunch at Al Dente - on the beach and spent the afternoon catching up on some lost zzzz's (all these early wake up calls).