AROUND THE WORLD IN 40 YEARS ::: HURGHADA, EGYPT-2019 :::
City History Hurghada is a city in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. It is one of the country’s main tourist centres located on the Red Sea coast. In the beginning of 1980 Hurghada started to be known for the tourist industry due to the natural condition as the fine beaches, coral reefs, colored fishes…
Hurghada is a city in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. It is one of the country’s main tourist centres located on the Red Sea coast. In the beginning of 1980 Hurghada started to be known for the tourist industry due to the natural condition as the fine beaches, coral reefs, colored fishes and the sunshine. Then investors began their tourist projects in the area in building resorts and hotels. Nowadays Hurghada has around 350 hotels and resorts besides there are many Travel agents, Transportation Agent, Diving schools, Diving centers, Safari Agents etc.
City Travel Information
Hurghada city is far from Cairo by 4.5-5 hours driving and from Luxor by 4 hours driving. It is the biggest city on the red sea. Hurghada airport make it easy to travel to the city from worldwide and from Egyptian cites, there are many ways for travel from/to Hurghada from other cites in Egypt by flight with Egypt Air, ferry boat that sail between Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh or the transportation companies in Hurghada that leave to Cairo, Luxor, Marsa Alam, Alexandria etc which make the city easy to reach from any where.
We went to Hurghada with Mr. Amir who had picked us up from our Airport hotel in Cairo. An absolute gentleman and a great personality, Mr. Amir is what is good about Egypt. Its quite contrary to the image of Egypt portrayed to the world as well as to my fellow colleagues in Bangladesh. We were really lucky to have gotten his services.
On our way to Hurghada from Cairo with our lovely driver Mr. AmirTall mountains beside the road on the way to Hurghada
We reached to our hotel, SkyView Suites, which was like a condo apartment/hotel. The room was spacious and the behaviour of staff and the occupants was lovely. We were here for 2 nights and since it was in the heart of Hurghada city center, we wanted to do some shopping and go for Sindbad Submarine tour which I booked online prior to arriving in Egypt. Unfortunately due to some strike, the Submarine tour had to be pushed back by a few days. So we just decided to stay indoor and go visit Luxor as a day tour.
View from our Sky View Suites Balcony.View of the entire complexOur room was a cozy little apartment with Kitchen and a sink. This was the living room.
The bedroom was small but cozy enough with a nice comfy bed 🙂The comfy queen sized bed
We ordered dinner through Egyptian equivalent of FoodPanda or food delivery called otlob. I must say, having lived in the Middle East for almost a decade, Arabs are very good at providing large quantity of food as evident from the photo below. We had trouble consuming the entire lot but felt bad about wastage as well. So many people around the world do not get a warm meal a day.
The following morning we went to Luxor, the ancient capital city, and spent a lovely day there. We booked the jour with Jacada tours. Overall it was pretty good but hectic as the journey itself by road took 3 hours in each direction. The details of the Luxor trip can be found here
We arrived late from Luxor and headed straight to bed. It was an eventful day to say the least. The following morning after checking out from the City Center area, we headed for our ultimate retreat of Old Palace Resort at Sahl Hasheesh. It was absolutely a wonderful place to stay as will be evident from the photos below. We stayed a total of 6 nights here. We did our desert safari and the previously postponed Sindbad Submarine tour. We also extended our stay by a night and ended up spending the New Year’s Eve here. The full course dinner was simply splendid.
Entrance to the resort. Captured on my Galaxy Note 10 plus.Just outside the main gate the following morningThe resort was situated in a compound like area by the red sea in Sahl HasheeshStatues on the way to the entrance to the compound thatThe road leading to the entrance of the resort. Surrounding area was just desert.The palm trees reminded me of my time in the middle east where I lived from 1992-2002The lobby of the resort. They were gearing up for Merry Christmas and New Year’s EveThe room was very spacious over looking the red sea
Needless to say Azlan was liking the bed and the room in general.This was the biggest TV set we had in all of our stays in hotels and resorts around the world. It was a huuuge 70 inch set 🙂Who wouldn’t like a cup of tea or coffee with this view??Wouldn’t you??Just to show you that the cups werent empty. We actually sat down and had tea 😛The entire resort from the balconyShot with Note 10 plus at sunsetThe beach area. It was a quiet place in the late afternoon. The resort was full of tourists though.
View of the lobby area from beachCourtyard near the fountainChildren’s play areaAzlan enjoyed the swing but he didn’t get enough timeAzlan enjoyed the swing but he didn’t get enough timeThe lobby from the beach area at night. It was colourfully litThe Fountain near the poolside bar.
Can you spot the moon? It was a calm quiet evening which me and my Wifey thoroughly enjoyed 🙂The pool area at dusk
A panoramic view of the Resort along the beach line. There are a number of resorts in that particular strip of land in Sahl HasheeshThe first day was spent relaxing by the bachAnd helping Azlan collect sand and water to make sand castlesTravelling as a family is our goal 🙂Very low light shot by the beach. I must say, Samsung Galaxy Note 10 plus does take some impressive photos.
Here are some photos for the family album 🙂
I just love this photo. For some reason this depicts both my photography and editing skills together with a happy family moment 🙂I love my family more than anything else 🙂Fun moments with Azlan. Gosh he is growing up so fast 😦
We took half board, that is Breakfast and Dinner. I must admit, the menu they had for dinner was sooooo delicious, the items were less in number but they made it up with quality.
I had to try all the items bit by bitThick corn soup with CroutonsEven the salads tasted so fresh.This piece of small beaf steak was to die forThe beef steak rolls was ok but the chicken fry was tastyThe dessert, even though looks impressive, didnt taste that good.
Day – 2 started by again spending the morning and afternoon by the sea. After breakfast we headed down to the beach as Azlan was to carry on playing with his sand toys.
Azlan clearly loves the sea but somehow for some weird reason, very afraid of the waterA Selfie in the Sun by the SeaYeahhhhhh, Azlan got into the water and by the time he realised it, we had taken a lot of photos. Once he realised that he was surrounding by water on all sides, he started crying 😛In the courtyard before heading to the beachWe recreated this image from our Malvides photo. Different setting but the photo came out nicelyWe recreated this image from our Maldives photo. Different setting but the photo came out nicely
On day 3, we went to the postponed Sindbad Submarine tour. We had to go to the pier where a small ship was waiting to take us to the middle of the sea where the Submarine was stationed. Azlan enjoyed the Submarine tour the most. It was booked online even before we got to Egypt. It is the only kind in the Middle East I was told.
Waiting for the transfer ship to the submarineInside the Sub.The submarine dives 20 meters below the surface and takes you through an area where a British Navy ship was sunk during World War IIThe different types of fish available at the bottomThere was a diver outside who provided food and the fish followed him.There was a diver outside who provided food and the fish followed him.Can you name any of these?The deck of the submarineA quick selfie before we boardAzlan the Sailor Man 😀Heading towards the shoreA quick picAnd a quick selfie before our Submarine adventure came to an end
On Day 4, we took the dessert safari. That was the most fun part of the Hurghada stay. Azlan thoroughly enjoyed the Quad bike ride and the Dune Buggy ride as did the Wifey. It was fun driving the quad bike. We also went deep in to the desert to visit a bedouin village and see how they are still untouched from civilisation. We booked the Safari through Mr. Rajab at the hotel lobby. Upon reaching the area, our guide was Zizu who was fun and lively and took good care of his group. I highly recommend him.
Azlan all dressed up for the quad bike rideThe quad bike was really fun.A mandatory selfieAzlan practicing his driving skillsOur group in the middle of the dessert
There were horses and camels too in the bedouin village. They had a complimentary rideThere was horses and camels too in the bedouin village. They had a complimentary rideThere was horses and camels too in the bedouin village. They had a complimentary rideThis is a sweet image taken just at sunset by my lovely WifeyOur whole groupThe cameraman was trying to get fancy with his shots. Even though I had DSLR of my own, I had taken their services and just wanted to enjoy the moments 🙂Going out in to the quad bike stationStopped for a while in the middle of the dessert so that people could take photosBefore heading to bedouin villageThe entrance to the bedouin villageThey are still so far away from modern society. No electricity, no fresh waterWifey getting the hang of the camel rideI must say, one must be very careful when the camel stands on its feet and once it bends so that we can get down. These two situations are very risky indeed because of the heightAzlan on the donkey 😛The safari vehiclesForeign tourists thoroughly enjoyed the Safari as wellForeign tourists thoroughly enjoyed the Safari as wellMen and his Camel. Actually it is a Dromedary which is a large Arabian camelDromedary which is a large Arabian camelDromedary which is a large Arabian camelDromedary which is a large Arabian camelDromedary which is a large Arabian camelThey are such calm animalsWe gathered at the station for the cultural part of the safari which took long time to start so we left the placeWe were waiting for the cultural show which unfortunately started to late and we had left the place by then.
Finally the new year eve. It was a grand occasion. For some reason I thought they had fireworks show near the Pyramids hence I booked a hotel near Giza. But after Mr. Amir informed that there was no such thing that takes place, we decided to extend our stay by a night. We had to pay extra for the gala dinner. It was humongous. Everyone had a great time with food and drinks and the cultural show at the hotel lobby. Maybe they could have done this outside near the beach or even the courtyard.
The lobby of the resort turned into a dinner setting for New Year’s Eve
Time for the gala dinner and new year’s mealNice decorations all aroundNice decorations all aroundNice decorations all aroundThe even decorated the food stations so nicelyThe person responsible for me gaining about 3 kilos during the stay, head Chef Mahmoud el Tyep
So finally, after 6 days of awesome sun, sea and fun times, our Hurghada trip came to an end. We headed back to Cairo the following afternoon as Mr. Amir drove from Cairo to pick us up. Stay tuned for the Cairo part of our Egypt tour. Ciao for now 🙂
Beautiful pictures!! I never thought Egypt was so scenic!!! Thank you for the detailed information about transport, tourist spots and activities. It’s definitely gonna help travellers to plan for a trip there.
Thank you. Yes most of the travellers from Bangladesh are taken by tour agencies to Cairo and Alexandria only. Hence we decided to do it bit differently. Also, we always try to keep a seaside town or a resort in our itinerary hence included Hurghada. I am glad you liked my post. Welcome miss 🙂
i don’t know how to thank you for your nice words about me and about my beautiful country. Really you surprised me by this amazing article and I can’t describe my feelings.
You are always welcome to Egypt 🇪🇬 and welcome by all of your friends too ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
The pictures along with the write up were very informative and wholesome! Did not know that egypt could have been this beautiful! Looking forward to more of these!
Tulan Hayat 
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