Saturday…
So Saturday started off as usual. Up around 6am (not by choice I’ll add I mean I am on holiday) but rising with the sun, then onto breakfast. Toast, croissants, pancakes and everything else beige was piled onto my plate that morning washed down with a cup of extremely milky tea and some delicious orange juice.
We pretty much made it to the pool by 7am and soaked up the sun before my daily routine started. 9am pool bar opens so up I go and get coke and sprite, no ice. This time though I meet a lovely gentleman from Portugal, Barcelona and London (that’s how he describes himself not that I’m that bad at geography,) called Manuel. He’s there chatting to Ahmed about buying three bottles of Heineken. Ahmed is saying what a good deal Manuel would get as it would cost him double than it does a tourist. Manuel was saying he can’t possibly drink 3 as it’s 9am and then promptly turns to me and says that I can have one and so can Ahmed so it works!
Wow. So despite declining the Heineken offer, I left the pool bar with a gin and coke for myself and a sprite for Mum. I went off sugary drinks at home and started drinking Pepsi max instead so drinking coke here I could really taste the sugar. Still, can’t just drink water can I? 🤷🏽♀️ As I was walking back to the sunbed I got told off by the security guard for taking a sip, and I mean A SIP of my drink whilst in the middle of the pool. I felt so naughty!
There was a lovely rep who came and spoke to us about, well lots of things really. Everything except the tours he was selling, which was actually refreshing. He was saying I needed to choose an Egyptian husband though. Apparently he was on the look out for a wife from England, Italy and somewhere else. He then said he would give me 100 camels for my mum and only 10 for me. Not sure how I feel about this.
And the rest of the day is sort of a blur if I’m honest. I mean I know I went to and from the bar countless times to get black coffee/white coffee/sprite/coke/gin and coke, between that obviously involved sunbathing, but that’s about it.
So this is what I remember. Meeting Gary, Marion, Denise, Darren, Maria and Manuel at the bar. Talking about all things from jobs to politics to immigration to holidays. Apparently, when we left the pool it was amusing watching me try and get out of the pool, as well as the fact I kept falling off the stool. I don’t remember. Then apparently I fell asleep on the sunbed, Denise woke me up and I looked at her as if I never met her. I then proceeded to fall off the sunbed and hurt my knee. Some poor soul then took me back to the hotel room where I passed out in the bed then woke up and FaceTimed Nathan.
I mean it all sounds quite funny now I think about it but crikey did I pay for it. My stomach wasn’t right for the next few days and I missed a trip to the Valley of the Kings. I was gutted. I mean I know I drank a lot but it turns out a few of us ended up with funny stomachs. A mix of too much sun, not enough water and too much cheap alcohol. Still, we were on holiday. It was such a giggle.
Sunday and Monday…
Sunday was spent split between the sunbed, the bedroom and the bathroom sadly. We were due to get picked up at 320am Monday for our tour but I was still being sick at 130am so there was no way I could handle 6 hours on a coach, especially when you have to take your own toilet roll too!
Lunch Monday consisted of bread.
By this time I couldn’t figure out if I was still feeling rough or I was just hungry so plain bread was a way to put something back in my stomach. It worked. The rest of the day I chilled out in the sun.
I even managed to do a couple of modules from my TEFL course! It was so relaxing. Steering clear of alcohol and feeling better, I found a bbq section for dinner. Oh my god. The burgers were delicious. There was a lady making bread next to it.
I was feeling so much better. There was entertainment every night at the hotel. Each night was different from dance shows to Mr Hotel to belly dancing. The animation team were very enthusiastic and tried to entice you each day to take part in the activities. No matter how many times they asked me the answer was the same. No I’m just soaking up the sun. I didn’t even feel bad as I watched people do aerobics or water polo. 
The hotel was so pretty, especially at night. 
Even the decor inside with the unique lamps and ornaments in the corridors were beautiful. The sun set behind the hotel as we walked to the beach. I loved everything about it. The people, the hotel, location to the beach and airport. It really was a lovely hotel. 
Tuesday…
There was a food cart offering sandwiches and popcorn in the afternoons. I was really getting into Stephen Hawkings book. It was much easier to read in the afternoons when it got a bit cooler. 
They started serving pizza! I mean the food had been good but it was nice to have something different. That’s the only problem with all inclusive buffets, I end up eating all the unhealthy food!
Wednesday…
We took a walk to the beach one last time before dinner. 
It was stunning. The restaurants were inside, Marsa restaurant was the buffet, Kush bar was 24 hours and Noba Bar was the a la Carte restaurant. We made reservations for Noba bar for our last night in the Wednesday. Italian. We had soup to start followed by pizza. It was delicious. 
It was so good but I couldn’t finish it as my stomach decided to play up again 😩! I was so disappointed because the pizza was so damn good!
Thursday…
I get such blues when it’s time to fly home. Many times I’ve sat in an airport and looked for my next flight. Luckily our flight home wasn’t until the evening so we spent the morning by the pool soaking up the last few rays of sun. 
Then at about 11am, the group of us who had met, gathered in the pool for the last hour for a couple of drinks to see out our time. It was lovely. We took photos and laughed and joked until we had to check out at midday. Feedback left, it was time for lunch.
Who’d have thought cold broccoli would be so delicious? 
The coach picked us up at 2 and took us to the airport in about half an hour, passing a whole lot of nothing on the journey. 
Once there, we queued, showed tickets and passports, put our bags through the scanner then went to check in. Next up was to fill in landing cards, go through passport control and have hand luggage scanned. My whole bag got searched, twice and they weren’t the quickest at replenishing trays. Luckily we got through when we did as a back log followed. We checked out the duty free and didn’t see anything worth buying then took our seats before getting called to the gate, only to be searched again.
People were getting so incredibly rude and frustrated at the amount of times we were being searched. It was embarrassing. Mum and I had just bought water and poured it into our bottles only for the lady checking my bag to say ‘drink.’ I had flashbacks to Oman airport where we had just purchased drinks from outside the gate only to be told we couldn’t take them into the room! Luckily this time she just wanted me to taste it as a test.
Then it was onto the plane.
There was only one other plane in the airport with ours. As with the way in, we had no meals booked so when the food cart came round we made the most of it. 
The flight home took about six hours and I stayed awake for about four and a half. When I woke up I was so grumpy and proceeded to continue being grumpy until I fell asleep for most of the journey home.
Until next time…