Friends in Hurghada!

Tuesday morning we had a leisurely breakfast at our resort, overlooking the Red Sea, then we headed into the city of Hurghada.  It was about an hour ride, partially because of longer wait times at more intense security roadblocks than during the previous few days.  We met Vladomir and Zdenka Šedo at a sidewalk café at 11:00 in the morning.  Vlado and Tim are both members of the Vrbica Bulls basketball group that plays on Friday nights here in Slovakia.  Vlado and Zdenka are just like U.S. 'snowbirds', only their summer home is in Závažná Poruba (a few miles from here), and their winter flat (apartment) is in Hurghada, Egypt.  They spent the day showing us many faces of Hurghada, and it was an awesome time with the two of them!!  

Our first sensory perception of Hurghada was delicious!  Vlado got us falafel patties (ground chickpeas and fava beans, deep fried) in a pita sandwich - YUMMMY!!  It's authentic and typical Egyptian fast-food fare, high in complex carbs, protein, and fiber.  

Then we sat down to have something to drink - it's hot in Egypt. so we needed to stay hydrated!  Vlado seemed to already know or else quickly make friends with everyone we met, so we were immediately offered a preliminary welcome drink of ouzo, a strong anise-flavored alcohol.  

Enjoying our falafel/pita wraps, which we were allowed to take inside the restaurant where we had our beverages.  

Next we walked to the marina, which is a pristine and beautiful waterfront area and a big tourist attraction with many upscale restaurants featuring cuisine from various countries and ethnicities.  

The waters at the marina were amazingly blue!

On the far side of the marina, we had our first view of the newest and largest Islamic mosque in Hurghada, which we later toured. 

Vlado's picture of us!  :-)

Next we headed out past the tourist area to the fish market where the native Egyptian residents of the town shop for their fish.  Those big fish at the top were huge!   Vlado and Zdenka told us that you can buy the fish whole or cleaned, or another option is to select a fish and come back later to pick it up fully cooked!  

I was surprised by the variety of types, shapes, and colors of the fish at the market.  We would later see many of these same species of fish while snorkeling --- they are much more beautiful swimming in the sea!!  

Behind the fish market is the other side of the marina, where the fishing boats dock to unload next to the market.  

This stand was full of dried fish of all shapes and sizes, hanging from the rafters on string.  

Next we went around to the entrance of the mosque.  The minarets were incredibly tall!  

I had tried to dress modestly in deference to being in an Islamic country, by wearing a long skirt and a shirt which covered my shoulders.  But to enter the mosque, Zdenka and I were required to be covered head to foot in a one-piece hijab and long dress.  A woman at the entrance dressed us and tied the hijab in place.  

In the inner courtyard in front of the mosque.  

The interior of the mosque was very ornate, spacious, and airy.  Women are not allowed into this part of the building when the men are called to prayer times during the day or during services.  There is a separate room for the women during those times, but we were allowed inside as tourists just to view the interior.  Of course the men were dressed acceptably in their normal shorts and t-shirts!!  Can you say "double standard"???  

This is looking back across the inner courtyard.  We all left our shoes in the area with the pillars and went barefooted onto the carpeted area.  Note the shoe racks on the sides for when the mosque is full with men praying.  

Just outside the mosque, this guy wanted to sell us Egyptian scarves.  Vlado had Tim try the headdress on just for the picture, then he ended up getting it for Tim afterwards.  It may prove to be a new way to prevent top-of-the-head sunburns!!  

Several times during the day we rode on the Hurghada public transportation system, which is unlike anything we've ever experienced.  There were hundreds of these small white minivans running up and down the main drag of town, with people hopping on and off at random places all the time.  Here is Vlado (at left) explaining about how things work. The vans wait at certain corners until they are completely full, with 15 passengers packed into the seats and fold-down jump-seats.  Then they take off, and everyone hands their money forward to the passenger next to the driver.  When someone nears the desired stop, he just yells up to the driver, very politely, to stop please.  When there are vacant seats on the van, the driver will stop to pick up other passengers along the street who flag down the van.  The new passengers hand their money forward, and the driver just keeps collecting coins and driving and stopping until returning to the meeting place where the vans begin routes.  It's ingenious and efficient, though quite crowded and crazy!  There are no set times for routes, but vans seemed to be running continuously, and there was always one going by.  Sometimes we had to get off one van and onto another one going in a different direction.  We can't believe Vlado got it all figured out - he's amazing!  

Next we went to this very large Coptic Christian church.  The Copts are the largest group of Christians in the Islamic world, and they make up about 10% of Egypt's population. 

The church was heavily guarded due to potential conflicts with some Islamic extremists.  This is St. Schinuda Father of Hermits Church, but I wasn't able to find any more information on the church or its namesake.  

The interior is really pretty, and differs a little from European Christian churches, especially in the red velvet curtained altar area in front.  

The back of the church, with stained glass windows.  

The altar area in the front of the church, with many Coptic crosses.  

This picture just shows some of downtown Hurghada.  Vlado and Zdenka told us that there are about 70,000 residents, but in the busiest part of the tourist season, that number grows to about 300,000.  The traffic was crazy, with all the drivers beep-beeping their horns all the time and zipping all over.  We didn't see many lane lines, but we didn't see any accidents either!  The white van in the center is like the ones we rode, and there were tons of little orange and navy blue (Go Hope!) taxis all over Hurghada too  - which we didn't ride since the vans are much cheaper and are normally used by residents - but you can see two taxis in the picture too.  

We walked through a typical fruit/veggies and meat market, again full of locals, not tourists.  The fruit and vegetables come mostly from the Nile area, and it all looked really fresh and good.  It seems crazy to have fresh meat hanging out in the open air, but we never saw any flies around this market or the fish market either.  

It was fascinating walking through the market, watching the interactions between people, and trying to figure out all the different varieties of produce.  

Another shopping street for locals had many vendors with open storefronts spilling out onto the street area.  The poultry and rabbit sellers will butcher your critter and package it for you, ready to be picked up when you come back later.  

The spice shops smelled really fragrant!  

We saw many of these two-wheeled donkey carts in use in the non-tourist areas of Hurghada, right on the streets among cars and trucks in traffic.  

On the way to their flat, Vlado and Zdenka stopped to bargain for some fruit from a street vendor.  The oranges and bananas smelled wonderful!

Finally, we ended up back at their apartment building, which was beautiful!  This pool in the courtyard was heated during the colder months.  

The view of the pool area from their balcony.  

We went up to the rooftop terrace to see the magnificent views of Hurghada all around, and of the Red Sea in the distance.  

The mosque we visited is in the distance, near the marina.  Note the unfinished tops of buildings in the foreground, as explained in the previous blog!   :-)  

We had a fun time relaxing and talking with Vlado and Zdenka on their balcony, and of course we had a variety of sweet refreshments and beverages in good Slovak style!  

Finally, we went to a restaurant where we were treated to a delicious seafood dinner, which of course started with another welcome drink of ouzo!  Later, this troupe of musicians wandered into the restaurant to play for the guests on some really unusual instruments.  I didn't get a very good photo, but I did load a video on Youtube!  

***  Click here for:  Hurghada Restaurant Musicians  *** 

After relaxing and visiting over a leisurely, huge dinner, we walked with Vlado and Zdenka through the downtown tourist section of Hurghada to meet our hotel transport back to the resort at 10:00 p.m.  It was really bustling with people, vendors selling souvenirs, and lots of traffic on the street.  We were really fascinated by the contrasts we saw between the tourist and the native areas of Hurghada that our Slovak friends showed us in Egypt!