How not to go crazy on vacation in Egypt

Once upon a time in childhood, I watched the American thriller Shine with Jack Nicholson in the title role. An empty hotel somewhere in the mountains and a crazy person. The film is really scary. I can’t say that I was scared in a huge empty Egyptian hotel on the Red Sea, but the sensations were amazing: there were only two families of tourists for the whole huge complex. Gorgeous beaches without vacationers, a restaurant where you are the only visitor, an evening show with you as the only spectator. But the most important thing is the oppressive silence day and night, your steps echoing along the deserted corridors.

The construction of the picturesque bay south of Taba and the border with Israel began about fifteen years ago. Then no one had heard about ISIS and al-Qaeda, and Russian charters landed in Hurghada and Sharm every half an hour. The beaches were full of vacationers, and in the evening at discos and shows there was no crowding among the noisy and cheerful public. Taba Airport, which is nearby (once the Israeli Air Force base until Sinai returned to Egypt in 1982), took direct flights from the CIS and Europe. In Taba, in the town of Taba Heights, eight luxury hotels were built: Sofitel, Intercontinental, Sheraton and others. But as soon as the hotels opened their doors to guests, how began the revolution, war, terrorists, a downed Russian plane with tourists. For several years now, as hotels on the verge of survival.

Russia and the United Kingdom closed Egypt to their tourists in 2015, and meanwhile, these two countries accounted for about half of all Egypt's tourism revenue. Trying to survive, the Egyptians began to develop Arab tourism from the countries of the Gulf and Jordan. To some extent, this compensated for the damage, but the Arabs do not have a culture of relaxation and entertainment in sea resorts. The Egyptians have not been able to fully implement the "replacement" of one another. And here is the result.

Personally, I am sorry for ordinary people who were left without work and livelihoods. Indeed, each such hotel is served by up to hundreds of employees. Now in the best case they work "for food", they have not seen salaries for many months. What about small businessmen? They probably invested the last one and now, the lease is on, and the income is zero.

For two days I was the only visitor to this cafe. I looked in the evening and ordered a cocktail for 15 pounds (less than one dollar), making the owner a daily gain. The poor fellow did not even have the strength to smile. So all this looked unreal and absurd.

Funny and sad "Sells below cost," letters dated 2014-2015. And the store has long been closed.

What about the sea? Well, the sea is beautiful, as always.

If you look closely, you can notice a lone figure in the distance. This is a lifeguard on the beach, who decided to swim himself, because he has no one to save. Seeing me, he came up at some point and, trying by eye to figure out my origin, said: "Bonsuar." It is immediately clear that in the absence of tourists, the guys lost recognition skills. Funny and sad.