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In October 2002, nineteen of us flew to (ever glitzier) Sharm-el-Sheikh at the tip of the Sinai peninsula in the Egyptian Red Sea and embarked on the MV Cyclone for a week's live-aboard.
The trip was not without its problems, though: the air-conditioning blew out hot air for most of the trip, half of us went down with Pharoah's Revenge and JM fell badly against a stairway and had to be rushed by "ambulance boat" to Sharm hospital - he spent the rest of the week living the high life in Sharm being consoled by Russian beauties (so we're told...).
For this reporter (PH) one the best things about a trip to Egypt is the warmth of the people - especially if you try a little phrase-book Arabic, which is easier than you might think. Even the frosty immigration officer at Sharm airport beamed when I greeted him in artless Arabic, and insisted on shaking my hand. Most Egyptians seem friendly anyway - arriving by taxi back at the boat having haggled for a full ten minutes over the fare, the driver (wrongly) got the impression that we'd misplaced all our cash. "It doesn't matter", he said with a wave, and we had to be quick to stop him driving away unpaid. Smashing people...
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