Day 9 - February 27 - No biking on the Sinai Peninsula

As this is a biking blog, I will keep this part of this story relatively short - or feel free to skip it...

Breakfast was amazing - there were fruits, Arabic and European food, eggs of all kinds, cheese, etc., etc. Then I went in for a nice snorkeling swim - I love the sea and the scenery was wonderful. I did not dare to go out all too far - I was the only one swimming, an easy target for an occasional shark - plus the life guards were very keen on keeping me within the narrow boundary. Oh well. There were a few others making it to the beach, even an orthodox Jewish lady, but she kept everything on.

Yes, I do love the sea, but still got rather bored - in the afternoon, I thought it would be fun riding a bit into the country.

I spoke to a friendly receptionist, he told me I would have to apply for a visa which was to be paid in Egyptian pounds, no cards accepted (some €20). So I got some local currency, pushed my bike to the opposite side of the road, with my helmet on, to a checkpoint (this was the third checkpoint since the Israeli border) and filled out a form, got the visa (I was the only one there). This was at window #1. At window #2, they asked to scan the passport, where a strict officer told me "there is no biking on the Sinai Peninsula". What? He saw me getting the visa, could he not have just told me this before? I did not believe this, asked to talk to his superior, they actually called a person, who spoke perfect English. He was polite - but firm - "for my own safety" (mind you, there was hardly any car traffic) it is forbidden to ride by bike. Shit. OK, if I had already paid an was already in exploration mode, a taxi driver came up and offered his services. he would take me up to Taba Point, for another €30. So quick the money flies out! I bargained it down to €20, put the bike in the cab and off we went.

I was not surprised to see a checkpoint every 2-3 kilometers, my driver shouted a few words without stopping, the policemen did not seem to care. We drove by a castle, an otherwise empty bay and got to a hotel complex, where (I believe) I was originally headed to.

The hotel was full of (what I believe were) Russian tourists, was a concrete over concrete, had hordes of people inviting one for a massage - and offering a "special discount". I hated it. Fat people were lying in the pool, while the sea beach was right behind them - only a handful of people were in the sea. Everything was gigantic, the lobby was like 5 meters tall. I used the bathroom, the pissoir was a trough in the wall, also 5 meters tall. I thanked all Gods for not having let me go there - my hotel was a lot nicer. I had seen enough of the Sinai Peninsula and told the driver to drop me back.

Even though my hotel had various restaurants, I decided to try my hand (belly?) at street food. So in a sort of a "shopping mall" near my hotel, I ordered lunch - it was really tasty. Guess for €5 I overpaid by far, it was very tasty and I did not get any issues afterwards.

Then a tine donkey showed up - probably related to the two other donkeys I saw the previous night.

At this place, I also found a barber shop, it was a teenager who cut my hair - he was really good at his job. He giggled throughout the maneuver - guess I was his largest customer so far - he had to lower the chair to the minimum to reach me. I think he asked for €3, I gave him double.

In the afternoon, I went in for another swim, it was still really pleasant to be in the salt water. Nothing really noteworthy happened after that.