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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Jan 12, 2021 10:00 PM Landed in Hurghada!
I had a hard time with my long legs on the old,cramped 767. They (Azur Air) reduced distance between the rows to take more people. The plane was 100% full. Fortunately it was only 4 hours... We landed in Hurghada empty airport at sunrise time. First they allowed to disembark people with ready PCR tests. Then the rest should pay 30 USD for the on-site test (it was hidden cost the tour agency did not mentioned). Then passport control and you are free to go down to the car park, where numbered buses are waiting. They will take you to the hotel of your choice, transfer is included.
25 deg Celsius, tropical flowers around...
They dropped me at "Hurghada Mercure". This beach hotel is more cozy than big blocks accommodating thousands of guests. "Mercure" was opened just a week ago after the long pause. Let's have a rest!
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Jan 11, 2021 10:00 PM Flying in pandemic time
No snow in Gda?sk till today, but in the airport of Gdansk, which experiences more "continental" climate it was white around when I was boarding my first flight to Warsaw. Little, turbo-prop airplane was half-empty. People do not travel, even in their own country... But there is a in-flight service: they offer sweet bun, waffer and a bottle of mineral water! In Warsaw I was waiting more than an hour for the connection to Kiev. My backpack was heavier then 8 kg allowed but nobody took care. On little embraer jet it took us 1,5 hour to reach Kiev KBP airport. Transit desk near the gate will not check you in for the charter flight - you have to go to the mmain hall!
How about pandemic restrictions? Ukraine is open for tourists, but you have to declare where you will stay and you have to show the insurance paper. Oops! I managed to convince young immigration officer that it does not apply to the transiting person like me.
Main departure hall was nicely decorated for Christmas (orthodox's celebrate their Christmas in January). Airport hotel is closed due pandemic. So now I have to wait in the hall till midnight to check-in. Fortunately there are not much passengers waiting. Good night from Ukraine!
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Jan 10, 2021 10:00 PM The sunny beach is better then nothing...
I am running away to sunny Egypt again! The original plan was completely different: in mid-January I was supposed to fly to the Canary Islands, where I had Fuerteventura to see. Meanwhile, low-cost airlines canceled three of the four purchased flights, and the Spanish government wanted me to come with a fresh PCR test, which costs over EUR 100 in Poland. I was forced to change my plans. Through a Ukrainian agency from Lviv, I arranged a cheap holiday in... Hurghada, where I have not been yet. You know that I like to to overland and to explore but coronavirus blocked such options. It is better to enjoy sunny beach than to stay in the mask in the grey and cold Europe! :)
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Dec 30, 2020 10:00 PM Happy New Year!
I am waitimg impatiently for the bloody year 2020 to escape.
I am still locked. No dancing, no meeting with the friends.
Let's the New Year 2021 will bring us return to normality, open borders, exciting and free travelling!
Have a happy new year!
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Dec 23, 2020 10:00 PM Merry Christmas dear Friends!
The terrible year of pandemic is coming to the end. But we still suffer, isolated from our families and friends.
Have a Merry Christmas anyway dear Friends!
In the morning I was decorating with my grandsons our 2,5-m high Christmas tree.
We believe that in the evening, after our traditional dinner and singing the carrols Santa will bring us the gifts. I am expecting new air ticket :)
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Dec 18, 2020 10:00 PM Leave shells and corals...
The authorities of Marsa Alam airport require that passengers must be in the airport 3 hours before departure. Why? They will screen all your luggage just in the entrance looking for banned shells and pieces of coral. So it is better to leave them in the Red Sea. Once cleared you will be directed to the check-in stand. To Warsaw - only 23 passengers will be flying in the 130-seater boeing of Enter Air. Then you go to the passport control (fill up departure card before!) and to crowded waiting hall. There are souvenir shops to spend your last Egyptian pounds. but the shopkeepers accept also dollars and euro.
It is necessary to bargain!
We departed at 1.30 pm.
For the great views of the Red Sea take a right side window seat. Soon Sinai peninsula was visible and then - the Suez Canal - it is on the picture..
It was only 1 deg. Celsius when I landed in windy Warsaw. One more fantastic trip is over!
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Dec 17, 2020 10:00 PM Last day in the sunny paradise
Sorry, tomorrow I will be flying back to Warsaw... So today is my last day in Marsa Alam, to be precise - 40 kms north of Marsa, in the middle of nowhere, where on the coast of the Red Sea they built my hotel....
The sea is rough today because the strong wind. I tried to swim anyway, but it was not the same pleasure... Water was warm as always, but there was a strong current pushing me to the north and the waves were covering me from time to time.
In the afternoon I started to pack my backpack again. No need to use an alarm clock. The first calling from the nearby mosque will wake me up at 5 am! :)
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Dec 16, 2020 10:00 PM Shisha for 2 euro or 2 dollars
On the beach which belongs to our hotel they established something like a club, where the tourist are going at the sunset time to try some snacks and to try coffee prepared on taditional way. First they bake the coffee beans on the coal. Then they beat the baked coffee in the mortar addin some ginger. Finally the product goes to jabana - special dish with round bottom (I brought such a ceramic jabana from Eritrea) adding sufficient amount of water and boil it on the coal. The coffee prepared on this way is thick and almost black. It is recommended to add some water. Take care - it is very strong and will not sleep after big dose!
Coffee is free for the guests but if you want to smoke shisha (the water pipe) it will cost you 2 euro or 2 dollars. Sorry - this service is temporarily unavailable due to pandemic :)
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Dec 15, 2020 10:00 PM Coastal walk to the south
Tourist industry in Egypt suffers from pandemic. In the Marsa Alam area only 8 hotels are open and the have very few guests, so they must reduce expenses. Friendly cook in my hotel keeps portioned butter underground for the special guests. I am lucky to be one of them since I know few words in Arabic, they know that I visited all Arab countries and I am ready to socialize with them...
OK. Today I decided to take the coastal walk south from the place I stay. Just at the beginning I passed the poor post of Egyptian coast guard (eh, Egyptian army... soldier in charge wear the uniform only when he saw me at the fence :)
Then there was little, idyllic and completely empty bay... Further south I too a photo of two local fishermen using the net - I am not sure if this is legal in the Red Sea full of color fish...
Later I passed the ruined Cindarella Hotel -it seems that nobody cares about cleaning this part of the coast.
Finally I reached huge Acacia Hotel. It is closed now. The guards did not allowe me to continue my walk along the beach. That's life... I still gain some new experience!
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Dec 14, 2020 10:00 PM Along the coast
Sea is a bit rough, but the sun is shining... The adwantage of Marsa Alam's hotels are that the distance from hotel A to hotel B is minimum few kilometres. Today I enjoyed the walk to the next resort heading to the north. It was nice walk and I found "Novotel" nicer then the hotel I stay... Beach (partly rocky) was completely empty...
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