Sorry for the delay in updating this - life, crafting, you name it gets in the way lol! well that and it wasn't the easiest post to write - you'll see why.
----------------------------
So Tuesday saw us taking it easy as we had booked on to go to Hurghada shopping before then going onto an open air show with snake charmers, belly dancers etc. Because of the time of the show it meant we didn't have to leave to go shopping until the afternoon, so after a lazy start - not late, just lazy! we headed up for breakfast and then out onto the deck to soak up some sun. Unlike our previous late starts, today many of the excursions had mid morning and so the deck was relatively quiet - so kicking back we settled down to a couple of hours of reading and sunbathing before heading in for lunch.
After a light lunch and a quick conversation with members of the crew who were floating around we went below to put on some appropriate clothing, grab our purses and headed out to our coach - well minibus as only 12 of us had booked to go shopping and then go onto the show!
Our guide was once again brilliant, giving us an overview to the lives of the Egyptian people today - we discussed education, economics and religion in a frank manner and it was nice to see the other side of Egypt having been living in the past on our excursions up until this point in time. The day however went rapidly downhill when we got onto the topic of law and sadly the people we were on the trip with had little to no propriety and asked some of the most incredibly rude questions I have ever had the misfortune to hear - I won't repeat them here, it doesn't bear thinking about - however, needless to say, it was enough to put our guide on edge for the remainder of the day!
Views on the way into Hurghada - this is a purpose built marina for the neuvous riche
Shopping was, in reality a disappointment. I don't really know what I was expecting, it just wasn't what we were presented with. Hurghada is a 4 mile long stretch of road which is covered in shops on either side - the only problem is that they all sell the same rubbish which we can find here in the UK or in any museum in this country if we want an Egyptian souvenir. Suffice to say, by this point in time Claire and I were beginning to regret our decision to book this excursion. Nevertheless we wanted to spend some money and so, failing anything else impressing us we wandered into a range of Jewellers - we had said that after our Cartouches we wouldn't buy anything else of a jewellery nature whilst on holiday, however, our resolve broke when we viewed the exquisite workmanship in some of the shops. We both settled on buying scarab charms (from different shops) as they are the Egyptian symbol for good luck and we figured we could use some!
We headed back the coach, happy with our purchases but downhearted with how the afternoon had turned out - a mood which didn't lighten on the return of our fellow passengers who promptly fell into discussion of how lackadaisical the British youth are in comparison to the Egyptians. I think we could have let the comments slide if it wasn't for the fact that they then turned to Claire and myself and started to declare that they presumed our parents had paid for us to be here as we had the look of the common youth who had no get up and go about them. Needless to say we were gobsmacked and before I could let vent Claire did it for me, informing them that she had a stable job as a diagnostic radiographer which she had held down for two years and as such earned more than enough to pay for this holiday with a monthly pay package thank you very much! - Now Claire isn't like me, I gave up letting people make me feel like dirt after a nasty experience at Uni, but Claire normally shies away from confrontation so it was a shock to my system to see her explode.
Thankfully before they could start on me we arrived for the show and we grudgingly got off the coach, wishing instead that we could go straight back to the ship. We stayed at the back of the group and avoided been near them as much as possible, but the damage was done and we had no heart to enjoy the show. The show was spectacular thinking back in it as we witnessed belly dancers, fire eaters, whirling dervisis and snake charmers show their talents. At the end of the show we headed back to the minibus and promptly pulled out our MP3 players to block out the others on the coach - I can image what was said but neither of us were happy and the sooner we were back onboard the better.
It must have been clear how bad the afternoon had turned out for us to those we'd gotten to know on the ship as we barely acknowleged the welcome team as we swiped in and headed straight to the show lounge to see the evenings performance. We weren't trying to be rude to the crew, it was just one of those things - when something gets to you so much you just don't want to talk. We grabbed seats, ordered a soft drink and they had just arrived when the show began. Now the show was - as ever - incredible and our moods were lifted slightly before the performance was out and as such we shuffled out of the show lounge to have showers whilst a Q&A session took place with the entertainment team.
Showers, change of clothes and a rant the whole time we got ready cleared our systems of some of the bad vibes before we headed up for dinner and then out onto the deck for that nights party. We had an unusually quiet dinner and as we wandered out to the deck to claim a table we did debate if we were in the mood to stay as we saw one of the ladies off the tour walk past and give us the evil eye. It was an act of hostility that the band noticed - we weren't aware they had followed us out onto the deck and were at the bar grabbing bottles of water when we took our seats. As such, we were promptly set upon by the guys and asked what we'd done to deserve such a response - a bitter reply of "don't ask, you'll just get me started" and a large sigh from Claire halted the conversation and the guys left with puzzled looks on their faces.
As they finished their soundchecks and our next round of drinks arrived (again unordered) the deck began to steadily fill up and Lee - the cruise director and Drew turned up to kick the evening off after a quiet word with the band and a few not so subtle glances in our direction. Now normally i'd have come out with some smart-ass comment or at least said something to try and put a smile on Claire's face but the thing was the comments about being unemployed had hit home and I was seriously double guessing myself, so I focused on the drinks and prayed enough music and alcahol would either lighten my mood or at least stop my brain from functioning for the remainder of the evening. It was a similar thought process to Claire's I later discovered.
So as the music started up and the deck filled up, the entertainment staff all began to appear and we were soon being asked about our day, as normal. We gave none commital replies and told them they should go mingle with the others before we got them into trouble - again causing a few confused faces and a worried expression or two. Deciding we really didn't need the crew worrying over us - after all, we should have been no different to any other passangers on board we headed to the bar for our next round of drinks and a quick gossip with one of the couples we'd sat with at the Captains Cocktail Dinner. Finishing up our drinks we wished them a good evening and tried to make our way back the cabin, somehow we'd both silently come to the agreement that we weren't in the right mood to stay and be sociable. The only problem with this plan was that the staff had decided we couldn't escape without confessing all and as such we were grabbed by the show team and forced onto the dancefloor whilst our bags were thrown at Lee to have put behind the bar for safe-keeping.
We managed to stay tight lipped for about 2 songs before the grilling kicked in and whilst we attempted to pass off our mood as fatigue we knew it wasn't fooling anyone. We should have known that sooner our later the events of the afternoon would come out and therefore I don't know why we were surprised when Drew turned up on the dancefloor and asked us why we were letting the opinions of some cranky old so and so's ruin our mood? I actually stopped dancing and stared at him before coming to my senses and demanding to know who had been the gossiping old women this time? and was anything we did not monitored or reported on? In turn, Drew looked guilty and the remainder of the team on the dancefloor all looked like they'd been caught with their fingers in the cookie jar! I wasn't mad at them, really I wasn't, it was sweet knowing we were being cared about and that we'd actually made an impact on them enough for them to go out of their way to find us and make us happy - but it had been a long day and I wasn't in the mood to bite my tounge.
Before Drew could answer I left the dancefloor and I saw Claire making my appologies for me - appologies I would later make myself but i'd gone past the point of being polite and I needed some space without everyone hovering over me. I made my way to the top deck, which was thankfully empty and just stood staring out to sea. When I was calm enough I decended the stairs again and sought out Drew to make my appologies, which he did with all his usual charm and then asked me to dance - in the meantime Claire had been grabbed already and was being whirled around the dancefloor so fast I was sure she was going to be sick - but she was laughing and that was all that mattered. The night ended early for us and this time, no one forced us to stay out, understanding that sometimes sleep is all you need to put the worlds to rights.
Next time: Luxor, Karak and the Valley of the Kings
