Pristine pursuits
Despite the uncertainty prompted by the Sharm El-Sheikh attacks, few doubt southern Sinai's ability to keep attracting travellers. The allure, discovers Pierre Loza, is hard to miss
Taba was previously regarded as among the less popular tourist destinations in Sinai. A few years back it was a one-hotel town where Israeli vacationers crossed the border for some sun, sea and gambling, an activity that is illegal for Israeli citizens back home. With the development of massive tourism projects which emulate the concept of tailor-made tourist towns such as El-Gouna in the north of Hurghada, Taba is on a quick path to growth. A work in progress, Taba Heights is built by the same developers that created El-Gouna, and from the looks of it they are attempting to emulate its success. With big names in the service industry like Marriott and Hyatt, the area will probably be geared towards an upper scale tourist class.
Contrary to the popular idea that Taba is a remote, expensive destination with few choices for the less affluent consumer, one discovers a wide variety of accommodation options along the coast between Taba and Nuweiba. Hundreds of small budget- friendly camps dot the coastline offering seaside huts for as low as LE10 a night. Not very popular with the more conventional package tourist, these camps provide a simplistic lifestyle for those looking to embrace the fascinating magic of nature. Capturing the vagabond spirit, once present in a sleepy little town called Dahab -- before its less recent induction into the tourist hall of fame -- the coastline between Taba and Nuweiba seems to be the last frontier where this fading tradition of down to earth simplicity remains upheld.
A great option that tends to be overlooked is driving yourself to Taba. At a reasonable speed of 100km per hour, you can probably get there in less than five hours. One hundred and nine kilometres down the Suez highway, a U-turn will take you to the Sinai speed road, across the underwater Hassan Hamdi tunnel eight kilometres down; take another U-turn at the corner of a gas station at the little town of Nekhil. After hitting Ras Naqab, you simply keep going straight for Taba or take a right to get to Nuweiba. A picturesque trip featuring pristine waters and finely chiselled burgundy mountains, the trip provides ample photographic opportunities. I wouldn't recommend this drive by night especially through the mountainous stretch just outside Taba. The recurring twists of the two-lane road, in pitch black darkness, make the drive quite a scary ordeal, especially if your driver believes that speed will get you anywhere.
Although it is still under construction, the Taba Heights complex seems quite similar to its twin across the Red Sea north of Hurghada. With a world class golf course currently being developed, the Heights caters to the taste of international globetrotters. Part of Taba Heights, the Three Corners Belgian resort, also present in El-Gouna, offers some degree of pampering without the perks of five-star accommodation. There are no food and beverage options in its room service, and in order to get to the beach a shuttle bus is taken. Offering all-inclusive package deals which have become exceedingly ubiquitous in the Red Sea, guests with full board accommodation wear pink bracelets as they order drinks at will. Boasting Moroccan architecture and exotic lanterns, the Three Corners has a One Thousand and One Nights feel that evokes a mysterious ambiance of the Orient.
Three Corners resident manager Hazim Khatab feels that despite the effects of the Sharm El-Sheikh blasts, the tourism industry has picked up surprisingly quick. "If you go to Neama Bay, you'll find it quite crowded. This is a good surprise for all of us. I would estimate cancellations to be around five per cent," Khatab said. Although he admits that the contribution of Italian tourists to the market has gone down considerably, he believes it is just a matter of time before they start coming back. "A devastating blow to the industry was when insurance on charter planes was cancelled right after the bombings. At that point airlines would have to come at their own risk. But now charter planes have started to return and the Italian market has started to return," he said. Khatab attributes the speedy rebound partly to the efforts of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism in launching promotion caravans around a number of European destinations.
"During this time of year average occupancy in Taba hotels is from 50 to 60 per cent. Today some hotels have reached occupancy levels of 70 per cent. I think this is a very healthy market indicator," Khatab said.
Expecting high occupancy rates for the winter season, Khatab also noted the presence of new nationalities that have relieved the area of its previous dependence on the Israeli market. "The market is much more diverse now. We now have more Europeans in Taba, and with the construction of a new Movenpick and Inter-Continental hotels, the area may see a lot more European business," he added. Citing the use of price cuts to increase market share as an imminently bleak market scenario, Khatab holds firm that despite the situation, his hotel did not change its pricing strategy. "Sharm El-Sheikh's hotels that reduced their prices during the Luxor attacks are still having a difficult time raising them back to pre-Luxor levels. Price wars can be devastating to a market's business potential."
A few kilometres south of Taba, Aziz El-Attar, general manager of the Nuweiba Village Hotel, believes it is still difficult to assess whether the market is making a comeback. "Because June and July are usually amongst the slowest months for us, it is still difficult to gauge the full magnitude of Sharm's effects," El-Attar said.
The sweltering heat inside the reception area speaks volumes about the state of business. "We are trying to save energy because at this time there is no activity in the reception area," he said. August being the best month for business, El-Attar sees a quantifiable reduction in occupancy. "In August of 2004 our occupancy was around 97 per cent. In August of 2005 we are barely making 40 per cent."
In an effort to attract more business, the hotel has reduced its price by 30 per cent offering a variety of corporate deals and expatriate packages. "We are offering our guests free tennis and a free 45-minute massage session," he chuckled. Tennis and free massages aside, the reason why so many people have flocked to this coastline for so long is its unique natural beauty.
"Sinai is a very beautiful place and I can live here very cheaply," says Claire as she sipped away at her cup of Bedouin tea. Staying at the Red Rock camp in Nuweiba, for what started out as a few weeks vacation and extended into a six-month holiday Claire is among a community of nature loving wanderers that prefer huts to hotels. At the risk of messing up a good deal, I was forced by the camp manager to translate to Claire the fact that prices would rise by tomorrow to LE30 a night. Oblivious to the new arrangement, she smiled instinctively announcing that she guessed she had to move further down the coast. Not phased by the price hike or a few bombs, it looks like Claire hasn't even considered leaving Sinai. "I suppose I'm quite fatalistic and I believe that I can get hit by a bus anywhere in the world, if my number is due. I feel safe, particularly in Sinai," she said with a relaxed smile. After years of strenuous work as a tour operator in the area among other things, Claire is now here at a time of search in her life, unwinding her mind coils to decide what she will do with the rest of it.
British, 20-year-old Sarah has been staying in the Red Rock for three months. She is presently studying the philosophy of religion through an Internet programme which allows her to earn her degree in a global campus which included the coast of Nuweiba. "It's kind of nice to have the freedom to stay near the sea and the mountains, so close to the environment. And it's kind of a difficult time, because there's not much tourism and people are coming less. So there's a lot of confusion and uncertainty about what will happen," Sarah said. The palm branches lining the huts swayed with the afternoon breeze as the sunset's reflection sparkled into the never ending shades of blue. At this moment, I wished I could live the life of a wandering vagabond that effortlessly immerses himself into the mysterious bosom of nature, as old dreams are lost and new ones are found.
Later that night, I met Claire for a Bedouin beachside bash at the Beira Sweir camp. Our Bedouin hosts kept our gathering lively with traditional tunes, with tabla (drum) and lute accompaniment. Mostly Israelis, political divisions seemed to dissolve into the night as a song about peace reverberated into the heavens. The song's chorus, which included the words shalom (peace in Hebrew) and salam, highlighted the central core of southern Sinai culture -- tolerance. The common phrase "peace ya man" which originated here long ago, exemplifies the spirit of live and let live, but let peace be the journey. It is this liberal spirit -- the alternative lifestyle -- which makes camps along the coast the perfect playground for Egyptian counterculture.
With few transportation options, to get from one town to another, you would probably have to take a private taxi. A shabby old Peugeot that looked like it was ready to burst into flames at any moment took me from Taba to Dahab for LE160. After a few stops in the middle of the desert due to some overheating, I finally reached the hype oasis I came to love many years back. Dahab has grown from an off the beaten path destination to a concrete-covered tourist hub. Prices have risen steadily here and like Taba it has turned from an Israeli tourist's haven to a new hotspot for Europeans. A basic shanty without bathroom facilities, which would have cost about LE5 a night a couple of years ago, will now probably go for LE20.
After the waterfront in Dahab's Mazbatt area was connected with electricity -- a little stone wall was built along the beach front cafes to complement a new promenade -- it became obvious that the town's authorities were trying to make it consumer friendly. Wooden arm chairs and sofas now replace klim carpets and pillows which allowed visitors to sit on the floor while leaning back on the trunk of a palm tree. "Foreigners came here to sit on the floor and experience something different from what they have in the West," a camp owner said. Cafés, which don't comply with the Town Hall's chair policy, are regulated with a wooden fist through fining.
Despite the changes, Dahab is still a charming laid back diving town where one can easily meet new people from different nationalities. Although the government's presence is much more prevalent, klims have been exchanged for wooden sofas -- prices have risen but it is still a relatively cheap destination which offers great diving, with a little bit of nightlife thrown into the mix. Thirsting for the nightlife on my last night in Dahab, I headed to Tuta bar's club, where I was thrilled to find a perky crowd and pretty ladies dancing on the bar table. After suffering rejection due to an embarrassing number of unheeded dance requests, I retired to the beachfront to find an amazing sunrise across the red mountains of Saudi Arabia on the other side of Egypt's marine border.
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