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Have you ever thought to yourself how noisy the city is these days and how drenched in work you have become? Are you scared you will soon be dubbed a life-forsaking workaholic?
Take a break and get away from all the stress; you’ve earned it. Take a look at the center of the world where the great Pharaohs once built a culture that still lives to this day. Take a closer look and discover the rich semi-island, Sinai, a place that has been repeatedly fought over due to its important religious location.
Today Sinai is much more than a religious spot. It holds many riches that tourists can explore, from its Red Sea coast to its beautiful mountains and its simple and homey resorts. The two most beautiful cities in Sinai, both lying on the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea, are Nuweiba and Taba, yet you have probably never heard of them before.
Nuweiba: A Simple kind of Luxury
Nuweiba is located 150 km north of Sharm el Sheikh, 465 km southeast of Cairo and 70 km south of the Israel-Egypt border. It is a small city that is home to many Bedouin tribes who roam the coast selling Egyptian visitors and foreign tourists hand-made items featuring colored beads in many designs. Bedouins are also famous for the lovely low-cost clothes they sew, and for the marvelous rugs and carpets they weave by hand.
Along the beach of Nuweiba you will find numerous resorts or what are called “camps” since most of them are low budget, even though they offer the best service in Egypt. After roaming the beach for many days and going from camp to camp to find the perfect luxurious resort, I ended up in Nakhil Inn. Nakhil Inn is a lovely resort owned by a hospitable man called Samer, who turned a small area of the seashore into a place that makes the traveler feel at home.
Nakhil Inn contains 29 big rooms that are distributed into two groups, suites and bungalows. All rooms are air-conditioned and offer room service, Wi-Fi, colored television with ten satellite channels, a mini fridge, hot and cold water, frequent room cleaning and a lovely view of the beach and sea.
Because the Red Sea offers world-renowned diving sites, it attracts a great many divers. Amateur or professional divers can enroll in a diving program at Nakhil Inn. Divers who come with their families can interest their companions in the non-divers’ program that includes such activities as snorkeling, mountain climbing, jeep safaris and more.
Because the Red Sea offers world renowned diving sites, it attracts a great many divers.
The divers’ program includes diving in beautiful sites like the National Park of Ras Abu Galoum, Ras Mamlah, Devil’s Head (Ras Shitan), Magana, Abou Loulou reef and the house reef. Non-divers can enjoy many exciting activities including snorkeling around the unique reefs of the Red Sea, where they will observe all kinds of fish. All diving and snorkeling equipment is available at Nakhil Inn.
Nakhil Inn also organizes trips to the mountains where guests can climb and see the colored canyons, have a Bedouin dinner, and camp in the wild. Although there are no dangerous animals in the rocky mountains of Sinai, this is an exciting adventure nonetheless.
Winter is the best season to be in Sinai. The weather is dry with a hint of chill. The water is a bit colder than usual but still suitable for diving, snorkeling or swimming. At Nakhil Inn, visitors can sit and socialize around the fireplace and enjoy a cup of cocoa or Bedouin tea, which chefs of Nuweiba are famous for. Many businessmen enjoy the homey and quiet atmosphere at Nakhil Inn, where they arrange seminars and business meetings.
The food menu at Nakhil Inn includes a large variety of dishes including delicious vegetarian cuisine. The best characteristic of Chef Mohammed’s cuisine is the fact that every dish has a unique style and flavor. If you are a night person, a walk along the seaside provides many bazaars and shops selling Bedouin dresses, clothes, rugs, carpets and other locally crafted items. You will also find many restaurants on the seaside. You will probably not find a place to spend an evening as comfortably as at Nakhil Inn, but you will be able to try different varieties of food and atmosphere.
Taba: A More Familiar getaway
Taba is located on the same seaside 65 km away from Nuweiba. Compared to Nuweiba, Taba is more a familiar sort of getaway. Fewer Bedouin tribes reside in Taba, so it lacks the Bedouin culture that prevails in Nuweiba. This doesn’t make Taba any less artistic, however. One example of the artistic nature of Taba’s resorts is Tobya Boutique Hotel.
Tobya Boutique Hotel is a four-star property located in the Taba area two km from the Egyptian-Israeli border. Overlooking the Gulf of Aqaba, Tobya Boutique Hotel offers views of three countries: Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The only reason this hotel is not a five-star hotel is the reception counter, which is made of wood rather than glass or marble. The owners refuse to change, however, because they think using marble or glass would eliminate the hotel’s authentic identity.
Tobya Boutique is the right choice if you are looking for a place to spend a couple of days relaxing in a familiar yet exquisitely artistic place. All of the interior designs, architecture and accessories in the hotel are the work of the hotel owner, Mr. Sadek. As a brilliant and multi-talented artist, Mr. Sadek has enriched the walls of the hotel with his own paintings, which makes visiting Tobya Boutique Hotel a high-level artistic experience.
There are two large pools in Tobya Boutique Hotel and two restaurants. You can enjoy an open buffet for breakfast and dinner as well as a lunch at the restaurant that serves platters and mezzas (appetizers) from various international cuisines.
Built within a natural crevasse in the Sinai mountains, the hotel connects to its private Tobya Beach Club via a tunnel. The beach club lies on a marvelous area of the Red Sea coast with clear water for snorkeling.
For a culturally rich vacation, the hotel can also arrange trips to Jerusalem and Petra. If you are not up for that much travel, however, you can settle for a trip to the local cultural sites of the rocky mountains and colored canyons.
The perfect way to complete your day might be by gambling in the hotel’s casino, Tobya Casino, where you can enjoy a wide variety of games including blackjack, poker, and slot machines.
Every experience on the Red Sea has its own weight and brilliance. So arrange to spend some time at each resort. You will have the best “simple yet luxurious” vacation you can imagine on the coast of the amazing Red Sea.
Credits
by Yasmine Sheaito
