Sahl Hasheesh - First Impressions

The Entrance Piazza, Sahl Hasheesh

Pillars outside El Andalous

(Photographs on this page may be re-used freely) 

 

It’s hard to remember what you first thought of a place after you’ve been there a while, so I thought I would jot down my initial impressions, which actually are fairly fluid.

I spent quite a lot of time on my first day just wandering around and trying to find out what was where. Some new shops were just opening up in El Andalous – a perfume shop and a papyrus shop. I hope they do well, but at the moment there don’t seem to be so many people around and I wonder how they will survive. I’ve resolved to spend at least some of my money within Sahl Hasheesh so as to encourage the shop owners. It must be hard for them.

Having said that, I’m happy to say that each day more and more people seem to be around. Or maybe there aren’t more people and it’s just that I’ve just adjusted my expectations.

The people renting out the electric golf buggies seem to be doing quite well, as I see many of these small vehicles zipping about. They look like a lot of fun.

The inner part of the old town was empty. The guys at the Brazilian coffee shop called out to me, presumably wanting business, and another guy wanted me to look at his perfume shop. They are just trying to drum up a living and there’s no forcing you to do anything.

A new hotel was being built, can’t remember its name now; another building is going up next to El Andalous and a few others along the beach as well. I am guessing that all of these will be hotels, since I believe the only beachfront properties for individual owners (of which El Andalous is one) have all already been built. Not much works seems to be going on with the new buildings, though, so maybe everything has been put on hold – due to either the political or economic climate.

On my first day, the Pyramisa (left as you leave El Andalous) seemed to be the busiest hotel and that was where I first swam (illicitly, as it turned out, as it was for guests only). The Pyramisa is right by the sunken city and I’m still working out how to snorkel there, now that my confidence in swimming has increased. The beach is quite stony until you get to the bit for the Pyramisa guests, so it’s hard to swim out to the sunken city without first infringing on Pyramisa’s grounds. Or maybe I just haven’t worked it out yet.

I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed the variety of sunbeds at the various hotels when I came here on my property search. The Premier Romance (right of El Andalous) has beautiful four-poster sunbeds, the Old Town beach has funky beanbags along with some thickly mattressed sunbeds.

Walking on the grass was a huge surprise – it was really springy as if the grass was piled inches deep and I felt I was walking on a mattress. It’s a lovely feeling. If you come, you must try it. Flowers form a hedge in beautiful colours – these are what I noticed on my last visit, the beautiful pink flowers that seem to last all year long.

The Espresso place that I’d seen on the El Andalous facebook site seemed to be closed – another sign of the times, maybe.

I ordered a soft drink several times at the Premier Romance until I realised that the restaurant at Palm Beach Plaza sells them for half the price. When I went to the Palm Beach Plaza the first time, I was embarrassed and amazed to find that they could not change a 100 EGP note and, astonishingly, they were happy for me to bring the money for my drink next time instead. I am now a sworn loyal customer.

The Entrance Piazza, where various events take place, is what everyone is supposed to see when first entering Sahl Hasheesh, so I eagerly investigated. It was pretty hot as it was lunchtime, so after wandering by the huge water feature in the middle, I kept myself cool by walking under the columned arcade, admiring the ornate woodwork.

On my return, I ended up walking under and over the pier, just by El Andalous. Walking under the pier, I spotted in the shallow water a light-blue-coloured ray (my name for it, no idea what it actually was!), which eyed me with suspicion as I followed it along the coastline.  When I strolled along the pier itself, a couple were feeding bread to the fish; swordfish predominated. On the other side, a vast shoal of small fish were right by the glass-bottomed boat, making the water look like a patchwork. I’d never seen so many fish in one place. It would have made a good photo, but I hadn’t figured out how to use my new camera at that point. There will be other times.

On my first night, I decided to treat myself to a meal out. I was really in the mood for a curry and went to the Premier Romance where they have an Indian restaurant. Unfortunately, none of the restaurants opened until 7pm (it was 1830 when I asked). So that was a lesson learned – I must not get hungry before 7pm! I ended up at the El Gusto where I got a curry for a reasonable price, overlooking the beautiful sea.

I guess my initial impressions were that Sahl Hasheesh felt fairly empty; many shop owners were sitting outside their shops all day with no customers. I really hope that things pick up. Sahl Hasheesh isn’t really Egypt, or maybe it’s the Egypt of the future. I look forward to staying here and hopefully seeing it develop into the resort it promised to be and I pray for the Egyptians that the tourist industry now picks up again. It will be interesting to see the resort grow as hopefully I too grow and learn.