El Andalous - Hurghada Museum

Me Outside Hurghada Museum

A very exciting development over here was the opening of Hurghada’s first museum. It was badly needed, as tourists come to Egypt wanting to see something of the history. Hurghada may be a beach resort, but it doesn’t mean it has to be a cultural desert.

Land is relatively cheap over here, so the museum is on quite a spacious area. There’s a huge entrance (hopefully they’ll add items into that space, such as a museum shop or something), then you walk through a lane in the open air which will be lined with shops (most were not yet open). After this, you enter and there’s a corridor of shops. These were mostly open. There weren’t any cafes or restaurants open yet, which I thought was a bit of a missed opportunity on their side. The museum is on the first floor (ie, the floor above ground floor, for avoidance of doubt).

The museum itself was quite a surprise. I was expecting it to be pretty much just the usual Pharaonic history, going through the various dynasties; instead it took you through life not only during Pharaonic times, but also through the Greco-Roman eras. It covered Christianity and Judaism as well, so it was admirably inclusive. I think my favorite piece was an amazing book, illustrated with such fine detail, it was incredible. Of course, there were amazing items from Pharaonic times, too; it’s so hard to imagine that such detail could be carved all those millennia ago.

I think it’s not quite finished yet, as there were some empty spaces, and not all items had been labeled yet. But it’s still more than worth the visit. Do go!

There was someone making a film of it who was an Egyptologist from the museum – maybe they are going to put that on their facebook site. He was willing to answer any questions, but I don’t think that was why he was there (I think he was there just to do the filming).

We spent about 90 minutes going round. Afterwards, we took a taxi to the marina. It’s not so stressful getting a taxi these days, because they’re obliged to use the metre (but I did have to ask him). We went to Heaven, which is one of my favorite restaurants in Hurghada. I always have steak, but this time I branched out and had duck. It was also very good, even though when it first arrived I thought the duck was just a bread roll and that they’d forgotten the meat. Things don’t always look quite how you expect over here!

This didn’t happen here, but it did in the KFC the other week, and I thought I may as well mention it; in Egypt they quite often say “bon appétit” after you’ve finished your meal rather than before it. It takes me aback each time it happens (and that’s even for me, as a Brit, and Brits don’t say anything before a meal these days; we just get stuck in. Not sure if there are still families that say grace before meals!).

We didn’t bother ordering a taxi back as it seemed more convenient just to hail one, since we knew what the going price should be. The first taxi was a bit dodgy. First of all he didn’t want to use the metre. Then he wanted us to pay upfront (I’m sure that’s a standard scam, so don’t do it!). I foolishly complied and then I think they tried to say I’d paid 20 LE and not 200 LE (I was wanting 100 LE change). I said we’d get out and find the police at which point they gave me my money back, saying they couldn’t do the trip for the fare we wanted.

We went to another taxi, who accepted our suggested fare, but wouldn’t use the metre. I am wondering if the metre doesn’t hold for as far as Sahl Hasheesh. The driver wasn’t any problem and was also not making any fuss about giving us change.

No blog next week as I’m still on a trip round Egypt. I’ll put in a placeholder.