sujata garimella – The Metrognome

You wouldn’t normally associate underwater sports with Egypt, but Sharm-el-Sheikh city is full of surprises – and it’s a work-in-progress.

by Sujata Garimella

A visit to Egypt is on the wish list of almost every person who likes travelling. Who is not fascinated by the Pyramids and the Sphinx which have firmly stayed in the Seven Wonders of the World for decades now? Then of course there are the famed temples, especially the ones at Abu Simbal (the ones with those HUGE statues) and the one at Luxor dedicated to the Sun God, Ra.

In fact the Luxor temple marks the first foray by a Pharaoh into monotheism. Like most ancient civilisations, Egypt, in the olden days was polytheist with a large number of Gods and Goddesses that they venerated. (Now, of course, it is a monotheistic Islamic country.) Along with all this history and culture, the Nile also found a place of honour for being the longest river in the world. Amidst the history, culture and geographical excitement (besides the Nile, there is also the Sahar desert) that Egypt offered there seemed little place for anything more. But the Egyptians surprised me with Sharm-el-Sheikh.

How it changed complexion

Sharm-el-Sheikh until recently was not a part of any Egyptian travellers’ odyssey through the country. Nestled by the Sinai range, it was a in a tension-filled area bordering Israel. Sinai has towering religious significance – one of the hills in this range is where Moses received the 10 Commandments. In fact, a church close to the foothills of the mountain houses a fire which is supposed to be the fire from the Burning Bush from which God spoke to Moses. The Old Testament is common to Judaism (Jews), Islam and Christianity, so the Sinai and the Burning Bush are important to three major religions of the world. For a while, Israel even captured Sinai and Sharm-el-Sheikh. Sinai was restored to Egypt in 1982 and that is when Sharm-el-Sheikh started getting developed.

Initially it became a popular venue for Peace Conferences. With Sinai on one side and the gorgeous Red Sea on the other, it soon began attracting a lot of visitors. Today, it has an endless collection of huge resorts of different levels of plushness. As far as I could see, the entire strip on which our resort was, had only massive resorts lined one beside another.

Snorkelling is a huge attraction

Snorkelling in the Red Sea is the biggest attraction of Sharm-el-Sheikh. I went for the whole day trip to the Red Sea. Each group was first picked up from their hotels and taken to a place where we could either rent or buy snorkelling equipment. Then onward to the Red Sea. Embarking on a boat, our travelling quarters for the day, we set sail into the bluest waters I have ever seen. The Red Sea is supposed to appear reddish because of certain algae that grow in it, but the waters were mesmerisingly blue.

There must have been about 20 people onboard, almost all of them European. Three engaging Egyptian boys were our hosts-cum-guides-cum-leaders-cum-life guards. First there was a quick lesson on the types of fish that we would see, followed by underwater signals for appreciation, distress, and help, and we were set. Only one person in the group could speak a European language as well as English – so she had to volunteer as the translator.

Stopping at various spot,s those of the group who wanted to get into the water did and those who didn’t want to or didn’t know swimming (there were those, too) stayed put on the boat enjoying a relaxing day. Even from the top of the boat you could see fish swimming in the sea – the water is that clear. Snacks and lunch are a part of the trip package.

There are no locals here!

Back on mainland, on our way to our resort, I asked the driver whether we could go to a local market. He seemed a little flummoxed. “Where the local people go for shopping,” I tried. “No local people,” came the surprising reply. Huh? “People only coming from different cities. No one staying here,” he explained. “Then what was there here before the resorts were made?” “Nothing. Desert. Small village. Some tents.” Wow!

I have read about cities being built or developed in the past but being born into a world with established cities I couldn’t quite fathom the concept. So when I hear about Las Vegas being built or Utah being established by the Mormons, there is an intellectual acknowledgement but no real understanding of the concept. Now here I was, travelling in a city that was a work in progress.

I continued the exploratory conversation with a young man in the customer relations department of our resort. He said that there we no locals in Sharm-el-Sheikh (yet). The Egyptians who were working in the resorts and the Red Sea tour operators all belonged to other towns and cities of Egypt. They were provided quarters by their employers (mostly in the premises of the resort itself). Food was also taken care of by the employers. Even doctors were appointed by the employers and they too stayed in the same premises.

So this is how a city gets built. Soon the folks will start getting their families along and resettle in what is still the middle of nowhere. Once there are people, traders will follow to set up markets of groceries, clothes, home essentials etc. Skills and services will then be required – plumbing, electricians, doctors et al, and they too will be drawn in. With families staying there, schools and other educational facilities will become essential services and find place. And within a decade or two, no one will ever know that this is a planned city that was only built to attract tourists.

Flying out of Sharm-el-Sheikh, I looked long at the twinkling city that consisted entirely of hugely lit-up resorts and marvelled at this ‘work in progress’.

(Pictures courtesy Sujata Garimella)

Cambodian surprise

A Mumbaikar goes off the beaten path to Cambodia, and comes away impressed by its friendly people and overall beauty.

by Sujata Garimella

Who hasn’t been fascinated by the exquisitely wild temples in Lara Croft: The Tomb Raider? Cambodia captured the world’s imagination with that movie. Angelina Jolie did more for making the country known than any other person not only via the movie but also by her high-profile adoption of a Cambodian boy (Maddox) around that time. Having got on to the international consciousness, Cambodia got a further fillip with the United Nations and their work with landmine victims/survivors in the country. This was publicity, albeit of the unsavoury kind – but hey, no news is bad news. Between these two, Cambodia became a beacon for the adventure-hungry and the sympathy-pourers and soon became the world’s most visited ‘off-beat’ destination.

My fascination with Cambodia started a few decades earlier, with the cover of a Reader’s Digest Travel book. The cover had a huge stone structure of a face facing four directions. Having noted that this was in Cambodia, the country piqued my interest. Over the years, other tidbits flowed into my consciousness: Angkor Wat in Cambodia was a Hindu Temple; Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu Temple complex and monument in the world; Angkor Wat is not only the largest Hindu Temple complex and monument, it is also the largest religious complex and monument in the world. Yes, most of the nuggets had to do with Angkor Wat but what was even more curious was: how did Hinduism find its way to such a distant land without war or occupation?

A visit to Cambodia was on the top of my bucket list, for sure. When this happened, it was probably the most exciting trip of my life. Since I was travelling with my mother, I went there not as a traveller but as a tourist i.e. it was not a backpacking-adventure-exploration kind of trip, but a planned, comfortable one.

Getting there

Disembarking at Siam Reap, where Angkor Wat is, was thrilling. It helped that the airport was built in a quaint fashion instead of the normal tall steel-and-glass buildings (see pic on left). It is also at the airport that I got to know that Cambodia offers visa on arrival. (Since these rules keep changing it is best to recheck before you visit and always safer to travel with a visa from your home country.)

Checking into the hotel was pain-free and the Cambodians were refreshingly friendly. With tourism being the mainstay of the economy of Siam Reap, most people speak English and are very welcoming of tourists. The downside of any place existing on tourism (whether Cambodia or Egypt) is the expectation and tacit demand for tips. Be prepared and be ready. While you can exchange dollars for the local currency (Riel) at the airport, Cambodians always quote prices in dollars to tourists. In fact, they shy away from accepting their local currency from tourists.

Discovering the place

There was only half a day left after check-in and negotiation with a tourist guide-cum-driver for hiring the car for the entire duration of the stay so visiting the temples was out for that day. On probing, the driver mentioned a floating village that we could visit. At a cost of $30 dollars (a rip-off because I have since learnt that this is available for $15) we were set. Reaching the embarkation point, we were given a huge boat. The boatman also doubled as a guide and we set off in a narrow waterway.

The ‘lake’ was a narrow-gauge waterway; the water, brown and dirty. The boatman pointed out a floating school and a floating basketball court. Just when we were laughing at ourselves and the ‘floating village’ that we were passing by the water opened up into a vast, seemingly endless water body – the Tonle Sap Great Lake Basin. It was a breathtaking sight. Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. The boatman claimed that this lake was fed by rivers from three countries. While this may not be entirely true, it is a fact that its upstream drainage basin spans five countries. He pointed out a notional line in the water (like our Mac Mohan Line with China) stating that from that point it was Vietnam.

We glided through a village in the water complete with houses, stores, a restaurant and a church in speechless wonder. The villagers used coracles or large plastic and aluminium bowls as their medium of transport. Since we were there in the evening, we were treated to a wonderful sunset, too. On the return journey, the narrow waterway didn’t seem as dirty anymore – the human mind surely is wonderful!

Disembarking brought another surprise. Three or four people swarmed around us with saucer-pictures of us. They took our pictures between the time we got off and to the point we set off, chose the ones that were most clear and printed them on the saucers by the time we came back. Since this was a novelty to me, after some hard bargaining, I bought all three for about $4.

While Angkor Wat, Bayon and the outstanding temple of the tree are spectacular, a trip to Siam Reap would be incomplete without a visit to Tonle Sap – it is a hidden jewel.

Have you recently taken a trip to a place you always dreamed of going to? Tell us about it at editor@themetrognome.in.

(Pictures courtesy Sujata Garimella)