Hurghada - Egyptian health resort without Russian tourists

Until 2015, about 50,000 Russian-speaking people from all the former Soviet republics lived in Egypt. After the “plane crash”, according to studies, in 2017 there were 11,000 people left in the Russian-speaking diaspora, which nonetheless was very much. Take Russia, where there will be even less Europeans (except for people of German and Polish descent). The last time I was in Hurghada was in 2009, when crowds of foreign tourists were observed on the streets, now they also exist, but about 30% of what was previously. Many of the diaspora remained as maintenance staff or as downshifters living from letting real estate in England or in Moscow.

Permanently living here Russian-speaking people love this city very much, Cairo is a necessary measure, from where they try to dump at sea every weekend. You can get to Hurghada from the capital of the country on average for 110-150 pounds (330-500 rubles) with a distance of 350 km.

Nevertheless, in Hurghada, you can easily find real everyday Egyptian life outside the tourist streets.

You can take fish for 30-40 rubles, fry and feast at home. In a restaurant, such a fish will cost 100 rubles.

The market for "their" and for constantly living Russian-speaking citizens.

Which is reflected in the nature of signage.

And in production.

I found there a representative publication with newspaper articles of selected speeches of 2 Egyptian President Gamal Nasser.

Modern political power in the country is trying to build continuity from Gamal Nasser. He is like Mao in communist China, uncle Ho in Vietnam at the time of gaining national independence and unity, Park Jung Hee in South Korea, whose activities allowed him to get ahead in the economic development of the DPRK in the 1970s, Gaddafi in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Hafez Assad in Syria.

Beer pub, where representatives of the British community gather. Surprise, but some Britons also work in the local public catering as hostesses.

Egyptian beer.

I heard t.A.T.u. English songs in several cafes, it was so nice that after so many years (by the standards of world music) they are remembered and put in public catering.

Nevertheless, everyone is waiting for the return of Russian tourists. Yes, to some extent, Russian tourists have been replaced by tourists from Ukraine and Kazakhstan, but Russia is expected only because of their higher solvency. The locals are very surprised if you tell them that teachers in the provincial schools can have salaries of 8,000-10,000 each, but the fact of earning in the small town per month for 45,000 is very admiring, since a large part of the Egyptians move to Cairo for the same 8,000 rubles.

Although Russian-language signage has become much smaller compared to 2009. Many of them are already covered with a layer of dust coming from the desert.

I wanted to visit Egypt west of Alexandria, to visit the oasis of Siwa, which I did neither in 2009 nor in 2012. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, because now the desert regions of the country outside the Nile Delta are closed to foreigners due to the flow of weapons coming from flaming Libya from terrorist groups to local extremists. The situation in Sudan is similarly unstable, where the situation is still a distant repetition of Rwanda in 1994. Hence the strengthening of security measures.