I have blogged about this before, however feel it is apt to do so again, as its a different perspective.
It was September 2001, and my girlfriend at the time was on a girls holiday in Greece (found out she cheated on me during this time, which was nice) and was at home. I had some annual leave and last minute decided to do my PADI diving certificate.
I looked through the teletext (old school) and picked up a weeks holiday in Egypt staying at the Taba Hilton (since been blown up by Al Queda, in an unrelated incident).
Taba is on the border to Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, so you can understand it is quite the hotbed of fundamentalism. This is of course retrospective information!
I flew into Eilat in Israel on September 2001 and was coached through the border to Egypt. I had some beef on the Israeli side as they were less than friendly about my various stamps in my passport from various Arab countries, but managed to convince them that I am not a terrorist and they let me past.
Then as I was going through the Egyptian customs the same drama unfolded, but they took my passport to check it out and gave me a receipt.
Now, I have been all over the world, and this was the most jumpy that I have ever seen border control.
I contacted my travel rep back at the hotel and they said it was routine, it seems that Israel marked my passport to alert the Egyptian authorities so that my background could be checked by interpol.
This was put to one side as was assured that I would get it back the next day.
The next day was a story that everybody knows, I watched the Twin Towers being hit live in the hotel bar with a Scottish lad of similar age, quite a sobering experience.
Even more so that this was accompanied by celebratory gun fire, AK47 to be precise outside the compound, which is what hotel was to be known from that point forward.
Now, we did not have Sky TV or Fox, but had Arab TV on, who were quick to pick up on the Bin Laden connection. I would say, that it was very frightening.
The only Arab or Asian leader who made much sense was General Musharaf from Pakistan, who claimed to be a pilot and he would of found it difficult to achieve what the terrorists did. This was not reported.
So there I was, in Egypt in a compound surrounded by gunfire into the sky with a Scotsman who decided this was an appropriate time to get pished.
The next day was erie as it appeared that all the borders where closed, lots of Israeli's where also trapped in the hotel. This is because there was a casino in the hotel and in Eilat I believed these were illegal.
The foreign offices of the majority of nations had started to evacuate all of the hotel, families and females first towards Cairo for special chartered planes to there home countries.
Myself, the Scotsman and around half a dozen Israeli's where left by ourselves in the Hilton, which was fully staffed.
This was quite fun, and for quite a few day used to sit at the foot of the Mount Sinai and watch the Israeli Navy go through provocative drills whilst the life of a young soldier was told to me through the experience of my new compound crew.
One thing that sprung to mind that some of the girls (yes they have a mixed army) where quite attractive. A man will always think of his penis, no matter how stressful or hopeless the situation is.
We drank, smoked Shisha, gambled, ate, listened to gunfire, snorkelled, watched army manoeuvres and hung out for days.
The foreign office where in touch, as my girlfriend had an opportunity to pretend to be concerned for ultimate attention as she was back in the UK. ( she actually cheated on me again, during this time). My Dad however was hopeless in his attempts to get me out.
Now the borders are closed, diving is off as the decompression chamber is in Israel, so we had nothing to do other than venture out.
So we did, we took a ride to the most perfect beach with giant man made beach huts and a beach which included one metre off a drop of 80 metre of coral and some of the craziest sights ever seen in the Red Sea.
We then took a boat trip with some Egyptian sailors and watching flying rays skim across the sea with grace and elegance.
We smoked shisha in a desert bedouin tent with some dodgy looking guys and a giant Russian, who no doubt was gun running.
I fed a dolphin, albeit part of my Tuna Sandwich whilst have lunch next to the sea.
One thing we did discuss, at great length was Football. In the Bar one Scotsman (Celtic) myself (Millwall) the Israelis (Tottenham) and the Egyptians (Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal). We even got to the stage of one of the barmen bringing in his best goals DVD and everyone re-rating with full debate their favourite goals. I still say Tony Yeboah's shot which went in from the underside of the bar was the best.
Things in the hotel became quieter, the only arrivals were UN peacekeepers and they were not feeling our little club.
The borders opened on September 18th and although the planned trip to Petra was culturally the better idea, going to Eilat on the piss with our new Israeli friends seemed the better option.
So there we were in a large gay club in Eilat, where 3 hours before a car bomb had killed several people, watching a drag act without a care in the world.
The next day we left, I got my passport and then everything was serious again. When I was in Eilat's airport I was singled out for questioning and made to sit on the floor cross-legged with my hands on my head, being mildly interrogated by Mossad. I was allowed on the plane.
During the flight, we were diverted to Larnaca where the British army searched the plane, whilst again. Hands on head and sit on the tarmac.
I arrived at Luton Airport and the rest is history.
There is a moral to this story, but it just does not matter.......
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Location:Fountain Ln,,United Kingdom
