Day 19: Monty's

Tonight's attempt at finding "friends" was pretty hilarious.

So. Alice's diving instructor told her about this bar, Monty's, which was supposidly where all the cool kids hung out. Particularly on Thursdays. Alice was very VERY excited, "We're gonna make all these friends, we're gonna have an amazing time, and it's just going to be great!"

I, on the other hand, was not so enthusiastic.

Over the years, I've adapted a slight if-you-set-your-bar-low-you'll-be-less-disappointed mentality. Some would say I've become a bit of a pessimist, but I wouldn't go as far that.


Anyway, we headed to Camel Bar to get some food and picked up our 20% discount cards (which we are allowed because we "work" in Sharm). Chicken Jhal Freze (with the *correct* Egyptian spelling ofc) with rice. Followed by a couple of cocktail taste tests and some free cocktails (NOMNOM Mojito) off the nice Mancunian chica.

Then, we headed to MONTY'S. And,

Oh.

My.

God.


It was probably my worst nightmare, but very much DOWN-sized. The entire bar was black with a black and white checker tiled floor and UV lights "lighting" (!) the place. It was about the size of your average living room and the music was THIS LOUD you literally have to SHOUT in the other person's ear for them to vaguely understand what you're trying to say. Half the people in the bar were army blokes on leave, I think (looking for a bit of nookie), and the other half were ?Russian girls gyrating with the army blokes and... "Having a good time," I think is what they like to call it.

We stayed awhile. Alice introduced me to her instructor and his girlfriend, then was chatting away with him. I stood about, drank my kiwi milkshake (AMAZING) and people-watched/ looked bored.


When we left, Alice decided that as Monty's had been so awful, we'd go scope out the other supposidly cool bar where all the divers congregate: Pirates' Bar. Pirates' Bar, we were told, was inside the Marriott Hotel, which was 500m down the road from Na'ama Bay. Let me tell you now, it bloody didn't FEEL like 500m. And when we got to Marriott.... We found Harry's Pub (known as "the English pub" in the Egypt Lonely Planet). Not Pirates' Bar.

Ailce was most disappointed, but I thought what-the-hell and insisted we at least go in to have a look. So we walked into Harry's Pub, which had TECHNOTECHNOTECHNO music, strobe lighting and

*tumbleweed*


Yes. It was like walking into a deserted town in the desert.

It was UTTERLY hilarious.
(For me anyway, I think Alice found it a little bit more traumatic..)


And to top it off, on the way home we stopped for some small crispy-munchy round ball things coated in syrup and got chatted up by the THREE Mohammeds running the stall. (I had my first taste of Egyptian man-hassle, which I did not enjoy in the slightest.)

All in all, a great/ RUBBISH night out! HUZZAH!