Friday, November 6/2015

Very happy not to be in Sharm el Sheik, although it's on the permanent list of inexpensive places for a brief holiday. Unlike some of Egypt it's supposed have been pretty safe. And probably still is, if you don't consider arrival and departure. One reporter said that the advice was not to go by air. Technically possible to get there by sea, of course, but that would probably put paid to the brief and cheap aspects of the holiday. Quite a lot of people now enjoying a longer than expected stay in Sharm, as the UK banned flights there following the explosion of the Russian plane, and, more particularly, the government intelligence conclusion that said explosion was most probably caused by a terrorist bomb. As the flights restart there are delays as the airport sorts itself out and, presumably, too many planes want access. There's also quite a lot of luggage to deal with, as those returning on British flights are allowed to bring one item of hand luggage apiece. Checked luggage is waiting to be transported separately, the theory being that cases will be reunited with owners within a week. And this is the luggage for 20,000 Brits, soon to be joined at the airport by the suitcases of the 60,000 Russians that Putin is planning to bring home.