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May 20, 2006
WB: Sharm El-Sheikh

Billmon:

I got to within maybe two feet of it, when I turned my head and was startled to find I was practically nose-to-nose with a fish – a blue-finned beauty with a bright yellow face and a squared off head, like a mullet (the fish, not the Joe Dirt hairdo).

As entranced as I was by nature’s handiwork, I still like my personal space, and the fish was infringing on it. I don’t know why it came so close – maybe it was looking for a handout, or maybe it just had never seen a white whale before. …

Sharm El-Sheikh

Posted by b on May 20, 2006 at 14:23 UTC | Permalink
Comments

thank you Billmon,
what a lovely piece to read on a Saturday morn… feel as if I’m there… namaste

Posted by: crone | May 20 2006 15:16 utc | 1

If you all haven’t tried diving, you just read a very good reason to do so. I have dived the Red Sea and it is very nice with some of the prettiest coral in the world.

Posted by: dan of steele | May 20 2006 15:28 utc | 2

If Sharm had existed when the Israelites were wandering Sinai around looking for the Promised Land, they would never have made it. They’d still be lounging by the pool ordering drinks and trying to put the tab on Moses’ room.
Sounds like the place Edward G. Robinson’s character in the Ten Commandments would have wanted to settle at.
“Pass the sun tan oil will you Aaron?
“This is the life ain’t it? Kosher Mai Tais, Ethiopian beach bunnies, and a hot gin rummy game every afternoon at the Golden Calf Casino.
“Aaaah, where’s your Moses now?”

Posted by: Night Owl | May 20 2006 15:49 utc | 3

that was glorious..

Posted by: byteb | May 20 2006 16:44 utc | 4

I have some vague childhood summer-holiday memories of Sharm-el-Sheikh when the Israelis were still in control. There wasn’t much of a tourist industry then – a hotel, a petrol station, a cafeteria and lot and lots of bored soldiers. I don’t know if it existed as a Bedouin village prior to theoccupation of the Sinai, but there’s a pretty good chance that the Israelis actually invented the place.
Still, it was fun going out into the desert, accompanied by aforementioned bored soldiers, visiting Bedouin villages, and going swimming with the Bedouin kids in what seemed like an ancient spring-fed pool.
I visited the town some 10 years later – as the tourist development was getting under way, but the place was still pretty small. I spent a couple of hours being mauled at Chess by the local grandmasters at the bus station cafe whilst waiting for the ride to Cairo.

Posted by: dan | May 20 2006 16:55 utc | 5

What a writer.
I was there in my mind with those words.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | May 20 2006 17:15 utc | 6

Billmon, you should go to the local snorkel shop and rent a mask with corrective lenses so that you see all of that beautiful coral and fish. Most shops rent them for the same price as regular masks. They come in fixed diopter strengths (+1, +2, +3, +4, etc) which is good enough for diving. You will find that the undersea world is much less intimidating when everything is sharp and clear instead of unknown blurs.

Posted by: Ben | May 20 2006 17:59 utc | 7

Nice.

Posted by: beq | May 20 2006 19:07 utc | 8

very nice, Billmon. And nice that you injected your personal experience, not simply references to others’ or their work.
you seem almost human. 🙂
I’ve never been in a desert in my life, unless L.A. counts. or flying over the desert before LA.
I hope you can post some pictures…a view of the shore….the sweep of it..not asking for underwater camera shots– tho the goggles sound good for personal use.
Now I’m all inspired to go watch The Life Aquatic again…

Posted by: fauxreal | May 20 2006 19:22 utc | 9

Diving in coral reefs is better than the best acid trip you could ever get. Enjoy!

Posted by: b | May 20 2006 19:42 utc | 10

Billmon suggested that he wasn’t sure that he could be a good travelogue writer in a previous post. Well, he –and others including myself– just discovered that he is everybit as good a travelogue diarist as any. It was as vivid as my minds eye could create. WB: Sharm El-Sheikh, reminded me of another author whom is a travelogue writer and a damn good one at that, Colin Thubron. I had to read Colin Thubron’s The Lost Heart of Asia for my Central Asia class however, on first glance and discovering it was a travelogue I was not to thrilled to read it. Boy was I proved wrong. It was a wonderful delightful to read.
On a different note, I wasn’t sure if Billmon was aware of the almost real-time news coming out of Egypt of the last few days. I could not gather from reading him if he was getting the news while in situ, prolly not. Egypt: Hundreds More Protesters Arrested. I’m certain these things are kept well out of visitors eyes.
Also see:
It’s Time to Tell Mubarak, ‘Enough!’

Posted by: Uncle $cam | May 20 2006 19:45 utc | 11

billmon, sometimes I think you could write about a walk to the grocery store — and it would be enlightening and thought provoking.

Posted by: anna missed | May 20 2006 21:10 utc | 12

Thank you Blllmon wonderful.

Posted by: Noisette | May 20 2006 21:57 utc | 13

Very enjoyable reading! I love the juxtaposition of the mundane and the sublime, and the surprise in discovering the coral reef and being transported. I can easily imagine myself having such an adventure. It’s nice to get away from politics and economics, then return with a fresh perspective.
Looking forward to the next installment…

Posted by: Daniel Secrest | May 21 2006 3:14 utc | 14

for some reason, likely the acuity of his posts over the years, i never envisioned billmon wearing glasses. nice stuff.

Posted by: b real | May 21 2006 3:45 utc | 15

beautiful beautiful billmon
my son and i were living/camping on the yucatan beach where the coral reef is just a mile off the coast. one day i decided to take a swim and check it out. for some reason it occurred to me to be scarred of sharks, something that hadn’t even entered my mind the first leg of the trip until i had encountered all the beautiful fish. i felt totally powerless and vulnerable, out of my element, an invader. once the fear set , all options considered (over a long 30 seconds) prior to absolute paralysis i made a swift retreat and swam perhaps the fastest fearful mile of my life.
i returned later in a boat w/friends and equipment. stunning. people keep breaking off souvenirs of coral, as if it means less than scraping your nails over the face of mona lisa. there’s no comparison, we could touch up the lady.

Posted by: annie | May 21 2006 8:18 utc | 16

Damn, is this guy a treasure or what?
My only regret is that we can’t duct tape him to his chair and make him churn out posts around the clock. Well, not yet anyway… (/rubs hands lustily)

Posted by: Lexington | May 21 2006 10:20 utc | 17

Actually, one should be less near-sighted under water — and Bill’s making-you-see-it-like-you-were-there-yourself recount kind of proves it.

Posted by: BarfHead | May 21 2006 10:39 utc | 18

This is a parrotfish and may be the one Billmon refers to. This shot was taken during a night dive and you can see a film which envelopes the fish. They use it as a sort of trip wire to keep from becoming a meal while they sleep.
This lionfish is very poisonous but thrilling to see. They come in different colors from orange-red to grey.

Posted by: dan of steele | May 21 2006 12:43 utc | 19

after going back and re-reading his post I see that I got it wrong. Now I really can’t find anything that looks like the description he gave. Here is a nice collection of fish found at Sharm. perhaps Mr Billmon will tell us which one he saw.

Posted by: dan of steele | May 21 2006 13:27 utc | 20

dan of steele, the link you posted…I had no idea the Red Sea had life such as shown in those amazing photographs. Billmon must have been seeing some of those fishes. Thanks for the link.
And Billmon, I’m so grateful you are writing for the public again. What a treasure you are.

Posted by: wren dishon | May 21 2006 15:13 utc | 21

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