Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me Simon Calder and my goodness me

I'd love to say I am basking in the warmth of the Red Sea. I'm not actually at the moment. I'm walking

around the very extensive grounds of the Stellar Gardens Hotel beneath beneath it must be said a very very impressive

almost full moon and enjoying the fact that I'm 2,400 miles away from London where where I flew out yesterday just about. It was very, very close.

So lots to report on the journey and the experience so far, because for an awful lot of people,

it is the first time that they, certainly the people I'm talking to here,

they've been away very often for four years. You know, they went away, they're used to going away

in January to avoid the cold and, well, what's it been like for them? Generally, very, very positive.

And all the people I've talked to like the resort,

I'm absolutely not an all-inclusive resort person,

not one tiny bit.

I think it is much, much better to do what I did last night. So I got in to Her Garda. I got through

very quickly, the immigration. Crucial, by the way, that you bring 25 US dollars. Otherwise,

you're going to pay 25 US GB pounds, and that obviously is going to cost you a bit more.

Very smooth through there.

Everyone else had transfers because they were better organised than me.

I walked the 10, maybe 15 minutes from the airport to the main road.

Once you're in kind of a kind of urban setting, then tax is much cheaper.

I got the nicest taxi driver who, for a couple of pounds,

drove me to a very nice... I just said I wanted a small, quiet hotel near the marina. He found just the place

and I stayed there and it was, wow, my goodness, the price was £12. It was perfectly

comfortable, perfectly good, everything you needed.

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