“Taba will take off next”: even Bedouins are fleeing from the resort bordering Israel

Friday’s “arrival” of missiles from the Arab-Israeli conflict zone at the Egyptian resort of Taba divided witnesses of the attack into two camps: one insists that “nothing is wrong,” and the other says that everything is just beginning. We learned the arguments on both sides of the barricades.

A powerful explosion in the area of ​​the Egyptian Taba hospital, on the border with Israel, was shown on Friday by Egyptian TV, reporting six casualties. But then, apparently, the local media were reminded that the country lives mainly from tourism, and live broadcasts from Taba stopped, and only Middle Eastern news agencies continued the story about the emergency. The domestic tourism industry quickly responded with the assurance that “our tourists do not go to Taba, and Hurghada and Sharm are far from there.” And she added that according to Egyptian sellers, there are no refusals of already purchased tours, as well as cancellations of reservations, among Russians. At the same time, tour operators recalled that Egyptian resorts were not declared by the Russian side, represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rospotrebnadzor or the Ministry of Economic Development, as a zone dangerous to the life and health of tourists, and therefore no compensation to refuseniks. If you cancel 2 weeks before the trip, then 100% payment will be withheld.

“It’s a little disappointing to read that “there are no Russians in Taba,” says Serpukhov resident Lyudmila, who is now in Taba with her husband and two children. – Of course, there is no such flow here as in Hurghada and Sharm, but Taba itself is much smaller. And relative to its size, there are quite a lot of Russians here.

– They write here that there are only divers.

– This is true only in the sense that specialized diving tours are brought specifically to Dahab and Taba, since there are many schools here. But Russians with children also come here because it’s quiet, the beaches are free, there are no “adult” entertainments that you can’t hide from somewhere in Hurghada. There are also our tourists here, accustomed to spending their holidays not in the open bar, but exploring as much as possible. And here Israel and Jordan are nearby. Over there, across the desert, is the Israeli resort of Eilat, and over there is the Jordanian Aqaba. Gaza is 200 km from here, a couple of hours by bus. The same distance as the nearest Egyptian airport in Sharm.

– Now this sounds not like an option, but like a threat!

– Yes, alas. My husband and I saw the explosion itself on TV, and later we went to this place. Everything there is cordoned off, and armed people prohibit filming. The machine gunners say that “an investigation is underway.” Public pages are calling for the removal of posts about the explosion so as not to scare away tourists. The emergency hospital (emergency hospital) was damaged. – Note auto) and a residential building next to it. And the entire area was immediately cordoned off.

Lyudmila shares that she and her family are not “package travelers”; they did not come on a tour, but moved to Egypt 8 months ago, fortunately, their children are not going to school yet. Therefore, without being bound by any obligations, they are now considering moving to a calmer country in the region, choosing between Bahrain and Kuwait.

– These are also very quiet states, which are good for quiet families with children who are not looking for loud entertainment. People like us, and there is a small diaspora of us here, all Russian speakers with children, think the same way. It has flown once, which means it can arrive again at any moment. Too close to a real war.

According to individually traveling compatriots, there are also “package travelers” in Taba, although not in such numbers as in neighboring Sharm.

“We knew where we were going,” says Igor from Moscow, vacationing in Taba on a tour in the company of friends. – Military reinforcement was introduced in Taba two years ago, and one of the three largest local five-star hotels was completely given over to the military, of which there are a lot here. Now they are analyzing the explosion.

– And you continue to rest nearby?!

– Well, it’s good that the Egyptians foresaw two years ago that Taboo needed to be better guarded. We’ll rest for two more days and head home soon. The main thing is to fly safely over Sinai, and we can consider that the vacation was a success.

Meanwhile, by Sunday evening, Russian tour operators selling Egypt still noted an increase in refusals among Russians who had already purchased and booked tours to the Land of the Pyramids.

“And I immediately said that there was no point in keeping silent,” says Issa, a Russian-speaking guide from Taba, commenting on the circular of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities about “restraint” regarding the events in Taba. – It will leak anyway. This time there are, fortunately, only six victims. But no one can guarantee that it won’t come from the other side again. In my group now there are three families from Russia with schoolchildren, they were glad that they made it before the start of the general school holidays, when prices would jump. And now I tell them: spit on the paid hotels and at least go to Cairo. Away from the border. What can we talk about if even the Bedouins, who constantly roam the desert between Egypt and Israel, leave these places?! They say one dervish (wanderer. — Note auto) watched from the desert a rocket falling on Nuweiba, and said that Taba would take off into the sky next. But our people here believe in Bedouin seers.