World TravellerGuide to travelling the world

Located on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Sharm El Sheikh is a wonderful place to visit where you can enjoy white sandy beaches, and desert landscapes inland. The waters here are crystal clear and blue to look at.

Trips off the coast to look down into the waters using a glass bottom boat are very popular, and there are magnificent corals to see, as well as exotic under water flora and rare tropical fish. This is one of the most beautiful underwater locations in the world, and snorkelling and scuba diving are very popular here.

Inland, you will find many things to do. You can visit the sulphur springs which are considered a cure for people suffering from skin disorders and rheumatic problems. The old town here is very beautiful, and gives a real feel for the people and lifestyle here. You can also take desert safari trips to see all that the desert has to offer. Many of these trips involve a ride on a horse or camel as the distance to some of the temples and museums is a little far for walking. Camel rides can be rather uncomfortable, but it’s such fun that it’s worth it.

There are a number of bays that make up Sharm el Sheikh, Na’ama Bay is a long sandy bay where the seafront boasts a beautiful paved walkway lined with oleander and bougainvillaea. There are many shops, bars and sheesha cafes here, and it is very popular in the evenings. Sharm El Maya is the name given to the old town bay area. Here you’ll find a natural harbout that’s home to many small boats, and the lovely sandy beaches have lots of palm trees scattered about providing natural shade for familes who want to rest here. The old town is just a short walk away and is an excellent place to visit. Ras Um Sid Cliff is the cliff top area that links these two bays, and is about 5 minutes drive from each.

As well as all this traditional beauty, there are casinos, discos and nightclubs, golf courses, wind surfing and other water sports that you can join in with. Overall, you’ll find the place full of all the amenities you could hope for, whilst still being relatively unspoilt by them.

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When you go on holiday, having a credit card that you can pay for things with can be a really useful option these days. Of course, until recently it wasn’t possible for everyone to use this option, but now with the option of pre-paid credit cards, everyone can make use of the benefits available when paying by credit card.

If you’ve not come across them before, the concept of a pre-paid credit card might seem a little odd, but actually it’s quite simple. Instead of borrowing money from the credit card company and then paying it back afterwards plus interest, you get a card which you can load money onto. Once it’s loaded with cash, you can then use it just like a regular credit card and get all the benefits you’d get with a regular credit card, but instead of owing money, you’ve only ever spent your own cash, so you don’t have to worry about big credit card bills or anything. Because of the way it works, you can get one even if you don’t have a very good credit rating too.

So what are the advantages of using one of these when you travel abroad? Well to start with, if your card did get stolen, there’s no risk of them running up huge debts. The maximum the card would let them spend is the amount you’ve pre-loaded onto it. It’s also not linked to your bank account so it’s much safer from this point of view too.
Many of the companies who issue pre-paid credit cards that are designed for use when travelling offer emergency card or cash replacement facilities too – just like regular credit cards do – so if you found yourself with a lost or stolen card, you wouldn’t be left stranded with no money as you would if you carried cash.

Another advantage of pre-paid cards is that they are often available in Euros or US Dollars as well as Pounds Stirling. This means that you can keep tabs on what you’re spending more easily as you can add the money in your own currency, and then on holiday you can work in the local currency without worrying about overspending as you can easily see your balance on the card.

Travelling can actually even be cheaper when using a pre-paid credit card too. For example, if you travel with Ryanair, they charge a booking fee of £5 per person per flight for most payment methods. In fact, the only payment method which doesn’t incur this charge is a pre-paid credit card, so if 4 of you are travelling, you could save £40 by paying this way.

Just as regular credit cards offer different interest rates and different backing (mastercard, Visa, Maestro, etc.) the same applies to pre-pay cards, so if you’re planning on using your card abroad, make sure you choose one which will be accepted in lots of places in the location that you’re visiting.