june-2010

Just a short, dusty drive away from the crowds,
noise and all-inclusive holiday conurbations
of Sharm el Sheikh, but before the sandy
wilderness of the Sinai desert envelops all, sits
a resort that’s back-to-basics without all the newage
balderdash. It’s reinvigorating without recourse
to astronomically expensive spa treatments, and
eco-conscious without wearing its environmental
credentials self-righteously on its sleeve.
Inspired by Bedouin camps, Basata (the name
translates as “simplicity”) is even more modest than
the term “ecolodge” suggests. A series of makeshift
bamboo huts scattered across the unassuming sands,
it brings to mind the little piece of paradise Alex
Garland envisaged in The Beach, minus the selfserving,
soon-to-be disillusioned travel snobs.
There’s no TV, newspapers or – gasp – internet;
sleeping arrangements (comprising a mattress and
some rugs in your hut) are several notches below
basic; and the chief attractions are gazing out across
the radiant Red Sea during the endless days, or up
J U N E / J U L Y
Idle Promise
Fancy spending your holiday doing absolutely nothing in one of the most
peaceful spots on earth? Gary Brown knows just the place…
through the cracks in the bamboo at the Sinai stars
during the peaceful nights. Life moves slowly here.
Sometimes it feels like it’s not moving at all.
Set up in 1986 by Sherif El-Ghamrawy, who’s
still on hand to welcome his guests, Basata has
barely changed in the ensuing years. While fi vestar
hotels in Sinai are splashing out on plasma
TVs, iPod docking stations and heated swimming
pools in their efforts to coddle their customers,
Sherif regularly attracts CEOs and politicians
looking to escape their hectic lifestyles by
offering them less rather than more.
Although showers have replaced the original
washing buckets, and word of mouth has crept
from intrepid travellers to in-the-know magazines,
Basata’s squat toilets remain primitive, the huts
are hot in the day but cold at night, and the fl ies
still have a fi eld day when guests sit down to eat
breakfast in the communal dining area. Meals are
simple but tasty and there’s a vegetarian option
every night. The guest kitchen groans with
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