Egypt is a country many dream of visiting, but when I was a child, the main reason was to discover the ancient treasures I'd heard about in history class. Later, when I lived in Europe, I discovered that many people traveled to Egypt to relax by the pool, snorkel or dive in the Red Sea and enjoy some sunny warmth. I tried this kind of holiday, too, and ended up staying in a resort near the small town of Quseir, mid way down the west coast of the Red Sea.

Quseir is a small town of around 20,000 people that has become more prosperous in recent years since resorts were built along the Red Sea coast. In fact, the resort where I stayed was really the major employer for the region, as well as providing a few tourists to go shopping in Quseir.

The resort provided a shuttle bus once or twice a day for guests to be driven the fifteen minutes or so to Quseir, and picked up an hour or two later. Each time I visited Quseir, I was surprised how few people were leaving the resort each day - it seemed like most of them spent their entire week or two weeks' holiday simply lying by the poolside. I got to know the shuttle bus drivers and learnt some more about Quseir from them. I'll always remember one driver who wasn't a Quseir local - his hometown was a nine-hour bus ride away, and he was so excited that he was aboout to have five days off and could take the bus home to visit his wife and three-week-old daughter, who he'd only seen for a couple of days at her birth.

Meanwhile in Quseir I photographed the main mosque, strolled along the cafes nearer to the Red Sea coast, and visited the weekly markets. There were also a couple of small souvenir shops, and in one of these I met a young guy called Mohammed who had an incredible knowledge of geography. Despite never even having visited Cairo, Mohammed could draw a map of Australia and label my hometown of Perth, and he could talk knowledgeably about the areas of Asia and Europe I'd traveled to. The best part was he seemed genuinely interested in chatting, and wasn't pushy about selling his souvenirs at all. He taught me how to write my name in Arabic and we exchanged email addresses, and have stayed in contact for several years.

Sadly, I think most holidaymakers at the Red Sea don't experience any of this small town Egyptian life, cocooning themselves in the fancy resorts and thinking that chatting to a waiter is interacting with the real Egypt. For me, meeting a few interesting Egyptians and exploring the local town made my Red Sea resort experience that much more memorable.