Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

A hunk of sterile buildings on a plateau commanding docks and other installations, SHARM EL-SHEIKH was developed by the Israelis after their capture of it in the 1967 War. Their main purpose was to thwart Egypt's blockade of the Tiran Strait and to control overland communications between the Aqaba and Suez coasts. Tourism was an afterthought – though an important one, helping to finance the Israeli occupation and settlements, which Egypt inherited between 1979 and 1982. Since then, Sharm's infrastructure seems to have expanded in fits and starts, without enhancing its appeal much. Despite some plush hotels and reams of propaganda about it being a slick resort, Sharm el-Sheikh is basically a dormitory town for the Egyptian workers who service neighbouring Na'ama Bay. Aside from package tourists conned by brochures, the only foreigners here are divers – drawn by the proximity of Ras Umm Sidd and other reefs – and a few backpackers who take advantage of its cheapish accommodation and commute into Na'ama Bay. Sharm has a beach, but its small bay doesn't match that of Na'ama, and the seedy downtown area also detracts from the hotels' "luxury" pretensions. In its defence, however, Sharm el-Maya has some good restaurants, snack bars and souvenir shops, and is the cheapest place in the area to go shopping for food.