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14-4-08
We arrived in Dahab at 3:30am, to the bus station. We then realised that there was no phone there and only one taxi. In Dahab the taxis are all Toyota Hiluxes, so we had no choice but to jump in the cab, while all the locals piled in the tray. We were at our hotel in no time and then the driver tried to rip us off. There was no way he was going to get away with that. We were now fairly experienced on how much you should pay.
We were very impressed on arrival of the entry to our hotel. Very classy! It was then time for some much needed sleep.
We were up at 9 the next morning. Yes, an actual sleep in for us! This day we signed up for Open Water Divers Cert, starting the next day and spent the remainder of the day by the pool reading the training manual. It was a bit like pulling teeth, but we got there in the end. Then it was time to watch the DVD on what we had just read. They made it all the more painful with the American narrator and the
Dahab From the Lighthouse
The Lighthouse was the name of the area where we learnt to dive. There was no lighthouse there... “comic relief” sections of the program, but at least we had a laugh picking at the good old 90s fashion.
That night we decided to have a walk around town. It is very beautiful by night, but you still get hassled by the shop owners and restaurants. It was also much more expensive here due to the fact that it is such a tourist town. There is a good vibe over all, very relaxed and chilled out. We like it!
That night we had dinner at our hotels restaurant. You have to admire their effort in making you feel welcome, even remembering names. The Egyptian sense of humour really shines here as well. Love it!
After dinner we then had an invitation to have a drink with the owner of our hotel, and pretty much half of Dahab really, Jimmy. You can spot him a mile off by his white hat. Our tour guide Mohamed knows Jimmy from when he worked in Dahab and let Jimmy know we were coming. Jimmy is a lot a fun and really looked after us, arranging a trip to Mt Sinai for us, and flight back to Cairo so we don’t
have to sit on that hideous bus again with shitting cats.
15-4-08
Our first day of diving! Our instructor’s name is appropriately Nemo, and is heaps of fun. We spent the first day covering the basics in the water. Got more confident as the day went on, but it still feels so unnatural to be underwater for so long. Not to mention the difficulties I had, finding it so much trouble trying to sink. More weights had to be brought in for my ankles to keep my legs down.
By the end of the day, in our last and third dive, we went and ventured into the reef. Surprisingly it was quite close to the shore, and was totally amazing. It’s a shame you can’t speak underwater. Even smiling flooded the mask.
I pulled up rather tired and sore after the dives. We planned an early night, but ended up having dinner at on of Jimmy’s restaurants and speaking to him for quite a while.
16-4-08
Today we completed our final confined space dive. Hoorah! We are nearly there and Nemo is proud of us. Awwwwww… It was a lot more relaxing today and
heaps of fun. After a lunch break it was a bit of a struggle for me, feeling a bit crook when we went to the reef. But I took one for the team and swallowed. Props to me! Saw some pretty fish today, and tomorrow the camera is allowed out.
We finished the day with another wander around town, dinner, and then some Egyptian games with Jimmy.
17-4-08
Today we became qualified divers! We got to have a swim around the reef and it was awesome! We were so excited about it that we decided to do two Adventure Dives on Sunday towards our Advanced Open Water Diver cert.
After just chilling out in the afternoon, we met up with Nemo for some celebration drinks. We went to a bar called the Tota, which the entrance was made out of an old sailing ship. Inside it was pretty big, and surprise, surprise, teeming with Aussies. After a few games of pool, in which I kept to my usual poor form we had drinks in the beer garden, then hit the dance floor. The feel was very reminiscent of Ballarat at 5am.
18-4-08
Today we
did sweet FA. Woke up late and then spent the day by the pool. Ah, the life!
We went to bed early to get up in time to make our way to Mt Sinai, 11pm start.
19-4-08
A long day. The climb up Mt Sinai took a couple of hours. Props to Megan who was dehydrated and feeling really sick, on completing the climb. She was tempted to turn around, but then god sent me a message and told me to look in my bag. Low and behold, there appeared Berocca! After this all was good. For those of you who don’t know (because I was clueless), Mt Sinai is meant to be where Moses got the 10 Commandments from God.
We got to the top in time to watch the sunrise. There were 750 steps just before the top. This was hard work! But it was worth it for the view.
It was then time for descent. We decided to go the way of the 3000 steps. I can say I was happy to be coming down this part and not up. It started to get hot on the way down, and being so
tired, it was still quite an effort.
We finally got into Dahab at about 11am, where Megan and I decided to get some much-needed sleep.
When we moke Jimmy arranged for us to go to the lagoon. It was basically a big rocky beach. We were there for an hour, then back to the hotel. That night we caught up with Nemo again for dinner.
20-4-08
Today we did two Adventure Dives, Deep and Drift. These were wonderful. Saw some amazing thing and it was awesome to see some many fish! We went down to 30 metres while we were diving, which is the maximum allowed at our level. Today our dives were with Sophie. She was really nice.
In the afternoon, it was more relaxation.
For dinner we finished off at Jimmy’s bar, The Funny Mummy to say goodbye to everyone.
21-4-08
It was our last day in Egypt and time for some last minute shopping. It was sad to say goodbye to Dahab, but it was time to go at 11.30am, at which we drove to Sharm El Sheik and flew to Cairo.
After finally finding out where we
had to go at the poorly signed Cairo Airport, we decided to treat ourselves to some McDonalds. My McRoyal (Quarter Pounder) was massive. Almost as big as my hand! That’s pretty rare for Maccas.
We were then on to Turkey!
Upon arrival in Istanbul, it looked like things were going to be looking up. A nice clean, well-signed airport. Hooray!
We were then driven to our hostel, where we crashed for the night.
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