Blogs from Dahab, Sinai, Egypt, Africa - page 8

Our last day of 2009, we spend in Dahab celebrating New Year’s eve. It’s one of my most awesome New Year’s eve yet! Scuba diving during the day, eating amazing seafood with my brother and great friends and partying it up for a fraction of the price you would pay in a lot of Western countries. Free drink, had free desert and dinner sets us back a mere 10 USD. Following dinner we meet with couch surfers to check out the local party scene. The dj forgets the count down so we do it ourselves. For the next 3 hours. Happy New Year.... read more

There’s a funny thing about being by the sea. It generally puts people in a good mood. Or perhaps it is because Dahab actually lived up to everyone’s expectations and we were all so happy to be there! Either way, Dahab was a great place to end our trip. Like others we had met along the way, our only regret was that we hadn’t got there earlier. Dahab, compared with Sharm and Hurgarda, is essentially low rise in terms of development. The accommodation ranges from very ‘basic’ to ‘pretty damn nice actually’ but there are none of the insanely flashy mega resorts found further down the coast. Compared to Luxor and even Aswan, the mood is relaxed and the locals were much more friendly - we didn't feel like we were viewed as a giant £ ... read more

Whoever invented single sex dorms deserves to be shot. Dividing us all up really creates a headache for the single male. I arrived in Dahab after almost 20 hours on the bus/ plane with minimal sleep. Knackered, I wasnt looking forward to the broken nights sleep inevitable in a dorm with the comings and goings off people out on the piss and the ubiquitous hippo breather. I didnt think it would be so bad though, as I had made sure I had reserved my bed in a mixed dorm. However, metres from solace, I was met by the face of a grinning boyfriend who had been allowed to take my bed in the mixed dorm and my bed transferred to the man room. He saw the annoyance on my face, and just grinned even more smugly, ... read more

Day 11 - A Day to remember We were on the truck and away from Herghada by 6am. This turned out to be an exhausting day of almost 13 hours of driving to St Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mt Sinai. Arriving at the car park around 8pm the designated cook group prepared a dinner and at 9.30pm we started the trek to the top of Mt Sinai arriving at 12.30am. I was not happy with the guide. He set a blistering pace and subsequently 2 of our group paid 80 Egyptian Pounds to hire a camel. Each time the guide stopped the tail end got further behind until we were strung out over about 200Ms. This may not sound a lot but there was also 50M altitude separation. There are a number of refreshment ... read more

Lying on my back with my head in the stars and I'm gone. In my right ear I can hear the gentle asthmatic rasping of the rhythmically breathing sea, whilst in my left I have the vast silence of the Sinai desert. Below me is coarse, golden sand and above, man above, the stars explode across the deathly black palette of the sky like an particularly reserved, measured and ordered, Jackson Pollock splatter painting in chrome. This is the place to be when it's your soul, and not just your body, that needs a well earned break. There is no electricity here in Ras Abu Gallum - a simple Bedouin settlement where the desert meets the sea - and consequently the stars dance like I've never seen them dance before; their number, luminosity and brilliance are ... read more