Blogs from Sinai, Egypt, Africa - page 28

You ever have one of those days that you look back on and feel guilty for the time you just wasted? (back in Brooklyn, I used to call those "Sundays"). You count all the times that you were productive and come up with a negative number (you were asleep more than you were awake). That's the vibe we're getting in Dahab, one of Egypt's premiere resort towns on the East coast of the Sinai Peninsula. It's extremely slow paced and very quiet so to enjoy it you have to come with the right motivation-- that is, none. It's well done up, primarily for tourism. A well-maintained, paved boardwalk ("Corniche") runs for 2 miles along the beach lined with 30+ hotels, 50+ restaurants and innumerable souvenir shops and tour-booking agencies. Saudi Arabia is just across the Gulf ... read more

After spending whole Sunday in Ras Mohamed, this breathtaking spot with its nutrient rich waters which attract hundreds of thousands of living species to its immensely diverse coral reef, I decided to see the desert as well. The Sinai Peninsula (in Arabic, Shibh Jazirat Sina شبه جزيرة سيناء) is a triangle-shaped peninsula of about 60,000 square kilometers, lying between the Mediterranean Sea (to the north) and Red Sea (to the south). In Arabic, Sinai is written as sena'. Because Sinai looks like as the surface of the moon one theory says that the name Sinai derived from the lunar deity Sin. Early inhabitants, worshipping the Trinity: Sin (Moon), Shamash (Sun) and Ishtar (Venus) named the peninsular after the moon-god Sin. But Bedouins of south Sinai today assert that the name came from the Arabic word for ... read more

Our passports were scrutinized no fewer than seven times at police checkpoints on the road from Cairo to Dahab--a route that took us over the Suez Canal and along the perimeter of the Sinai Peninsula. Sinai is Africa's link to the Middle East, and its desolate landscape has a long history of war and border disputes. The mountainous desert supports little life besides rugged Bedouins and wild camels--a stark contrast to the flourishing underwater life in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. Sharm al-Sheik, on Sinai's southern coast, is known as one of the best diving spots in the world, and recently gained press as the site of a terrorist bombing (hence the tight security). To ease the strain on our wallets ($200 for diving lessons isn't exactly budget travel), we headed straight to ... read more

If you are looking for fun in the sun on the red sea, look no further. Granted, it is a touristy town, but not nearly to the extent as shar or any place with its own airport. It took us way to long to get there, but we got to see Mt. Sinai and lots of deserted desert. Well, Sinai was cool. We were able to go swimming and snorkeling, hang out on the beach and enjoy lots of cheap resort food. Wish we could have stayed longer. Great small town, tourists there seemed far more chill than other places. Dahab will not be on any terrorist list. Dahab could fall off the face of the earth and the national tourist economy would barely notice. Must see if you go to Sinai! Pics tell it all. ... read more

I think last time we wrote, we were going to take a bus to Hurghada and then take the boat to Sharm El Sheik and on to Dahab. About 10 minutes before the bus left, we changed our minds and bought tickets to Suez instead, with the idea of staying there one night and catching another bus to Dahab, saving ourselves about 200 Egyptian pounds each. It meant more time sat on a bus, but we got to Dahab just after the people that took the expensive option. We didnt have any time to look round Suez, at the canal or anything, as our bus arrived late and the next one left early the following morning. We probably didnt miss much, the parts of Suez we did see werent all that good, its a service town ... read more